Cyclocross gets muddy
Not so much for spectators
CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Sunday was a terrible day to do just about anything outdoors in the Tennessee Valley — except for cyclocross. Nearly 80 bicyclists muddied themselves to the eyebrows racing around the Bradley County’s Whitlock Park on a gloomy day that was not ideal for spectators but brought exciting conditions for a sport that is a mix between road and mountain biking.
“If you are a true cyclocross racer, this is great,” race director Jim Farmer said in the afternoon as rain fell around him and the course grew sloppier. “The only thing that would make it more awesome is snow.”
Farmer is one of 19 members of the Privateers, Chattanooga’s new cyclocross team, hosted the event sanctioned by USA Cycling and the Tennessee Bicycle Racing Association.
Cyclocross is generally a winter sport. It is still gaining traction in the South and in Chattanooga, where Farmer hopes to expand the sport’s footprint within the city’s vibrant outdoor identity.
Sunday’s race was the first hosted by the Privateers since the team formed in the last year. Many of the founding members knew each other through HUB Endurance,
a downtown bike shop that closed its doors last year.
A cyclocross track consists of varying terrain and obstacles, such as railroad ties and sand, over about two miles. Sunday’s course, which wove around the outfield fences of the baseball fields at the park, featured a sharp, muddy turn a few hundred feet in that sent some riders falling into the slop.
“It’s exciting to watch how they handle this curve,” said Charleston, Tenn., resident Julie Miller from her vantage point in a pavilion overlooking the first curve. “We can see what’s going on from here and we stay dry.”
She watched three Millers race Sunday, including 5-year-old Gwyneth, who was one of two riders in the “Lil’ Belgians” division. Julie’s husband, Anthony, and son, Gareth, competed as well.
Gareth Miller, a junior at Walker Valley High School, took second place among 22 competitors, most of them adults, in the Cat 4/5 division race, one of the day’s largest. It was his second race of the day after winning the juniors category.
The Millers got involved in cyclocross when their elder daughter started cycling for her college team.
“This is really growing elsewhere,” said Julie Miller, adding that her family has been to races in Louisville, Cincinnati and other venues in which 100 or more riders will compete in a given race. “But it is starting to catch on here and it’s really nice to have this race.”
Farmer is trying to find a place in or near downtown Chattanooga to hold races. He wants to replicate the atmosphere that he has seen in other cyclocross cities, where the events are as much a party as they are a competition.
“There are some riders who are going to be vying for the prize money, trying to get into the top three,” he said. “Everybody else is having a good time. We’d like to be in downtown. The problem is that most places like Coolidge Park and Renaissance Park don’t want you tearing up their grass.”
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.