Cross race two (of 2019) for the TBD crew!

We covered why you should race Nittany earlier, and we’re taking credit for a huge increase in registrants for the coming Two Bike Days this weekend. Here’s what you should expect:

Weather

• Earlier in the week, it looked like we should be expecting showers and thunderstorms, particularly on Saturday. That forecast has changed some as the overall conditions in the area became unfavorable for convective development, so we’re left with a few showers on Saturday and SUPER DUPER HOT on Sunday. Feels like 87° on Sunday. Sunscreen. Ice socks. Water.

• There is a ~40% chance of precipitation in the afternoon, so, keep an eye on Wunderground, the Official Weather App of To Be Determined™. Darksky is for chumps. Comments open!

Hangs

• We’re all staying in one Airbnb, clown-car style, and cooking a family dinner.

• During race-days, find us camped out on the grassy knoll. We call dibs, if that’s a thing.

• Hit up the Farmer’s Market on Saturday.

• BYOB to Cali Burrito on the way out of town on Sunday.

Bikes

• I’m calling it: it’s a FILE TREAD DAY in the Lehigh Valley.*

• Absolutely stacked local fields. No, this isn’t a UCI race weekend, but every field we’re looking at is packed with what the kids are calling “hitters.” For you newbies in the back, this means: fast cyclists.

• A huge crew of TBD racers (and friends of the program). There are fifteen people in our #z_0914_nittany_cx planning Slack channel. Come say hello if you haven’t already.

• Fast, fun racing. Slightly less bumpy and flatter than Whirlybird, so even though each lap is almost half a mile longer, lap times and speeds should be about the same.

• See above: it’s gonna be super hot. Put a cage on your bike and carry water. There probably will be a feeding area, but why not just bring it with you?

• Last year, if you’ll recall, there was a ton of rain in the days before Nittany and the usually-muddy section turned into a disgusting, peanut-buttery, WWI-style slog. Hopefully less of that, but, word to the wise: keep your mouth closed during that section. Yuck.

*This is a joke that probably only my parents will get. Hi, Mom!

For the gallery below we’re going with a foggy selection of images from the morning of Day 2 at last year’s race, but for more of that Nittany #content check out last year’s race report or the Nittany tag.