Model it on the way motor races are formatted with time trials on the first day to establish start position for riders except on a longer circuit than the traditional 2 mile cyclo cross course or maybe even a point to point race that encompasses the variety of terrain that makes a cyclocross race fun only on a, dare I use the cliche, more epic scale. The next day at the same venue the mass start race is held on a traditional multi lap cyclo cross course to determine an over all or omnium winner in addition to the winner of the time trial and the winner of the dirt crit.
Great places to go on rides are the only places I like to consider as destinations when I travel. I’d opt to travel for cyclocross races a lot more if individual races seemed like more of an undertaking than a single crit style event at wich you will be forced to start the race in a disadvantaged position if you haven’t been taking part and doing well in the areas local race series and if the riding I was to be doing over the race weekend was going to allow me to really explore the terrain in the area that I traveled and paid money to ride in. In your typical 45 minutes to an hour of racing in cyclocross events as much luck or predetermined conditions like your start position effect the overall outcome as your fitness or ability to ride a bike fast. It seems like it could be fun and more of an all around test of your ability to have other elements like your endurance, bike handling skill, and the way you handle the difficulties you encounter on a longer ride on your own determinate in the outcome of your race.
Another nice thing about putting on a race this way is that the fields for the mass start race could be divided by your finish in the time trial rather than the category you decided you want to race in that morning making racing down a level or “sandbagging” impossible.
I’ve never put on a race before and would like to hear if people had any thoughts on weather they think a race like this could be successful and popular or if I am missing something obvious that would make running an event of the nature I described a logistical nightmare.
