DCMTB hosted their fourth and final cyclocross clinic of the season
Arley Kemmerer of C3 instructed a beginner clinic that was "women only" and "women specific"
the women only clinic works well to bring the sport of cyclocross to more women while bringing more women to the sport of cyclocross
over the past few years the sport of cyclocross has grown dramatically
the growth has been disproportionately male
which may be indicative of cycling as a whole
DCMTB is working to try and increase interest in the sport... both male and female
the gathering of interested participants included a wide range of athletes
it ranged from the absolute beginner racer to the fast road racer crossing over or at least dabbling in cyclocross
the majority of riders were on actual cyclocross bikes
there was one woman on a mountain bike
and one of the woman a cross bike was using platform pedals and running shoes
it was a fun evening as one of the fastest women cyclocrss racers in the area presented an evening of full immersion
the participants were instructed in the dismount remount for barriers, cornering on tight turns on grass, and controlling the bike on off camber traverses
it was a great deal of information for one session
everyone seemed to be ingesting things quite well
there are teams hosting informal cyclocross clinics all over the city
it is my recommendation that people interested in racing get a taste of what cyclocross is about before showing up to race
this weekend is the NCVC Ed Sander' cyclocross race at Lily Pons just outside of Frederick, Maryland
there is talk that Arley may host a second Women's Only Cyclocross Clinic the day prior to DCMTB's DCCX at the Armed Forces Retirement Home
that would be a great opportunity for racers to not only get some A+ instruction but to also get to pre-ride the race course
pre-ride can often prove to give the racers a significant advantage or at least some increased comfort
watch the DCMTB Blog for that information
http://www.dcmtb.com/blog/
Joe Foley of Joe Foley Photography was there taking photos
Joe has posted a slide show of images on the DCMTB SITE
slide show here
Gwadzilla mention of Charm City
Gwadzilla mention of Arley
Gwadzilla mention of Clinic
more images from this event on the GWADZILLA FACEBOOK PAGE