REVISED INFO WITH SCHEDULE:

Join us Sunday, January 31st in Thousand Oaks at the home of the infamous Langtown Cyclocross Extravaganza! For the second annual SoCalCross Super Prestigious MTB Ride, BBQ, CX race and CX World Championship par-tay!

The Langins (Bobby and Linda) have agreed once again to be the fine hosts of the event at their home/backyard-home of the Langtown Moto-X track in Thousand Oaks, California.

TIME AND EVENT SCHEDULE:
11:00AM MTB Ride from Langtown… approx 2-3 hours.
3:00PM BBQ begins… BYO BBQ food and drink.
5:00PM Final CX Race! best costume… fastest man and woman awards!
6:00PM CX World Championships on the Big Screen!

Bring your favorite beverages and celebrate/toast to good friends and good times from the 2009-10 SoCalCross Season. The Langins will also have a large barbeque fired up for those who wish use it.

Don’t forget to bring your favorite bike and be prepared for THE FINAL RACE of the 2009-10 CX Season! The course includes the Langtown supercross course and a couple of CX barriers for effect. Bring your cow bells! Upon completion of the race, the championship screening will commence!

Langtown is located at: 1260 Calle Violeta in Thousand Oaks.

GET DIRECTIONS HERE!!!

From SB go south on the 101 to the 23 freeway north and exit at Avenida de los Aroboles, turn left.
Go to the second stop sign (Avenida de los Plantas), turn left.
Go to Calle Pencamiento, turn left.
Go to 2nd street on right (Calle Violeta), turn right. We are the fourth house on the right, 1260.

I hope you weren’t expecting a BIG editorial piece on kids in cycling because you’re not getting one… not yet anyways.

I did want to share a great video made by Sam Ray. Sam recently posted a different video to the Women’s Cycling Magazine facebook page and we dug it so now we’re telling you about it. If you like what you see you can find more of his videos here.

Don’t miss Spooky Cross Night Race coming Saturday, 10.24 to Irvine, CA

Bring your favorite costume and be prepared for the time of your life! Music, Halloween madness, costumes and beer will be the call as the 2009-10 Southern California Prestige Series of Cyclocross presented by Shimano brings you Spooky Cross Night Race hosted by Rock N Road Cyclery on Saturday, October 24th in Irvine, CA.

This is sure to be an unforgettable event filled with Halloween-themed festivities beginning with Juniors and Youth cyclocross racing at 2:30pm. Spooky sounds begin to fill the air. At 3:15pm, the kids will get the chance to show off their costumes with the Clif Kids Costume Race! The schedule continues with Prestige Series racing culminating with live music by the Rims and more, food and beer and elite cyclocross racing at dusk and into the night.

In between pumpkin carving contest nominees will become illuminated Jack-o-lantern barriers and will put racers to the test on the Spooky Costume Race course – starting out with a celebration lap for everyone to show off their Halloween garb. Team Duke hosts the Spooky Costume Relay Race – 2 or 4 person teams to benefit the John Wayne Cancer Foundation. Prizes awarded to top men, women, co-ed and best costume podium.

The Halloween themed course is a mix of pavement and dirt and grass. The racers will head out on with a full-out sprint taking racers out of the field and onto the Planet Bike Hill of Fame sending racers up and down then into a steep run up and back onto the infield heading through the Ellsworth Tunnel. Racers will charge around the Sock Guy go cart track and onto the Moots Gucci off-camber dirt bank before heading over to the H2O Overdrive Stairs and back around the SoCalCross Expo and Shimano fast-track double barriers. This will take racers into the darkness of the Kool N Fit DJ Dead People Zone and immediately into the Fluid Sand Pit. Racers complete the loop and finish on pavement in the middle of the SoCalCross Expo and Beer Garden. Each lap is approx. 3.5km in length. Races are timed circuits on the course based on category.

The elite categories will race at dusk and night. Look for challengers for Elite Men’s Series Leader Brent Prenzlow (Celo Pacific) from the Gritters brothers – Brandon and Kyle of Rock N Road. MTB Champions Brian Lopes and Sid Taberlay are schedule to be in the line-up as well.

Save $$$, save time, pre-register on-line at: www.Sportsbaseonline.com Prestige Series discount passes available. Each time you pre-register, you will be automatically entered to win a Fuji CX frame and Fork! Online registration closes Thursday, October 21st at 9:00PM (Pacific). Race Day registration is available opens at 1:00pm and closes 20 minutes prior to each race category start. Demo.rental bikes are available for new riders to ‘cross. Reserve yours today. A beginner’s CX clinic will take place at 1:30pm by MTBChick.com.

GOOGLE MAP DIRECTIONS: 8800 Irvine Center Drive – Irvine, CA
MORE INFO AT: www.SoCalCross.org

ENTRY FEES: Pre-Registration entry fee is $25.00 for all CX categories except, Juniors (10-18 yrs) race Junior race for FREE with USA Cycling license, or purchase one-day license for $10. Juniors must pay regular entry fee for category races if NOT entering Junior race. Add $5.00 for Race Day Entry. Additional and fun race entries are just $5.00/per race after higher entry fee is paid.

A valid USA Cycling license is required for all race participants.

DIRECTIONS: HIDDEN VALLEY (Wild Rivers / Verizon Amphitheater)
From 405 freeway south: Exit Irvine Center Drive, go right. Make a right at Lion Country/Hubble signal (entrance to Pass through ticket booths, go left and continue to end of parking lot.
From 5 freeway: Exit Bake Parkway, go west. Turn right onto Irvine Center Drive. Make a left at Lion Country / Hubble (Wild Rivers/Irvine Meadows entrance) Pass through ticket booths, go left and continue to end of parking lot.

GOOGLE MAP DIRECTIONS: 8800 Irvine Center Drive – Irvine, CA

One might think I’d be grinding my teeth posting someone else’s “TV video” website, especially when Women’s Cycling Magazine has our own aspirations to produce quality content via “WCMTV!”. But I have to say when you find something this good, it’s a pleasure to spread the love!

I happened to stumble upon Dan Kaufman’s website Crank My Chain and I’m stoked to report… he’s killing it! Not only does the website offer a robust and varied amount of video content but he also has a LIVE show ever Wednesday! CrankMyChain!, Two-Way TV LIVE noon wednesdays (PDT).

Dan Kaufman hosts the show by, about, and for cyclists. CrankMyChain! documents psycho bike niches, creates bike music videos, and discusses cycle advocacy. You can also send him your videos and comments.

So if you haven’t already been to the website I’d encourage you to head on over… there’s lots of good content and lots of laughs too.

Don’t you dare sleep on the northwest because when it comes to cyclocross they know how to get dirty! Having grown up in the beautiful Evergreen State by way of Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia I can most certainly assure you the good folks in the shadow of the Space Needle and Mt. Rainer do more than wear Birkenstocks, flannel shirts and drink coffee!

It seems like everyone in the great northwest is into something outdoors, be it kayaking, fishing, snowboarding or swimming in the cold Puget Sound… cycling is no exception. When north-westerners do something they do it like nobody’s watching and they go all out. It’s no wonder there are so many great companies based in the northwest like K2 with their bikes, snowboards and skis and the store we all know and love REI, based out of Kent, Washington just north of Seattle. By the way go hit up the REI website… they have a great fall sale going on now!

So with that said if you’re heading up to the Evergreen State anytime soon and have your bike in tow be sure to check the calendar of events for the Seattle Cyclocross Series… I’m sure they’d like you to come out and play and the women’s scene is alive and peddling!

Check out the calendar below,  we’ve listed all of the events remaining for the Seattle Cyclocross Series.

Seattle Cyclocross Series Calendar of Events

All races are subject to change. We’ll do our best to keep this list up to date so make sure to check back now and then!

Race Fees

For more information on Seattles kick ass cyclocross series hit up the website here.

Join SoCalCross SCPS #6 and the return to Cross Fever’s classic course, fallen tree, loose mulch, roller coaster course – fast with a short steep run up and sand pit.

FREE beginner’s clinic, demo.rental bikes available.
Juniors and Youth race FREE! *with valid USA Cycling license.

Velo Swap Expo… bring your old parts and barter!!
Bike Polo!
Kids Bike Skills Zone
FREE Kids Racing

Race schedule and information: www.SoCalCross.org

Download .pdf

Just posted this morning from the USA Cycling website, please read the following.

USA Cycling would like to offer our sincere apologies to anyone who experienced difficulties registering for the upcoming Cyclo-cross National Championships during the early morning hours last weekend. Due to the overwhelming response to registration, the servers of our on-line registration partner were overwhelmed.

USA Cycling would like to emphasize that all masters racers regardless of time of registration will be ordered according to their current racing license category, ie. Cat. 1, followed by Cat. 2, etc. Only those Masters within the same category and age division will be seeded according to time of registration. Please click here for a complete explanation of call up procedures for all age categories and racing divisions.

In an effort to ensure the most fair and equitable racing environment possible, we are going to re-evaluate the method by which we determine the start order for Masters racers at the 2010 Cyclo-cross National Championships. We will consider several options, including the utilization of USA Cycling’s Results and Rankings System, to determine more extensive call-up procedures for 2010 and beyond. In order to ensure that you have the opportunity to weigh in during this process, we will include a section on this topic in the post-event survey for the 2009 Cyclo-cross National Championships.  We look forward to hearing your feedback!

For more information go to sscxwc09.com What are you doing sitting there at your computer… go get your registration on, I don’t know if you’ve heard or not but SSCXWC is coming, SSCXWC is coming!!!

For more information go to sscxwc09.com

Well I just got back home after a long evening of kick ass riding with SocalCross.org and about 30 other die hard cyclist from all over SoCal. Today was the first event of September in a series of clinics and workshops building up to to kick off the cyclocross season.

Dorothy Wong a.k.a. “Dot” and her hubby Jeff Herring hosted the event along with the Simi Cycling Center staff.

The festivities kicked off at Simi Cycling Center around 5pm where Jeff a.k.a. “Mr. Fixit” started fitting people with their demo bikes and gear. Despite the grimace and scowl on Jeff’s face I can testify with certainty he’s one cool cucumber and a super nice guy!

The only thing better than a super nice guy, is a super nice guy who knows how to outfit you with a bike and send you on your way faster than when you came! After Señor Jeff finished outfitting everyone with demo bikes we all gathered in the parking lot for a little pep talk from Dorothy. After the group photo and shenanigans we were off to the races!

We all hopped on our bikes for a short 5 mile ride through the city to a local park in Simi. The ride from Simi Cycling Center to the park was interesting to say the least. You don’t see a lot of large cycling groups in Simi too often so there was a lot of rubber necking and rolling down of windows as the wild and wacky “cyclo-crazies” forged through the muggy concrete jungle! I swear I think I heard a few passers-by gasp for their breath as we weaved through the city, and it’s possible one baby in a stroller may have cried because of our thunderous roar!

Muah ah ah ah ahhh!

I was having a great time riding when not even 5 minutes into the ride I was thinking to myself I’ve got to get myself one of these cyclocross bikes! You see up to this point all I’ve ever ridden are mountain bikes and (I love mountain biking).

Nevertheless I found myself really digging the feel of my demo bike and there was this aura of confidence and über coolness that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I must admit however, like any “high” eventually I had to come back down to reality… it wasn’t long before my über coolness and new found confidence came crashing back down.

There I was cruising along minding my own coolness, I think at the time I was thinking to myself how cool I must look from a distance! That’s when I got showed up by this young buck probably all of 16 years old cruising along on his cell phone (probably talking to his high school sweet heart) not even breaking a sweat! LOL, actually now that I think about it, somebody called him with the wrong phone number!

Anyhoo, we all hauled tail up the incline to reach our final destination and the clinic got on it’s way.

It was Dorothy Wong assisted by my main man Larry who got the clinic going with a quick little tutorial on how to mount and dismount your cyclocross bike. Check out the video below, if it plays slow pause it and let it load completely before you play (sorry we’re working on getting a faster server)!

All in all the clinic was an overwhelming success and I learned that there’s a little cyclocross devil inside me just waiting to get out and tear it up!

After we finished up at the park we all rode back to Simi Cycling Center for a little R&R accompanied by lots of pizza, beer and product demos!

There was also a raffle drawing and thanks to the very generous Dot and Jeff, everyone won something. I happened to be the lucky recipient of a full bottle of “Kool ‘N Fit” an external conditioning fluid used for warming up and faster recovery time… yay me!

That just about did it for the night, be sure to check out the next SocalCross.org event. For a full listing of all the upcoming events go here.

Be sure to check out all the cool pictures below.

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If you’re hosting an event (women’s cycling) in SoCal and want the WCM crew on hand to cover your event be sure to email the details. It’s possible we might be in your neighborhood to cover your event.