Hey, come over here and look out the window. Winds are howling the leaves off the trees, the mud is muddle-ready, and the grass is greener than July. It's just perfect for CG racing! With any luck at all we'll get heavy frost and just maybe some hail or even snow for the cyclorcross race at Rockburn Park on Sunday December 9. We cannot pass this up. For twenty bucks we can register at www.BikeReg.com to cover the entry fee for novice racers and the ten extra on-site cover a one-day license, insurance, and other stuff. That's about what we pay for a local 5K and this goes on all day. After our race, we can hang around for the kids races which are free entry for the little guys. Then learn and watch the skilled racers: master, juniors, and elites go round the same course at 1:30 PM. We've got to do this. C'mon let's go!

Rockburn CX is the final event of the Mason-Dixon Cyclocross Challenge and consists of five separate events, rain or shine, starting at 10:00 am. Howard County Recreation and Parks and Lateral Stress Velo, Inc are presenting the event at Rockburn Branch Park in Elkridge, Maryland. If you've run the Harvest Harrier 5K Trail Race you know the area. And it's great with a combo of pavement, grass, sand, mulch, brick, and wood festooned with both natural and man-made obstacles with great spectator-friendly opportunities.

What is CX? In Europe, it is noisier than NASCAR! Hotter than Daytona! Nastier than Nashville! Rougher than Rockingham! Well, you get the idea. Right, it's a GITRDONE sport. In Belgium and the Netherlands it can get as rough as "last man left standing" competition. Phil Liggett, noted Tour de France announcer has been known to show up when the mud and snow and freezing winds really crank on the tight very technical courses lined six deep with frantic fans (or you can catch it on live TV and not as a "reality show"). Phil might astutely observe that they even have pit crews who repair and change out bikes for the pros "just like NASCAR in the USA." Americans are getting better at it. They won three silver medals out of the four races at last year's World CX Championships.

Actually, CX is not that much different here in MIDATLANTIC where the sport is gaining enormous popularity, even though no live TV or video games yet, with multisport athletes who cannot swim in the winter without an axe, century bike riders who want to roll less than a hundred, and runners who want a new challenge. Or, anyone who wants to get outside and compete in whatever weather shows up. Here's what over at the Pentagon we call an "operational description."

Ken Getchell, race publicist and announcer, describes cyclocross as, "off-road bike racing, but on much faster bikes and courses than mountain bike racing, and with all the color and drama of cycle road racing." But wait, Ken nails it, "Visually, it's sort of a mixture of stock car racing and steeplechase horse racing." And, now the checkered flag, "Every course has at least one set of "planks," 16" high wooden barriers that the racers must hurdle every lap before jumping back on their bikes at a full run." Now that's serious fun! When the last time you did that?

Whoa! I don't have a CX bike. No worries, mate! Just take whatever you have and rip off everything except the seat, handlebars, brakes, cranks, and clip in pedals. Yes, that includes the big chain ring. Go with the small chain ring and put the chain in the center of the rear cog. Mostly "we" can just leave it there for our race with the novices. Next add some of the old style flat pedal (toe clips are optional, but OK) and some Kenda knobby tires for traction and a cool look. Just want to keep our shiny side up and keep cranking, running, and jumping. Off and on the bike and on and off the bike with running and biking in between kind of like Lance's Armstrong CX epic while winning a mountain stage at one of his seven consecutive Tour de France wins. Remember how he jumped off, ran across the tank ditch, leaped on the bike, and disappeared. That's the deed. If you don't want to reconfigure your ride, you can get new shiny, sleek, special CX bikes at your local shop ranging up to about really expensive. Ok, Santa is coming. Bikes make a great stocking stuffer.

I'll see you out there. Rockburn'll be rocking!

Editor's Note: John Elliott at 69-years-old is one of the top Ranked Runners in his division

Contact mattbrancheau@gmail.com for general event info.