Adrenaline is flowing, training is ramping up, calendar pages are being inked. The 2012-13 SoCalCross Prestige Series is ready to rock, and on September 30th cyclocross enthusiasts throughout the region will roll at the Orange County Cyclofest in Costa Mesa, California. It will be the first of 20 race days over 14 weekends at locations from San Diego to San Luis Obispo.
Anticipation for this year’s SoCalCross series is at an all-time high — for a lot of great reasons. In its previous six seasons the Prestige Series has simply gotten bigger, better, funner. From the high-quality courses at comfortable and convenient venues to the many off-bike activities to the festive family atmosphere, it’s understandable why excitement is on a rapid boil.
Every event on the schedule bears mentioning, but if a CX fan were to put magnifying-glass-in-the-sun focus on specific dates on the calendar, those would burn through October 20-21 and December 1-2. Both of these weekends — four races — carry prestigious UCI sanctions, which means all the local hotshots as well as Elite-level men and women athletes from around the country will be in attendance in search of valuable world cycling points. And for the first time, the Junior Men class will be included in the UCI points chase at December’s event.
The October weekend features two days of cyclocross racing action starting with the wildly popular, Halloween-themed Spooky Cross night race, which is as much of an after-hours party as it is a competition. This is SoCalCross’s most popular race of the season. The sun goes down, the costumes go on, and a massive crowd goes wild. Then Sunday we celebrate Bavarian style with Krosstoberfest, which is a scene in itself — Oompah-Euro-Rock ‘n’ Roll mixed into this Sunday celebration of the bicycle. Both of these take place at a new venue in Pomona, easily accessible to over 10 million people. SoCalCross has a lot of big plans coming rapidly together for this weekend, with details to be announced soon. Clue: nothing like this has been seen before, and will be a genuine must-do event.
In December, SoCalCross plays host to the final round of the Cross After Dark Series, taking place nationwide. This means UCI riders as well as competitors in this fan-friendly series will be converging on Los Angeles Historic Park for a true shootout expected to draw several thousand spectators. The next day features CXLA, another UCI event at the same accommodating venue near downtown Los Angeles. Oh, and did we mention the weekend includes the Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships? This place is going to throw-down in a big way!
The Prestige Series has many sponsorship opportunities available, and volunteers are welcome at every event. Currently, official sponsors for 2012-13 SoCalCross are: Voler Team Apparel, SPY Optic, Shimano, Square One, Jenson USA, Rock N Road Cyclery, Cynergy Cycles and Cadence Collection.
Full Cyclocross Schedule on SoCalCycling.com
2012-13 SoCalCross Prestige Series Schedule
Sept. 30 Orange County Cyclofest Costa Mesa, CA
Oct. 7 Cyclocross DTLA – CycLA-Via! Los Angeles, CA
Oct. 13 Pacifica Crossfest Camarillo, CA
Oct. 20 UCI Spooky Cross Night Race Pomona, CA
Oct. 21 UCI Krosstoberfest Pomona, CA
Oct. 27-28 San Diego Crossfest San Diego, CA
Nov. 3 Redlands Cross Redlands, CA
Nov. 4 Velocity CX Chino, CA
Nov. 10 Storm the Beach Oceanside, CA
Nov. 11 Spy – Cyclocross Escondido, CA
Nov. 25 Turkey Trot Cross Glendale, CA
Dec. 1 UCI Cross After Dark Finale Los Angeles, CA
Dec. 2 UCI CXLA Los Angeles, CA
Dec. 8 Dirt Club Cross Los Olivos, CA
Dec. 9 SLO Cross San Luis Obispo, CA
Dec. 15 District Championships Los Angeles, CA
Dec. 16 Santa Cross Los Angeles, CA
Dec. 30 Cross into 2013 Irvine, CA
Jan. 6 Prestige Series Finale Los Angeles, CA
For complete details, check out SoCalCross.org.
By Phil Beckman/PB Creative
Photo © Kenneth Hill/Light & Shadows Photography
