Sand and Sunshine: HPCX Race Report
One of the things that I love about East Coast cyclocross is the spectrum of events from week to week. At one end there is the grassroots charm of a race like Bubblecross, where there may have been fewer than 175 registrants but the racing and the vibes left nothing to disappoint. And at the other end are huge scale events like Charm City Cross, where individual fields nearly approached the total Bubblecross registration and the entire weekend felt like a pinnacle of East Coast cross.
For most New York City cyclocrossers, this past weekend brought things back to the grassroots side of things with HPCX in Jamesburg, New Jersey. HPCX was formerly a double-header UCI weekend, but for 2021 it shifted gears slightly for a more casual single day of racing.
Despite being a longstanding TBD favorite, this was somehow my first time out to HPCX. And friends, it did not disappoint.
It did not hurt that most of the day was bathed in sunshine and cool fall temperatures. Which meant that the slopfest of the past few years was replaced by a dry-ish course, with just enough moisture to keep corners and off cambers interesting. The sand pit was endlessly entertaining (except of course while trying to pedal through it, knowing that an uphill slog awaited shortly after the exit). And the hangs were top notch. The only element of the race that I found a bit perplexing was running the Elite Men and Elite Women on course at the same time.
But ultimately it was just a damn good day of cyclocross, and I’ll definitely be back next year for another edition of HPCX (maybe a it will be back to a double header weekend?).
Stay tuned to the Journal because we’ll post a full gallery of HPCX images later this week.
A New York City based cyclist and sometimes photographer. Part adventure rider, part crit racer, and fully obsessed with an English bulldog named Winifred.
Instagram: @photorhetoric
E-mail: matthew@tobedetermined.cc
