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Dialing in the shortcuts at Bilenky Junkyard Cross. Photo by Shira.

After the success of last year’s Bicycle Film Festival short film based on The Bilenky Junkyard Cross, it was a bit surreal going back for this year’s race. But once we got there, it was the same junkyard, a different course and a whole lot more people. This edition was nuts. Jam packed with racers and revelers, multiple heats in multiple categories and about the most fun you can have in a junkyard without matches or a wrecking ball. The special features for this year’s course included a conversion van run-through, car hood ride-over, wooden boxes, and a sweet session area for the BMX and trials guys. It was a spectacle. It always is. Here’s the video. See for yourself.

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We are lucky in the Mid-Atlantic cyclocross scene to have several professional photographers shooting our races. Two of these guys, Jay Westcott and Darrell Parks, have spent years behind the lens and bring the sport of cycling to you in unique and stunning ways. Both have published works this year that are must haves.

Jay Westcott is a staff photographer for Politico who spends his days jockeying for position in the U.S. Capitol, among other places inside the beltway, to photograph politicians and other notable figures.  He’s also shot more than his fair share of NFL games. His love of the bike drew him to cyclocross and he immersed himself in the scene this year. The result of full Sundays taking in the racing and the cyclocross party-down atmosphere is Red Right!, a visual diary of cyclocross, which chronicles the 2011 MABRAcross Super 8 series. Although Red Right! captures just one region of the U.S., it is a book that can be enjoyed by anybody familiar with cyclocross, bike racing, or just good photography.

To order Red Right! visit www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2771187 Cost is $49.

Darrell Parks is a local Vienna, Virgina-based cyclist and photographer who works for PEZ Cycling News. Along with shooting the pro peloton for PEZ, he also has his cycling photography featured in this year’s VeloNews Calendar alongside notable photographers Graham Watson and Casey Gibson. The 2012 Darrell Parks calendar features images from the two largest U.S. Stage races, The AMGEN Tour of California and The USA PRO Cycling Challenge. Along with the cycling action, Darrell captures beautiful scenery and vistas. The landscapes that pro cycling races through are breathtaking and Darrell captures it all in this 2012 calendar.

The 2012 Darrell Parks Cycling Calendar is $14.95, plus shipping and handling, and can be purchased at www.darrellparks.com/Calendar.html 

Sample Pages from Red Right! by Jay Westcott

Sample Pages from the Darrell Parks 2012 Cycling Calendar

Stunning, right? Now go buy Darrell’s calendar and Jay’s book. And if you have a couple shekels left, maybe a shirt or some socks for yourself?

Luray Caverns CX promoter Chris Gould does a great job putting on top notch road and cyclocross events in Page County. The drive is under two hours from the DC Beltway. There’s no excuse not to go. In fact, here’s what you are going to do. In a couple weeks, When you unwrap that calendar that Aunt Marge is going to get you for Christmas, you know, the one with the puppies on it, the first thing you are going to do is mark Luray Caverns CX on the second Sunday in December. In pen. Easy.

Okay, not much time to shoot video today. But here’s what I got.

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I had the pleasure of calling the action throughout the day, which is always a ton of fun and made forgetting my own less-than-optimal effort on course easy. The one downside of announcing races is that it doesn’t leave much of an opportunity to shoot video. I was, however, able to sneak away for about twenty minutes or so and shot enough to get a look at the “chute,” the run-up and a couple other sectors of the Cap Cross course.

Although the Super 8 season has ended, there is still cross racing to be had in the Mid-Atlantic region. Next Sunday is the 2nd annual Luray Caverns CX. This is a phenomenal venue and course and a race worth attending. Even if you think your form is gone, I guarantee you have at least one more race in you. Come out and have some fun. No pressure. Just race to race. Beer garden, drumline, caverns, what more can you ask for?

After Luray, we will be heading up to Philadelphia for the Bilenky Junkyard Cross and then in January it’s off to Madison to be a fan at Cross Nationals. Lots of cross left this season!

Okay, here’s the video. Thanks for watching. And, Erin, heal up fast. We expect to see you racing the Super 8 in 2012.

What does this button do? Photo © Sean O'Donnell

About this time last year I went up to Philadelphia to play around with my new video camera at the Bilenky Junkyard Cross, a holiday party masquerading as a cross race or vice versa. This event is nuts and if you have the time, you should definitely check it out. The course winds its way through a working junkyard and includes flyovers, teeter-totters and fluids. Lots and lots of fluids. I shot all day and threw some raw footage of the race up on the Internet. Many, as in tens of thousands, curious people checked it out. That was really cool.

I went back to Philadelphia earlier this year to interview some of the folks who raced and also to talk to the event’s host, framebuilder Stephen Bilenky. After going through dozens of edits, I ended up with an eight minute short film that I submitted to the Bicycle Film Festival. Out of the hundreds of submissions, the Bilenky Junkyard Cross was chosen to travel the world as part of the BFF’s shorts program. That was also really cool.

The one drawback to being part of the Bicycle Film Festival is that I agreed to delay posting the video on the Internet for everybody to see. This bummed me out a bit because I really want to share it with all of you.

With the BFF 2011 winding down and the 2011 Bilenky Junkyard Cross race scheduled for December 18, I figured now was as good a time as any to post the short for all to see.

This was my first attempt at making a short film and it was a ton of fun to make. It was made a whole lot better with the help of several people. Sean O’Donnell and Ryan Dudek strapped on helmet cams for the race, put in a full day of helping with and participating in interviews, and gave great feedback during editing. Linda Mattioni and Kris Molendyke were great sports and added sooo much to the story. For the two festival showing of the film I saw, Kris pretty much stole the show. Stephen Bilenky allowed us to invade his shop for a day and share the story of how Bilenky Cycle Works was started.

I also owe a huge thank you to Peter Nicoll and Bruce Buckley. Peter is a filmmaker by trade and could not have been more giving of his time and expertise. Bruce is a pro photographer who continues to give me tons of insight on what makes a good photograph. I trust his eye more than most anybody else I know. Both of these guys willingly sat through close to 20 edits of this film and helped improve the final product each time.

I hope you enjoy the film and thanks for watching.

That Dam Bridge at Cap Cross

Capital Cross Classic goes down this Sunday in Reston, Virginia. It’s the finale of the BikeReg.com MABRAcross Super 8 series and a race not to be missed. This venue has been hosting cross races for well over a decade and sets up awesome for a fun yet challenging event. Unless something drastic happens between now and Sunday we will not have the “epic” conditions encountered in 2009. For the sake of the park, that’s probably a good thing.

Not many changes in the course from in the past other than the removal of the dicey off-camber section on the descent after the run-up. But fear not! It has been replaced with an equally dicey yet more fun roller-coaster ride down the hill.

It’s all here in the preview.

Thanks for watching and see you Sunday. Come say “hi.” Buy a shirt.

Thanks for watching and see you in two weeks at Capital Cross Classic. If you are not attending, you should be. No excuses. It’s Cross. And it’s Classic.

Okay. Now watch the video.

DKeg and Todd Man The Preview Camera

This Sunday is Rockburn Cross, race #7 in the MABRAcross Super 8 Cyclocross Series, and the Mid-Atlantic mountain bikers’ favorite course. Rockburn is known for its long single-track stretches and punchy terrain. Word has it that the Adventures for the Cure crew is going to plot out the course a little different than in the past. But for the most part it will capture the same features as previous editions. One big change to the event is that it will have a beer garden. Yay! And if you are going to serve beer, I believe there is some unwritten rule stating that you must do so near or adjacent to the barriers. This means that the placement of the barriers, as seen in the video below, is different than last year, so just disregard the no longer on point commentary that accompanies that part of the course.

In addition to the preview, course designer Mike West put together this a animated Google Earth video that takes you through the course. This will help you better figure out what has been changed from last year. Unfortunately, I didn’t look at this handy clip until after I recorded my commentary.

Okay, so watch the videos and we will see on Sunday. If you want a shirt or socks, please do not hesitate to ask. I will have plenty at the race.

Mario Bros. Course Preview (with real time commentary–if you listen closely–by Todd Bauer and David Kegley)

Google Earth Preview

Thanks for watching and see you at the races.