CX School FAQ

Registration for Star City CX events can be done at http://register.starcity.cx/, and registration for most other events is done at http://usacycling.org.

Racing is divided into "Categories", or "Cats" for short. Beginner women start in Cat 4 and beginner men start in Cat 5. As you progress you move "up" in cats going into smaller numbers. So as beginner once you win your first race, or complete 10 races, you're eligible to cat up into Cat 3 for women or Cat 4 men. After that the rules for upgrading are a bit more complex.

Because we're crunched for time on Wednesday nights we simplify our races into "A" and "B" groups. Basically beginner and advanced groups. It's loosely based on your official category, but we don't mind if you race one or the other, or even both, as long as it's appropriate. (ie, you're not blowing away the B field, aka "sandbagging") If you're kicking too much butt in the Bs we will ask you to race the As.

Races are time based, so the number of laps you do depends on the speed of the faster riders and course conditions. Beginner races are typically 30 minutes, so if the first lap or two are completed in 6 minutes you'll end up doing 5 laps total. The "A" and Cat 1/2 racers go for 60 minutes.

All our races are USA Cycling sanctioned, so you'll need either a Day License or an Annual License.

Day licenses cost $10 and are good for one day of racing as many races you're eligible for. They're good for trying out racing once or twice before making the plunge to an annual license. You can also credit the cost of one day license towards the purchase of an annual.

Annual licenses are $70 and are good until the end of the calendar year you purchased it in. (So if you buy one in December, it's only good for a month!)

• Lars van der Haar Cyclocross Tips: Dismount, Remount, Suitcase, Shoulder Tutorial
• Cornering
• Turning
• Moar turning
• Getting rid of the stutter step/hop

• LIKEAVOS - A must watch series that analyzes races, mainly focusing on the most dominant athelete in any sport ever. Marianne Vos has won many world championships across many different cycling sports. She's a Grade-A Badass.
• SVENNESS - Another must watch series by the same guy who does LIKEAVOS.
• How the Race was Won - More great race analysis, although he seems to have stopped posting new videos.
• Behind the Barriers - lots of behind the scenes action of pro racers, although recently they've started focusing more on race coverage.

Also checkout our Intro to CX Doc if you haven't already!