The Muddiest Supercross Cup of All-Time, Probably
Mudfest 2K18. Photo by Daghan Perker
If you are visiting here from the future, welcome. You probably Googled “Muddy cyclocross races” or “Supercross 2018” or “mud cyclocross 2018” or some such; you’ve come to the right place. The photos in this post will explain why we all love-hated the 2018 season—with no better example than this weekend’s Rockland County Supercross Cup.
Here is the situation on the ground. It’s 2018. It’s been the wettest, coldest, muddiest cyclocross season that anyone in the Northeast can remember. Burn-out and field-size attrition have been extra-strong this season. The Supercross Cup is normally a muddy race; the grounds at Rockland County Community College never seemed to drain well anyway (see Day 2 of our Supercross 2016 race report). So when it snowed six inches on Thursday night—36 hours before race-day—the Northeast CX community collectively shuddered and thought to themselves, “God help us all.”
By Friday night’s pre-ride clinic, Adam Meyerson of CycleSmart International simply shook his head about the conditions and said, “This is going to be one of those race weekends we talk about for years to come.” He was right.
Clark Fredricksen finished 12th - Photo by Angelica Dixon
Cullen in action on Sunday at Supercross Cup. Photo by Daghan Perker
There was a lot of running at this year’s Supercross Cup.
Both days of racing featured easily a 50-50 split of running to riding; with Sunday perhaps tipping the balance into “mostly running” with saddle-time occurring exclusively on downhill sections or pavement. Both days organizers shortened the course by half to keep lap times under 10 minutes. Both days the mud reached mid-calf in some sections.
Our favorite moment of the day just might be when Cullen—no joke—got heckled by Jeremy Powers in the friendliest, nicest possible way. Here is your photographic evidence:
It’s true: Cullen MacDonald really did get a heckle from Jpow (as you can imagine, the heckle itself was 100% positive, which we support). Photo by Angelica Dixon
Daghan Perker raced Saturday and then was on-hand Sunday to take an outstanding collection of photos:
While only a portion of the team suited up to race on Sunday, many more rode out to the venue from Manhattan to spectate. Photo by Daghan Perker
TBD’s Sebastian Vidal was also at Supercross on Sunday to photograph the category three race.
