A new sport has found its way to Iowa called cyclocross, which combines cross-country running, mountain biking and road biking. What’s believed to be the state’s first large-scale cyclocross event is planned for later this month in Iowa City.
Doctor John Meehan, a pediatric surgery professor at the University of Iowa, is helping organize the race, called the Jingle Cross Rock. Dr. Meehan explains how the sport works. You go around a closed loop circuit, kind of like a criterion, except it’s usually on grassy or muddy surfaces. Then there are set barriers, usually about knee-high, and you have to pick up your bike, carry it over the barriers, then hop back on the bike and start riding again.
Meehan, who will be racing in the event, says it’s an incredible workout and a lot of fun to watch. He says cyclocross riders ride the closed course based on how much time has been allotted for the race. A race might be 30 or 40-minutes and you could go around the course ten times during that time or three times, depending on how fast the lead biker wants to go and the difficulty of the course.
Meehan says there are ten races planned for the event in a variety of categories and he expects at least 500 riders to take part. The event is scheduled for November 27th on the U-of-I cross-country course at Ashton Field in Iowa City. Meehan says all proceeds will benefit the Children’s Hospital of Iowa at the U-of-I Hospitals and Clinics. For more information, surf to: “www.jinglecrossrock.com”.