The morning air is cooler. Bicyclists are breaking out arm and leg warmers and vests. Autumn officially begins Monday.
You know what that means: ’cross season.
The Mid-Atlantic regional cyclocross series opens Saturday with the Nittany Lion Cyclocross Race, sponsored by Penn State University’s Lehigh Campus. The race, in Fogelsville, is the first UCI-sanctioned cross race of the 2008-2009 season in North America.
On Sunday, ‘cross racing heads to Baltimore for the Charm City Cyclocross Race, in the city’s Druid Hill Park. Registration for the Category 4 Men’s division has already been closed after reaching the 100-rider field limit. Other divisions remain open. Advance, on-line registration closes at 9 this evening.
The weekend races are the first of the Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross, or MAC, series. There are a dozen races in the series which goes until Dec. 7. Those races are held over an area that stretches from Long Island, NY to the north to the Washington, D.C. suburb of Reston, Va. to the south.
Other races in the series are:
10/18: Cyclocross at Granogue, Granogue Estate (Wilmington) Delaware (UCI C1)
10/19: Wissahickon Cyclocross, Ludwig’s Corner (Philadelphia), Pennsylvania (UCI C2)
11/1: Fair Hill Cyclocross, Fair Hill Maryland (Newark Delaware)
11/8: Beacon Cross, Bridgeton, New Jersey
11/9: HPCX, Jamesburg, New Jersey (UCI C2)
11/22: Whitmore’s Landscaping Super Cross Cup #1
Southampton “the Hamptons” New York Day (UCI C1)
11/23: Whitmore’s Landscaping Super Cross Cup #2
Southampton “the Hamptons” New York Day (UCI C1)
12/7: Capital Cross Classic, Reston, Virginia (Washington DC) (UCI C2)
For more information, see www.midatlanticcyclocross.com.
The series does not include Wonderland Cyclocross Race, in East Lampeter Community Park, on Nov. 22. That race, being presented by Christiana Cycling, is the only ‘cross race in Lancaster County this year. Registration for that event opens Monday.
