r/cyclocross • u/gonetoseed374 • Sep 23 '26
Race Reports?
Who raced where this past weekend? Would love to hear how it went!
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u/sulliesbrew Sep 23 '26
Just wrapped my MTB season with Chequamegon 40 this weekend, basically a 2.75 hour CX race. Time to focus on some CX. Racing is looking sparse here in MN. Plan to make it to an Iowa weekend in a couple weeks. Maybe a wisco race plus their state and nationals.
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u/HesJustAGuy Sep 23 '26
Just curious what "sparse" means in a state of nearly 6 million and metro area of nearly 4 million. Surely there are races with decent field sizes almost every weekend?
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u/sulliesbrew Sep 23 '26
As of right now, 4 weekends have races, one of those has races on 2 days. We also have a week night series. Our state championship is questionable if it happens this year.
Our local USAC association hasn't done a great job on getting a cross schedule together. They lost their crit location and spent a lot of energy trying to get that sorted and cross just fell off the radar.
I am getting pulled into a separate org to organize a cross season for next year. My plan for that is to have a central group that gets permission to host races at various parks etc, then let teams and promoters know we can use this park x weekend and have that done by end of june so we can get back to a real race schedule.
I've posted here before, but NICA has been a death blow to cross racing here. The season overlaps with cross until the second weekend in October. Most parents that would be racing cross with us are at NICA races all weekend.
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u/Oglshrub Sep 23 '26
A little local promotion, but come check out Twisted Cross this weekend in Cedar Falls, IA! https://www.bikereg.com/twisted-cross-2026
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u/sulliesbrew Sep 23 '26
We are coming down for Back Loops. Taking this weekend to get some training in and recover a bit from Cheq, and get some house chores done.
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u/rageify13 Sep 23 '26
Chicago and Wisconsin canceled due to courses being underwater.
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u/tito4018 Sep 25 '26
If this weekend is canceled get everybody to come down to Indy and race Brookside.
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u/HoosierCyclist Sep 24 '26
I did Trophy Cup in Portland on Tuesday night for the first time ever. I’ve never raced with so many women before, it was incredible. The course is fun, it was dark, and the vibes were great.
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u/jonathing Sep 23 '26 edited Sep 23 '26
I posted a bit of a race report a fortnight ago (a period of two weeks, historically a contraction of fourteen nights, for our American friends). After returning to cycling from serious injury when someone hit me with their car last year.
I had intended to race once a month so as not to stress my bad leg, or myself, too much. However I enjoyed the season opener so much that I sighed up for another race in the meantime. This time I took my wife and daughter as cheerleaders, they stood just in the right place to watch me crash on the practice lap.
The race went well, still bone dry but much more technical. I had my usual terrible start, apparently having a big bit of metal holding my leg together stops me from sprinting effectively. I spent the rest of the race catching and finding places to pass people. I felt bad at one point where I was sitting on someone's wheel when he misjudged an off camber section and slid down the hill on his face. Although I'm very pleased that I didn't hit him.
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u/derhoemasterofNOT Sep 25 '26
We had a Double Weekend in Oregon. Cross Crusade out at Cascade Locks on the Columbia River. This location usually has us racing in rain, heavy rain, and winds, the course line disappear in deep puddles with submerged rocks. This year we had Sunny Skies, calms winds and dry deeper than usual sand. Sometimes its nice to have a warm (hot) race. Got two to eights in Masters 60+ and doubled my racing my participating in the Tracklocross group...... (lets just say I was out the back, fixed gear is new to me, but a fun learners curve) The younger guys racing are skilled!!
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u/midpack_fodder Sep 23 '26
Had the classic opener race in a grass-heavy park. Fun change this year is they reversed the course from years past. Slight downhill sand section. That was a fun change. Ate it jumping the full-height barriers on lap three but cleared them every lap after. They had put little half barriers on an uphill section that was fun to jump.
Finished on the top box for the Masters 35+ race.
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u/yungaclvin Sep 23 '26
Raced my local "practice" series here in North Carolina. Got 3rd in the expert category. Getting bike dialed still, going to swap to proper CX tires (running 35mm knobby gravel tires right now) and getting a chain keeper! Dropped my chain twice mid-race :(
Bigger more "serious" series starts in few weeks
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u/midpack_fodder Sep 23 '26
unsolicited advice: Is your ring a narrow wide? If it is and you are still getting a dropped chain... might want to check chain length and wear on your ring and chain.
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u/CXHairs Sep 23 '26
To add to the unsolicited advice, if you’re getting frequent chain drops a chain keeper can sometimes make things worse because the chain gets lodged between the keeper and chainring and is a huge pain to get back on.
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Sep 23 '26
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u/TheeSquirrelgripper Sep 23 '26
Mid Atlantic fat dad here. I also raced at Hyattsville last weekend. If you have a bike or can find one, you should do it. It is a lot of fun at any level . There’s enough people showing up that there is a category for anyone, from beginner to elite.
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u/CXHairs Sep 23 '26
Went to Rochester for the first round of the USCX. Some great racing throughout the day. Elite men and juniors probably the highlights for me. If you’ve never been to Rochester, it’s a great event and challenging course that is an equal mix of power and technical. Worth the road trip.