Interviewee: Terry Buchanan
Occupation: Project manager at a construction company. Race promoter.
Riding style: Racing
His ride: Seven Cycles titanium cyclocross bike. "The versatility of a cyclocross bike is what's so awesome and what makes it a great bike to have in your quiver regardless if you're going to race. You can shortcut through parks, set it up for touring, and fat tires feel comfortable, too."
The summer is almost over and so is road racing season. For many racers this means they'll be trading the pavement for dirt and mud as cyclocross season is about to kick off.
Originated in Belgium, cyclocross is a form of bicycle racing that takes place on wooded trails and muddy single tracks with short and steep hills, sharp corners and obstacles. Often the racer is required to dismount from their bike and run across obstacles while carrying the bike. The races are between 30 to 60 minutes in length and take place in fall and early winter.
"Cyclocross is such an odd sport until you see it," said MFG Cyclocross promoter Terry Buchanan as we met up for a 7:30 a.m. cross ride through Woodland Park on August 30.
"You see, there are these bikes that kind of look like road bikes but they have wider tires. Kind of like mountain bikes but they existed before mountain bikes were ever made. We race in parks and we jump of our bikes and carry them over obstacles...people have to see it to get it," Buchanan said.
A great way for people to see and participate in a cyclocross race is to come out to one of the MFG Cyclocross races.
Presented by Low Pressure Promotions, MFG is a series of cyclocross races held locally from September through November.
Founded in the Fall of 2008, Buchanan and Zac Daab (of Fremont's Cascade Bicycle Studio) started the series with a goal to make the sport more accessible.
Separating themselves from USA Cycling, the body that regulates bicycle racing in the U.S., MFG is able to offer different categories and lower participation fees.
"This year we are running a beginner's category for people who have never raced bikes before," Buchanan said. "We wouldn't have been able to do that with USA Cycling because of the categorization hierarchy."
They've also set up a partnership with Raleigh Bicycles who will be offering demo bikes for beginners to use during the race.
"All you have to do is show up with a helmet," Buchanan said.
Cyclocross has been growing in the Pacific Northwest over the last few years and last year, MFG's Woodland Park Gran Prix was the largest bike race ever put on in the State of Washington with around 800 racers and a thousand spectators, according to Buchanan. (See a slideshow from that event, here).
"Seattle Cyclocross has done a great job in introducing the sport to the community and in growing it," he said. "And our goal is continue to grow it and make it accessible."
Buchanan himself started bike racing when he was 19 and quickly became successful on the track and the road.
"I started racing in college because I think I'm just from a generation of guys who were inspired by Greg LeMond, Andy Hampsten and CBS Tour de France coverage. I had success right of the bat. It's pretty easy to get addicted to something when you do well at it right away," he said.
Buchanan didn't start racing cyclocross until ten years ago when he retired from road racing.
"I was 31 and I just decided to ride cross to stay fit at the end of the summer. It was at North SeaTac and I think I got fifth," he said. "I'm not physiologically disposed to cyclocross. I was built to go fast for like 30 seconds. But it's fun and I really enjoy doing it."
"Fun" is always the adjective people use to describe cyclocross to me. But when I tried cyclocross for the first time at Raleigh's Midsummer Night's cyclocross event in July, I used "intense" and "bumpy" to describe my experience.
"That course was a baptism by fire for sure. It's an old dairy farm and there are about a hundred elk that come through there in the spring so that ground is just pummeled and punched. " Buchanan assured me. "Most courses aren't like that."
Buchanan explained that cyclocross differs from other bike racing in that you don't have to worry about getting dropped from the pack or not finishing.
"Everyone gets dropped except for the winner pretty much. You're going to finish. It's not like a road race where you get demoralized and quit because you're so far behind. You're going to have fun because it's like everything your mom told you you couldn't do on a bike," he said. "And the thing about cross is that it's a super great sense of accomplishment when you finish."
A father of an 11-year-old and nine-year-old, Buchanan said cyclocross is also the most family-friendly discipline of cycling. Plus, with races for kids as young as six years old, everyone gets to join the fun.
While the MFG Cyclocross series only runs from September to November, it takes year-round planning to make it happen.
"It's like a second job for Zac and I and we do it out of passion. It's a blurry line between work and play," Buchanan said.
When asked what MFG stands for, Buchanan said, "Whatever you want it to stand for".
"That is truly the answer," he explained. "When Zac and I sat at the kitchen table trying to decide what to name the series, my wife made this wisecrack comment, 'MFG. Stands for manufacturing'. That's kind of what you're doing when you set up a race because you're manufacturing this experience and creating something out of nothing. We popped it into Google and it was funny what the acronym came up with. It was really cool because this acronym can mean whatever this cyclocross experience is to you. I joke that it's a 'Mission For Good'. 'Mud Fame Glory' is one that a friend came up with. A lot of people come out just to hang with their friends so for them it's 'My Familiar Gang'. It means nothing and it means whatever you want it to mean."
As much as cyclocross is about racing, it also about community, Buchanan said.
"I think it's a very welcoming community. Everyone is out there to support each other and cheer for each other. Even when people are heckling you it's light hearted and fun," Buchanan said, adding that the demographic is different from road racing.
"Everyone uses that word 'elite' when it comes to the road racing demographic and I see road more as a fraternity - once you're in, it's great but you kind of earn you're way in. And cross just feels more like Woodstock. People show up and everyone's like 'Hey, great to see you. Great to have you'. It's competitive but at the same time everyone is psyched to have new people out to do it," he said.
Plus, given its origin in Belgium, beer plays a big role after (and sometimes during) the events. Often beer is given out as a price and there's always a beer garden onsite.
The first race of the MFG Series takes place September 11 with the Cycle-U Kick-Off race in Big Finn Hill Park in Kirkland.
If you have a cross bike or even a mountain bike, you should just come out to give it a try. Or you can come out, have a beer, and watch what all the buzz is about.
For more information about visit mfgcyclocross.com.
The Riding Reporter is a feature series in which BNT's bike-riding reporter, Anne-Marije Rook, takes interviewees on a short bike ride around town to talk bicycles, transit, and any other issue that may arise when seeing the city from a two-wheeled point of view. Previous interviewees include Mayor Mike McGinn, ultra-cyclist Chris Ragsdale, bike messenger world champion Craig Etheridge, Chuck Ayer from Cascade Bicycle Club, and more
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