Rockville 2014 – Italy’s other major early January cyclocross event
While the world’s best cyclocrossers were convening in Rome, Italy for the 2014 UCI Cyclocross World Cup yesterday [See: Compton Bests Vos in Rome and Niels Albert: When in Rome, Go Solo], hundreds of other cyclocrossers were gathering 536km to the north in Pessina Cremonese, Italy for a different kind of cyclocross weekend, named “Rockville 2014” (not to be confused with the $10 Rockville Bike Race Series in California we recently wrote about).
On Sunday, the same day as the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Rome, the Rockville 2014 weekend featured a CrossFondo / RockFondo. The Fondo was a 40k ride on cyclocross bikes, with a “Tasty Food Stop” and ending with a concert. Here’s the route:
Today, on Monday, the Rockville 2014 event features what might be Europe’s biggest singlespeed cyclocross race. It’s the premier event of the the Singlespeed Ciclocross Italian Series, and while true to singlespeeding’s reputation of being a bit counter-culture, the day’s race offers some serious racing, complete with a stated maximum tire width of 35mm. “Friends in Portland” influenced the event, so you can see a touch of Cross Crusade in the video below.
Screenshot: Rockville 2013 singlespeed race video
Last year’s event was documented in artistic form through this well-done, nine-minute film by Ertzui below. Our takeaway, in true Italian fashion, is that the event revolves around food as much as it does around racing, and it left us quite hungry. Take a look, and stay tuned for a report on this year’s event.
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Want more info for an excuse to travel to Italy next year, perhaps to take in a World Cup and compete in the Rockville 2015 event?
See the Rockville 2014 Facebook Page or singlespeed-italy.com
