This weekend is the Pennsylvania CX season opener, Whirlybird CX in Bryn Athen, PA. It’s a fan favorite of ours that tends to get a critical mass of people out, so no matter the course or the weather it ends up being a good time.

WEATHER

It is looking dry and HOT. It’s hard to know how the few weeks of wet weather may have affected the course, but after a pretty dry week I’d say other than in the woods (if they exist this year), it’s going to be the same as ever: dry and bumpy. Potentially the grass will be at an all-time high.

The forecast is saying 85 (another app says 87, so plan for 90), and possibly pretty humid. Let’s hope that “breezy” comes true. Once again, bring your sunscreen and your bug spray.

COURSE

To be totally honest, I have historically hated this course. It was cursed. It has awful, slow grass that is impossible to pedal over. The ground itself is bumpy as hell. There is a ton of false flat, which means you’re miserable when it’s slightly up and still somehow pedaling hard when it’s slightly down because of the aforementioned grass. The pit is like a mile walk away from the parking lot. We’re not even going to talk about the year that it rained and everybody got poison ivy because it got in the mud.

However, this is my personal opinion. The real issue with the course is it’s really heavy on the pedaling, and the race is held in early September, and so it’s often hot and you feel like you’re dying for exactly 30 seconds less than the duration of your race. Hydrate well (starting like a week ago) and bring your ice sock.

More objectively, let’s go through some of the better parts of the course: There’s a switchback-y off camber section that is pretty tricky, and if you’re good at it you can make up a lot of time on someone ahead of you (I’ve usually been the ahead one, not the good at it one, but we’ll see this year). Usually, though not always, there’s a small woods section that is often muddy regardless of the weather, so it’s a place that someone with good technical skills can make up time after the interminable long power straightaways on the other parts of the course. In the woods, historically, there is a small log (though in 2019 I believe it was in the grass not the woods). Ride the log.

I like to performatively complain about this course, but the truth is the organizers do a good job with the terrain they have, and despite my complaints I come back every year.

UPDATE 9/11/21: It does seem like there will be an updated course this year per Facebook. I guess I AM in fact missing things by not being on Facebook. Same location, though, featuring a “classic CX runup U-turn.” I hope there’s a woods section.

HANGS

Although a few of us went up to Massachusetts last weekend, Whirlybird is the real season opener for most of the mid-Atlantic cyclocross scene, so it’s always a good time. The stoke is high, everyone is still optimistic, hopefully no one has broken too many bike parts yet, the hours of driving every weekend won’t get to people for another few weeks.

There is usually at least one food truck, and some good tent spots near the start/finish. Although the course is pretty big in area, it snakes around near the start/finish for quite a while, so there’s a good place to cluster and cheer/heckle your friends.

It’s important to remember that after the race there’s Wawa. All your friends will be there, eating post-race sandwiches on the ground in the parking lot.

GEAR

Even though I regretted not paying attention to the small chance of rain last week, at a 2% chance of rain I’m still going to say go for the file treads with side knobs if you have them. If not, mixes will be fine. The course is super bumpy, but the wood section is small and I don’t remember it being rocky really, so I’m going with a pretty low pressure to take some of the jostling off my joints as I try to pedal over the uneven ground.

ICE. Ice is going to be your friend on an 80+ degree day. Get a whole bag, pack what you can into a stocking or a sock before you go to the line. NOTE, if you’ve never done this, the ice becomes water which then drips down into your chamois, down past your shins, into your shoes. You’ll be soggy at the end. Bring a towel and a change of socks.

Here’s what the course looked like the last time we raced there:

And, as a treat, here is an incredible film about the 2008 edition of this event (at a different location), found by our own Cullen MacDonald:

Edit note: This post has been updated to more accurately reflect the historical placement of the Whirlybird Log. Thanks to Diane Akerman for the correction.