A mild rant

[Aaron_Kellogg]

First and formost let me say that I couldn't be more proud of the North Carolina cycling community for really stepping up and promoting a bunch of new training series and races over the last couple weeks. We've had way more opportunities to knock of the rust before the start of the NCCX series this year than in recent year.
With that being said, this is a gentle reminder to those participating in warm-up races and training series to please remember that these are WARM-UP races and TRAINING series (key words capitalized for emphasis). Taking unnecessary risks in these races is pretty stupid. You risk not only your health and the "health" of your gear, you take the same risk for everyone around you. It's great to practice passing skills and test your limits but when you start riding recklessly to compete for a position you will immediately give back up it becomes stupid. Remember, you are an AMATEUR racer who is doing this for FUN. This is not your career. If it were you would know better than to ride like this.
Cross is about flogging yourself like a masochist for 45 minutes and then rewarding yourself with a beer and some good ole' fashioned heckling of the next field to race!
Enjoy the season and ride smart!

[false_Aest]

Please remember to post this in January for the SoCal road season and in March for everyone else.

I didn't renew my license last year for that very reason.

[Spicoli]

BIG + 1 with the OP

It's totally my own baggage but cross has lost it's fun for me when people started trying to "peak" for cross season. Maybe I'm old and crusty but I still look at it as a fun thing to goof with in the off season.

[Andrewlcox]

I have never raced bicycles but I do race a road course kart and have run into the same situation. We are given 2 rounds of 6 laps of practice and sometimes we get wrecked or spun during the practice. It makes no sense so I understand where you are coming from.

Andy

[FlashUNC]

Well said Aaron. I'm looking forward to being pack fodder for the North Meck cross series this fall once they start that back up here in Charlotte.

[ksvb5368]

Hey, I'm just new to NC and looking to get involved in some racing, have you got anywhere you can point me to?

[Aaron_Kellogg]

Hey, I'm just new to NC and looking to get involved in some racing, have you got anywhere you can point me to?

Some of it will depend where you are living but here's some places to start:

www.nccyclocross.com/ -this the site for the state CX series that starts in 2 weeks and runs till late Jan

www.ncsccyclingassoc.com -this is the site to the state's cycling association. the site has a calendar with all of the USAC races in both NC and SC.

These are both good resources to locate races. I would also recommend getting in touch with one of the local club/racing teams and see where people in your area are racing.

We may not have the volume of racing as say the New England area but it's a pretty solid calendar with a lot of good events around the state.

Feel free to send me a PM and I can try to help you further. Good Luck!

[zennmotion]

I'm not in NC and I don't know the incidents that led to this, so maybe I have no business commenting here. However, I do remember my first season of cross and the first few races were eye opening- crazy. People bumping and passing in crazy places, generally much more physical contact than my background in road (or even XC) racing. Maybe the NC scene is still new enough that a few asshats with too much sap and not enough skills are causing a problem. Or maybe it's just normal typical cross as experienced by folks used to road racing. Or maybe a little of both. Cross has long since come into its own as a season to focus on, for better or worse some people's entire racing season (myself included) is focused on Sept-Jan racing. Nothing wrong with that, and it's certainly possible to take it all too seriously for those of us who have to go to work or school on Monday morning. But it is a different discipline with frequent contact, and even minor pushing (hands on the bar!) as part of the experience. I don't know why it would be much different in NC than further north in the VACX/Mid-Atlantic races. Again, I wasn't there, but I suspect that learning to relax and take a few bumps might be a necessary part of the learning curve down there. As well as some pre-race explanations of appropriate behavior by the refs on the start line. Take care of yourselves, and take care of each other.

[Aaron_Kellogg]

I'm not in NC and I don't know the incidents that led to this, so maybe I have no business commenting here. However, I do remember my first season of cross and the first few races were eye opening- crazy. People bumping and passing in crazy places, generally much more physical contact than my background in road (or even XC) racing. Maybe the NC scene is still new enough that a few asshats with too much sap and not enough skills are causing a problem. Or maybe it's just normal typical cross as experienced by folks used to road racing. Or maybe a little of both. Cross has long since come into its own as a season to focus on, for better or worse some people's entire racing season (myself included) is focused on Sept-Jan racing. Nothing wrong with that, and it's certainly possible to take it all too seriously for those of us who have to go to work or school on Monday morning. But it is a different discipline with frequent contact, and even minor pushing (hands on the bar!) as part of the experience. I don't know why it would be much different in NC than further north in the VACX/Mid-Atlantic races. Again, I wasn't there, but I suspect that learning to relax and take a few bumps might be a necessary part of the learning curve down there. As well as some pre-race explanations of appropriate behavior by the refs on the start line. Take care of yourselves, and take care of each other.


Being in my third season of CX would qualify me as "new" to the sport in many peoples eyes but I can assure you my experience both in CX and crit racing is enough to distinguish between dangerous riding and the normal contact that occurs during racing. Cross is a very physical and relatively high contact sport within the realm of cycling. The first lap of a race with a 75+ person field can only be described as controlled chaos with all those riders trying to funnel through a narrow holeshot. Learning to pass aggressively and block through turns can often mean the difference between finishing at the front or the back. That being said, there are safe ways to do this and there are dangerous ways that can have serious consequences. As you mentioned in your post most if not all of us have jobs, school and families we go back to after the racing is done. I'm just trying express my desire to do so without a broken collarbone or some other drastic injury. I fully understand that it is my choice to line up and race, I just want people to remember what this is about.

Ok my rant is definitely over now. Good luck to everyone this season, be safe and race hard!