The first cyclo-cross O-Cup is a couple weeks away and it’s one of the best, Nathan Chown’s More Cowbell. This is the second year at his new venue and the course is amazing…ly painful. There are some very technical/steep/off camber sections (hope you’ve been coming out to skills practice). He’s made it a bit easier than last year by taking out one of the steep climbs and giving more “recovery” between the others.
I’ve heard a lot of people express interest in this one. I’ll be there all day with the club tent. Who else is in for this great race? It’s located on this side of St. Catharines, so the drive it’s too far.
Nathan has a facebook page for the race where he posts updates and pictures of the course. He puts a lot of work into it.
New this year is a series registration. It’s okay if you plan on racing all four O-Cups. You can register for the whole series here. This page also lists each race individually.
Yes, you may have noticed the entry fees are ridiculous this year. Ontario Cycling has taken over control of the series, so us organizers don’t have control of entry fees as we did in the past. If you’re unhappy about this please write them and let them know. We’re working on some changes for next year, specifically the pricing. Hopefully if there’s enough push back we can bring the entry fees back to a reasonable amount again. Jackie and Darren oversee the off road events, although they are not solely responsible for the pricing and all the decisions, but being polite and writing them will help.
I’ll be sucking wind in M2. If I’m lucky I can get my legs back, grab some more points and move up to M1. Cowbell with be a good test of fitness.
Since this is a CX thread what tires and what pressure?
I don’t think the early races will be as wet as previous years but you never know at the bottom of the bowl.
From the videos it doesn’t seem as technical as last year, but still lots of tricky sections into and out of the trees. Will be interesting once it is all taped and has had some laps ridden. Longer laps mean less times up the two big climbs, but it looks like more short climbs have been added.
I think it’ll be about as technical as last year, just fewer steep climbs/more space between them
I’m running an intermediate tread. I want the grip, and i think you’ll need it with some of the high speed off camber exits from the woods and that steep climb/run up.
Tire pressure for me will likely be mid to high 20’s, but I’ll figure it out on the day after a lap.
FWIW For tire pressures I’m in the camp as “as low as you can go”. For the Kelso races my lap times have been coming down and I’ve been dropping pressures. But also improving cornering skills on that course so it is hard to isolate
The last race I was on intermediates (Schwalbe X-One allround) running 21 rear 20 front. This is with tubeless tires on a fairly smooth course and I weigh less then 160lbs. If I remember right from last year Cowbell was a little rougher but not much. Traction on grass definitely feels better with lower pressures.
My sons both ride lower then that (ie 19/18) on tubeless but they have Rimpact inserts which stiffen the sidewall, reduce burping, and help prevent the rim from damage on any impact.
We are racing at Hardwood instead of Cowbell this weekend. But if my boys were at Cowbell they would be running either X-one all-rounds or Baby Limus clinchers.
I’m with Mark. this place tends to hold a lot of water although its been dry for few weeks. It defiantly tacks up fast though. I ran muds first thing last year and it was the wrong choice by race time.
I’ll be on baby limus tubs unless that seems wrong day of.
As for pressures, I defiantly run slightly higher on this course then others, I’m just happier with a little more tire support in the off cambers. I’ll probably start around 25 and see how that goes in the morning.
Just so everyone going knows, I’ll have the WCC tent up as a place to dump our gear and hang out in the main grassy area. I’ll also bring the usual race stuff; a small table, couple chairs, bike rack, pump, 3M 77 spray for numbers and a cooler with extra water.
ALSO! Bring cash for the food truck there. That food truck getting some business is a big part of why Nathan is allowed to hold a race at this venue.
