2015 SoCal Cross Fever Finale: Smiling at the End

End of series, end of season. A looming gap of eight months before the first race of the next SoCal Cross Prestige Series. None of those could get the racers, those who came out for today's last SoCal cyclocross race, down.

Cyclocross season, in comparison to the sports' other disciplines, seems to come and go so rapidly. I have thought that might be tied to its place on the calendar, the end of year. It must compete with the progression of holidays that approach with increasing anticipation - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then once they have passed, we shake our heads and wonder where they went. Like looking back on the four month season - where the heck did it go?

Today's race, at Verdugo Park in Glendale, marked the end of the season here in Southern California. The Cross Fever series is in some ways the neglected sibling to the longer, more popular SoCal Prestige Series. The Cross Fever series follows along after the other has had its fill of weekends from late September through December. It is a hard act to follow. The prestige is a rave on wheels. There is so much energy it overflows the venue, whichever venue, it doesn't really matter. That is the funny thing about cyclocross around here; there seem to be relatively few  racers dedicated strictly to it, those for whom cross season is the be-all, end-all of the racing year. In December people begin to shift focus, their eyes, their thoughts, maybe even their hearts, begin to wander. They stray. They see that first crit marked with a big red circle on the calendar, or maybe it is the first cross-country mountain bike race, they usually start to tantalize at about the same time.

Those two floozies are hard to ignore. The one is sinuous and sexy, the other dirty and a bumpy ride. Never mind that cyclocross encompasses both of those at the same time. Anyway, maybe because cross fills a gap between the end of the road and mountain seasons, and because both of those last a good long nine months, maybe that is the role that cross in SoCal is meant to fill. There is nothing wrong with that, and if it is the case, then the many racers and their supporting crew who made it to the season finale, sent the season off with a roar, a cacophony that is probably still resounding around the hills of Glendale.

Alright, so a selection of ninety-five photos from the day can be seen in a Flickr album by simply clicking here.

As usual, if you see a photo you like feel free to download it (credit where credit due, of course). Want more? Go ahead and order your own copy of the CLR Effect racing annual. There are two editions available right now (2013 and 2014), and you can preview them by clicking the 2014 Seasons in the Sun Book Preview button near the top of the right hand column.