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MABRACross Race #5, The Tacchino, is set for November 8, 2009 at Rosaryville State Park.
Same great race, great new venue! With 11% More Cowbell!
Squadra Coppi is pleased to announce that this year's edition of the Tacchino will be hosted at Rosaryville State Park in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, about 15 minutes from the I-495 Beltway.
Many of you know the park from its highly groomed single track mountain bike trails, but the Park also features rolling fields with pavilions, bathrooms, and a nice mix of tarmac, gravel and dirt paths that will make it a great site for our race.
It will be spectator friendly as well. Pineapple Alley Catering will sell Belgian sausages and pommes frites at the race, and if you're 21 or over you will be able to wash it down with a selection of Belgian beer while you cheer.
We'll post more information about the race in a few weeks when the BikeReg page goes live.
Squadra Coppi promises 11% More Cowbell, or we'll give you your suffering back, no questions asked!
Many thanks to The Rosaryville Conservancy (the non-profit that actually operates the Park), Pineapple Alley Catering, and to Mid Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts (MORE) Trail Liaison for helping us secure this venue.
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Some general notes for the curious on the change of venue and what it means.
1) It's tough finding a good venue for cross. We had to move from the old location in Leesburg, and the MORE Trail Liaisons for the Park came through for us big time. I am very grateful, and now feel clever for having gotten to know them by doing trail work.
2) I'm amped about this venue because Rosaryville offers some interesting possibilities - like doing your warmup or cooldown on the cross bike-friendly, smoothly groomed 10 mile circumferential trail. Or doing some mountain biking, hitting the 10 mile trail and the two mile technical spur, and then spectating the 'cross race with a cold beer and some hot frittes. We do encourage you to race though. The field sizes are huge this year and NooBs are certainly welcome, particularly in the Cat 4 race, where nobody is going to give you grief for racing an MTB, a fixie, or a beater road bike with tiny knobbies. It's all good!
3) We haven't finalized the course layout yet. It's going to be based around the fields in the upper pavilion area. It's a lot less hilly than the old course with not as many forehead-slapping features as the old course. Ref approval permitting, we're going to have to generate features using the many off-cambers and smaller lumps in the ground, so you're going to wind up with a tape-technical euro-style rolling course. Ref's approval permitting, there will be an uphill tarmac sprint finish, a short section of narrow but groomed singletrack (not part of the main trail, just a spur), a long stretch of double track, a double sided pit, a nice little wash pit, and whatever else kind of funky crap we can dream up.
4) Show some love to the people who support the sport. Pineapple Alley Catering runs the Mount Airy Mansion located off the Rosaryville Road side of the Park. The mansion is spectacular, and is available for rent for weddings, big parties, and corporate events. MORE advocates for mountain biking in the region the way WABA does for commuters - except MORE also helps build the 'roads' we ride on. Please check out the MORE web site, and do some trail work when you get the chance.
2 comments:
Excellent. Thanks to you and the Squadra for coming through with another cx race (and one that's pretty close to boot). I'm sure it will be as challenging and fun as last year's edition.
My Italianophile wife informs me that it is "Ciclocross," fwiw. Last year the flyer and the permit were the only place it was correct - it's been wrong on the MABRA calendar for years. I'm psyched about the new venue - esp. Pineapple Catering! Rock on.
- KenBob
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