Bolsover & District CC Cyclocross is back this season.

As the biggest participating club in the NDCXL and having so many great CX riders, it’s great to be able to bring cyclocross back to B&DCC for the 2019-20 season at a brand new venue on 4th January 2020.

With the exact location still under wraps to prevent people trying to get a sneaky look at what’s in store, what we can say is that in Matt Payne’s words, “It’s got the potential to be the best CX venue in the UK and can rival most of the continental cross venues”.

At brand new venue on the 4th January 2020 don’t expect this to be like Sherwood Pines or even a usual domestic cross course, we have secured exclusive access to some of the most varied terrain in the county with the available height gain of over 50m from the lowest to the highest point and everything from mown lawns to wood to gorse dotted moorland.

With the opportunity of being able to create a course how we wanted it to feel we have taken into account the time of year, the wet season so far, the wide variety of experience & skills (World Champions to beginners) and also the National CX Championships the weekend after.

This years course is 2.5km long with 32m of ascent & descent per lap. It is all in excess of 3m wide with an average width of 4m and a maximum width of 8m. It has gravel, woods, banks, cambers, drops, roots and of course some grass sections.

We think we have a course pretty much everyone will enjoy racing so see the end of the description for a full run through the course or even better follow, like, share and watch out for videos & pictures on Facebook in the run up to the race!

As with all Notts & Derby races there is an exclusively female only race catering for Junior, Senior & Veteran Women as well as races for U9 Boys & Girls, U12 Boys & Girls , U14 &U16 Boys & Girls, Vet men, Junior & Senior Men

One of the thing we love about cross is the teamwork and camaraderie especially in the pit so we have made sure the pit is as near as possible to the parking areas and you don’t need to cross the course to get to the pit or the jet wash area!

We have covered warm up & spectating areas, Feedback Sports Neutral Warm up Turbos, Podium Catering, Cafe2U Coffee and would love to see you there!

Entries for registered NDCXL riders are now open.
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/213017/Forme-Notts–Derby-League-Round-11

Entries open to everyone on the 24th December
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/213017/Forme-Notts–Derby-League-Round-11

Entries close at 23:55 on the 29th December and the NDCXL have no entries on the line.

It would be really great to see as many of the cyclocross family down at the race so please do enter or if you are not going to race come along and join in the fun pitting, spectating, drinking coffee or eating cake!

Full Junior, Senior, Vet Course Description:

The course begins with a 100m long 8m wide straight that leads into a long wide circumnavigation of the arena embankment before dropping “off the edge of the world” and heading across the moorland to the climb nicknamed “Little John” …. with a cambered traverse to enter before the 2 stepped ascent toward the top of the hill we have cut this one wide enough to be 10 competitors across and either run or ride (if you have a gear low enough). Once at the top you probably won’t have time to appreciate the views across Nottinghamshire and the forest as you head into to “Deer drop” – this wooded descent threads a 3 to 4m path through the silver birch & oak trees and will reward those who can carry their momentum and keep their balance as it rises and falls before joining the gravel track. The return leg is a fast dash back across a real mix of grasses and gravel before a final pull up to the arena embankment and the motorway down to pit 1. Once through the pit a gradual climb with the course dropping away to the right hand side takes you to the hairpins out and over to “The Dark Side” – a rough mown, North facing side of the arena embankment which is a stark contrast to the sunnier south side . Flipping from one side to another means flow is important as well as some short bursts of power before the course then stays over on the south side to surf “The waves” mown into the south facing bank. The final run back down to pit 2 picks the only dry route between deep tractor eating bogs (yes we did get one stuck!) before re-joining the loop at the end of the start straight

U14 & U16 Course Description:

The course begins with a 100m long 8m wide straight that leads into a long wide circumnavigation of the arena embankment before dropping “off the edge of the world” which into the moorland cut taking you to the big pull up to the arena embankment and the motorway down to pit 1. Once through the pit a gradual climb with the course dropping away to the right hand side takes you to the hairpins out and over to “The Dark Side” – a rough mown, North facing side of the arena embankment which is a stark contrast to the sunnier south side . Flipping from one side to another means flow is important as well as some short bursts of power before the course then stays over on the south side to surf “The Waves” mown into the south facing bank. The final run back down to pit 2 picks the only dry route between deep tractor eating bogs (yes we did get one stuck!) before re-joining the loop at the end of the start straight.

U12 Course Description:

The course begins with a 100m long 8m wide straight that leads into a long wide circumnavigation of the arena embankment before dropping “off the edge of the world” which into the moorland cut taking you to the big pull up to the arena embankment and the motorway down to pit 1. Once through the pit a gradual climb with the course dropping away to the right hand side takes you to the hairpins out and over to “The Dark Side” – a rough mown, North facing side of the arena embankment which is a stark contrast to the sunnier south side . Flipping from one side to another means flow is important as well as some short bursts of power before the course then stays over on the south side with the final run back down to pit 2 picks the only dry route between deep tractor eating bogs (yes we did get one stuck!) before re-joining the loop at the end of the start straight.

U9 Course Description:

The U9s get their very own start which run slightly down hill to a full 180 degree turn, a slight rise into a cambered slope where the course tracks up and down before a sharp left turn onto the motorway run down, back around past registration the back through the start once again.