Rochester Cyclocross

Rochester Cyclocross is a cyclo-cross race held annually in Genesee Valley Park in Rochester, New York. It was founded and currently organized by Full Moon Vista Cycling and is currently the second of four stops on USA Cycling's USCX cup series.^[1]

The inaugural race was held in 2008 as a one day, amateur event, and was the first cyclocross race to take place in a Monroe County park. The 2009 edition saw considerably larger turnout, but remained an amateur event.

In 2010, Rochester Cyclocross was awarded a UCI international event, taking place on Sunday. 2012 saw the race expand to Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was elevated to Class C1 in 2014.

In 2016, the event moved from Ellison Park to its current location in Genesee Valley Park. Since then, it has followed the same format - C1 races on Saturday, C2 races on Sunday, with amateur events taking place the morning of each day.^[2]

Since its move to Genesee Valley Park, the three kilometer course has remained largely the same. The race layout takes advantage of the park's natural terrain and proximity to the Erie Canal, both of which offer some unique features. However, the course contains a number of classic cyclocross obstacles; wooden plank barriers, flyover, and Belgian staircase.

Some of the technical elements include a two meter, near-vertical dirt run-up, single-track, and several hairpin turns atop a steep bridge embankment. Rochester is famous for its "Double Trouble" section - a highly technical section combining a rugged downhill, hairpin turn, and steep uphill along the bank of the Canal. For Sunday's races, this and other technical sections are run reverse.

• Official website