With races disappearing off the calendar in the past few years, we are really excited to see a new race make its debut, especially one put on by friends, and located within a short train ride of NYC. Croton Cross (aka Crouton Cross) is coming up this weekend - as a 2 day event. We chatted with the folks behind the event to try to get some insider knowledge on how the race came to be, and any pro-tips on the course.

We expect a big TBD team presence this weekend as well as great hangs with all the NYC Cyclocross fam. Follow the Croton Cross Instagram account for the latest details, photos, and videos of the course. Hope to see you there!

Croton Cross Preview

What brought about the idea of putting on a new cross race for you?

Alex Klafehn (AK): It was the end of the 2021 Century Road Club Association (CRCA) Club Series, and after working with John for the better part of a season, he asked me if I was interested in setting up a CX race for that fall. Obviously that didn’t pan out (more on that later), but John’s experience with CX, great ties to both the CX scene & local businesses, and dogged persistence with chasing officials for permits has been a great match to my mid-tier design talents and ability to set up BikeReg and a Squarespace site.

John D’Agostino (JD): Pretty much what Alex said in addition to the need to have more local cyclocross races within the NYC area. At the time, we hadn’t known that Supercross wouldn’t be run so we were excited to add a 3rd race to the metro NYC calendar, behind Rainey and Supercross. Being on the board of the CRCA for 2020 and 2021 opened my eyes to what it takes to be a race promoter and the importance that community involvement plays in the development, operations and continuation of cycling events. We wanted to be a part of the metro NYC community involvement for this discipline and broaden the cyclocross culture within the community.

Editor’s note: Alex Klafehn (left in photo below) and John D’Agostino (right) have both been active as racers and volunteers in the NYC scene. Alex is CRCA Director of Open Racing and John D’Agostino was former CRCA VP of Club Racing. Be sure to thank them if you see them on race day!

How did you come up with the field structure/what was important to you in planning that out?

AK: This took a long time! We did a ton of research cross comparing the UCI races (Rochester, Charm City, NoHo, Really Rad, etc) as well as some of the more lauded one-days (Rainey, Bubble), and came up with something that we thought was organized in a way that was accessible for beginners (placing the 5’s last so they can watch the pros first rather than having to guess the best lines), convenient for families (bookending the kid’s races with Masters/Masters adjacent fields so the parents don’t have to stray far), and fair/compelling enough so that everyone feels good about their race (getting the right mix of projected field registrations so every field is competitive is a certain alchemy).

JD: Yeah, what Alex said sums it up pretty well. At the end of the day, community is most important and structuring the fields to build the sport, through participation and viewership, is what we are trying to do.

Note: Bikereg has the most up to date field structure & race times.

I saw that the race is presented by the Anti-Racist Cycling Club. Can you talk a bit about how that came about?

AK: Randy of BE Cyclocross reached out to us as soon as we announced Croton Cross saying that he had a project that he wanted to promote — a direct action coalition of teams, clubs, and events that work to include and build up underrepresented groups in cycling. This was something that John & I already wanted to do as part of the event (I mean — what organizer doesn’t want more folks at their race??), so the opportunity to both join and share ARCC with everyone who attends was something we couldn’t pass up.

JD: The ARCC is a coalition to fight prejudice within bike racing but really within our day-to-day lives and communities. We wanted to partner with Randy and his efforts and make a statement that Croton Cross is a safe place to focus on community and healthy mental and physical living, all while having fun and getting wild. With that said, we strongly believe that racism and prejudice, whether gender based or not, have no place in our lives and will not be tolerated at Croton Cross.

How did you choose the location?

AK: John and I were looking at a defunct golf course for a long while — the Gambit Racing team had been using it for practice, and we figured it’d be a good opportunity given it was lying fallow due to abandoned development plans. As soon as we were able to connect with the person who managed the land, it ended up getting sold off to another developer for housing and our plans were scrapped. We spent the winter of 2021 scouting new locations until Andrea from Gambit Racing recommended Croton Point Park in early 2022, and the rest is history!

JD: Back in 2021, the Gambit crew started looking for hallowed practice grounds and stumbled across the defunct Ridgeway Country Club in White Plains. We originally intended on asking the owners to use it for a cross race until it was sold by the French-American School to a property developer. In early 2022, Alex and I scoured Westchester County for potential spots when Andrea told Travis to tell me that Croton Point Park would be perfect. Once visited, we knew Croton Point was the spot. Can’t wait for them podium pics with the sunset glowing over the Palisades and Hudson River.

Was the permitting hard to get? What's that process like in that region?

AK: Both easier and more difficult, and in fact we’re still working through getting everything finalized. On the one hand, trying to hunt down and contact the private owners of some of the spaces we were looking at was super challenging, whereas Westchester Parks was immediately accessible & available. On the other hand, as with local government in most places near the city, wading through the bureaucracy can be an arduous task at times.

JD: Race promoters know what the permitting process involves and what to expect, but to a new promoter such as myself, I am finding it to be the most challenging piece to the puzzle. I consider myself new despite previously being the VP of Racing for the CRCA because the CRCA’s infrastructure for their club races specifically are well developed and the relations with Parks runs deep, attributing to a streamlined permitting process. But the biggest challenge I am finding in the permitting process for Croton Cross is the lack of transparency from the permit issuers, who, for the most part, have little at stake in your event successfully being held or really being held at all. To bridge this gap between the Park’s beliefs and our reality, we are providing them knowledge about our hurdles/efforts in putting on the event, whether that be financially or otherwise. This way it allows them to understand the processes in putting on a cyclocross race and hopefully this will strengthen our relationship and lead to a more streamlined process in the future.

What are the parking/transportation options like near the park?

AK: There’s a massive parking lot directly adjacent to the course, and the Croton Harmon Metro North stop just outside the park. As a bonus, Croton Harmon is a terminus for some of the Hudson lines, meaning there’ll be express trains starting and ending at that stop. We didn’t pick the location for that reason specifically, but we definitely appreciate the convenience! And for those of you who are experienced MetroNorth users — yes, we have bike trains reserved!

JD: And there are camping spots on the peninsula! There are fully covered cabins (4-6 persons ranging from $90-$130 per night), tent sites, and RV sites! Check out the pricing here: https://parks.westchestergov.com/croton-point-park/croton-point-fees We only hope some racers take advantage of this amenity!

What features of the course are you most excited about?

AK: I have two favorites — “Nature Hike”, which is a trail section at the north end of the course. Saturday will see it as an epic drop into a fast trail section, and on Sunday it’ll be a challenging run-up. “Camel’s Hump” is close to the pavilion, and we’re putting it together as this rolling, off-camber weave that’ll really reward folks with technical skills. Plus, we should be close to peak leaf season, so this race should be a photographer’s dream.

JD: The two features Alex mentioned are the two that will define Croton Cross on the race course. But off-course, I really like the pavilion and the backdrop of the Palisades across the Hudson. Croton Point Park is a peninsula on the east shore of the Hudson River and has one of the most stunning sunsets Evan Bauer will ever see. On the other hand, the pavilion will be the heart of race administration and the race course will snake around it between transition points. In the pavilion, we will have registration, results, medics, public announcements, and pretty much run the race out of it. It is big enough to fit about 100 people at a time, and is probably of similar size to the pavilion utilized at Rochester Cyclocross.

No handups?! What the hell?!

AK: Blame USAC! I had to look it up in the official rules after seeing it banned at other races. I know it’s not always enforced but I wanted to play things by the books for the inaugural edition of the event. Be nice to Jeff Poulin (our Chief Ref) and maybe he’ll let things slide!

JD: I plead the fifth on this one…

How can folks best support the race (volunteer, spread the word?)

AK: To quote Keith Garrison of Rainey fame: the best way to support the race is to sign up! Otherwise, we are always on the lookout for volunteers (front row callouts for you or a selected racer if you volunteer!) and will definitely appreciate anyone spreading the good word. Follow @crotoncross on Instagram or check out our website, www.crotoncross.com.

JD: As Alex noted, racing and volunteering are the most important. But spreading the word and making this a NYC cyclocross reunion would be special!

Anything else you want to share?

AK: It takes a village to run a race, and while I don’t want to pretend like it hasn’t taken a massive amount of work on the backend to make things happen, Croton Cross truly wouldn’t be where it is without tremendous support from the local cycling community. Randy L for providing the key initial support for the event; Travis T, Andrea A, and the Gambit crew for course design and local connections; Keith G for his experience and generous lending of course elements; Ben K for his tireless promotion of the event out in NECX; the list of names could be endless.

JD: Yes, I fully echo Alex’s sentiment here but also please respect the park and be as courteous as possible to park users. The park will not be closed to the general public, so please be sure to respect everyone’s space. Hope to see you on October 29 and 30!

Croton Cross Preview

What brought about the idea of putting on a new cross race for you?

How did you come up with the field structure/what was important to you in planning that out?