Overland Park KS Homes for sale & Johnson County Real Estate Blog: Cyclocross National Championships hit Kansas City

For those of you who are not familiar with the sport of cyclocross. This Sunday maybe the chance you have been waiting for. Cyclocross is part mountain biking, part road biking and part steeplechase, running with your bike over barriers. The sport started in Europe and is starting to take off in the U.S. The promotor's of the event have gone out of there way to make the race super fan friendly with heated beer tents lining the course. Take some time out this weekend and check out the action, below is a news release from Cyclingnews.com about the race and it's location

Despite a severe ice storm that has coated the state of Kansas in a thick layer of ice, record numbers of cyclo-cross racers are ready to brave the wintry conditions in order to contend for the coveted stars and stripes jersey.

A record 2,045 entries over some 40 races were received for the 2007 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships in Kansas City, Kansas, which begins Thursday at the Wyandotte County Park. The entries topped last year's participation in Providence, Rhode Island by more than 100 entries.

"We've achieved our first goal - which was to better last year's total," said Race Director Bill Marshall of KLM Marketing Solutions. "Our next goal is to make sure that every racer comes away from the event with a positive experience."

Sean Weide, a media liason for the organization, told Cyclingnews that the weather will be cold but should remain dry for the races. While other cities in the region have had widespread power outages, Weide said the area of the hotels and the airport have not lost power.

"We had a crew out at the course in advance of freezing temperatures today in order to groom the course to make sure it's in good condition if the ground stays frozen," Weide explained. "The freezing rain is predicted to end at midnight Tuesday, and there is no more precipitation predicted through Sunday. It will be cold and the course will get muddy, but there shouldn't even be significant wind chill."

The athletes competing in this year's championships come from 45 states, plus the District of Columbia. California will have the most representatives - 109 - followed by Kansas with 80 and Missouri with 79.

The Masters Men's 35-39 category has the most entries - 171 - followed closely by Elite men, which has 167 athletes registered, and Masters Men's 40-44 division, which has 161.

Defending Elite Men's champion Ryan Trebon and Women's Elite champion Katie Compton are among the nation's best athletes ready to line up at this week's championships.

Compton, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, has won the past three Women's Elite titles and was the silver medalist at the 2007 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships. The 29-year-old is currently the number two-ranked female cyclo-cross racer in the world, according to the latest UCI ratings. Her strongest competition in the 98-rider Elite Women's field is expected to come from Georgia Gould (Ketchum, Idaho) and Kerry Barnholt (Boulder, Colorado).

Gould took four of six races and the overall series title at the 2007 U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross presented by Crank Brothers, and currently holds the 2007 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Champion title. The 27-year-old finished second to Compton last year. Barnholt, 24, finished third last year at nationals and was 15th at the World Championships.

Trebon, a resident of Corvallis, Oregon, won the 2007 overall series title of the USGP. The 26-year-old is expected to be strongly challenged by a host of contenders that includes three-time national cyclo-cross champion Jonathan Page (Sunweb Pro Job), USGP series runner-up Tim Johnson (Leer/Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld), 2003 collegiate cyclo-cross champion Barry Wicks (Kona-YourKey), seven-time Junior and Under 23 cyclo-cross champion Jesse Anthony (Jamis), and 2006 U.S. Cyclo-cross World Championship team member Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld).

 Get ready to mud it up Kansas City, it is cyclocross nationals time