Hundreds of cyclists hurdled down dirt tracks and trekked up obstacles among cheering fans and hecklers at the “CX at the Beach” Cyclocross race in El Dorado Park yesterday.
According to Elaina Alvarez, race participant and member of the Cal State Long Beach Cycling Club, the event was the second race in the SoCalCross Prestige Series 2013-14.
She said the cycling club participates in the annual SoCalCross Series, which runs from September to January, but this is the first time the CSULB Cycling Club is also sponsoring the event.
Barry Fink, a spectator from Marina Del Rey, was heckling riders trackside with a cardboard cutout of a cycler’s head in one hand and a beer in the other.
“Heckling is the key component for Cyclocross because it’s what motivates everybody,” Fink said. “It keeps it all light and fun. If you can’t heckle, you can’t cross race.”
Ryan Mason, race director for CSULB Cycling Club, said the SoCalCross Series is one of the largest cycle series in the U.S.
“It’s not the typical kind of bike riding that most people are familiar with,” he said. “It’s basically a road bicycle, except you have mountain bike tires on them, and you ride [through different obstacles].”
According to Alvarez, the cycling club began training for the series months ago before the first Cyclocross race in September and has continued to train every week. She said the race involved various elements like stairs, wooden planks and sand.
“We trained at Huntington Park, and we set up our own course there that we ran through,” she said. “We also did a lot of exercises like running up and down hills, squats, lunges and stuff to prepare for the kind of riding that we do … If you’re going 100 percent the whole race, you ought to make sure that you can last the whole 40 minutes.”
Mason said he calls the sport “the most spectator friendly bike discipline.”
“You can be standing in one place and see everyone racing in front of you,” he said. “The more spectators there are, the more racers tend to get amped up and go faster.”
Treavor Matsushima, a spectator who set up chairs next to a log obstacle with his friends so they could heckle riders as they went by, said that he taunted one of his teammates so much the he caused him to crash into the obstacle.
“You just essentially make them as uncomfortable as you can,” Matsushima said. “If they screw up, you kind of point it out. You can heckle people, and it’s okay, and you should do it.”
Participants race under different categories depending on factors like age group or experience, according to the SoCalCross Prestige Series guidelines.
Bob Downs, who won the Men’s 55+ Masters category of the race, said that as the reigning national champion in his age group, it always feels great to win.
“When I come out here, it’s like I have a bullseye on my back,” Downs said. “Everybody’s really gunning to beat me. It’s great, though, because all of the guys are really friendly.”
Winners of some categories received recognition and a goodie bag, which included items such as energy bars, whole bean coffee, bicycle grease and a cowbell, while other categories included monetary prizes.