YGR is happy to announce the support of Coloraodo cyclocross barrier builder Cross Propz. The beautiful part about these barriers it that they are lightweight, portable and self assembling. Pull 'em out of their carrying bag, toss 'em in the air and POW. You got yourself a UCI sized cross barrier.
Hi, my name is Paul McCarthy, the creator of Cross Propz.
I live in the mountains of the Front Range in Colorado with my wife Lori and three dogs and four horses we rescued. I am a cyclist and racer, I enjoy road, mountain and especially cyclocross riding.
Awhile back in Boulder Colorado, I was attending a cyclocross clinic put on by Boulder Cycle Sport at a local park. There was a good turnout and Brandon Dwight brought some help with him to teach this informal clinic. We started out riding across a field practicing dismounting and remounting our bikes. We started at a slow pace and gradually picked up speed. Now it was time to try dismounts with barriers. Some pvc barriers were set up and we rode in circles practicing dismounts and getting over the barriers.
At one point I managed to crash into one of the barriers. I put my bike down and walked back and started to re-assemble the barrier when a friendly voice said ” I’ll do that, … you just practice.” Although it was a nice gesture, by none other than Greg Keller of Mud and Cowbells, it made me think… why should anyone have to stop their session to re-assemble a barrier, after all its practice, they’re gonna get hit! So that’s how it started.
All the Cross Propz barriers are made by me in an unheated shed in the Rocky Mountains. At first they were a trial and error adventure, I experimented with different sizes and settled on two, 1/2” and 3/4″ (Belgian version). The more I thought about their purpose, the better defined the idea became. I wanted something I could pick up after a busy day and with a busy schedule that would maximize the short time I had for this important aspect of ‘cross practice. I figured if I made a bag for them to be carried in, with enough room for a water bottle and a tube or two, I could be on my way to the local park in no time. They don’t take up much room so they’re easy to carry in the car with my bike as well.
September 7 – Fort Collins Cyclocross at New Belgium September 11 – Steamboat Springs Cyclocross September 12 – Copper ‘Cross September 14 – Fort Collins Cyclocross at New Belgium September 18 – Pikes Peak Velo SuperCross September 19 – GMSV #1- Lookout Cross September 21 – Fort Collins Cyclocross at New Belgium September 25 – Boulder CX Series #1 September 26 – Alpha Cross September 28 – Fort Collins Cyclocross at New Belgium October 2 and 3 – Frisco CX October 9 – Boulder CX Series #2 October 10 – Cross at the River October 16 – On the Cross October 17 – Valmont Bike Park Fest October 23 – Blue SkyCup at Xilinix October 24 – Fort Collins CX******* My home turf race! October 30 – Colorado Cross October 31 – Boulder Cup November 6 – School Yard Cross November 7 – Castle Cross November 13 – The Bailey Blitz November 14 – Boulder CX Series #3 November 20 – Lanterne Rouge CX November 21 – CycloX November 27 – GMSV #2- Lookout Cross November 28 – Boulder CX Series #4 December 4 and 5 – Colorado CX Championships
The City of Fort Collins, local BMX organization, Epic BMX, national track designer, Lance McGuire, and Sunstate Equipment are collaborating on the relocation of the Edora Park BMX racetrack. The new racetrack will be relocated to Southeast Community Park at the intersection of Ziegler Road and SaberCat Drive. The new racetrack will provide local BMX racers the opportunity to race on a professionally designed and professionally built track. The new track will be larger and incorporate additional safety features. The track relocation and build will occur April 21 - 26. For more information, contact Kathleen Benedict, City of Fort Collins - Parks Planning 970.416.2260
Construction of the new park has started at the location of last years Crazy Joe Cross. A local race promoter has been in contact with the city and is pushing to have a permanent cyclocross course incorporated into the design of the park.
You might be aware of a group that's working pretty hard to bring bike racing back to Fort Collins. Called the NCCE - or Northern Colorado Cycling Events - the group is dedicated to developing a thriving cycling race culture in northern Colorado. Through a lot of hard work and dedication from quite a few of your local cycling guys, 2010 is already shaping up to be a monumental year for having fun on the bicycles up here. Recently we've added another exciting event - an ACA sanctioned cyclocross race. I won't go into details on the process, but of 26 available race dates, the ACA had over 100 race date requests. With that kind of response, the ACA was initially set to allocate the dates to promoters that had already proven themselves. Had the ACA had stuck to their original intention, we would have been long off the list. But they didn't. And we have a date.
Now that we have the date, our goal is to put on the best darned cross race on the ACA calendar. And this is the reason for the post. We need to secure an awesome venue. So I'm reaching out to the community to see if anyone has an idea or connection to a location that's in Fort Collins, able to handle 300-500 people on race day, and is excited to have a cyclocross event on their property. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to contact us.
And if you're reading this and are interested in being involved with this event at a sponsorship level, please feel free to contact us as well.
This event will be a joint effort by Peloton-Specialzed and the Fort Collins Cycling Team. Below is a contact for each squad. Feel free to drop either of us a line with your thoughts.
Thanks all.
- Sam Acheson / Peloton-Specialized
Sam @ Peloton-Specialized
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FORT COLLINS, CO - February 5, 2010 - Fort Collins native, Skyler Trujillo, recently competed in the Cyclo Cross World Championships in Tabor, Czech Republic. A Junior at Fort Collins High Shool, Trujillo was selected by USA Cycling to compete on behalf of the United States after his 3rd place finish at the U.S. National Cyclo Cross Championship and his impressive showing during a two-week, seven-race tour of Belgium following the National meet.
Unfortunately, an inauspicious start in the Junior World Championship caused Trujillo to lose his momentum at the gun when the rider in front of him slipped out of his pedal.
In cyclo cross racing, because the course is so narrow and in places it can be very difficult (or dangerous) to pass a competitor, the start of the race has profound consequences for every rider. If a rider wants to be in contention for the win, he must be in the top 15 to 20 riders shortly after the start of the race or he risks falling too far behind the leaders to make up the lost ground before the end of the race.
It only took a couple of seconds for Trujillo to regain his momentum, but it was enough time for the entire field of 63 riders to pass him. He would have to race from the back of the pack and battle through each man, one-by-one.
It takes a special competitor to persevere in the face of such insurmountable odds. Nonetheless, Trujillo battled all the way to the finishing line. After taking 53rd place on the day, he proclaimed with the confidence of mature young man that he learned a lot from his first World Championship race and now he was setting his sights clearly on the Mountain Bike World Championships in August.
Skyler's father/mechanic/travel agent/right-hand-man, Jason, made the trip to Tabor to see his son compete on the world stage. He summed up the experience by saying, "Ultimately Skyler got the best opportunity of his racing career traveling with Team USA coaches, riders and crew and exposure to living the sport of cycling at the highest level in the world."
In the Women's Elite race, Fort Collins' own Meredith Miller was the top American as she rode her way into a 12th place finish. Miller started the race in the middle of the pack and steadily moved her way up through the other competitors despite the frozen and slick conditions. Look for Miller to take to the roads this summer and defend her Elite Women's National crown with the Tibco Women's Pro Cycling Team.
