Cyclo cross has gained popularity in Victoria over the last years and races like the Dirty Gran Fondo and the Dirty Deeds CX series are attracting both roadies and mountain bikers to the same start lines.
The first of these races this winter is the Dirty Gran Fondo on Sunday 19th May. Gran Fondo stands for Great Endurance and with the Big Hill Events crew taking this concept to the dirt roads of the Mt Disappointment forest, the Dirty Gran Fondo was born. With distances of 90k, 65k or 35k the event offers riders an alternative to the standard Cyclo cross course, which are mostly 2.5-3.5k and consist of riders repeating laps for a period of time. Competitors will also be categorized based on what bike they ride -26″ MTB, 29″ MTB, 700c cyclo cross bike or Mongrel.
The cyclo cross category is proving to be the most popular so far. Even though Australia’s representative at the last two Cyclo Cross World Championships, Lewis Rattray, will still be over in Europe, other riders like Allan Iacuone, Apollo rider John Groves and Dirty Deeds organisers Jeremy Soawyer and Nicholas Cotterell will take racing up to a high level. In the 29” wheel category Merida rider Adrian Jackson,Fitzroy Revolution rider Ashley Hayat and Subaru-MarathonMTB.com’s Roeland Suys have signed up. For more info and to register, check out www.bighillevents.com.au
The Dirty Gran Fondo will warm riders up for Melbourne’s original urban cyclo cross series, the Dirty Deeds presented by Brunswick Cycling Club. The 2013 series starts on Friday 24th May with a prologue at the Harrison Street Velodrome. The Dirty Deeds is only in its fourth year but is already renown for its great atmosphere that takes riders’ performance to a higher level.
Cyclo cross is stepping up in Australia with rumors of a national championship this winter awarding the top riders with enough UCI points to enter the 2014 CX World Championships. The Dirty Deeds will provide Melbourne riders with great opportunities to put their CX skills to the test and maybe dream of racing against Sven Nys at the next world championships!
For more info on the Dirty Gran Fondo, check out www.bighillevents.com.au. For all the muddy details on the Dirty Deeds CX Series, go to dirtydeeds.blogspot.com