my 2025 cx season summary

Twentytwentyfive was a short ‘cross season in Alberta. We were down a couple of ABA Cup races in Edmonton (no Tubs on Tubs or Velocity CX), the Canmore races were cancelled, and provincials were early and it all felt a little lessened.

Wednesday Worlds #

This year I thought ahead and planned out my ‘cross seaon at work so I wouldn’t have to miss any of the Wednesday Worlds¹ nights. I just like them for the camaraderie and the feeling that I am part of a community of weirdos riding around too hard in an inefficient manner.

• Race 1 2025-08-27: stravalink I biked out to the first Wednesday Worlds of the season and only did one practice lap. I tell myself I’m easing into the season, but I was feeling pretty weak pretty quickly. It was a really short course, so I got lapped multiple times by the leaders. Also I whacked my face on a branch in my first lap, but there wasn’t any real damage. Tire check: Schwalbe X-One clinchers low(?)² tire pressure.
• Race 2 2025-09-03: stravalink I loved the course Shanny laid out for this one! The ups and downs were tough but manageable without any of those bits where I have to slow to a dead stop to get through. I did get caught up in the climb at the beginning of the first lap with my weight too far back so my front lifted and I didn’t make my uphill corner properly. Also washed out once in the down and up. The run-up was where I made a bit of time on the people around me. VCC clubmate Warren got past me at the start of the second lap so I was chasing him for a lap and a half before I caught and passed him. Looking at it afterwards, he had one faster lap, but his slower laps were like 30 seconds slower, while my lap times were within ten seconds of each other. Consistency is my deal, I guess. Tire check: Clement PDX clinchers, pretty low pressure. I feel like the X-Ones would give me better off-camber grip and wouldn’t have washed out.
• Race 3 2025-09-10: stravalink Back at Argyll, which is a nice bike ride from home. This time we had a longer course with a couple of runups. In the recon I couldn’t manage the off-camber uphill switchbacks at all cleanly and it just got worse in traffic the first lap of the race. After that, I just shouldered the bike and ran. Most of the race I was chasing Wanda and then got past her just before the long runup on the final lap, where she got a bit tangled up with another rider (coming in a tad too hot for the dismount). That let me get away from her and finish strong (though I did get lapped by Jason just before the race ended. Tire check: Clement PDX clinchers, too firm, probably in the 35-45 PSI range

ABA Cyclocross Cup Races #

These are the real races. Ability categories go Novice, Sport, Expert, Open, unless it’s provincials or the Western Challenge, which is done by age categories since they are also qualifiers for things like Nationals. Races I participated in will have an asterisk below.

For me personally, the big change for the year is that I was racing in the Sport Men category instead of Novice. I faced up to the fact that I’ve been doing this for several years now and though I may be slow, I’m not new to the sport anymore. So my placings will be much lower than 2024 (apart from Provincials, where I do hope to improve on my 18/19 in Masters Men 45-54). Selah.

• Deadgoat Supercross* & Peloton “Welcome to Nishidome” CX
• Western Challenge CX & Chaos Superprestige - Races cancelled due to construction at Canmore Nordic Centre
• Juventus Jim Horner Grand Prix* & ERTC School of Cross
• Hardcore Hop-N-Hurl* & Puncheur Cross Provincials*
• Bicicross* & Beans n Barley
• Cyclemeisters Bow Cycle CX
• Snakes and Ladders

Best³ ABA Cup Racers #

This is based on rankings from CrossResults where a lower number of points is better.

Women #

Men #