Good game good game good game (he says while low-fiving every one at cross practice). We did it everyone. We made it to the end of the 2018 cyclocross/tough-mudder season. For those of you who ran out of spare disc brake pads, bottom brackets, and the will to carry on, I get it. I just about gave up there in the middle of October, too. But something kept me going. A beacon of light shooting straight up out of the ground, coming from somewhere in Queens, reminding me that the season isn’t over yet and I just need to get my bike and kit clean one more time.

Rainey Park CX is that beacon of light.

Rainey Park Cyclocross: The Details

• Location: Rainey Park, Queens, New York

• Registration: https://www.bikereg.com/40133

• Registration Deadline: Friday at 8PM

Rainey Park Cyclocross: Pre-Race Thoughts and Course Preview

Everything But Your Race

Organized, managed, and run by the godfather of NYC cyclocross, Keith Garrison, Rainey Park CX is one of the only cross race to take place inside the city limits (RIP Staten Island CX). For NYC based cross racers, this is our time to shine. The thing you should focus most on for this race is getting your friends who are “super interested in trying cross, maybe next year” to signup and race. Loan them your bike. Get your non bike racing friends from around the city to come watch and cheer on cyclists participating in this absurd sport that we love. After the race…I dunno, do whatever you normally do in the city.

Top Tips

The course is filled with “one of everything” from cross practice. Theres a set of stairs, a climb with steps in the middle of it, and groups of fun corners. The whole thing takes place in a fairly small park, but Keith and the volunteers do a great job at making a Full Size cross course. The course itself changes from year to year so it would be unhelpful to give you a walk through of every corner. What I will say is this: watch a few youtube videos from prior years because the main “features” are always there.

The absolute best tip is that if you volunteer (and show up) to help set up the course, you will get a front row call up in your race.

Tire Choice

This year has broken my ability to think about “best gear for the current race” because of all the mud. Ride your fat bike.

Rainey Park Cyclocross: Links on the TBD Journal

• Rainey Park Cyclocross: Two Perspectives On One Great Race (2017) by Cullen Macdonald with Daghan Perker images.

• Rainey Park CX (2016) by Steve Rousseau