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Staten Island Cyclocross, canceled
posted October 24, 2012 9:10 AM   RSS | iCal | +googleCal

Sat November 10 at 8:30 AM, Wolfe's Pond State Park, 420 Cornelia Ave, Staten Island, NY
420 Cornelia Ave, Staten Island, NY, USA (Map & Directions)
Staten Island Cyclocross is canceled. Want to go watch a bunch of people on bikes and in various forms of spandex try to make it through sand, barriers, up and down hills and go around sharp turns? There are cowbells involved. And waffles.
Staten Island Cyclocross is happening on Saturday, November 10th. Cyclocross has been described as a steeplechase race for bikes. Essentially, a bunch of people on bikes go around a technically challenging course that includes things like 180o turns, two foot high barriers, steep hills, rocky areas, and sandpits. A FPP on cyclocross.

My +1 does this almost every weekend and I've been going to these things for a few years now. The crowd tends to be fun, people bring dogs and kids, you get to ring cowbells to cheer for people, and unlike most bike events, you don't stand around waiting for hours for a bunch of guys to whiz past you in 5 seconds. They come around somewhere between four and ten times; in fact, after the first lap, everyone is strung out through the course and there's pretty much always something to watch.

And if that doesn't interest you: the Wafels and Dinges truck is there.

Cyclocross is great in that it tends to take place on lovely autumn weekends in nice locations and this race is not an exception. Wolfe's Pond Park has grassy fields, woods and a beach. (Last weekend we were at a race hosted by the USMA at Westpoint, the leaves were gorgeous).

This is the only cyclocross event in the five boroughs, so far as I know. It is accessible by public transportation as well as by car. Event provided directions and public transit options.

The races go on all day; we'll be there fairly early in the morning, but it would make more sense to have a scheduled meet up at a fixed location at some point during the day. (so ignore that it says 8:30 am and suggest a time!)
posted by sciencegeek to Meetup (10 comments total)

Bonus: You can heckle me!
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:14 PM on October 25, 2012 [1 favorite]


I'll be there around 11 a.m., unless the Wafels and Dinges truck is not there at 11 a.m., in which case I will be there are some other time when the Wafels and Dinges truck is there.

Also, unless your +1 has his heat some other time, in which case I will see if I can make it there then.
posted by d. z. wang at 7:55 PM on October 25, 2012


I've got a prior commitment in the early morning, but I can probably make it in time for the Singlespeed and everything after.
posted by loriginedumonde at 7:14 PM on October 26, 2012


He's racing the men's Cat 4, which is at 2:30 (last race of the day).

I can attest that heckling computech_apolloniajames is extremely entertaining.
posted by sciencegeek at 7:43 AM on October 27, 2012


Has this has been called off?
posted by loriginedumonde at 11:35 AM on November 4, 2012


As of Thursday, the Facebook page of the event says,


Hurricane Sandy Update: Our Beloved Wolfe's Pond Park was hit very, very hard by Hurricane Sandy. They have suffered extensive damage from high winds and storm surge. However, the diligent and wonderful parks workers that are stationed there have been tirelessly cleaning up the park and taking care of the downed trees. The parks department has notified us that they will re-evaluate the condition of the park on Sunday, and assuming the parks-wide closure is no longer in effect, we very well may still put on Staten CX on November 10th! Stay tuned for more info! Thanks, CJ


But no update since. The +1 and I are watching and waiting.
posted by sciencegeek at 11:51 AM on November 4, 2012


Here's the update:

Hello Racers and friends,

CJ here, race director of Staten CX. Many of you have been eagerly waiting for news of the race and whether it will be going on after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the area. I would like to apologize for taking so long to respond as we were working hard to try and find contingencies to make a CX race possible on November 10th.

Unfortunately, it's not the case. Our beloved Wolfe's pond park had a front row seat for hurricane sandy and suffered extensive damage. The parks department did a valiant job trying to clean up the park in time for the race, but it is still closed to the public and also being used as a staging area for recovery efforts.

It leaves us in a sad position, but we want to make the most of it and help people so here's what is going to go down:

We have worked out an arrangement with the race director of the SuperCross Cup which takes place the following week on 11/17. All Staten CX race registrations will be rolled into the corresponding category for Saturday's SuperCross Cup race. Profits from Supercross will be donated to a charity that directly benefits Staten Island Residents who have been affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Now, for those of you who are (a) already signed up for the Supercross cup or (b) can't make it to the race, you have one of two options:
1) Do nothing and your registration (less fees/overhead) will be donated a charity that directly benefits Staten Island Residents who have been affected by Hurricane Sandy, or

2) Request a refund by emailing info@statencx.com by Friday.
While I prefer that you choose #1 we will honor refund requests because it's the right thing to do.

In addition, we will be spearheading a day of volunteering on November 10th in place of the race. We encourage you to join us in helping the residents of Staten Island and the Rockaways- many of them lost almost everything and they are in need of manpower and donations in order to help everyone get back on their feet. It only makes sense that we do what we can to help the residents of our city in which we've enjoyed 4 years of awesome races (and many more to come)

Details on the volunteer day:
We will be meeting at NYC Velo on Saturday, November 10th at 8:30AM. if you have a car please bring it and we will arrange car pooling at the shop. If you have a bike and want to carry supplies over to affected areas, we will be coordinating that as well Please feel free to bring any cleanup supplies/nonperishable food, etc... that would would like to bring and we will have these dropped off as well. Please email us at info@statencx.com if you are interested in volunteering that day, and if you will be coming by car or bike. If you're driving, let us know how many free seats you have to spare. We will send an additional update via email and our social media channels.

If you can't make it on Saturday but still want to help, we've got you covered. NYC Velo and King Cog will both be accepting donations this week. Just stop on by either shop during business hours and drop off your supplies. Needed supplies include: contractor bags, batteries, buckets, blankets, water, shovels, flashlights, cleaning supplies etc...

Above all, I would like to give a heartfelt thanks to people that worked so hard to come together for this year's race.Thanks to our sponsors: NYC Velo, Lucarelli & Castaldi LLP, The Century Road Club Association, Kona Bikes, Rosko Cycles, and Grimpeur Brothers Coffee. I would also like to thank my race crew: Chris Clark, Claudette Lajam, Myles Romanow, Jed Kornbluh and Alan Atwood. Year in and year out they are the people who make this race a reality, and I'm lucky to have them as friends. I would also like to thank our food trucks: Wafels & Dinges, Rickshaw Dumplings, and Valducci's Pizza. Many of them have been spending the week feeding people in need all over the city.

Most of all, I want to thank you, the racers. This race is all about you- it's the grassroots culmination of everything I love about cyclocross without any of the BS that has been plaguing the sport of cycling as of late. While we won't be riding around in circles in Wolfe's Pond Park this year, It's up to us to turn a cancelled race into something that helps others, and look to next year, where SICX will return with a vengeance.

Thanks,

CJ

TLDR: Statencross has been canceled. Instead people are encouraged to join in a day of helping that Saturday. Additionally, if you're entered in the race, you've been automatically entered in Supercross, which takes place in Long Island the following weekend.

Since this race is not, so far as I know, accessible by public transit, I don't think it would make a good meetup. Although I'm still hoping to see computech_appoloniajames and heckle her mercilessly.
posted by sciencegeek at 5:01 PM on November 5, 2012


Yay! I will be there, sciencegeek!
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 10:21 AM on November 6, 2012


And now Supercross has been postponed until December. Argh.
posted by sciencegeek at 1:44 PM on November 13, 2012


Snow and cowbells and .... cold!
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:51 AM on November 16, 2012



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