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Saturday 3 November 2012

Police And Thieves

Well that was a fun afternoon.

You know the drill, we clean stuff up and write up results / race reports, you send us links to videos and photos.

Go.



Mi mi mi mi mi
Pic: Baudman


Video!
 
Ramp airtime

 Relay Transitions


A Grade Handicap Rider POV

Wednesday 31 October 2012

Sugar High, Gotta Feel It, Can't Conceal It


Only two days to go until Brunswick Cycling Club and Dirty Deeds CX present Spooky Cross, incorporating the SSCXWC, and I can tell you that DDCXHQ is Big Kev Excited, and it has nothing to do with snacking on the sweets as we fill the lolly bags.


Racing will kick off at 4pm Saturday 3rd of November at Australia's spiritual home of cyclocross, Harrison Street Velodrome, and we'll be cutting the lights and packing down at 9pm, the order of events is as follows:

Rego/course practice will open at 3pm (ish), $10 entry for adults, $5 for kids, $5 / $3 in costume.

  • Time Trials / Hot lap
  • Kids Scratch
  • Open Scratch
  • CXW/CXB Scratch
  • CXA Scratch
  • Relay
  • Kids Handicap
  • Open Handicap
  • CXW/CXB Handicap
  • CXA Handicap
  • SSCXWC Trophy Race
  • Presentations
"Relay" you say? Think a cyclocross version of the Little 500, (side note, there better be a team dressed up as the Cutters,) with two person teams racing on the same bike, mandatory bike changes each lap. Unlike the Little 500, you have to have brakes.

The final event of the night will be the SSCXWC Trophy Race. Yes there are trophies and medals, yes Blakey & Erle made them in the backyard from scrap bike parts, but don't you want to be the first woman or man to get your name engraved on it? Who cares about the first NCXS results, this is where the real glory lives.

If you do not have a BMXA/CA/MTBA licence or a temporary permit/DDCX Season Pass, we will have some 3 ride permits for sale, these will be $50 and you can use it for two other CA sanctioned races within 3 months. If you are a little tacker, i.e. under 11yo, an annual Kidz licence will cost you $15.

Nikcee & Jez have been whipping up a spooktacular course that includes a tunnel of terror, 'jump zone' barriers, lasers, smoke and who knows, possibly even zombie obstacles.

There will be free face painting for the kids (and the adults) from 4-6pm, lolly bags for every competitor in the kids race (sorry parents for the sugar high that will ensue!), hell, lolly bags for most of the adults too!

Beatbox Kitchen will once again be slinging burgers and fries, and if you're lucky you might even get a freebie if you can grab the voucher while you're racing. 

What more do you want? Get in costume, come on down, race, heckle, have a banger of a time and help us close out the 2012 Cyclocross season with a complete lack of style.

Sunday 28 October 2012

Pumpkin Faces In The Night

Just under a week until SpookyCX and the first ever BCCDDCXSSCXWC race.

DDCXHQ have been organising their costumes and busily making trophies and medals to award to the SSCX champions. Too much coffee was consumed and the engraving is a little shaky, we're working on it.

 

We'd like to take a moment to remind you that whilst we highly encourage dressing up, whether you're racing or spectating, please put some thought and creativity into your costume. Take a leaf out of Ohio University's book and skip the cultural appropriation, and give any pre-made costumes with 'sexy' in the title a pass. (Unless of course it's 'sexy zombie pigeon'.) Use your imagination, get your DIY on and see if you can win our best costume award on the night.


If you have any questions about licencing / race categories etc, drop us a line now, don't leave it until Friday.

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Calendar Girl

Brian 'does it in a dress' Mangano has put together a sweet 2013 CX calendar just in time to purchase at SpookyCX. A portion of the profits goes to the excellent Brunswick Cycling Club's junior clinic. Buy a calendar, support the kids & keep Brian fed so he can keep taking shots of you getting rad. Bring $15, or your eftpos card along on the night.


Sunday 14 October 2012

In A World Of Ghosts...


Pic: Brian Mangano, who does it in a dress.

So the DDCX politburo sat down over an ale last week and finally hashed out the details for the race.

Festivities will kick off at 4pm and wind up around 9pm so we don't wear out our welcome with the neighbours.

Race classes have changed a little this time:
  • Kids
  • Open - MTBs, folding bikes, tandems, etc
  • CX - tyres <35mm, drop bars.
  • SSCX, yes SSCX! - Singlespeed drivetrain (tensioners and SS kits ok), tyres <35mm, fully rigid frame, flat/drop bars, 26"/700C ok.
This might be an unserious night of racing, but we take rider safety seriously, and as such you will need to have a BMXA/MTBA/CA licence, or a Dirty Deeds Season Pass, or a CV 3 ride permit. If you are under 11 years old then you can purchase a Kidz licence on the day for $15, and this is valid for one year. If you are confused, or washed your DDCX pass after the last race, email us.

To begin with there will be a 'Hot Lap' / TT which will be used to seed riders, and of course there will be a prize for the fastest lap of the night. And if someone does a lap in 66.6 seconds they'll probably get a prize too.

Following that the schedule will include the following races:
  • Short duration scratch and handicap racing for all classes
  • Little 500 style relay race (all riders on a team must ride the same bike)
  • Inaugural Brunswick CC - Dirty Deeds CX Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championship
If you come dressed in costume you'll get discounted entry, but the registration desk reserves the right to reject any lame attempts. Here's some inspiration for you: http://imgur.com/a/zMoDe

We can't promise mud, the Great Pumpkin or fantastic prizes, but we can promise lolly bags, fun & good times.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Rain On The Scarecrow

I'm already a week late on my report from Sydney, but amongst a myriad of excuses there is the fact that 'cross season just got reaallllll good over in the states.

How good?

This good...
(all photos courtesy cyclingdirt.com)

Watch what I mean here:

Watch more video of 2012 Providence Cyclocross Festival CyclingDirt Classic #1 on cyclingdirt.org

Massive props to (21yr old!) Zach McD for his clear win in a heavyweight Elite field and for being so humble about it. Helen Wyman getting her 9th straight win deserves some recognition too.

Nys/Albert battling in Ruddervoorde wasn't bad either...

The first World Cup in a couple of weeks will be interesting.

Monday 1 October 2012

(I Wanna See) Oka Everywhere

As the brain fog clears from a great weekend up in Sydney for the final rounds of the inaugural National Cyclocross Series the fun ain't done (just yet).



First of all much congratulation is due to the overall winners (AJ and Lisa Jacobs) as well as the individual round winners (Sid and Mel) for some wicked good racing on a very interesting course. The battles all up and down the positions between many new friends made it hard and fun. It was truly a great way to end what was a great series.



 I'm sure the fine folks at CA will have the overall series rankings published soon enough so you can see where you finished and it might inspire you to head out of state to a few more of the races next year (if only to make sure that Blakey doesnt end up beating you overall).



Coming up this weekend is the final race of the Cross Melburn series. After many venue headaches they are back at Lysterfield, and you can be pretty sure that the beach will make a comeback after the success/suffering it caused last time. It also features my favourite stair set in any course I've raced. Head over here for more information...

 Then the weekend afterwards is the Double Cross. Many of the DDCX organisers will be in attendance so don't be afraid to say hi, or share a sandwich with us at the feed zones. Well except for Jeremy as he will likely just be quickly bunny-hopping off into the distance. Word is that the course is pretty damn fun and you don't want that cross bike to get dusty do you?


and finally, plans are coming together for the aforementioned SpookyCX. Have no fear more information is coming once Blakey returns from his foray into #vanlife, but suffice to say costumed racer entry discounts, mystery tents, inter-discipline race formats and lots of high fives are all in store. We are deadly serious about this being a fun event.

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Cross-Eyed Mary

Here's something for your mid morning coffee break. Some nicely put together footage from the recent Dirty Deeds CX x Rapha Supercross race, featuring many local cross characters and a koala with an STI.


Sunday 23 September 2012

We Will Become Silhouettes

UPDATE: Results can be found here

========
Race Report by Luke Costin

Lewis Rattray showed why he is Victoria’s best cyclo-cross rider with an outstanding comeback in the inaugural state championships at Bundoora Park on Sunday. Rattray clawed his way back to the lead after an early chain slip to take out the extremely fast Men’s Elite race by a handful of seconds. Allan Iacoune finished second.

In the Women’s Elite race, Mel Anset led from start to finish in a dominant display. But it was far from easy. “It was very hard out there. I was suffering the whole time,” said Anset. “I don’t ride in a bunch much so I like to be by myself.”

But it was Rattray who claimed ride of the day. After the mechanical incident on Lap 6 that dropped him back to fifth, a determined Rattray began to whittle away the lead of Iacoune and Adrian Jackson. Taking a few seconds each lap, Rattray’s faster riding pressured the frontrunners to take more risks, causing Jackson to misjudge a barrier and fall out of title contention. Eventually the hard work paid off for Rattray and he rejoined Iacoune at the front with seven laps remaining. There he continued his higher pace before his final lap surge broke Iacuone. “It was an amazing job to get across to us after his accident and he slipped his chain,” said Iacoune. “I was hoping to get him on the last lap and gap him around the back of the course but unfortunately he gapped me.” “I thought Allan would probably roll me in a sprint so I thought I’d go for it a bit earlier,” Rattray said. “I got over the barriers and into my pedals quickly and I was in front so I just attacked and put my head down.”

Earlier, the Masters division was won by Alpine Cycling Club’s Mat Gray.
Gareth Heitmann (Carnegie Caulfield CC), who survived multiple punctures including one on the final lap, threw his bike over his shoulder and ran the final metres to take out the B Grade Men's category while Emma Best (MTBA) won the Women's B Grade event.

In the first race of the day, the Under 15 Victorian cyclo-cross title was won by fourteen year old Liam Jefferies (MTBA). Liam's ride was arguably the second most impressive of the day, managing to comprehensively defeat Penrith's Jack Edwards across the line. This is particularly impressive for two reasons - Edwards won the Under 17 title, and he is also the current Under 17 Australian Champion in a number of road and track events (Pursuit, Scratch Race & Criterium).

A special mention must also be made to Mark Drehlich, Cycling Victoria’s Development Manager, who completed the Open Men’s race on his trusty old mountain bike.
------------

While we wait for CV to finish bundling up the tape and sorting out the podiums for the many and varied Masters categories, we'd like to throw out a huge thanks to Kipp at CV for putting in the hard yards and making the first Victorian State Cyclocross Championships a hard fought and well run event.

Congratulations go to Mel Anset and Lewis Rattray, our first State Champions, who earned their titles with panache.

Tag any instagram photos you took or see with #viccx and they'll appear in the slideshow below. Stay tuned for some sort of race report and full results.

If you have a link to a photo album, send it in and we'll list them here.

We know you're a bunch of cheapskates, but consider spending some of your coffee money on photos from these great people who spend hours on course and yet more behind a computer so that you can show your PRO style off to others. They gotta eat too!
Andy Rogers / Fame & Spear
Brian Mangano / BMP Photography
Kathryn Feldmaier
Jo Upton
Andrew Briscoe

Thursday 20 September 2012

Lonely Ol Night

Further to the info below about the CV State Championships...

If anyone is keen to help out they should arrive at the venue at 10 to help set up.

As always these events rely in part on the assistance of volunteers to happen.

The sooner the course is set-up, the sooner we can get our pre-rides in!

In other news... how good was the cross vegas racing yesterday? It looks like North America is going to have a hard fought season this year... especially if you can't hop barriers.

Former junior World Champ Arnoud Jouffroy hopped the barriers each lap. CrossVegas 2012. ©Cyclocross Magazine

Wednesday 19 September 2012

Future Crimes

Today is your last chance to register for a crack at the first ever Victorian State Cyclocross Championships. There might be rego on the day for non championship events (jnrs, open, B etc), but why take the chance on missing out? Register here.

Not that keen? Get pumped up for Sunday by following the LIVE WEBCAST FEED of the traditional US season opener, CrossVegas, this afternoon, while your boss thinks you're working hard.

Love is kind of crazy with a spooky little boy like you

You've heard the rumblings coming from DDCXHQ, the rumours are true, hallowe'en SPOOKYCX is go!

(Apologies to Sime for sullying his art)

Lock in Saturday November 3rd for an afternoon & evening of short track, costume filled, cyclocross fun.

If you have a DDCX Season Pass, hang on to it, as Cycling Victoria, bless their cotton socks, have extended the validity of it to include SPOOKYCX, so you won't need to buy another licence. If you have a CA/MTBA/BMXA/Kidz licence, then you're also fine. If you don't have a licence, we might be able to hook you up with a 3 ride permit, but email us early so you don't miss out.

We'll release more info on the schedule, race types etc soon (i.e. once we finish with the State Championships and National CX Series and work it out ourselves), but if you like fun and bikes, then you should come on down whether you're riding or not.

This race day will also include the first BCCDDCXSSCXWC race. And you wouldn't want to miss that now, would you?

Thursday 13 September 2012

Watch The Corners

While down at this end of the earth are heading into the final stages of the season, on the other side of the globe they are frantically gluing tubulars, justifying gear upgrades and shaking the dust off forgotten barrier-hopping skills.
Courtesy Gateway Cross

Although the 'real show' hasn't actually started, racers everywhere are getting ready and the hype is building.

If you want to stay up on who is looking good and why, I can't recommend the work of Erik @ pavepavepave enough. Good, clear reasoned analysis of both the US and Euro racing, done weekly.


If you like a bit of energy, CyclingDirt's (in)famous "Who's #1?" weekly video will mix visuals, hilarity and good information. CyclingDirt do an amazing job of covering a lot of US (and often Euro) races and their pre- and post-race interviews really reveal the character (and characters) of the sport.

Cross Vegas is next week and word on the web is that there will be a livestream again this year. Last year was a great Men's race so I'm hoping to check in and catch it again.



Monday 3 September 2012

Werewolf Bar Mitzvah

The state championships are less than three weeks away and registration closes September 20th, so be sure to register. There are SRS BSNSS grades (Elite & Masters 1) and 'Why so serious?' grades, so don't be afraid of entering, Kipp & CV are going to show you a good time.

Then the week after that, the inaugural national cyclocross series winds up with the final two rounds in Sydney. And hot on its heels, Cross Melburn has its final round (after the unfortunate news that this weekend's race had to be cancelled due to the sheer amount of rain at the venues).

And then that's it right? No more CX until 2013 rolls around?

Not necessarily! DDCX HQ have been inspired by De Luca's clown costume and Sime's corpse paint and are busy pulling strings in the background to try and put together a season ending afternoon & evening of racing & good times that may or may not include an official unoffical BCCDDCXSSCXWC race.

So, if you have a DDCX Season Pass, don't throw it away, don't leave it in your jersey pocket and wash it like Dave did, instead, stick it to your fridge and stand by for further announcements.



 

SPOOOOKY, SCARY!

Saturday 1 September 2012

A Cheery Wave From Stranded Youngsters

After a little wrestling with various spreadsheet products and googledocs DDCX HQ are proud to present the results for Round 2. If you head over to the Results page you can find out who you snuck in front of on your last lap, or who you didn't realise was actually in front of you the whole time.




In other far more exciting news, entries are now open for the Victorian State Cyclocross Championships. You can find the details here, but as DDCX are mildly entangled in the event I would like to help answer a few questions I've been asked.

This is only a State Championship race for Kids, Masters and Elites. There is another TWO races for everyone else who loves cross, but doesn't feel like rubbing elbows with the likes of Rattray, Jackson and co. These are 'Any Bike' and 'B grade', just like those offered by DDCX... there's no title on offer for these grades so sandbaggers are a lot less likely.



Yes, you can use your DDCX permit for the latter two races so don't throw it out. The trick is to use the manual form to enter (the same goes for MTBA and BMXA licence holders as the CV system doesn't yet know your friendly folks). Knowing how enthusiastic the organiser is for this I'm prepared to say that this will be a good course and the elite race will be very hotly contested (which means great watching).



I'm personally excited to see DDCX's favourite podium girl Emily Hughes smile her way to a Junior championship, but she will have to battle her new rival Emily Jackson who has obviously been using the fresh country air and wide open spaces of Bairnsdale to her advantage recently.



Races will be started in waves, both for categories (B grade vs Masters) and for gender (Mens vs Women). An example is that Masters will be racing at the same time as B grade, but one will start a minute or so before the other.

So don't be afraid of the name and come out and have a go at the newest course Victorian cyclocross has to offer!

All photos kindly courtesy of proud parent and best vintage bike winner Rik Blazevic

Wednesday 29 August 2012

I Paint My Face


-->

Words by Hamish "I'm a real reporter" Fitzsimmons & Andrew "I'm a shaaaark" Blake. Nik "Beard Power" Cee added random remarks but isn't really as funny as those guys.

Its rare that I'm at a loss for words but Sunday left me speechless. The turnout and effort of Dirty Deeds Rapha Supercross was so good it seemed like a dream.

More than 600 of the cross faithful and the cross curious turned up to the Harrison Street Velodrome to worship at the altar of mud, frites and gears.


At the stroke of noon the kids blazed away at the infield before you could say 'face paint'.  Yet again it was another sell-out of this category which is hardly a surprise given mud and grass are a familiar playground for many of the entrants.


(c) Rolly

Some of the younger riders had managed to get in line behind the grown ups getting lightning bolts and corpse paint and set a blinding pace around the track. It also marked the first inter-generational Dirty Deeds Crew racing (hey, I announce it, I get to mention it), although for sheer commitment it's hard to beat the Jackson family, who have travelled from Bairnsdale for every DDCX race.


Emily Jackson took out the girls race, just pipping BCC track gun Emily Hughes and Conall Murphy the boys, ahead of Blake Williams.

By the time the open race was up the fries were flowing from Beatbox Kitchen, the Rapha cowbells and various purloined kitchen pots were a clanging and we were off.

A course by Nik Cee is a course of course to be reckoned with. This one was deceiving to the casual observer. Inside the velodrome was boggy for the main but surprisingly quick in other sections. The mud from June's prologue was absent which is weird because it's been wet. Outside, the Roberts Reserve section of the course provided some respite before the off camber carnage that was Pavlis' Hill.


Your humble commentator started to get concerned and think Brendan's family friendly set on the mic was losing the punters, who might have come to hear his blue work. But it turned out the hill was the place to be. The descent, even after we'd made it slightly easier following the slippery slapstick of warm up laps that was best viewed with Yakety Sax playing on the PA, was highly technical. The climb back up short and brutal. The crowd surrounding it both heckling and cheering in equal measure.



After the open was smashed to bits by Heather 'Crazy Socks' Hoggan and Nicholas Morgan in their respective classes, it was time for B grade men's, one of the most contested and coveted races of the day. Sam Watson was the man with the most, then the battle of the Bens. Ben Walderden and Ben Healey took centre stage. Leigh Schilling had been promoted to A, but had time commitments and so graciously agreed to forgo any prizes and raced in B for the good times. Racers that could manage to ride up Pavlis' Hill were rewarded with Beatbox Kitchen burger & chips vouchers by Shark Man.



The women's race was kindly started off by Councillor Oscar Yildiz from the City of Moreland, the man who shall be forever known as 'He who saved cyclocross'. Without Oscar's support this whole thing might not have happened so the biggest thanks to him and the good folk at the City of Moreland.

(c) Hamish

It was a classic exhibition of the sport in A grade women's with Mel Anset coming up trumps followed by Erica Gurner and Kate McCormack. The rise in number and quality of women's entrants is yet another testament to the growth of the sport across all levels.


The crowd was incredible. The cheering and heckling was at fever pitch by the time the men's A grade took to the start line at 3. Indeed the best performing spectator on the day was awarded a Focus CX bike. It was timely for Rich as he'd been on the three bike rule from a higher power and wining a CX bike means he'll be on the receiving end next year.


The A grade start was one of the fastest ever with racers rushing to be the first around the initial corners and not surrender valuable positions before the course opened up. Much like the clown he was dressed as Leigh DeLuca shot off the start as if he was fired out of a cannon claiming the hole shot, but not the $5 holeshot prime that Brendan was waving. Not so quick was international import and now Sydney resident Vanilla-Speedvagen team rider Jeff Curtes who slipped a pedal off the start and managed to superman his way into a dropped chain (inside his chain catcher as well). The crowd held their breath as fears of marring one of the best bikes seen at Dirty Deeds circulated. His ride to recover from nearly half a lap behind was outstanding and the podium would have looked different had Jeff had a clean start. But that's cyclocross for you.


What followed was some great battling between the top riders of the series around the different elements of the course. The roadies loved the faster bike path sections while the lighter-weight amongst the field took back time on the tacky muddy ruts and pinch climbs. Several racers bikes bore the brunt of the racing with broken chains and flat tires drawing riders back into the pits, and a few riders who won't be named were seen taking unauthorised wheel changes and bike swaps on course. Lucky there were many around the course offering adult refreshments for those riders running back to change bikes or parts. Steve 'duggaduggadugga' Duggan followed his run of mechanicals with a jog along the course, but was spotted taking a shortcut by Sam 'you're all numbers to me' McGregor and summarily DQ'd in a manner which suggested that Duggan was more than just a number to Sam.


After 45mins the grass settled and Lewis Rattray overcame a horrible start to claim his first win for the year. Not only a nice guy off the course, he is disconcertingly pleasant on the course often asking politely to pass lapped riders. His stoke on finally winning again was evident to all. Following closely on his wheels was Allan Iacuone and NCXS Round 1 winner Luke Fetch.

Whimsy!
It wouldn't be a Dirty Deeds race if we didn't give out the best prizes for whimsical reasons, because serious bike racing is best left to the humourless UCI, and as HMC says, we just like to ride our pushies a bit.
  • Best Costume: Grover, who supermanned across the line in a zentai suit a couple of years ago dressed up as Captain Planet and took home a Treadlie subscription for his trouble.
  • Most enthusiastic spectator: Rich Kemp went all out, all day, and took home a sweet Ultegra equipped Focus CX bike.
  • Best super commuter went to David W & his purple trek multitrack 700, earning a Full Monty service at Commuter Cycles.
  • Best vintage bike was Rick Blazevic and his Giant ATX780, winning a porteur rack from Constructeur.
  • Duty before DDCX to Dr. John Roy for assisting Verity who binned it hard on Pavlis' Hill, winning a frame from Larry's Custom Cycles.
  • 2nd Best costume to Golden Gloves De Luca, also winning a frame from Larry's Custom Cycles.
  • Colin Bell also won a frame from Larry's Custom Cycles, why? I can't remember, but I'm sure he earned it.
  • Furtherest travelled went to Scott Kirton from Ipswich, taking home some Rapha swag.
  • Can't Stop, Won't Stop #1 went to Grant Hay for his amazing pile up into superman on Pavlis' Hill, scoring a pair of Avid Shorty Ultimates from SRAM.
  • Can't Stop, Won't Stop #2 went to duggaduggadugga for not only destroying his rear brake in Adelaide, but also his chain during the race, jogging the whole course, winning a Paul Neo Retro canti from Fitzroy Revolution & the ever supportive DC.


Observations
Facial hair.
Thankfully none of the kids were sporting beards, except one- a Rapha racing Koala of sorts who bore a striking resemblance to Mr Daniel Strauss ( a gold gum leaf to Dan for doing every race in the character too)

The facial frolics of Open and B grade riders were well turned out in a style that said, 'Mountain bikes are the new 650B'. The standard of facial hair in A grade was all over the place with a return to bush ranging look of the 1880s.

Socks
This is an area in which A grade men's and women's had it all over the rest of the days racing. Impeccable. One really couldn't fault it at all.. The stress of maintaining correct sock height was too much for many to bear and the toll was taken on the overlord of length, Northside Wheeler's supremo, Malachi Moxon.

Special thanks
Thanks to all our sponsors especially Wade Wallace and Andy Pike from Rapha for the huge effort they put in.

We love having the following people on board for their support and sponsorship, so return the favour and give them your business:SRAM, Focus Bikes, Fitzroy Revolution, Larry's Custom Cycles, Schwalbe, Coffee Supreme, Constructeur, The Massage Oil Shop, Treadlie, CycleOps, Northside Wheelers, Commuter Cycles, Beatbox Kitchen and CyclingEdge.

And an extra special, super oversized thankyou to Dave Morgan, without whom Brunswick Cycling Club and Dirty Deeds CX would struggle to function.


Results
Blakey has been poring over the run sheets and compiled the results for all the grades, once they're formatted for publication we'll post up a link.

If you podiumed (top 5) and weren't there to collect your prizemoney, get in touch and we'll work out a way to get it to you.

PHOTOS!
There's about Avogadro's Number of photos out there, here is a collection of links to peruse. Please consider purchasing prints from people like Brian Mangano so he can feed his family and keep photographing you.
Brian Mangano
Andy Rogers / Fame & Spear
Marisa Farrell
Simon Cornish
Mik Efford
Dave Hogan
Rik Blazevic
Hot Brad
Kirsten Simpson 
Winston Struye

And finally, video:






Monday 27 August 2012

Go, twenty-five kilometers of enemy land, cross mud, snow, ice, rock and plenty of sand

We have a guest post today from commentator extraordinaire Brendan Bailey.

Longtime fan and supporter of DDCX, Molly Hurford, aka 'The Girl With The Cowbell Tattoo' is now a published author, with the release of Mud, Snow and Cyclocross: How 'Cross Took Over US Cycling. (Also available for Kindles, Nooks & iPads!)



On with the show:
---
I used to write all the race reports for Dirty Deeds. It was a pretty fun job, I gotta admit, even if it was time consuming. As well as getting to make any number of jokes about random in-jokes, I got to tell the stories of the races, and that’s always the best bit. An added bonus I didn’t anticipate, however, was that I got to know a whole bunch of the folks I was sending these reports to.
One of these folks was Molly Hurford of Cyclocross Magazine – the Girl With The Cowbell Tattoo herself. After the Australian season was over we kept emailing back and forth, and eventually became pretty good friends. I sent her a shirt from this year’s DDCX and she asked me to review her new book – Mud, Snow and Cyclocross: How ‘Cross Took Over US Cycling.

I thought that perhaps I’d have to take off my friend hat and put on my cynical reviewer hat, and that that would cause some ructions. But there was no need – the friendly voice Hurford uses in her personal correspondence is exactly the same as the one she uses in her professional writing. It’s relaxed and breezy, and the fun tone makes the book incredibly easy to read. I sat in the back of an Italian class and knocked over fifty pages without taking an eye off students conjugating verbs.

It’s also obvious that Hurford loves the sport, and she brings an insider’s perspective to the writing. She’s obviously spent a lot of time with the people she’s interviewing, and her familiarity seems to put them at ease – her subjects are generally candid and honest, even if they are disagreeing with each other.
The emphasis on oral history means there are a good variety of voices, and Hurford has gone to considerable lengths to ensure that she has spoken to both a demographically representative sample and also the right voices from the early days of US CX.

Reading this from an Australian perspective gives a good picture of just how far behind we are. This is the first year Australia has had a national series; the States had the SuperCup in the late 90s. The States are hosting the World CX Champs this year; Victoria is hosting their first State CX Champs this year. But it also gives an excellent outline for how the sport can grow in this country. This is particularly true of the chapters outlining the various CX races and series across the states –it’s basically a blueprint for how to grow the sport.
Perhaps even more than other kinds of cycling, CX is about personalities, and Hurford doesn’t neglect this. The section on individual racers gives an excellent idea of who is who in the US CX scene, makes us care about the racers, lets us know the riders who until now were simply names on a results sheet.
My favourite section, however, was easily the CX hijinks chapter – perhaps the best thing about CX is the shenanigans, the willingness of even the elite riders to take the piss. And a chapter dealing with some of the best pranks in US CX is always going to be a highlight. I won’t give away any of the lolz here, but rest assured the book doesn’t shy away from the details.
All in all, it’s a pretty sweet book from a pretty sweet individual, and I enjoyed it a lot. I'm pretty sure you can get in on Amazon, or alternatively go bug Malachi at Northside Wheelers - if anyone could get it in, it's probably him.

Sunday 26 August 2012

Key To My Heart

Did you lose a set of keys on Sunday?

There's a yoga & pilates tag plus 3 keys and a keyring. Tell us what the keyring is and we'll get them back to you.

Sharp Dressed Man

Like CX? Like rad jerseys? Hurry up then, as Creux Cycling have three super limited edition sportswool jerseys left and they're on sale for only $50 each! S, L, XL.

Email info@creuxcycling, don't delay!

Splish splash I was taking Abbath





Sime (C) The JAMS

THANK YOU MELBOURNE.

While we get some well earned sleep, pore over the many photo albums, scrutinise results sheets, sort, clean & pack our supplies up, here's your podiums for each grade, plus a slideshow of instagram photos tagged with #DDCX.

Please email us links to videos, photos, blog posts, stories from the day and we will collect it all in one superpost.


Kids Girls
  1. Emily Jackson
  2. Emily Hughes
  3. Mae Checkowski
  4. Darcy Guilani
  5. Charlotte Weir


Kids Boys

  1. Conall Murphy
  2. Blake Williams
  3. Joe Kemp
  4. Lachlan McConnell
  5. Clay Williams

Open Women

  1. Heather Hoggan
  2. Verity Scurr

Open Men

  1. Nicholas Morgan
  2. Jeremiah Vella
  3. James Deane
  4. Colin Bell
  5. Andrew Scott

B Grade Men
  1. Sam Watson
  2. Ben Walderden
  3. Ben Healey
  4. Gareth Heitmann
  5. Chris Mason


A Grade Women

  1. Mel Anset
  2. Erica Gurner
  3. Kate McCormack
  4. Kristy Panby
  5. Jade Forsyth

A Grade Men

  1. Lewis Rattray
  2. Alan Iacuone
  3. Luke Fetch
  4. Paul Redenbach
  5. Adrian Jackson


Friday 24 August 2012

Grey Skies Turn Blue

Happy Friday crossers! Two more sleeps until Dirty Deeds presents Australia's first Rapha Supercross event, and there's some housekeeping to take care of to ensure that the only things that don't run smoothly are your drivetrains on Sunday evening.

Social Media
DDCX is fond of the occasional ALL CAPS tweet and you should be too. Whack a #DDCX hashtag on your tweets and flickr / instagram photos so we can all see them. Failing that, post about it on Google Plus so Rolly knows what's up.

Parking
There will be NO PARKING inside the gates of Harrison Street Velodrome unless you are an event official or a sponsor. Likewise, so as not to inconvenience nearby residents, parking on Harrison St (North) is restricted to residents only. We suggest you ride to the race, consider it a warm up, but if you are driving, we recommend you park near Allard Park and roll down the hill to the venue.

Race Licences
Got a CA / MTBA / BMXA / Kidz Licence or a DDCX Season Pass? Sweet, don't forget to bring it with you. No licence = no race.

Need a licence? Option 1 is to get a gold licence and sign up with a club now (We recommend Brunswick CC), print out your receipt and bring it along. Option 2 is to bring an extra $50 and purchase a 3-Ride permit from our licencing table, this will cover you for Sunday's race, the State Championships & one other road/track/CX race elsewhere.

(Don't forget that the Season Pass / 3-Ride can be upgraded to a full CA licence minus the permit cost.)

If you're under 11, you can purchase an annual Kidz licence for $10. Bargain!

Race Entry
Registration opens at 10:30 and closes at 12:00. If you rock up after this, you better have a cowbell as you'll be spectating. Entry is $10 for adults and $5 for kids. Please don't bring $50 or $100 bills unless you have a winning smile.

We will take your licence / permit in exchange for your number, don't forget to exchange them before you go home.

Course Practise
The course will be open for 1 hour from 10:45 to 11:45. You must be registered and have your number on before you enter the course, and if you are spotted on the course outside of this time you will be disqualified.

Volunteers
If you aren't racing, consider offering a hand to setup / teardown / volunteer during the races. Many hands make light work and help the day run smoothly.

Spectating
CX is great fun to watch, so tell your friends and family to come on down. Bring noisemakers, (Nikcee recommends cookware), a warm jacket and enjoy watching people ride, run and fall over in the mud.

That's all from us, rain, hail or grime this Sunday's going to be a corker, see you there.

Monday 20 August 2012

I Stole Your Love

After a busy few weeks here at DDCX HQ but the final installment of this year's Dirty Deeds Series is now upon us (don't fret the Victorian State Championships are still happening on the 23rd September, it's that they aren't an official DDCX event).

With the assistance of our new friends at Rapha we have a few additions planned for Sunday, all of which are aimed squarely at making this one hell of a fun afternoon at the races. 




They have a few details up on cyclingtips right now

Yes, you read it right... face painting. Combine this with the fact that Treadlie are giving away prizes for 'Most Inspired Costume' and we have three frames to give away for the people having the most fun out there and you can be sure the mud will run thick with bright colours by the end of the day.


pic courtesy Brian Mangano

But onto some updates... The day's schedule looks like this:
Registration: 10:30 - 12:00 (this is more important than your race time!)
Course Open: 10:45-11:45
Kids mixed:     12:00 (10min +1 lap race)
Any Bike Race (MTB/CX): 12:20 (30min +1 lap race)
B Grade CX:    13:10 (30min +1 lap race)
Womens CX:   14:00 (30min +1 lap race) 
Course Open:  14:45-14:55
A Grade CX:    15:00 (45min + 1 lap race)
Presentations: 16:15 

You will notice two subtle changes to the races, the first is that Open has been renamed 'Any Bike' and now functions as an newcomer/overflow CX grade as well as including the ever diminishing number of non-CX racers. We still love our non-drop barred, non-700c riding brethren it's just we have so many eager new CX'ers. There's not enough hours in the day to give everyone a grade so compromises needed to be made. If you are new to bike racing (in any form - not just CX) this might be the grade for you. The second is a consolidation of Women's CX racing into it's own race. This is something we had on the cards from well before the season started and we are very happy to be able to do it. 

So get your gumboots ready, check your bike still rolls, remind your friends, and gather your favourite noise-making implements because this Sunday we aim to celebrate cyclocross in all its glory at it's spiritual home of Harrison St Velodrome!

Sunday 19 August 2012

Going where the air is clear, there's better beer

Miss Cycling Central today because you were out gravel grinding or at the sunday roast? Or tripped over the cable to your PVR?

Never fear, DDCXHQ have you covered with a re-up of the footage from the National Cyclocross Series rounds 3 & 4 in Adelaide, hosted by Port Adelaide Cycling Club:


Friday 17 August 2012

Blame it on the rain

Sitting inside rugged up looking at the raindrops rolling down your window? That's what DDCXHQ are doing as we clean our bikes after an ace weekend of racing in Adelaide with PACC and prepare for tomorrow's Melbourne Gravel Grinder out at Hurstbridge / Kinglake and next weeks Rapha Super Cross race.

Word from the people over at Big Hill Events is that the course for Dirty Gran Fondo #2 is wet, wet, wet. So they've made the call and postponed it to October 14th. If you can't make that date, get in touch with them and they'll arrange a refund. If you can make the date now, sign up!

Sunday 29 July 2012

Television Man


Cyclocross just went (pseudo) mainstream when Cycling Central aired a segment on the first two rounds of the national series this afternoon.

In case you missed it, here's the vision. (dear SBS, don't issue a takedown, you read out our race report instead of writing your own script, so let us show your footage.)





Thursday 19 July 2012

Streets Of Your Town

In last night's event roundup we neglected to mention that the Queensland Cyclocross Championships are being held on Saturday the 18th of August.

DDCX CFO Blakey flew up for the first Ipswich CX race in 2010 and had a ton of fun, despite the shock of the blistering heat and knowing he had to back up the next day and race in Melbourne.

It's events like these that series' like DDCX & the PACC Crossfire Cup grow from, but only if you get out there and support them. So take any old bike out there and race it.


Licence to Chill

If your name is on this list, or you know these people, get in touch by email at dirtydeedscx@gmail.com as we have your licence and you have our numbers. Thanks to those that have already returned them.


  • Liam Crowley
  • Ryan Begg
  • Philip Greenwood

I'm A Loner Dottie, A Rebel

DDCX R1  011

Photo courtesy of Rik Blazevic

After much data wrangling, interstate emailing of files, scrawl deciphering and checking we have the results for ALL grades posted on the results page (What, you didn't know we had a results page? for shame!)

Yes, there was an issue with pulled riders in B grade. Yes, we apologise (again). Many lessons were learnt over the weekend and all of this makes not only DDCX, but also cross racing in Australia better.

We also have animations of the A Grade Mens and A Grade Womens races. These are really neat in my opinion.

Put another x on the calendar

Bike still sitting in the shed with mud caked all over it after last weekend's racing at Cross Melburn and DDCX?

You best break out the power washer and chain lube because winter in Melbourne has never had so much off road fun, every.single.weekend.

Sunday 5th of August brings Specialized Cross Melburn Round #2 at an all new location.

After that DDCXHQ will be road tripping over to SA to race Round #3 & 4 of the National Cyclocross Series with Port Adelaide Cycling Club on the 11th & 12th of August. Nikcee is chasing series points and will stop at nothing to get them.

Sunday August 19th is the next Melbourne Gravel Grinder. Things have been quiet over at MGG but Angry has something in the works that will leave riders tired and smiling, as usual.

Then Sunday 26th of August is DDCX Round #2 / Rapha Supercross. Dirty Deeds with added epic.


Sunday September 2nd sees the second iteration of the Dirty Gran Fondo, held up at Bunyip State Park, with the event village at Mortimer Picnic Ground. DDCXHQ attended the last one and had a fantastic day's ride even though we were surrounded by pinch flats, broken chains and seized pedals. We're looking forward to seeing what they put on this time. For the Garminers, here's the route file.




Tuesday 17 July 2012

My Name is Mud

There’s nothing like the smell of cross in the air to stimulate the senses and in Melbourne over the weekend sensory overload was the order of the day.

After the first round of the Champion System/SRAM Australian Cyclocross Series in Port Melbourne, the eyes of the Australian CX scene turned to the picturesque Darebin Parkland in the inner north for Round 2.



The weather was Melburnian to the max, warm sunshine one minute, freezing and threatening with rain the next. The surface was spongy and the mud, well you know, it’s mud and there was lots of it.




One of the perennial crowd favourites, the kid’s race kicked proceedings off and today’s was probably the best yet. Sadly though, the big turnout led to tears at registration as the race sold out quicker than you can repeat the eleven times table.


Open racing often leads to the cross over to cross. In the past, people have attacked the terrain on unicycles and home built BMX tandems.

Things are getting serious with dedicated mountain bikers and spill overs from a sold out B Grade making the competition strong.

Indeed the spirit of DirtyDeeds, Tate came with more costume changes than usual. Such is Tate’s dedication to physical purity he ditched the bike and jogged some of the course.




DDCX design maestro Sime failed to watch the clock and rushed to the start,  this was to be his downfall, having to take a 'nature break' halfway through the race. That number two may have cost him a podium number one. We'll never know.



B Grade cross today was as full on as it gets due to the fact that many who race A grade had missed out on rego. You’d think this would mean one of the semi-pros or cross veterans would have easily taken control of the race huh?

Well, no. The greatest surprise and thrill for us at Dirty Deeds was seeing 14 year old Liam Jeffries take apart other more seasoned cross racers with a style that blew riders and spectators alike away. To be fair Liam had won under19/C grade then backed it up ten minutes later for a 3rd in B on Saturday.

Commuter Cycles’ Huw Vellacott’s attempt to attack Liam while riding a single speed bike complete with porteur rack proved fruitless. Perhaps Huw shouldn’t have dropped off a load of bread to the catering tents mid-race. Nevertheless, he managed to hold off Snozz and secure second place while Liam cruised through for the win.




By the time the Women’s Elite/ National Round was ready the crowd had grown to several hundred stimulated by cowbells and burgers from our friends at Beatbox Kitchen.

The turf was well turned by this stage so the racing was a lot slower than the day before which took its toll on some of the riders who’d blitzed the drier course.




The race quickly split and Lisa Jacobs, star of the national road series, established a dominance over the field which was as impressive as it was inspirational to anyone thinking of taking up CX.

The Women’s national series has raised the profile of cyclocross and it will remain a fixture on the national calendar as long as the quality we saw on Sunday remains.

It’s Lisa’s first attempt at cross- she hit the course like a seasoned professional, taking the lead early, gracefully tapping away on the pedals and tackling barriers with ease.




Lisa and Melissa Anset fought it out for much of the race but Lisa’s unbreakable rhythm on the pedals saw her come clear for the win. Diane Nelson suffered a mechanical and ducked off the course to grab Paddy's bike then rejoined in the finishing straight. Unfortunately this was right in front of the judges and she was DQ'd. Larry's Custom Cycles also saw this and awarded her a sweet new frame to ease the pain.

The Men’s National Round was welcomed with hoots, heckles and...yep cowbells. It was one of the fastest starts ever seen at Dirty Deeds. After a win on Saturday Luke Fetch was expected to take it to the limit again but big things were expected of Dirty Deeds favourite Lewis Rattray. After finishing  fifth in round one Lewis pulled out all stops in his home race.

In cross racing everything sometimes isn’t enough , especially backing up one day’s racing with another.


(C) Brian Mangano


In the end Adrian Jackson soared to the front of the pack leaving any competitors in a mud spattered wake. AJ is another DDCX alumni and took full advantage of racing on his home ground. He finished well clear of what was a ding dong race for second and third between Lewis Rattray and Lachlan Norris. In the end Lachlan got the better of his Giant team mate, after Lewis mistook the laps remaining and burned too many matches a lap early leaving nothing to keep his engine firing on the bell lap.



This was one of the best cross days we’ve ever seen. Our thanks to series sponsors Champion System, SRAM and especially the folks at the Darebin Creek Management Committee and the Darebin Parklands Association. Without their support there wouldn’t be DirtyDeedsCX.
  
We would especially like to thank our long suffering sponsors, who have been backing us since we first started getting rad. They support us, and you should support them so we can all continue getting dirty and smiling:
Full results are being checked and rechecked as we speak, but here are the top 5 for each category:
1. Adrian Jackson
2. Lachlan Norris
3. Lewis Rattray
4. Marc Williams
5. Alan Iacuone
1. Lisa Jacobs
2. Melissa Anset
3. Amity McSwan
4. Erica Gurner
5. Gemma Kernich
B Men
1. Liam Jeffries
2. Huw Vellacot
3. Kristian Snorrason
4. Marcus Cobbledick
5. Mick Hernan
 B Women
1. Lee Schultz
2. Dawn Vachon
3. Rebecca Williamson
4. Lauren Mittiga
Open Men
1. Leigh Schilling
2. Gareth Heitmann
3. Tom Quirk
4. James Deane
5. Colin Bell
 Open Women
1. Nicki Fisher
2. Simone Giuliani
Kids Boys
1. Sam Howard
2. Jacob van Rooij
3. Daniel Jackson
4. Michael Buckle
5. Darcy Jamieson
 Kids Girls
1. Emily Hughes
2. Emily Jackson
3. Gracie Wells
4. Mae Czechowski
5. Senna Hindell
You may have noticed the lack of photos in the report, well never fear, here's a collection of albums for you to peruse while we choose the standouts to edit in later:

Fame & Spear
Brian Mangano Photography
Marissa Farrel
#DDCX Photos on Instagram
Treadlie Magazine
Tim Arch
sevenbythree
Hampton Cycles
Cam Wells
Rik Blazevic

And, finally, a video of B Grade

And a video of women's A Grade


DDCXHQ out!