This article is the second in a series profiling the varied and amazing nominees for the 2009 Alice B. Toeclips Awards, which will be presented to five winners at the Alice Awards & Auction on March 7th. You can also read the
This year, the rapid growth of participants in the Portland-based River City Bicycles Cross Crusade race series solidified Cross Crusade’s place as “the largest cyclo-cross race series of its kind in the world,” according to BikePortland.org.
Brad Ross covered in...foam? Is that foam?
The numbers are indeed impressive. The eight races sponsored by Cross Crusade last year drew an average of 1,045 participants, a 25 percent gain over the average of 836 participants per race day in 2007, according to the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA).
Brad Ross is pleased with the growth and expects it to continue. Ross, age 42, has been the Cross Crusades director for the past nine years and is himself an avid cyclist who has packed his garage with about 30 bikes.
Ross says he has plenty of help from others who should share the credit, but for his efforts he has been nominated for an Alice B. Toeclips Award. According to one admirer, “the Cross Crusade has helped put Oregon on the map as a cyclocross haven and has reinforced its reputation as a bike-fun mecca.” The fun part is important, since the race gatherings are meant to be family friendly and lighthearted as well as venues for some hot competition over cold and often muddy terrain.
“Cyclocross is the most accessible form of bicycle racing,” says Ross. “While road and mountain bike racing can be intimidating, cross is just plain fun, accessible competition for all ages and abilities.” But it’s also serious competition, Ross notes. Participants are physically fit and master special techniques, such as dismounting the bike at speed, carrying it over barriers, shouldering it up hills, and all the while maintaining speed through turns and over rolling, muddy terrain.
The timed races generally last about 45 minutes and are typically run over a 1.5-mile course. The pace is frenetic for top riders, allowing competitors little time to rest and almost no opportunity for “drafting,” as in road races. For the serious riders cyclocross bikes, built for lightness as well as durability, are not cheap, usually running $2,000 or more.
The races are conducted over eight Sundays in October and November, with competitors categorized by ability level, age and gender. The most senior riders are in a “55-plus” group, with some individuals well in their 60s. There also races for kids, including one called the Kiddy Cross, in which Ross’s son, Brett, 4, competes. “They go out and get muddy with the best of them,” Ross says.
River City Bicycles, the primary sponsor of Cross Crusade, is pleased. Co-owners Mark Ontiveros and Dave Guettler praised the work of Ross and his associates. The races are a great place to hang out, especially for families, and fun to watch. Unlike a conventional road race, spectators can watch much of the action over the relatively short, if demanding, course. And everyone is welcome. “You don’t have to be a hot shot racer,” says Ontiveros. Beginners get cheered – and muddied – alongside everyone else.
