Author: Eric Crandell

Well, the fat lady would probably be singing but she’s probably hiding out somewhere where it’s warm and not still snowing.  What a season that was.  Constant threats from tropical storms, rain, nervous parks departments, rain, and oh yeah – rain.  All to be finished off in a giant snowstorm.  Fitting, right?  It’s unfortunate that the weather chased some folks away for the Finals race at Darden Towe (present company included) but it doesn’t appear that it was any less awesome.  As expected.  And with that, I present your 2018 VACX Series winners:

Men’s 4/5:  Neil Etheridge

Junior 9-14:  Ethan Morris

Women’s 35+:  Denelle Grant

Women’s 4/5:  Deborah Shearer

Men’s 40+:  Cameron Holland

Men’s 50+:  Gary Roach

Single Speed:  Matt Clements

Women’s 3/4:  Johanna Neuber

Junior 15-18:  Michael Mason

Men’s 3/4:  Kyle Konopnicki

Women’s 1/2/3:  Avanell Scales

Men’s 1/2/3:  Matt Clements

 

2018 Team Champions:  Rogue Velo Racing

 

We’re down to the wire folks – one race left in the 2018 VACX season, and STILL multiple categories undecided.  Will we see a snowy finisher?  Will it feel like, well – Charlottesville in December?  You need to be at Darden Towe this Sunday to see how it pans out.  Does Cam Holland hang on in the 40+ Masters for the title?  Can Tom Richeson come from behind to win his 2nd consecutive 50+ title?  Will Matt Clements be on hand to attempt the ever elusive DOUBLE category win for 2018?  Anyone think Greg Wittwer will have something to say about that?  Does Denelle Grant come out to do a victory lap for her what, like 4th consecutive Women’s 35+ masters title?  Will the fans be treated to the former U.S. National Champion and 2018 VACX Women’s elite winner Avanell Scales mixing it up with the VACX’s best?  Those answers and more at Darden Towe on Sunday!

Just bad luck all around – the promoter (Colston Jones) worked super hard to get the city of Norfolk to understand that they couldn’t change their minds at the last minute and pull an already agreed upon date from him….and then they kept doing it.  So what started as November 11, moved to December 2, then 15, and then 29 is apparently now probably going to be December 29 – but NOT as a VACX series race.  After consulting with officials and the VACA board, I made the decision to remove Rustbucket as a 2018 series race.  We couldn’t reasonably expect any of our racers to have to choose between holiday plans/travel with family and a cross race…..and with that effectively having been the finals race, that’s likely what we would have had.  So in the interest of not causing family discord, we’re just dropping it for this season.  BUT – the race will likely still happen, so if you’re available then you should definitely go.  It was non-series both last year and the year before and we all went and had a great time.  So come on out and support the Rustbucket crew if you’re in the area.  We’ll get Norfolk buttoned up tight for next year in the meantime.

So we actually have some break built into the schedule until the next series race (Oct 13 in Richmond).  But fear not – there’s still plenty of CX action to be found in the region.  Check out the following series below to keep those legs fresh until we resume in a few weeks!

MABRA/Super8Series Schedule

See you all in Richmond on October 13!

Thanks to everyone who came out to race, spectate, enjoy some Deschutes beer, etc this past weekend at GoCross.  According to the endless droves of people in and out, I’d say that it was a huge success!  Give us a couple of days to get your updated VACX results posted – you’ll find them here as well as on the VACX Facebook page.

Next up – Luray CX!  If you haven’t already registered, get on over to BikeReg and settle up!

https://www.bikereg.com/luray-caverns-cx-vacx-and-mabra