Colorado Cyclocross Numbers

Submitted by David on

*** Updated for 2010 ***
The 2010 Colorado cyclocross season has been going for a little over a month. We thought we would update some numbers. Boulder Racing had there largest race ever at with 584 starters. Compare that to Oregon Cross Crusade which had over 1400 starters for the first race in the series!

The 2009 Colorado cyclocross season is in full swing. The numbers seem descent but are they? Looking at the numbers for the first two 2009 Boulder Racing Series and the Valmont Bike Park race and the numbers are slightly down.

Compare Colorados cyclocross scene to Oregon's cyclocross scene and there is no comparison. The Oregon Cross Crusade series has well over 1200 racers per event where the Colorado events are a little over 450.
Cross Crusade

- Why are the numbers so different? The Denver Metro area is similar in population to the Portland Metro area.
- What aspects does the Cross Crusade events have that the Colorado events don't?
- Is it a cultural difference between the two communities that makes the cyclocross events less intimidating?

Cyclocross Results Data

2008

Boulder Racing Series #1
Boulder Racing Series #2
Boulder Racing Series #3

2009

Colorado
Boulder Series #1
Boulder Series #2
Valmont Bike Park

Oregon - Cross Crusade
Oregon Cross Crusade #1
Oregon Cross Crusade #2
Oregon Cross Crusade #3

2010

Colorado
Boulder Series #1 - Xilinx
Boulder Series #2 - Interlocken

Oregon - Cross Crusade
Oregon Cross Crusade #1
Oregon Cross Crusade #2
Oregon Cross Crusade #3

News Item: 

9 Comments

I'll take the "smaller" fields.

Submitted by Boulderite (not verified) on

I'll take the "smaller" fields. Who would want to do a "race" with 150~200 people?
What is the turnout at other Oregon races? Cross Crusade only got this big in the last 2 year. Would be interesting to see if people that that is good or bad as they walk the first lap due to traffic.

I went to Portland and raced

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

I went to Portland and raced a couple of Cross Crusades this year. It is definetely different, better atmosphere for sure. I think they do a great job making things fun for more than just the racers. With food and clever courses that are condusive to spectating, it is much more of a family oriented event...like a fair I guess. I also think having a true beginner category below the C's (our cat 4)helps. Also, the ACA has to do something about their Website. Yuck. Who want's to go up there, it looks like a medical chart and the forum is hardly used. Look at the CC forum, they even have a "smack talk" section and OBRA has a team recruiting ride calendar. No offense to organizers here, but a lot could be learned from CC and OBRA on how to spice things up and be more inclusive.

I find it interesting

Submitted by Kris Thompson on

Two platinum cities with a deep passion for cycling... but each cities passion in cycling is different. I'm curious how it works in OR and see what could be learned from them. Do we need to become like them? Probably not but I feel a lot can be learned about ourselves as we learn more about others in the same space we are in.

a possible reason is...

Submitted by stevef (not verified) on

It could be because we in the Northwest don't have much to do once the weather gets nasty besides cyclocross. We still want to go outside, and cyclocross is the one almost-sane excuse to do so. It seems that Fall/Winter in Colorado has many more outdoor options for active people than PDX does.
I'm thinking of moving to Boulder from here, so I asked some people about the Boulder/Co scens. It sounds similar to California: People show up to race/compete, and that is about it(?). In PDX people show up to race, spectate, hang out, browse the vendors, and revel in the bike culture. There are many families, so families feel welcome, which in turn helps more dads like me turn up 4-5 weekends a month instead of 1-2.