Rocky Road to Corriganville: Here Comes Cross

You can taste it now, right? That unique flavor of dust mixed with the sweat from your upper lip, and stirred by the exertion that gave rise to both. The rising bile because you ate too much for breakfast, the lactic acid ripping your legs apart, the gasping for breath. The countdown is entering its final week now, with the start of Cross season nervously waiting on the threshold.

This year, the SoCal Cross season kicks up dust to start the season at Corriganville, a quick ride down from Rocky Peak in Simi Valley. From the first time I spun spurs at Corriganville it has been my favorite venue for cyclocross racing, and for the past five years I've made sure to set aside the weekend that the racing takes place: 

The first was 2014's Showdown at Corriganville, followed by 2015's Duel in the Dirt Relay Mountain Bike Race. Next came the 2016 Showdown (the Cross Fever Season Finale). SoCal Cross again drove a stampede to Corriganville's shady draw in 2017, with the SoCal cyclocross season, once again, wrapping up at Corriganville in 2018.

Whether you go out there to race, to watch, the cheer, to support, whether you're a Cross veteran, or trying it for the first time, you could do far worse than, and be hard pressed to find a better way to, spend a few weekend hours among Corriganville's shady draws and rocky hillsides. See you there?