A brand new event on the 2016 events calendar, Monster Cross is a 3-hour cyclocross enduro race that will be held this Sunday the 11th of September in Catton Hall, Derbyshire.
Monster Cross eh? And what exactly is that?
In essence, it’s kind of like taking your typical cyclocross event and turning it up to 11. More singletrack, more laps, and more people. The course is around 6km long, but features more off-road trails, so you’re not just spinning circles around a muddy park somewhere. The course is designed for cyclocross bikes, but you can turn up on a mountain bike if you like, or anything else for that matter really. You can even do it in a team, so you won’t have to slog it out on your own. Team bacon hand-ups anyone??
Grit.cx will be repping at this weekend’s Monster Cross event, so make sure you come on past to say hello and give a good ol’ heckle while you’re at it! In the meantime, check out the full press release below from Monster Cross to see what it’s all about and why you need to enter right now.
We love ‘cross. ‘Cross is awesome. But sometimes we’re left wanting more, feeling like it’s over all too soon. That’s where Monster Cross comes in – it’s like ‘cross, but more ‘cross. Awesome like cyclocross but with more awesomeness; 3 hours long and featuring more course, with more singletrack, more run ups, more hurdles and more cowbells.
THE FORMAT
The course at Monster Cross is longer than that of a normal cyclocross race at approximately 6km in length & will have plenty of interesting features to keep you wanting to go out for another lap. The race starts at 11am, simply complete as many laps as possible in 3hrs.
THE CATEGORIES
Race categories are open to solo riders and teams of three. Open to all riders over 16 years of age.
Solo riders – See if you can strike the balance of intensity & endurance to complete as many laps as possible before the bell rings to call in the final lap. Entry fee £25 per rider.
Teams of 3 – Sprint, change, sprint, change, repeat. Teams of three can handover every lap to race as fast as humanly possible over the entire duration. Every lap can be approached like the opening lap of a normal ‘cross race. Entry fee is £40 per team. You can enter this category as a pair too.
THE VENUE
Monster Cross is being held at Catton Hall, Walton Upon Trent, DE12 8LN. The site is close to the A38 so has great access from the M1, M42 & M6.
THE COURSE
We’re making sure that there’s plenty to get your teeth stuck into to keep things interesting & engaging every lap. Please take a look at the following course preview video to get a taste of what’s in store. If things get wet and messy, don’t worry as we have a dedicated jet washing area by the pits/handover area.
Further details of the format, rules and event site can be found here.
BIKE SPECIFICATION
The course is being designed so that it will favour ‘cross bikes and as a cyclocross race our preference would be that you to compete on a cross bike but if you don’t have one your still more than welcome to come and race on a mountain bike.