OVCX - Ohio Valley Cyclocross Series
Cincinnati, OH, USA: Organizers of the Zipp OVCX Cyclocross Tour have announced their 2011 race dates. For the first time, all races will be scored by timing chips across all classes and the series will be comprised entirely of non-UCI events. The start of the season will be a shock to the system of unprepared ‘cross racers as, for the first time ever, the Tour starts in Louisville, Kentucky and the wicked elevation and camber changes of the Fisherman’s Park cyclocross on September 18.
A major new addition to this year’s Zipp OVCX Tour will be a new double-header weekend in Dayton, Ohio. The weekend will be anchored by the rescheduled and always popular John Bryan Classic and a brand new race at the huge “Gearfest” outdoor sports exposition on the first weekend October. Gearfest annually draws over 10,000 visitors for a day of demonstrations of outdoor sports and sports gear, but this will be the first time that the expo has been enhanced by a full-blown, points-paying Zipp OVCX Tour cyclocross race. Tour Director Mitch Graham is extremely optimistic about its potential, “the new Gearfest race might represent the future of the sport in the U.S. – integration of a full-on mainstream festival and gear expo with a big regional cyclocross event.” The weekend is one of two double-header weekends on this year’s Tour, the other being the popular Indianapolis Double weekend.
2011 Zipp OVCX Cyclocross Tour Schedule:
Zipp OVCX Season Opener:
September 18: Fisherman’s Park; Louisville, Kentucky
Indy Double Weekend:
September 24: Brookside Cup; Indianapolis, Indiana
September 25: St. Marys Cyclocross; Indianapolis, Indiana
Dayton Doubleheader:
October 1: Gearfest; Dayton, Ohio
October 2: John Bryan Classic; Dayton, Ohio
October 9: Gun Club ‘Cross; Cincinnati, Ohio
October 16: Bloomingcross; Bloomington, Indiana
October 30: Storm the Greens; Louisville, Kentucky
November 20: Promotion Cross; Lexington, Kentucky (Kentucky State Championships)
Zipp OVCX Season Finale:
December 4: Kings CX; Cincinnati, Ohio
An obvious opening in the schedule of this year’s Zipp OVCX Tour occurs in November, when two consecutive weekends of UCI racing, a total of 5 UCI events in all, takes center stage in Ohio and Kentucky. Unlike past years, the three-day ‘cross festival in Cincinnati, November 4-6, and the USGP stop in Louisville the following weekend will not be included in the Zipp OVCX Tour. Zipp OVCX Tour Director and Cincy3 Festival co-promoter Mitch Graham explains, “Last year we started thinking that racers who compete with the OVCX all the time would be the real winners if the Tour had a more consistent focus, without different levels of events. Then this winter, the UCI made it pretty clear that they’d prefer that UCI sanctioned races weren’t part of other series. It was a pretty easy decision at that point.”
“It’s not a step back, by any means,” continues Graham. “The standards for races included in the Zipp Tour are very high. We expect UCI-level course preparation at every Zipp OVCX race, even though they aren’t UCI sanctioned. And this year, every Zipp OVCX race is required to use chip timing; which, I believe, makes us the first of America’s major regional series to fully commit to chip timing. It’s more accurate and gives racers more data to study than manual timing. It’s all part of the Zipp Tour’s focus to become an excellent regional series for developing racers of all ages and abilities. It’s going to be a fantastic season!”
