2010 Moose Cross

Now that the dust has settled from Moose Cross, and there was a lot of dust, I thought I would jot down some random thoughts and observations from the Organizer’s side of the race.


In only its third year, Moose Cross has morphed from a one-day race into a weekend cyclocross festival. In addition to putting on two quality days of racing, we try to provide our guests with a festive atmosphere and a little entertainment after Saturday’s racing concludes. (The keg toss Saturday night was pure greatness!)

Being Type-A, I take my Course Director responsibilities very seriously and expend a lot of energy trying to perfect our lumpy, bumpy, but incredibly diverse, cyclocross course. I obsess about fresh paint on the barriers, protective caps on every piece of rebar that was pounded into our rocky ground, custom printed course tape, hundreds of soccer cones to mark the way for blurry-eyed racers, weed whacking, and raking as many loose rocks out of the way as possible.

The “Grassy Knoll” is my favorite feature on our course. The rounded hill covered in lush grass and sparsely planted trees at the north end of the park serves as the perfect canvas for a cyclocross course designer. Over a hundred white step-in stakes and lots of course tape are my brushes for this canvas and this year I am especially proud of my work. The “Grassy Knoll” was challenging, yet fun, and rewarded the rider who had solid bike handling skills.

The week leading up to Moose Cross was pretty hectic and I just couldn’t shut my brain off at night. Will all of the prizes show up, what projector will we use for the movie, how many porta-potties do we need, will we have any volunteers, etc...these are the random thoughts going through my brain at 1 AM.

It’s not just a race, it is a festival. We decided last year that in order to bring folks back to Victor, ID each year, we needed to be more than just another cross race. And each year we tweak things a bit and learn a lot. This year I learned that if a venue is too spread out, your racers & spectators will be spread out too. When I think of the perfect cross venue, I picture a Roman Coliseum with a rolling dirt & grass infield to build a twisty cross course on. In my humble opinion, the race, the festival, the awards, the food, the beer, the camping, and post-race party should be as condensed as possible without being too crowded. I wish I could hire a giant helicopter to move Grand Teton Brewing to the north end of the park for Moose Cross weekend each year.

Registration & Timing are two areas where we have to become more efficient. I worried about them before the race and I am still wrestling with a few results issues the Tuesday after. Grrrr.

Moose Cross is Victor Velo’s largest fundraiser and all proceeds will fund future cycling-related projects such as Phase II of the Victor Bike Park. To everyone who paid to race and/or bought Moose Cross merchandise, thanks for your support.

Most importantly, it is about the people. We have made a lot of great friends through Moose Cross and it feels good when they come to Victor and have a great race weekend in our hometown. The compliments from racers were much appreciated and I tried to thank as many for coming as I could. Thanks again.