Boss Cross is the longest running cyclocross series in the Kansas City area - since 1999. Before that, the roots of BC were established in several outlaw show-and-go cross races held in various classic urban parks in midtown and downtown KC. We now offer the very best in local cyclocross by giving KC area racers the very best venues, best courses, and in general the best races around.
Here are the updated points before the final Boss Cross! Remember, the series winner in each category will get to race for free at all Boss Cross Cyclocross events in 2009! See you Sunday!
Men 1/2/3 Mark Studnicki 62 Andrew Coe 60 Steve Tilford 40 Brian Jensen 35 Shane Lee 32 Shadd Smith 32 Joe Schmalz 30 Chris Wallace 28 Jeff Winkler 26 Graham Aldredge 24
Women 1/2/3 Glenda Taylor 65 Teresa Jarzemkoski 55 Sydney Brown 40 Emily Schapker 35 Catherine Walberg 35 Jennifer Herrell Rhoades 32 Michelle Jensen 30
Men 3/4 Jason Knight 72 Josh Taylor 58 Tyler Henson 52 John Shipman 52 Matt Baugher 48 Patrick Angell 42 Alex Edwards 40 Robert Shultz 36 Britton Kusiak 35 Richard Hu 34 John Pahlmann 31
Cat 4 men Chris Polonchek 58 Peter Krause 46 Mark Cole 40 Tristan Collins 40 Todd Bellem 37 Paul Fancher 35 Josh Stamper 35 Kory Dillman 32 Jeffrey Bishop 30 Jonathon Schilling 30 Greg Anderson 28 Dan Oldehoeft 28 Wes Robertson 27
On another note, Kansas City has definitely earned a spot on the cycling map this year. Tons of good shit happened: Tour of Missouri, Cross Nationals, Chris Wallace, a huge expansion in local cross series... This may be the best year ever for cycling in this town. Some of you may disagree, and it probably is debatable, but the last three (three!!) months have been stellar.
Boss Cross has been ok too, I think. We have seen a ton of new people at our races, and it's great. The venues and courses have been awesome, thanks to the weather in November. Now, here's the last one of the year. If you remember last year's race, I think it was held around the same time, definitely similar weather. Wet, muddy, coldish. Some people may think that this is going to be an easy race... well, there's not a monster hill at English Landing, but we're still going to kick your teeth in. Come out, have fun.
See you soon.
P.S. Joe Fox is going to post the points leaders and standings for the series so far. He's worked out a new system (more sophisticated and probably smarter than anyone I ever devised in the early days), so it's up to him to get it posted. Call him at Cycle City and badger him for it. Really - 816-415-0001
Because the weather is going to turn nasty, KLM has requested that we help spread the word and let y'all know that there is NO PRE-RIDING on the Nationals course. We've been out there helping with setup and all that, and everyone has done a lot of hard work getting the course cherry for Thursday. So, we would like to avoid any damage to the course (tape, stakes, etc) before the racing starts... So, here's the official word:
Spread the word to your teammates and post on your websites that due to the rain and snow that we are getting the KCCX Course will be closed all day Tuesday and most of Wednesday to preserve the course. We want to minimize any pre-race damages to the turf and course equipment such as fence posts, barrier tape etc. We will make a decision on Wednesday whether or not we will allow any pre-riding before Thursday. Thanks in advance.
Results are in folks. Check them out here. Thanks for coming out and enjoying the lovely conditions we had. Updated series points and Boss Cross #3 flyer will be posted shortly. Remeber, the series champ from each category gets to race for free next year!
Points will be updated after tomorrows race. Scale is as follows: 40, 35, 32, 30, 28, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16 down to 1. All racers that finish get at least 1 point.
Men 1/2/3 Steve Tilford 40 Brian Jensen 35 Shadd Smith 32
Women 1/2/3 Sydney Brown 40 Catherine Walberg 35 Jennifer Herrell Rhoades 32
Men 3/4 Alex Edwards 40 Britton Kusiak 35 Jason Knight 32
Men 4 Mark Cole 40 Paul Fancher 35 Chris Polonchek 32
Here's a map of the parcours for Sunday. It may vary in actuality. We're going out in the AM to set up, and we're wont to changes. Forecast for Saturday is rain. Snow flurries on Sunday. Bitchin.
Thanks to a grant from the KCA Women's Cycling Development program, we are able to reduce the entry fee for Cat 4 Women from $25 to $10! You still need a one-day if you don't have an annual license...
Here it is, y'all. First a couple of things. One, I'm a computer retard. I really don't know how to do much online except what's required of me at work. Secondly, I'm a computer recluse. There is a distinct disconnect between my generation and the one that seems to dominate these blogs and forums and all that other crap. I don't know if it's because I'm pretty satisfied with my real life (other than being fat, out of shape, slow, and out of town for weeks on end) that I don't feel compelled to sit on all these websites, forums, bulletin boards and blogs and post my mundane stuff. Maybe I don't think that I'm interesting enough, or there are others that are interested enough in what I do on a day to day basis to fill up the interweb with more drivel. Maybe kids these days are so hyper-connected to a larger community, one where the boundaries are limited by bandwidth rather than riding distance that it's second nature to live part of their lives on the internets. Anyway, it's been awhile since I've posted anything.
Now we have something to post: This Sunday, November 30, is Boss Cross #2. It's at Platte Ridge Park in Platte City. It's going to be a similar course to last year, and if you were there last year then you know it's hard. You have to have legs and lungs, but, kids, you also must have skills. We've heard from several this year that the courses are not technical enough, whatever that means... I guess if I feel egotistical enough, I can take a bit of blame for that...
See, when most of us who have been racing for more than 4 years started out, there were maybe 9 cross races a year. The season started generally the first weekend of November and went to late January, usually 3 races a month. There was Slimen Und Grossen at this sweet little mudhole park in western Shawnee - there were three races here, two and sometimes three races at Big Shunga (I think) in Topeka and if we were lucky, maybe a race or two at the river trails in Lawrence. Every once in a while someone else would come along and put on a random race. The Topeka races were badass - grassy, paved, hilly. The river trail races were what you would expect (Ian Kirby bunnyhopping huge logs) - a long section of the river trails with a section coming back on the levee with some goathead thorns in the field between the trail and the levee if you were lucky. And there there were the S&G races.
As I look back, I can't say that I fully appreciated these races or this venue. A big race was 50 people, we usually lined up in the rain, and we always had a bitchin raffle for prizes rather than the winners taking home all the good shit. The park (or land) was small. Really small. And it was always muddy, like ankle deep mud for the entire course, and I don't remember the grass ever being mowed... There was a short section that went up a short stiff climb; near there, really part of the same landscape feature, but in a wooded area, there was a wicked muddy rutted right hand turn around a tree, up a step directly down into steep white knuckle descent into a left hand turn onto crumbling asphalt. There were some other things, but what you need to take away from this, is this: due to the mud, a small venue, and the always crappy weather, we learned to ride our bikes well, I think really well. Also, the race speeds were pretty slow... yeah, Tilford was fast, but the Bs where I lined up... we were slow, not because we weren't strong (I was 10 years younger, single, skinny... we all were), but because riding a course in deep-ass mud is slow!
In the caveman days of the internet, we (or at least I) didn't have youtube type videos of the euros... I had a couple of WCP videos of CX worlds, and some races that were taped in the 80s, and pictures in magazines. Seeing the courses that the Euros were riding did something to me. Yeah, there were muddy sections (really muddy) and there were steep descents and runs (I was a mountain bike racer, I could handle those), but there was also A LOT of wide open paved sections, and a lot of fast flats, and these guys hauled ASS. AND, they started racing at the end of September. These course elements were things that we didn't have a lot of here in KC, mostly based on venue availability... but, it looked like these races were grass crits, with some hard shit thrown in, rather than the hard races with some flats thrown in if the park had it to give... So, I thought that we could lengthen the season and bring some of these 'Euro' elements to our scene with a new series, Boss Cross. We started doing free show-and-go races in downtown KC parks, and these featured a lot of pavement and flat sections, lots of grass as well as a lot of really hard technical features (stairs at Gillham Park?). We moved cyclocross from the Slimen Und Grossen era into something like what we have now... And my hat is off to Mark, Joel, and Curt for all those races, that was truly the stuff of legends.
So, what we have now, is a lot of grass, lots of pavement, lots of speed and a couple of barriers thrown in and some off camber stuff. Partly this is due to federation rules, but at least for my part, it was because that is what I wanted to see in a race. I wanted to watch fast guys go fast. And today's races are still hard - I still can't figure out how to get around that weird right hander into the stairs at HPT... And all the guys racing now are fast. Now we need some hairy technical stuff... Like it used to be. With all this said, Boss Cross #2 is going to require you to bring your A game. You will have to negotiate steep climbs, corners, hairy descents... You're going to have to get off your bike and run some of that turkey off. And, you will still be able to put it in the big chainring, if you have one. But, it's time to start working on the handling, kids.
Folks it's almost that time! Boss Cross #1 is just 2 days away. The course is sweet and dialed, and the weather will be spring like. The race is at Tiffany Springs Park. 1/2 mile north of 1-52 on Hampton Rd. If you have questions on directions call myself (Joe 816-820-0366), or Jeremy (816-695-8608). Registration will begin at 9:00 am with the first race at 10:15 with the Women and Juniors lining up. We've got some great prizes lined up and healthy payout for women open, men open and 3/4. This will be the same course as Nationals in December, obviously some sections are open for change, but plan on coming back in December. See you Saturday.
All the races have experienced a larger turnout this year... This is good, right? More racers equals more competition... If you're me, then it means more people kicking your ass, but if you race in the Women's categories, or as a junior, this also means that you are racing earlier. You now race at 10:15. Sorry to make you wake up earlier, but I need my beauty rest (and so do those hideous 3/4 dudes)... I know that the master's have been up since 4:00 am, but, that's the way it goes.
As y'all may know, KC is home to CX nats again this year... This year, Boss Cross #1 is giving a preview of what the course will be like when it's 60F and dry at Tiffany Springs Park. There's been some interest from people who are interested in things like the CX Nationals course, so we're hoping to have a big turnout... With bigger payouts in a manner commensurate with a bigger bunch. So, we'll see you there. As always, let us know if you have questions...
Check the #1 flyer, if you've been around awhile, you may recognize it...
Okay, boys and girls, here's the REVISED flyer with all the info you need to make the races. We will be having a pre-reg party on 10/23 - $65 for all three races, depending on your category.
NOTE that Power Plant Brewery in Parkville is no more... Sooo, we're having the pre-reg party at Pizza Shoppe in KCMO, next to Cycle City on Prairie View.
Welcome to the Boss Cross blog. This is the best source for information on the 2008 Boss Cross Cyclocross Series. We will be posting venues, course maps, and other assorted stuff to keep all of you up to date on the developments for this season.
Quickly, BC08 will be presenting two new venues this year:
11/01/08 - Tiffany Springs Park, Kansas City, MO (Home of the Boss Cross Short Track Cross Country Mountain Bike Series - If you missed this one, you're lame)
11/28/08 - Platte Hills Park, Platte City, MO - New portion of the park we debuted last year
12/28/08 - English Landing Park, Parkville, MO - Pretty much the same bitchin course as last year
So, bookmark the page, we'll be updating it often... See you soon!
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