WOAH, I FOUND SOME MORE SHIRTS, INCLUDING SPOOKYCX ONES.
THAT MEANS SANTA IS BRINGING YOU PRESENTS AT BARGAIN PRICES!
Here's how it works, paypal dirtydeedscx@gmail.com with the shirt(s) style & size you want and your postal address in the comments. If they've already sold you'll get a refund.
Then the DDCX elves will express post the shirts on Monday and you'll get them on Tuesday, just in time to wrap them up.
Price: $30 for 1 shirt, 1 patch, 1 express post satchel, that's fifteen bux off, just for you.
Size Guides: Tank (ostensibly women's, but don't let that stop you!)
Women's
Men's
Available shirts: (this will be updated sporadically as shirts sell)
1) Super Duper limited edition (6 only, ever) Creux DDCX2013 shirt in leader's jersey yellow, size Medium.
Women's:
Black, Sorcerer, Tee, XL
Black, Sorcerer, Tee, XL
Black, Sorcerer, Tee, XL
Black, Sorcerer, Tee, L
Black, Logo, Tee, XL
Black, Logo, Tee, XL
Black, Logo, Tee, L
Black, Logo, Tank, L
Black, Logo, Tank, L
Black, Logo, Tank, M
Black, Logo, Tank, M
Black, Logo, Tank, M
Men's:
Black, Sorcerer, Tee, XL Black, Sorcerer, Tee, L Black, Sorcerer, Tee,M
Black, Logo, Tee, S
Black, Logo, Tee, S
White, Logo, Tee, S
White, Logo, Tee, S
White, Logo, Tee, M White, Logo, Tee, L White, Logo, Tee, L
White, Logo, Tee, XL
I can't type very well with this broken collarbone, so I'll cut and paste:
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Well, Night Grinder 2 is only a week away. Next week, on Friday 13th,
you should be charging your lights, filling your bidons and maybe having
a quick nap after dinner before making your way out to Hurstbridge for
an all night dirt road ride. Crazy? No! It's the most sensible thing in
the world and I personally can't think of a better use of time than
going for a spin at night and trying to see wombats.
Don't live in Belgium? Lucky for you, Footscray CC have a kermesse series of their very own for you to take part in. Sponsored by FORM700, $3000 in guaranteed prize money and a return to the Drake Boulevard circuit in Altona.
Plus, noone's going to rob the till at an FCC race.
We have a few leftover shirts for sale! Size Guides: Tank (ostensibly women's, but don't let that stop you!)
Women's
Men's
Available shirts: (this will be updated as shirts sell) Women's: Black, Sorcerer, Tee, XL Black, Sorcerer, Tee, XL Black, Sorcerer, Tee, XL Black, Logo, Tee, XL Black, Logo, Tee, M Black, Logo, Tank, L Black, Logo, Tank, L Black, Logo, Tank, M Black, Logo, Tank, M Black, Logo, Tank, M Men's: Black, Sorcerer, Tee, XL Black, Logo, Tee, L Black, Logo, Tee, M Black, Logo, Tee, XS Black, Logo, Tee, XXS White, Logo, Tee, M White, Logo, Tee, L White, Logo, Tee, L White, Logo, Tee, XL Reminder of what they look like: http://ddcx.bigcartel.com/
Patches: 80mm logo on HD cotton: White on Black: 20+ HiViz Yellow on Black: 9 Price / Payment: Shirts are $25 each, plus $10 to post in Oz. Email for pickup details or international post. Patches are $5 each, plus $2 to post in Oz. Paypal: dirtydeedscx@gmail.com and include your address in the details. If we've sold it before we can update the listings above we'll refund the payment.
Pre-reg to open Friday 18th October! PRE-REG IS OPEN (Though space isn't as limited... and the events allow for more participation.)
Registration for remaining spots will start at THREE PM.
Adults - $5 with costume, $10 without or if you dress as a 'sexy something' Kids - gold coin with costume, $5 without... but seriously, kids like costumes like blakey likes pizza racks
There will be a variety of races including, but not limited to...
Short track cx
Relay cx racing
The Main Event, the BCCDDCXSSCXWC
Expect fun and frivolity. Leave your race face at home (unless its a humorous one).
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Spookycross is rapidly approaching. One month to build your BCCDDCXSSCXWC bike & design your costume and execute it to a tee.
Speaking of tees, get your order in here, we're closing pre-orders in a week so we can get them all printed and ready for SpookyCX, so if you haven't put your money down then you'll probably miss out on getting a shirt.
We will post domestically or worldwide, currently the store only has options for AU/NZ/UK/US/Can, contact us if you are elsewhere. If you want to collect at SpookyCX, select Afghanistan as your destination.
Click on each shirt below to go to their purchase page.
A final reminder that if you didn't manage to get hay in your drivetrain or mud on your skinsuit yesterday for the final round of WCCX, you have a chance to win eternal glory** in the 2nd Annual Victorian Cyclocross Championships this weekend.
Don't think you could win a medal but like making the RAD, then sign up anyway. The course includes a good chunk of a BMX track and should allow for the embracing of your inner kid, while riding your big kid bike.
Also I hear that the races may start earlier (if that's bothering you).
**eternal glory is code for a smile that'll take at least a few hours to disappear from your face, while you cough up your lungs from exertion. It also includes delighting in how amazingly colour-matched Spiro is when he races at the moment.
SpookyCX is coming (November 2nd!), what better reason to celebrate than with a limited edition Cross Wizard t-shirt, or a simple DDCX logo shirt? Equally at home in the mud or under your pinstripe suit in the boardroom.
Purchase your goods here! Payment via PayPal only, sorry, it sucks for us too.
We don't want to hold stock at DDCXHQ, so this is a pre-order, shirts will be printed and available to pickup at SpookyCX, or posted to you all around the globe.
There will be a limited number of shirts available for purchase on the night and after the event, but we can't guarantee we'll have your size or design. Best to preorder and save missing out.
Big ups to Nick Saint Cloud for facilitating the printing, if you need small run screen printing, hit him up!
The BIGGEST of thanks to Sime, aka Count Rackula, for producing another rad piece of art for us, see him at SpookyCX and give him the highest of fives.
Think Cx season is done after the the action packed Natz/NCXS weekend?
Think again!
Don't forget the Victorian CX State Champs on October 5th. The listed race times are tentative as the organisers are in discussion with the site about running it as a dusk/night race. The course features some innovative use of the BMX track as well as the surrounds. The BMX Club is really excited about helping make this a great event.
It also appears we need to announce the date for SPOOKYCX!
November 2nd - Save the Date
Afternoon/Early Evening racing with costumes, shenanigans and the Brunswick Cycling Club CX Championship to be awarded on the night.
Those people who attended last year will attest to the good times that were had in closing out the Victorian CX season.
More info to follow on this as the DDCX Wizards and Witches conjure their spells on the event.
PS: This announcement should make any keen CX fan pretty happy! "Who's #1" features the best handwaving and CX commentary around. As J-Pow would say "Get Familiar!"
They came to finish the party in style. After the explosive events of the national champs on Saturday, how was DDCX gonna top the spectacle of Lisa Jacobs masterful display and Alan Iacuone’s surpise attack to win national jerseys two decades apart?
I’d like to say it was Blakey’s Erection (the steel tubed folly in the middle of the course that was one man’s dream where others scoffed) or was it the sheer awesomeness of the Darebin Parklands course and the even bigger awesomeness of the Parklands people in letting us use the land. Or was it the promise of free, guaranteed entry into CROSS VEGAS and accommodation in Las Vegas for the elite winners that lent a certain sepia stained air of epic to the day?
Of course it was all those things but, shucks, it’s YOU GUYS who make Dirty Deeds. Without over three hundred of you pinning numbers on, plus who knows how many hundred more screaming on the sidelines, the event would be nothing more than a solo tractor pull in a muddy field.
Before we get too emotional here at DDCX HQ, due to lack of sleep and race organizing freak outs, let us cast out any more comparisons to the effing Catalina Wine Mixer. This was bigger…far bigger.
A day from the monsters of cross greeted us on Sunday after the bitter chill and rain of previous days. It may have looked sunny and clear, but as soon as you stepped on the course you knew it was going to be a mudder's dream.
Pre reg had worked a treat, too well in fact, most races were full and there were some unsmiley faces for those who got there too late to actually hand over your license before the cut off time. A Maserati and a crabon cx bike served up with a topping of attitude ain’t gonna cut it in the inner north pal.
The kids race was a ding dong battle of the balance bikes. The young man in the spider man outfit used all the super hero powers at his disposal to win hearts and minds and therefore cast aside any competitors for Cute rider of the Day.
Tate Heiskanen was forced into a quick costume change as he and the little dude obviously failed to consult. A stuff up with our system meant girls and boys results were skewed prompting tears and complaints about kids not getting a prize. Deal with it. It’s character building. The real prize is getting rad and not having to do your own laundry
Open caught a lot of the spill over from the CX grades that were chockers so some thought cross racers might dominate the 2.5 k course so deviously dished up by Nik C. not so Jack Lamshed occupies number one spot followed by Duncan Murray and Alexander Carisotis in third.
In B grade, Liam Jeffries, who we’ve seen go from being a fresh faced kid ripping apart the junior races in years gone by, to being a fresh faced kid ripping apart senior races, put on a display that without doubt heralds him as someone destined for great things on a bike if he so chooses. Dan Moore from sponsors Jet Black/BH put in a huge effort to come in second, but it was at the tail end of the field that the spirit of CX shone (aside from the beer hand ups at the bottom of the course- more about them later). Alex Ivanof broke a seat post and rather than DNF, ran most of the end of the race, a good two laps we hear. In a display of cool sportsmanship he was ushered through by Shaun Urie- a Dirty Deeds stalwart, allowing Alex to finish the place before DFL. To me, this is what CX racing is all about. That, and getting filthy and having a good time. At 100 riders this is probably the largest grade we’ve run.
By the time the women’s elite race was one the crowd was hungry for fast and furious cross. The stairs, ramp, flyover combination dreamt up and executed by Andrew Blake and enabled by our main sponsors SRAM was where races could be won and lost.
Photo: Cam Wells
Tasmania’s Rowena Fry has been leading the national series and her loss to Lisa Jacobs for the national title was the big story of Saturday. While Lisa had the jersey with the stripes Rowena could salvage a series win if she hung on in the top ten.
-
In the race for the title though Rowena was struggling with mechanical issues and an unrelenting pace from South Australia’s Sarah Holmes, April McDonough, the ever smiling Mel Ansett and the freshly crowned national women’s masters champ Jenny 'honey badger' Macca (one of the main folk behind the DDCX women’s development squad- check it out on Face thingo if you happen to be a CX-curious female). In seven laps and 48 minutes on the course it was Sarah in first and off to Cross Vegas if she wants.. April, then Rowena in fourth, hanging on despite a strong challenge from Jen to take hold of the national series title.
It was gonna be hard to top that one but there was one big guy who knew just how.
Men’s elite came with an air of expectation. The racing had been quality and fought all day so naturally folks wanted more. It was a genuine national field with competitors from all over the place keen on planting a foot or two on the podium.
In one of the fastest starts around led by the crowd favourite Leigh de Luca, who was gunning for the Impact Massage KOM, an elite group of riders formed from… the elite group of riders. A pack of about 6 riders emerged to take control of the race. Former Olympian Sid Taberlay (NSW), Gary Milburn (NSW), Andy Blair (Vic), newly crowned national champ Alan Iacoune (Vic), Paul van der Ploeg (Vic) and Cameron Ivory (NSW) traded places and half way through the 50 minute circuit anyone of them looked like they could take the race. That is, until IT happened….
If you’ve never seen Paul van der Ploeg ride a bike you should. It’s a sight. When he and Cam Ivory got a lead on the other riders they rounded the corner and shouldered their bikes to jump the barrier placed before the stairs on Blakey’s Erection, all 6 foot 4 of Vandy (that’s 193cm) took off. Taking two stairs at a time he seemed to vault the flyover and sped off down the ramp leaving Cam and the rest of us to wonder what we had just witnessed. In case anyone missed it Paul repeated the sprint up the stairs on the next lap to win it from Cam and Andrew Blair.
Paul’s been selected to represent Australia in mountain biking and after seeing him ride on Sunday you’ve gotta feel for his forthcoming opponents. You also have to feel for that poor skinsuit, being torn off his enormous frame in the final lap so that he could cross the line like so:
All results from the day can be found here (If your name is Cam Woolcock, just replace Malachi Moxon in Elite with your name and all is well! Sorry Cam):
Whilst Nik's homage to Pavlis' Hill was a spectator favourite, the choice spot was at the u-turn after a sizeable mud pit. First the kids asked the riders nicely to ride through the puddle and make a splash, then the adults, then everyone screamed at the riders as they barrelled down the hill "GO RIGHT, IN THE WATER, DO IT!", this resulted in some marvellous mud porn, some loose as all get out two wheel drifts, and quite a few crashes. Oh, and a hell of a lot of cheering that carried all the way up to the very top of the course, drowning out the amplified voices of Brendan & Hamish.
One of our only racers with a BMXA licence, Bryan Bull, shot some excellent footage of the mudpit, watch through to the end for an amazing passing move, and imagine Yakety Sax is playing.
Photo: Cam Wells. (For a great crash sequence, start here)
So that is about it.
Thank you to all who came. Special thanks to everyone who helped set up, those who marshalled, ran the rego desk. Nath who burst back onto the CX stage with his sweet timing system spitting live results onto the internet for those by the tape and those stuck far from Darebin. To the golden tonsils of Brendan and the officials from Cycling Australia and MTBA, we thank you.
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To our sponsors:
Western Scaffold - Not a sponsor per se, but they were willing to entertain one man's crazy idea and worked to come up with a solution that levelled up Australian Cyclocross. Thanks Brendan & all the crew.
SRAM & CycleOps at Monza- couldn’t have done it without ya.
JetBlack/ BH Cycles you rule.
Tim from MY MOUNTAIN gave away a whole godamn cross bike to a deserving Amy Philips- a whole bike!!
Van from Creux- we love you, your shirts, your patches, especially your mannequin.
Fitz Rev, for their continued support, I bet DC is glad he wasn't offering free bike washes this time around though!
Impact Massage, not only the DDCX official vehicle sponsor, but always willing to sponsor a holeshot or a QOM/KOM prize.
Coffee Supreme, we love your Fresh Pots, especially at 7 in the morning when we're setting up a course.
Benedict & the Massage Oil Shop for continuing to support the women's podiums.
Commuter Cycles, always sponsoring the supercommuterest racers who actually pin a number on instead of Cat Six-ing it along Canning St every morning.
Larrys Custom Cycles - These guys give us frames to give away to deserving race non-winners EVERY ROUND. How sick is that?
4Shaw / Dion - Podium shoes are nothing without some matching podium socks.
Adidas Eyewear - Win a DDCX race and you can get your hands on some blazing yellow halfrims.
Schwalbe / Bike box
Rapha- For the women's prize pack and a sweet umbrella
Treadlie - The photobooth of muddy pain will be up soon, check them out and vote for your faves, and the best will win prize packs.
----- LOST AND FOUND
Some spectacles
Adidas cycling sunnies
Sugoi arm warmers (send us an email with some identifying details and we will get them back to you)
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For more words about the weekend's racing, plus audio interviews, check out our friends over at BrewCX
There has to be a million photos and videos out there, and we want to see them all. Send us your links, via email, twitter, FB, commenting below, carrier pigeon...
We did- and we always do. So that's why we want you to show your support for Dirty Deeds and the good folks at Darebin Parklands Management especially Ranger Pete and Adrian who allow us to use the park one day a year.
We'd like you to send an email by clicking HERE, or posting on their wall HERE just to say thanks and how much you enjoyed the day.
The Friends of Darebin Parklands are friends of Dirty Deeds so email/post away folks.
Plus, if you can take 2 minutes to fill out a feedback form here with some good vibes, then maybe Melbourne councils will realise that there is support for CX racing in the inner city and that it's a good use for green space.
Full race report up later today.
As a thanks for the good PR you just generated, here's some photos with #DDCX tags on instagram:
This is important, so it gets its own post in case you missed it when you read the technical guide. You read the guide right? The race is to be held at Darebin Parklands, cnr of Yarana Rd and Smith St, Alphington. This is a residential area, the park is used by other people, and we are expecting a large number of racers and spectators, so if you drive to the venue, you will almost certainly have to park a ways away and walk in. However, Alphington train station (Hurstbridge line) can be found at the beginning (south end) of Yarana St and the 508 bus stops right at the parklands, for those looking for nearby public transit options, and as always, we highly recommend riding to the race. Parking can be found on either side of Separation St, Abbott St, Parklands Ave and Yarana Rd south of Parklands.
It should be noted that Yarana Road south of Separation St is actually a bike path and not a road.
Parking on Yarana Rd north of Separation will be for event staff and sponsors only.
Do not park near the corners of Separation St / Bennett St, Bennett St / Parklands Ave, Parklands Ave / Yarana Rd, Yarana Rd / Wingrove St as this is the 508 bus route
and blocking a bus will get you a parking ticket/towed very quickly!
Most of the side streets nearby are residential and
we expect them to get parked out quickly. We recommend parking at the
Alphington train station car park or the nearby Pitcher Park if you are
arriving later.
In summary: You are not a special snowflake, you do
not deserve front row parking. If you try to sneak into staff parking,
park illegally, or block a bus, don't be surprised if your vehicle is
towed, ticketed or you are made fun of mercilessly over the P.A.
If you are racing CX Nationals on Saturday or Sunday's DDCX NCXS Round 5, you will be issued two (2) numbers to pin.
If you are racing support at DDCX, you will be issued one (1) number to pin.
See how this rider has the number pinned tightly and clearly at mid torso? Plus the second number on the jersey pockets (yes, yes, skinsuits don't have pockets, you know what we mean). Do this. On your LEFT hand side. (The National Championships Technical Guide is WRONG)
If you don't pin them correctly and they're misplaced, loose, obscured, missing, under your jacket (!) etc, the judges can't see them and your results may be awry, and noone likes a DNF.
If you are racing anything bar Kidz you will also be issued one (1) transponder to ziptie to the middle of your fork blade.
If you don't attach it correctly, it may not read, and again, death before DNF.
Finally, I'm not going to name names, but there are STILL numbers that haven't been returned from the last DDCX round. If you leave the venue with your number & transponder you face a $60 fee.
So, with thanks to those USAC hating renegades OBRA, here's a catchy little number to show you what to do:
Do you hate fun? Are you allergic to excitement? Afraid of awesome? No? Then don't forget to enter 'The Big Show' for the last race of the series... National Championship entries close at the same time and that race will be a great way to start your weekend.
Support Race (Kids, Open, B Grade for men/women) pre-registration IS OPEN (CLICK ME)opens on Saturday.
We will post the pre-reg link here, plus facebook, plus twitter, plus carrier pigeon*
Schedule of Events
A grade number pick-up must be by 1:30pm on the day.
Some excellent wisdom via twitter from Mark Legg-Compton (who when he is not helping KfC to dominate Cx races, helps everyone's favourite Oz Cx representative Lewis Rattray to go faster)
Cyclocross to do list
1. Thank a volunteer
2. Thank a race promoter.
3. Smile more on the startline
4. Keep the heckles appropriate
5. Be patient at the start. Stupid moves cause crashes.
There's 39mins 45secs of the race left to pass that rider.
6. Have even more fun than last year.
7. Attend a clinic to improve skills
8. Order some new tyres! They are often the main thing
keeping you upright
9. Start working on your bikes now. Those frozen BB's, der
pulleys need lovin
10. Skill sessions on/off the bike
11. It's just a bike race. Race each other hard, but fair.
Leave it on the course.
START LISTS:
CXBW
BROWN, CLAIRE
Doueal, Elizabeth
Hilton, Liz
Hughes, emily
lansell, kate
McSwan, Amity
Michel, Claire
Mittiga, Lauren
ollerenshaw, jane
Roseman-Gannon, Ruby
Slocum, Bridget
SOUTHWELL, JO
Swan, Annalisa
Whitburn, Nicole
Williamson, Rebecca
CXBM
Abakumenko, John Akse, Jelmer atkins, leigh Aubrey, Paul Backhouse, Roland Baker, Kristan Bantick, Brady Bell, Colin Blake, Andrew BLAZEVIC, ADAM Bognar, Adrian Brown, Mick Christie, Heath Clark, Brad Collins, Nathan Cooke, Nick Crampin, Edmund Cranswick, Charlie Czechowski, John Dann, Michael Deane, James Denis, Patrick diver, louey Dungey, Che Eastick, Brad Efford, Mik evans, mark Fitzsimmons, Hamish Floyd, Lee Franson, Brian Freeman, Tom Geoghegan, Dominic Giuliani, Nazario Golding, Karri Greenwood, Philip Gregory, Mark Grosso, Nick Grover, Matt Hay, Grant heiskanen, tate Henry, Travis Hildred, Jy Iwanov, Alex Jason, Flaherty Jeffries, Liam Jones, Luke Kemp, Rich kirkham, james Kudlicki, Chris Kurka, Thomas Larkin, Paul Lee Shoy, Courtenay Lett, Nick Mahoney, nick Marsh, Stephen Matheson , Simon Matthews, Justin Miller, David Moore, Daniel Moxon, Malachi munyard, steve Murison, Greg Ng, Gilbert Paton, Tim Peters, Craig Pieterse, Leigh Powell, Luke Power, Matt Robinson, Jorge Robinson, Sam Ruiter, Reuben Schlimbach, Sascha Simons, Craig Slaney, Sam Smith, Nicholas Swackhamer, Jason Threlfall , Andrew Thynne, Jim TOWERS, Craig Troon, Simon Urie, Shaun Vandenbergh, Adrian Vellacott, Huw Ventura, Adam Weir, Stuart Woodman, David
Open Men
Buckle, Andrew
adin, robert
Benn, Alex
Bird, Nicholas
Bognar, Adrian
Bull, Bryan
Castillo, Gil
Cooper, Jason
de Soto, Damion
del beato, julian
Donald, David
Edmondson, Mark Karl
Frank, Michael
Hinze, Richard
Hockey, Andrew
Hodges, Adam
huth, gareth
Kuc, Anthony
Lamshed, Jack
Maccab, Christopher
mcconnell, Andrew
McInulty, Peter
Natoli, Anthony
Naumovic, Chris
Nicholls, Dylan
Powell, Edward
Ripp, Paul
Shackleford, Dave
Short, James
stoffberg, Mark
Tran, Dean
Wilhelms, Colin
Woolley, Ned
Yeatman, Paul
Buckle, Michael
Baker, Quinn
Bell, Ruben
Bognar, Patrick
Brain, Scott
Brain, Simon
Collins, Ada
Czechowski, Mae
Czechowski, Nels
Davey, Kieran
Davey, Rhys
Gibson, Sienna
Gregory, Lucas
Henry, Alita
Henry, Oscar
Hockey, Max
Hughes, Emily
Kellett, Domenico
Kemp, Joe
Kuc, Luka
Marcus, Serong
McConnell, Lachlan
Mcconnnell, Campbell
Natoli, Erin
Natoli, Maya
Roseman-Gannon, Hannah
stoffberg, maya
stoffbergg, Hana
Urie, Jack
Urie, Joshua
Williamson, Thomas
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Ladies and Gentlemen (and cyclocross racers, who are often neither), DDCX HQ are fresh off of interstate adventures enjoying the creative endeavours of one Mr Parbery and MWMTB's NCXS rounds. We entertained old friends, attempted to make new ones via megaphone 'encouragement' and generally turned ourselves inside out against the best CX racers in Australia.
It would be bereft of me not to mention that Duggan didn't mechanical for the first time in a number of years. Make sure you congratulate him... and then ask how many times his chain dropped on the second day. Jez and Spiro looked impecable on the bike, but for different reasons. New recruits to Team #FYC Jenny and Karen suffered through our poor jokes and still managed to race very well against a very talented field, but more importantly have a blast doing so.
But this means it's our turn next... and it approaches quickly!
The skinny...
Elite registration is already open - you will need a CA/MTBA/BMXA licence**. If you have a DDCX Season Pass you are racing B unfortunately (rules are rules). Entries will close a week before hand. You will be warned.
Support pre-registration - this will open about a week beforehand. We will provide a lot of notice via the normal social media channels. B Grade will sell out as it did for our last round, we just upgraded a few people who we felt were ready for A to fit everyone in and that can't happen this time. Open will very likely sell out too. Priority will be given to interstaters as they are coming a long way. This means if you snooze, you will lose. We are serious. If you have a tanty on the day, Erle will just laugh and point.
As this is 'the big show' we have some additional staffing requirements and if you have even as little as 2 hours on the day to spare we would love your help. Email ddcx.volunteers@gmail.com to let us know what time you can spare. The best part is that you will get to work with our normal volunteers who are as sparkling examples of humanity as you are ever likely to meet.
We have some quite interesting race timing/results options planned. More on that to come...
**Don't be afraid though, I can assure you that if you've raced A grade at DDCX you can handle this. The racing all the way through the field is excellent.
By now I'm hoping you are all aware that the DAY BEFORE is Australia's first National CX Championships? Really, you aren't? Well... now you are. Word is the perennial DDCX favourite Lewis Rattray will be in attendance! He is coming in hot off of an extended northern hemisphere training camp (or belgian beer drinking, pub bike riding holiday if instagram is to be believed).
If you don't fancy your chances against Paul vdP, AJ, Lewi, Rowena, Lisa, Blakey or one of a number of new faces who have shown their skills at races this year you should still come on down to Cranwell Park as I've seen a draft of the course and this is not only a chance for you to see Australia's best racers drifting their tubs around corners, it's an amazing course. It's a short ride (or drive) from the CBD, there's delicious food in Footscray to pick up, and more coffee/food on site. Do yourself a solid and make the time to come out and cowbell the riders towards the first ever national champions jersey. It's a historic moment and from what I saw in Sydney the racing will be great.
Further out on the horizon more details of the Victorian State CX Championships have also been announced. You can find them here, and yes it seems like BMX tracks are this years velodromes. but who can complain when it means more radness for everyone?
And that's all the news that's fit to blog... I'm getting a bit Big Kev about all these upcoming races...
I mean, no big deal, but if you win you get to wear some kind of stripy jersey at every CX race for the next year and also get a bunch of UCI points to gain entry into the CX Worlds.
Apologies for our tardiness on this report... The DDCX team took a quick break to catch up on their real lives as well go to Sydney to race really fast guys/spread the Melbourne CX gospel/practice our warm-up wheelies. -------------------- The return to the hallowed ground of the Harrison Street velodrome for round one of Dirty Deeds brought record crowds of cross racers to the inner north hot on the heels of the Hell of the Northcote just days before. Most races were full by the time kids was kicked off by Moreland Mayor extraordinaire Oscar Yildiz who was once again thrilled by an even bigger turnout than when he started proceedings in 2012. The kids race is really one of the highlights of the season, from bewildered toddlers on balance bikes being urged by proud parents to teenagers about to make the leap into open or b grade. Costumes are part of DDCX and it's encouraging to see it starting early though we're told the young man in a cowboy outfit refuses to get around in much else. He did bring a sense of law and order to the proceedings though. Amity McSwan and her clan are mainstays of cyclocross and Mae and Nels continue to impress with their dedicate to airtime. Nathan Bof and Sienna Gibson took it out in each boys and girls. Beatbox Kitchen had reached full capacity by the time the open/any bike race got underway. Sadly there were no unicycles this round but, encouragingly, no recumbents (there was a close call at the prologue in May when someone arrived prone peddling). Jack Lamshed took time out from testing the breaking point of the local constabulary's car doors to put on a clinic on his 26", bunny hopping both barriers and wheelie-ing up Pavlis Hill. Noted Sunbury hardman and racecraft sage Col Bell exercised some vintage skills to keep Reuben Ruiter on his CX bike at bay and Duncan Murray placated the hipster masses with a no handed skid across the finishing line- Jack Lamshed took the highest step of the podium in men's and Bec Williamson thrilled all in women's. Bec used her track background to roll Michelle Scurr right before the line after Michelle led all race. In B Grade we were overwhelmed with racers and it was the biggest field yet. The front runners were leaving the velodrome as the back end were still coming out if the first few corners. 14 year old Adam Blazevic, stepped up, put on the long pants and schooled a few hardened men in the art of cyclocross. A grade was the penultimate race and Paul van der Ploeg quickly fell into pace with Adrian Jackson. The field waxed and waned to keep up with these two but tapping out a steady pace meant they soon got a clear lead over the rest of the field. Paul vdP had won the holeshot but drifted himself back into the field after the first corner. There were some great mud race battles throughout the pack. Spiro rolled a tub getting rad for Rolly and Sime, then binned it running back to the pit at Pavlis Hill. Special mention goes to SRAM man Hayden Kerr who, after getting what to commentators Brendan and Hamish, looked like a log embedded in his palm after coming off his bike, had it removed by medico Rachel and got back into the race with the aid of his team mate Leigh "d'Oro" de Luca. Chris Mason despite coming off a serious Pyrenees training camp found the corners thrown up on this CX course a challenge for his roadie skills. The race didn't let anyone down for thrills with AJ and Paul vdP sprinting for the line with the big man on the giant bike coming up trumps. Women's racing has been our focus and great success in the last few months. With the hard work of DDCX's Kate Lansell and Stay True's Jenny Macpherson and others too numerous to mention, women's cyclocross really stepped up a level to become an important fixture on Melbourne's cycling calendar. Anyone wanting to get involved can get onto the Dirty Deeds Women's Development Team on Facebook. What we had in the race though was an awesome trans Tasman battle between Jenna MakGill and April McDonough until April got a mechanical. She valiantly clawed back to finish 7th. Last years NCXS front runners Lisa Jacobs and the ever smiling Mel Ansett had a ding dong battle for most of the race with technique vs outright power giving each an advantage in different areas of the course. Further back there was a mix of smiles and grit as our largest women's field mixed it up. Lauren Mittiga definitely enjoyed the spontaneous 'high five alley' created at the top of Pavlis Hill. Many new faces seemed to really enjoy the racing. So much smiling between all the gritted teeth! Many thanks to all who came, raced and cheered as well as our sponsors and volunteers.
The next round will be the big one- the final round of the National CX Series at Darebin Parklands on August the 11th. WILL THE INAUGURAL NATIONAL CHAMPIONS FRESHLY CROWNED THE DAY BEFORE TRIUMPH?
You're coming to the FIXED DOT ORG DOT AU MOVIE NIGHT / TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 18 BROADCAST.
It's going to be sick. There will be ninjas, a bbq, effjay and beebee talk pro cycling, two climbs of Alpe d'Huez, even Benovese and the Coffe Peddlr will be there slinging 'spros. Plus there's a trivia comp, raffle, sweet prizes from Creux cyclewear and other rad people, you want more?
