Roll Call Article on DCCX

[hozn]

My son had a blast in the Lil Belgians race. DCCX is definitely a great spectator event. We left before the beer started, unfortunately.

[OneEighth]

I saw that article, but got distracted by this (especially the quote at the end): http://hoh.rollcall.com/mustache-lobby-digs-into-discrimination/

[Subby]

@sjclaeys 67212 wrote:

Roll Call has a short article with pictures on last Sunday’s DCCX:

http://blogs.rollcall.com/after-dark/abraham-lincoln-never-did-this-cyclocross-at-the-old-soldiers-home/

This picture is pretty much incredibly awesome. Hopefully the racer is ok.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3919[/ATTACH]

[Tim Kelley]

Here’s the video of that crash:

[consularrider]

Good bike handling skills by the guy right behind those two.

[MRH5028]

Was a fun race this year. I did the cat 4/5 so I was there bright and early. It seems to get more popular every year, with both spectators and riders.

[Tim Kelley]

@MRH5028 67278 wrote:

Was a fun race this year. I did the cat 4/5 so I was there bright and early. It seems to get more popular every year, with both spectators and riders.

Me too! What was your starting number and what’s you think of the race? DaveK, Mark Blacknell, Jason B, and Vince did it as well. Will was there, but forgot to bring his bike…

[hozn]

I completely missed that there was now a CAT 5 in cyclocross. It’s nice that the categories are consistent [with road racing] now.

Two years ago (my first race) I did the early AM DCCX race (was just “CAT-4” back then). The next year (second race) I was shamed into entering the 45-minute CAT 3/4 race (the one in Reston, that time) so as not to be a sandbagger. I guess the equivalent of last year’s CAT 3/4 no longer exists now, so the good news is that next year I can be CAT-5 again guilt-free!

[MattAune]

@hozn 67300 wrote:

I completely missed that there was now a CAT 5 in cyclocross. It’s nice that the categories are consistent [with road racing] now.

Two years ago (my first race) I did the early AM DCCX race (was just “CAT-4” back then). The next year (second race) I was shamed into entering the 45-minute CAT 3/4 race (the one in Reston, that time) so as not to be a sandbagger. I guess the equivalent of last year’s CAT 3/4 no longer exists now, so the good news is that next year I can be CAT-5 again guilt-free!

There is still a 3/4 race in the afternoon and its still 45 minutes. The first thing in the morning Cat 4 race from last year, is now a first thing in the morning cat 4/5 race. I don’t know of any races that have added a Cat 5 only race, yet.

DCCX is really well run, and has a fantastic venue. Look forward to it every year.

[hozn]

@MattAune 67303 wrote:

There is still a 3/4 race in the afternoon and its still 45 minutes. The first thing in the morning Cat 4 race from last year, is now a first thing in the morning cat 4/5 race. I don’t know of any races that have added a Cat 5 only race, yet.

DCCX is really well run, and has a fantastic venue. Look forward to it every year.

Yeah, but I can’t race in a cat 3/4 race anymore (I’m unlicensed = cat 5). So I don’t think there’s an option for an unlicensed/CAT-5 rider to race for 45 minutes anymore? (It’s odd that the CAT-4 folks are allowed to do the short-format race; they [CAT-3] wouldn’t have been able to in previous years.)

[MattAune]

@hozn 67306 wrote:

Yeah, but I can’t race in a cat 3/4 race anymore (I’m unlicensed = cat 5). So I don’t think there’s an option for an unlicensed/CAT-5 rider to race for 45 minutes anymore? (It’s odd that the CAT-4 folks are allowed to do the short-format race; they [CAT-3] wouldn’t have been able to in previous years.)

You are right that as a one-day license racer you only have the 4/5 as an option.

The majority of Cat 4 racers are newbies with a few cross races under their belt and are grandfathered into a Cat 4 because they have annual licenses. Anyone with more than 10 races would have likely moved up to Cat 3 under the old structure. There are a lot of road racers that did their first cross race at DCCX as a 4 because they have annual licenses. There just are not enough Cat 5 cyclocross racers to justify running a separate field for them. The real problem here is that the old guys don’t race their category and there is only so much time in a day, especially for our race (Ed Sander in 2 weeks) because it gets dark at 5:30, hence why we dont have the Rookie race that DCCX has.

Edit: I looked at the USAC Results for DCCX. in our 125 man field only 23 racers were Cat 5s.

[consularrider]

Maybe when they add a cat 6 …

[ShawnoftheDread]

@consularrider 67312 wrote:

Maybe when they add a cat 6 …

Full panniers, taxi cab barriers, ninja joggers on the course, random dogs on long leashes…

[Mikey]

@ShawnoftheDread 67317 wrote:

Full panniers, taxi cab barriers, ninja joggers on the course, random dogs on long leashes…

No established start and finish lines. Only the racers know for sure.

[hozn]

@MattAune 67311 wrote:

You are right that as a one-day license racer you only have the 4/5 as an option.

The majority of Cat 4 racers are newbies with a few cross races under their belt and are grandfathered into a Cat 4 because they have annual licenses. Anyone with more than 10 races would have likely moved up to Cat 3 under the old structure. There are a lot of road racers that did their first cross race at DCCX as a 4 because they have annual licenses. There just are not enough Cat 5 cyclocross racers to justify running a separate field for them. The real problem here is that the old guys don’t race their category and there is only so much time in a day, especially for our race (Ed Sander in 2 weeks) because it gets dark at 5:30, hence why we dont have the Rookie race that DCCX has.

Edit: I looked at the USAC Results for DCCX. in our 125 man field only 23 racers were Cat 5s.

Thanks for clarifying! I didn’t fully appreciate the implications of the grandfather clause. Maybe I should have gotten an annual license for that 1 race so I could avoid the crashes in 4/5. Or maybe I should just enjoy being CAT-5 again and move up to CAT-4 when I have some more time to dedicate to the sport!

Thanks again.

[Author]

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