Verge MAC slates UCI double-header
Racing continues in the Verge MAC Cyclocross Series this weekend with a pair of UCI C2 International events — Saturday’s Lower Allen Classic at Lower Allen Township Community Park near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Sunday’s HPCX Cyclocross in Jamesburg, New Jersey.

The winner of the last Verge MAC race, Trek-VW-Michelin’s Tristen Schouten of Wisconsin, will join Italian Davide Frattini (Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home Wine), Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly), and Fiordifrutta teammates Michael Cody and Matt White as 2006 international race winners on the start line.

Also racing will be American roadie Chris Horner, who is racing his second year of cyclo-cross for American bicycle and accessory manufacturer Specialized.

In the women’s race, Horner’s Specialized teammate Megan Elliot takes on Lisa Vible, the newly crowned BikeReg.com MABRAcross Series champion, former MABRAcross champion Melanie Swartz and former Verge MAC champion Betsy Shogren. Joining them will be Mandy Lozano (Cheerwine) and Verge MAC point leader Dee Dee Winfield (Velo Bella-Kona).

An interesting subplot during Sunday’s HPCX race in New Jersey will be the performance of Rutgers’ collegiate team, which is undefeated in the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference. ECCC Cyclocross Series races run in conjunction with major cyclo-cross races up and down the East Coast, and going into this weekend, Rutgers has a lead of nearly 80 points over Division I rival Harvard University.

The Rutgers team also has a definite home-field advantage — the Scarlet Knights built the track at Thompson Park as co-promoters and sponsors of the annual HPCX cyclocross.

Tailwind ’cross heads to Munson Park
Michigan’s Tailwind Cyclocross series turns to Monroe for the Jack’s Bicycle & Fitness Munson Park Cyclocross Race on Sunday.

This race takes place in and around the site of the Battle of River Raisin, which was the largest military engagement of The War of 1812. A force of 1400 British defeated 900 U.S. militiamen. Only 33 of the Yankees escaped., and the battle cry of "Remember the Raisin" served to rally American settlers in the area and helped turn the tide of the war in what was then the wilderness of the American West.

Michigan cyclo-crossers will face their own battle as the course winds up and over a prominent sledding hill positioned in the center of the park. High winds and temperatures in the 30s are also expected.

For more information see www.tailwind.net.

Chicago series returns to city park
The third race of the Chicago Cyclocross Cup racing series returns to the city parks on Sunday at Jackson Park.

The course will be in an open field that will include mature trees, a short hill, and asphalt sections.

Lead sponsor is xXx Racing-AthletiCo. Lake Cycling will sponsor the junior championship race, awarding shoe gift certificates to the top boy and girl points leaders. In addition, Lake Cycling has also donated podium caps to the winners.

For more information, see www.chicrosscup.com.

Nobel, Kroepsch claim Convert
Mark Noble (Cal Raisin) and Lara Kroepsch (Team Lipton) won the Convert Cross November 5 at San Buena Ventura State Beach Park in Ventura, California.

It was the fourth of nine races in the 2006 SoCalCross Prestige Series.

The course, with its combination of grass, pavement, cornering, dismounts and rough sections, made for a grueling race on a deceptively flat portion of the park.

In the elite men’s race, Chris Barton (Bicycles of Ojai) took off from the gun, separating himself from the rest of the field. Noble, Mike Easter (Non-Stop Ciclismo), Leo Sandoval (Bicycle John’s) and Gary Hanson (Amgen) chased back up to him, and Noble counterattacked.

Easter and Sandoval spent the rest of the race in futile pursuit of Noble, who took the win with Easter digging deep at the last dismount to nail second. Sandoval crossed third.

In the women’s race, Mandy Eakins (Figueroa Farms-Redline-MS Society) took the hole shot only to misjudge a turn, opening up the door for Kroepsh, who took control of the race in commanding fashion.

Second and third went to Eakins’s teammates Dorothy Wong and Amy Bowen.

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