Get Your Turkey On At Tacchino Ciclocross!

Come on out to the Tacchino Ciclocross race in Leesburg, VA on Sunday November 23! The annual race, part of the MABRACross Series, promises a new “fast and hard” course, BBQ that induces nirvana, and an Italian guy running around in a turkey suit. Fun is a given under those conditions, so come out and enjoy the last weekend before your in-laws and drama-inducing aunt Kathy arrive.

Ida Lee Park is a great venue for families and we of course will have a Lil’ Belgians race. There's a great playground right next to the registration pavilion to keep the kids busy after their race. And if the weather is less than optimal, the park has a really nice recreation center with showers and a hot tub that you can warm up in for a small fee. If the hot tub doesn’t warm you up, Big Buddha BBQ’s brisket sandwiches and pulled pork sandwiches will.

We’ve also got some great prizes lined up for those that are in it to win it, thanks to our lovely sponsors. Resource Dynamics Corporation is sponsoring the Elite Men and Women’s races which both have $600 purses, paid out six places deep. Prizes for the other categories are sponsored by:

* Conte’s Bicycles in Arlington: The Squadra’s local bike shop of choice and sponsor. Hands down, the best mechanics in the area and the best selection of bikes.
* Sette Bello: which graciously hosts the Squadra’s monthly team dinner, has great food and fantastic service.
* Java Shack: where the Squadra starts and ends most of our rides. This locally owed coffee shop (aka “The Shack”) serves up fair trade, organic coffee in eco-friendly cups. Stop in and pick up a pound of the Costa Rican beans–they brew a great cup of espresso.
* Sheila Moon: the Coppi women are big fans of her cycling clothes, especially the beanies and arm/leg warmers.
* Hammer Nutrition: which produces some of the most popular fuels and supplements for athletes–without any artificial colors or sweeteners.
* CX Magazine: every ‘crossers bathroom magazine of choice (or coffee table magazine if you’ve got space for furniture amongst your bikes.)
* Faccia Luna: another great local Arlington restaurant.

Other sponsors include: Glaceau (makers of VitaminWater and SmartWater) which will be providing refreshments to racers and FastSigns (for your all signs, banners and other graphics needs).
In addition to the traditional prizes, we'll be offering some crazy mid-race primes, including some Belgian beer for Masters categories and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pick from the Suitcase of Sausage.

For those of you who are curious about the new course or might want to pre-ride it this weekend, here's a JPG showing a preliminary version of the course. We very likely will change the prologue start to be closer to registration, but otherwise this is close to the final course.

We’re hoping to get over 300 racers registered, so Hup! Hup! your way over to BikeReg if you haven’t already and support local racing!