HPCX, the best race within an hour of NYC (ex. Rainey Park, duh), is finally upon us! This race put on by the Rutgers cycling team has been going on forever, has had unseasonably terrible weather more times than I can remember, and still is somehow one of the most reliably fun races on the calendar year after year.

Let’s get into what it’s going to be like this year, and don’t miss all of our prior HPCX coverage here:

WEATHER

The weather is looking close to perfect for this weekend, if a little cloudy. High of 72, low of 49, sunny, a bit of a breeze. I don’t even really have anything else to say. It’s not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket!

COURSE

This course slaps. If you’ve never done it, you may have heard it’s hilly. That’s sort of true, the park has quite a bit of elevation and the course designers make the most of it, but they also throw in so much else that even a person who despises climbing (me) can have a great time and do well at this race.

In recent years, the start has been at the bottom of the park/hill, near the lake. A fast, paved start spits you right into the sand. The thing to know about this sand is that it’s eminently rideable, but on the first lap people will screw it up. Look where you’re going, not at the people crashing, and keep your feet moving. Then, in recent years there’s been a grass 180, then back into sand going much slower. (Keep the feet moving!) Another 180, and either you’re on grass on a flat power section, or there are two more sand sections, wish I could remember.

After that you start snaking slightly uphill. The first half of the lap has a little elevation change but nothing really significant. There's some wide turns, some off camber, some power sections. Barriers have been in the flat power section in this part of the lap the last three years, though prior to that they were on a slight incline after a 180 later in the lap, forcing more running and a remount on off-camber. Let’s assume they’ll be on a flat section by the parking lot, though. This is a good place to heckle your friends.

Then you start going up. Up, up, up. There’s one long climb that is a grind but not super steep. The last two years the stairs were mid-climb and after a hard chicane, making them rideable only for a select few. Unfortunately, after the stairs the hill keeps going, so remounting and getting going again hurts a lot.

Once upon a time, the hill kept going beyond the road, and there were some of the best swoopy downhill turns in all of northeast cyclocross. They cut this section out last year along with part of my heart, and I haven’t seen an updated course map so I can’t tell you anything here. I do know there are likely to be some lesser but still wide downhill turns even if they take out the upper section, and you should get a little drifty and send it because what did you come here for if not speed?

After that there are a few more flat power sections, more wide downhill turns into the start/finish, then you hit the sand again.

I can’t say enough good things about this course. The terrain is varied, they really use every good bit of the park, and you can go so fast if you just trust your tires.

HANGS

What can I say? Everyone is going to be there. Bring a jacket and a hat and plan to hang out all day. Food is hit or miss. There is usually one food truck, but that has yet to be confirmed for this year. There’s an excellent diner a few blocks away that does takeout, and a CVS parking lot backs up into the park if you just need a quick snack or a jug of water.

GEAR

I think this is going to be a day for a mid tire. There’s going to be some rain this week before the race, but likely none on the weekend proper, so things should be dry. Bust out the file treads if you really want them. However, this course loves to hold moisture, so I am never willing to say that this park is going to be completely dry. There are also a fair amount of roots on course, so I’d go average to ever so slightly high on the pressure.

For all but the first races of the day this is a short sleeve skinsuit kind of situation (and maybe even for those early races, that depends on your preference). Bring a light jacket to pre ride in, bust out the guns for the race.