Sacramento Cyclocross

Hey Rich and crew… that was an awesome race and course!! I think I liked the fake “grass sand pit” barriers the best!!!

Great Job Everyone! Very Fun course and nice venue for racing and spectating. Hopefully, Disco Park becomes a regular stop for the Sac Series in future years.

Awesome Race and Venue, it is amazing that in only 2 years how fast the Sac CX Series has grown into a truly large scale and professional event. Ned Overland now that is big time, it shows you what is possible when people who love the sport and want to grow the sport locally can do. Thanks, and maybe one day AJ will Rock the Sac Series… I guess I should be in the masters cat by then….

Thanks Rich and everyone who helped put together this race! Definitely the most fun I’ve had at a Sac CX race so far!

Great venue, great course. Hopefully it will be a regular addition to the Sac Series. Thank you for all your efforts, well done.

G-Land
dont kid yourself. the Sac Series has been going on for years, and it is the early day pioneers who set it up for the races now a days. I can remember doing funner courses with talented riders years ago, and now the Sac Series is shaping up into good times as well. But it was the people who put it all together years ago that really deserve the credit. The sport has grown locally because of all the work over the years, not just because the past 2 years.
Thanks goes out to the folks who set the table for what you see now in cross racing in Sac.
And thanks to all the volunteers over the years, and the volunteers this past weekend.
Bobby B.

Thanks to all who set up a great, difficult course that kicked my a#&! Can’t wait to do it next year and I will be in better shape. Where was Ned Overend? Did he race? I wish I had known he was there!

Got it Bobby B!

Last time I check it was within the last 2-3 years that the Sac Series put together an informative and creative website, put together fast flowing CYCLOCROSS courses together and not mtn-cross courses, used new venues as opposed to ones that I raced on over the prior 3 years, provided payouts for Elite riders trying to cover some sort of expense, provide 1st. lap “hot lap” payouts and honestly I don’t remember any prior World Champions coming to race the Sac Races, maybe Tree Farm came a few years back but I haven’t seen him since. All I was saying is that the Series has grown exponentially over the last 2-3 years compared to the prior 3-4 years. That’s it and if you can say any different that good up to you..

Hi, all,

Here’s some background on Sac CX:

I was the promoter for the first 8 years. I think at our very first race at Negro Bar 10 years ago we had a total of 15 people. It was really new and grass roots! We grew little by little, and changed with the times. At first there was no need for websites or anything like that. In my later years as promoter, before Rich took over and really made things great, Jim Macdonald put together a website for Sac CX for us.

The early years had no money and were relying on each club to give prizes, which they did at each race. Later, there was money for the A’s, paid out of the prizelist.

In the first years the clubs put on races and there wasn’t much overall structure. Each club was free to decide how things were done. As the series grew it became important to run the races all the same in terms of scheduling and prizelists. Now there is a core crew that oversees everything, which is necessary as the series grows.

It is really gratifying to see the community that has grown around cyclocross in Sacramento. I am glad to have helped get it started, and even more glad that it is growing bigger and better each year.

Linda

Many thanks to Linda and John Elgart, and Jim McDonald, and definitely Rich and Sarah Maile and all the volunteers for making Sac CX what it is today!! I can tell you that if Linda hadn’t started this… I wouldn’t be having as much fun during the fall!!

To all who put this course together…This was my first cyclocross race and I thought it was put together very nicely. Thank you Rich and crew for the hard work. My wife and children enjoyed it as spectators as well.

Fernando R.

I’m a MTB racer who doesn’t even own a road bike. I had a lot of success this year on the trails and a friend encouraged me to try cx this winter and let me borrow his cx bike. My first race was the disco park event and man did I get my butt kicked. I definately wasn’t expecting the sprint pace of that first lap. Unfortunately there weren’t any technical areas for me to make up time and my 195lbs held me back on that flat grassy course. As an MTB guy I would have liked to see some climbs, decents, and techy stuff to increase that risk/fun factor but I guess that’s not what cx is. Anyways I had a great time and I’ll definately be back out there for another challenge.

Oh and if someone could wave a checkored flag or SOMETHING at the end of the race so I know that it’s over that’d be great…

The Elgarts have done a lot for Sacto Cross, So has Rich and Sarah and their crew. So has all the clubs that have helped out in the past and Rio Strada this past weekend. Just as all Presidents run the country, each has its own style, Elgarts had lots of races which is nice if you don’t like or have the time to travel, I know that is missed a bit. The Mailes are seeking for fewer but better quality races with more consistency, I know that is liked by some folks but for those who don’t want to travel is not liked as much.
However, Rich’s thought is to grow the whole cross movement, not just Sacto, so if you get the “Cross Bug” at one of his races, now you might venture out and check out a Bay Area Race or Central Coast or even a Portland one. With the lots of races format instead of one a month, folks rarely did travel to other races because they did not have the time to race multiple races in a month. In the end, I don’t think G-Land meant to put down anybody with his comment, he is just commenting on the current situation and going forward. I am sure if he commented, “Gordo, you looked and rode good today.”, that he did not mean, “Gordo, yesterday you looked like hell and rode bad”.
Great race, great crew, great fun and yes, I believe we have had Trebon, Wicks, Gina Hall etc, in the past and this past weekend, we had Overend. Cheers, Gordo