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World class cyclocross comes to Delaware: Granogue Cross
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Entering the Granogue estate (Photo: Anne Rock)
September 27, 2009; Conshohocken, PA, USA: Tom McDaniel remembers vividly the first time that veteran cyclocross racer, mechanic and team owner Stu Thorne of CyclocrossWorld.com came to the DuPont Family’s Granogue Estate. “He opened the door, looked at the terrain, and said, “It’s a cyclocross playground”.” McDaniel is the lead promoter of October 17’s Granogue Cross near Wilmington Delaware, which has variously been called the most picturesque race track in America, the Queen of the MAC, and one of the races that every serious ‘crosser attends at least once.
Held on what is essentially the front lawn of a 400 acre private estate in the shadow of the fort-like water tower, the classic world-class course weaves it way in and out of wooded sections, around a greenhouse and through a garden. But it is the terrain that gives the course its character. “This is one of the toughest courses of the year, even when it’s dry,” says Marc Vettori, one of the co-organizers of the race. “There’s hardly any flat, you’re going up or down all the time.” The variety of the terrain has provided some exciting tactical battles over the years.
Virtually every major North American cyclocross racer of the 21st Century has competed at Granogue’s UCI sanctioned event. In 2006, it was the site of the Katie Compton’s return to UCI International racing and her historic first showdown with Georgia Gould and Lyne Bessette. Bessette’s husband, Tim Johnson, has also been a winner at Granogue, having taken home the Flamingo trophy in 2007.
But the race is known as much for its grass roots as it is for its pedigree. Typically, Granogue, which is part of the MAC Powered by SRAM Series, has one of the largest amateur entry lists on the East Coast. A world-class course, southern-style barbecue and a chance to picnic on a seriously high-rent lawn are all attractions for amateur riders and their families. Another draw is a comfortable, almost irreverent atmosphere that is assiduously cultivated by the Delaware Cross Coalition of Delaware. From the famously cheesy, yet fashionably hip, flamingo lawn ornament trophies, to cold Doghead Fish Beer and live music the DCCoD strives to make the Granogue Cross the fun for everybody who attends, whether or not they are racing themselves. “Granogue is a party with a bike race running through it,” said McDaniel several years ago. The unlikely marriage of world-class production and easygoing attitude is summed-up by the official slogan of the Granogue Cross, “Fully Pimped-Out by the DCCoD since 2001."
For more information on the Granogue Cross, see the event’s website at www.dccofd.org. For more information on the MAC series, contact the midatlanticcross.com
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