After much deliberation, the organizers and I have agreed on the new
schedule for 2009.

What you will see in this schedule are some new approaches, and some
compromises. Our biggest struggle is trying to accommodate growth and
support development categories without compromising elite races. We are
aiming for the best of both worlds, but at a time of the year where there
are limited hours in the day to work with, it's incredibly difficult.

Along those lines, you'll see that we've still added an 8th start to the
race day, and an additional 15 minute warm up period at 10:15. This means
the race day starts earlier and goes later, and that the lower category
races are now back to 30 minutes like they originally were.

You'll see that the 3/4 women now only share the course with the 10-14 year
old Juniors, and that the races are the same duration.

35+ Masters now have their own race. 45+ and 55+ now share a start.

The "B" race is now a Cat 3 only race, and share the course with the
Juniors. This means that the Elite men race is now a Pro/1/2 event,
mirroring what you'd normally find on the road.

The schedule:

1. 8:00: 4 Men, 30 min
2. 8:45: 4 Masters, 30 min
3. 9:30: 3/4 Women, Junior Men 10-14, 30 min
4. 10:30: Open 45+ Masters, 55+ Masters, 45 min
5. 11:30: 1/2/3 35+ Masters, 45 min
6: 12:30: 3 Men, Junior Men 15-18, 45 min
7. 2:00: Elite Women (1/2), 45 min
8. 3:00: Elite Men (Pro/1/2), 60 min

At some of the early season races, you will likely see the time schedule
shifted back to a later start where there is more daylight to work with, but
the slots will stay the same.

I realize that change is always a challenge, and not everyone will be
excited about it. However, we know this is the best way to accomplish the
highest quality product for the largest number of racers across a range of
ability levels. I'm excited for bigger elite fields, real Cat. 3 racing in
the B race, a premier 35+ race and a 45+ field that will truly be based on
age over ability level, and options for people to still choose a race based
on ability if they want. Rather than eliminate the beginners fields
completely as was being considered, we can still provide fair and
appropriate events with dedicated course time for those races, even if we
are forced to start them early in the morning in order to fit them in.

I think if you spend some time getting comfortable with the schedule, you'll
see how much sense it makes, and how many choices it gives people. And of
course, none of these changes are fatal. As we have in the past, if we find
that in practice they are not working as intended, we won't be afraid to
make changes in the future. Remember the B race as the final race of the day
with elite races at noon? An example of a change that didn't work, but
wasn't fatal.

More details about entry fees and prize lists will be released later.

I'm currently on vacation, so feel free to discuss among yourselves, but I
can't and won't respond to every single e-mail trying to make everyone
happy.

Thanks!

Adam
--
Adam F. Myerson
President, Cycle-Smart, Inc.: Solutions for Cycling
Member, UCI Cyclo-Cross Commission
Member, AIOC-Cross Management Committee
Organizer, Cycle-Smart International Cyclo-Cross
President, Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series

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