STORMIN’ IN KENTUCKY - Kentucky State Championships
by Ken Getchell

November 26, 2008
Championship cyclocross racing returns to Louisville on Sunday, November 30 for the Zipp OVCX Tour's "Storm the Greens". Held at Champion's Park, the same venue as the Papa Johns Derby City Cup USGP series opener earlier this year, this year's Storm the Greens races also serve as the Kentucky State Championships. And though the event serves as Kentucky's championship event, riders from throughout the Midwest will be competing.

The race name is a nod to the history of the race venue. Champions Park was once a golf course that was rededicated as public sports complex in 2007. Even before then, however, the city had given permission for the property to be used by cyclists for cyclocross training and racing. The result, according to Storm the Greens promoter Bob Bobrow, is one of the best cyclocross facilities in North America. "The City has allowed the locals to train and race at Champions Park for four years now. That has given us the unique opportunity to tinker with the track on a regular basis, and we've come up with several different course configurations which all make great race tracks. All the configurations we use regularly feature sand, several sets of built-in earthen steps and lots of twists and turns in the smooth grass."

And, while cyclists themselves have developed the cycling infrastructure of the park, the whole city of Louisville has reaped the rewards. Earlier this summer, the mass-distribution magazine Bicycling named Louisville as one of America's Best New Cycling Cities, in part because of the racing at Champions Park. A whole new generation of cyclists has begun to recognize Kentucky, and in fact the entire Ohio Valley region, as a viable alternative for cycling-based vacations.

The recognition couldn't have come at a better time. Cyclocross racing around the country is on a record surge of popularity. Every Zipp OVCX Tour race so far in 2008 has seen record attendance, a feat that is being recorded in other major series as well. Cyclocross, which was once seen as a bit of a lark, has now become the primary objective for many Midwestern cyclists as the Zipp OVCX Tour races regularly draw field that are comparable to, and often in excess of, road and mountain bike races in the region.

And as the popularity of cyclocross has increased, so has the profile of state championships like Storm the Greens, especially when they also count toward the season championship of a major series. With only one more Zipp OVCX Tour event following this, riders in every class are paying close attention to the point standings and realizing that every point counts. Plus, there are other benefits to racing at Champions Park in November. "Storm the Greens is not the USGP," says promoter Bobrow. "But the Champions Park track is actually more fun and more challenging to race later in the season, when we host Storm the Greens."

For more information on Storm the Greens, see the Zipp OVCX Tour website at www.ovcx.com.