L
Lame Acer
Guest
"It's an honor to be from New England, and to be able to participate
in a series
that has an international flair to it in terms of the level of
organization, the sponsors
that get behind sport. All the promoters do a really great job putting
together quality
events. The prize money has risen year after year....and it truly is a
professional series.
We're not just a bunch of hacks out here on the weekend." So opens the
2003 Verge New
England Cyclo-cross Series (NECCS) DVD as summarized by longtime
professional bicycle
racer Mark McCormack,
The Verge New England Cyclo-cross Series (NECCS) recently released a
DVD encompassing
their six race 2003 season. The DVD documents the unstated claim that
the NECCS is the
best, most mature cyclo-cross series outside of Europe. Offering races
with generous
prize money, national (and the occasional international) competition,
and professionally-
engineered courses; it is hard to deny this claim after watching this
video.
The production value of the DVD is quite high for what must be a
bare-bones video outfit
(listed on DVD as fbj productions), and easily surpasses the majority
of imported
Eurosport cyclo-cross coverage. While Eurosport has multiple cameras
to capture the raw
footage of a majority of the action, the 2003 Verge NECCS DVD focuses
on the flavor of
the racing. This is done with excellent camera work and is coupled
with intelligent
narration. The cameras were well rationed and strategically placed
throughout the course
so that from a pure action standpoint the viewer is not left wanting.
The starts and
finishes are always shown, and it is easy to follow the flow of the
race.
Narration is handled competently by Richard Fries and John Verheul,
who were both race-
day announcers at many of the 2003 NECCS races. There is a cameo by
Adam Hodges
Myerson from Cycle Smart, who is the NECCS series coordinator and also
a top New
England rider. Fries puts his many years of race experience to good
use and explains the
action to the viewer. John Verheul, now in his 5th year of cross
announcing, anchors the
broadcast with color commentary. The biggest complaint I have of the
coverage is that the
narration of the race coverage is done in the studio, after the season
was completed,
which detracts from the excitement of the coverage. Taping audio from
during the actual
events and the mixing in the occasional back-to-the studio interview
might have captured
the excitement of the racing more.
Analysis of the cyclo-cross courses, by Myerson is quite good starting
with the first race in
New Gloucester in Maine, a Tom Stevens design. Tom is quite probably
the best course
designer in the US, and is certainly the most experienced, having
designed courses since
1983 (Wompatuck State Park in Hingham, Mass), four US championship
courses (advising
on another three), and was the man behind the former Super Cup courses
in the Midwest
and on the East Coast.
Last year (2003) will probably be looked back on as a watershed year
for cross in America
with a large number of UCI races and the emergence of many strong
regional series. As
documented by this DVD, the 2003 NECCS stands above with top courses,
race promotion,
announcing, venue set-up, and for several of the races a full
compliment of top US riders
(usually only seen at nationals). This DVD does an excellent job of
capturing much of the
action of the best riders in the country competing and is a must for
the video library of
any bicycle racing fan. Further, this DVD could be used as a blueprint
for bringing top
notch cyclo-cross promotion to your neck of the woods. Our nine race
VERGE Mid-Atlantic
Cyclo-cross series has emulated, if not outright copied, much of what
you see on the DVD.
http://www.cycle-smart.com/store/home.html
Andrew Albright
Monkey Hill Cycle Sports
Coordinator VERGE Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross Series
in a series
that has an international flair to it in terms of the level of
organization, the sponsors
that get behind sport. All the promoters do a really great job putting
together quality
events. The prize money has risen year after year....and it truly is a
professional series.
We're not just a bunch of hacks out here on the weekend." So opens the
2003 Verge New
England Cyclo-cross Series (NECCS) DVD as summarized by longtime
professional bicycle
racer Mark McCormack,
The Verge New England Cyclo-cross Series (NECCS) recently released a
DVD encompassing
their six race 2003 season. The DVD documents the unstated claim that
the NECCS is the
best, most mature cyclo-cross series outside of Europe. Offering races
with generous
prize money, national (and the occasional international) competition,
and professionally-
engineered courses; it is hard to deny this claim after watching this
video.
The production value of the DVD is quite high for what must be a
bare-bones video outfit
(listed on DVD as fbj productions), and easily surpasses the majority
of imported
Eurosport cyclo-cross coverage. While Eurosport has multiple cameras
to capture the raw
footage of a majority of the action, the 2003 Verge NECCS DVD focuses
on the flavor of
the racing. This is done with excellent camera work and is coupled
with intelligent
narration. The cameras were well rationed and strategically placed
throughout the course
so that from a pure action standpoint the viewer is not left wanting.
The starts and
finishes are always shown, and it is easy to follow the flow of the
race.
Narration is handled competently by Richard Fries and John Verheul,
who were both race-
day announcers at many of the 2003 NECCS races. There is a cameo by
Adam Hodges
Myerson from Cycle Smart, who is the NECCS series coordinator and also
a top New
England rider. Fries puts his many years of race experience to good
use and explains the
action to the viewer. John Verheul, now in his 5th year of cross
announcing, anchors the
broadcast with color commentary. The biggest complaint I have of the
coverage is that the
narration of the race coverage is done in the studio, after the season
was completed,
which detracts from the excitement of the coverage. Taping audio from
during the actual
events and the mixing in the occasional back-to-the studio interview
might have captured
the excitement of the racing more.
Analysis of the cyclo-cross courses, by Myerson is quite good starting
with the first race in
New Gloucester in Maine, a Tom Stevens design. Tom is quite probably
the best course
designer in the US, and is certainly the most experienced, having
designed courses since
1983 (Wompatuck State Park in Hingham, Mass), four US championship
courses (advising
on another three), and was the man behind the former Super Cup courses
in the Midwest
and on the East Coast.
Last year (2003) will probably be looked back on as a watershed year
for cross in America
with a large number of UCI races and the emergence of many strong
regional series. As
documented by this DVD, the 2003 NECCS stands above with top courses,
race promotion,
announcing, venue set-up, and for several of the races a full
compliment of top US riders
(usually only seen at nationals). This DVD does an excellent job of
capturing much of the
action of the best riders in the country competing and is a must for
the video library of
any bicycle racing fan. Further, this DVD could be used as a blueprint
for bringing top
notch cyclo-cross promotion to your neck of the woods. Our nine race
VERGE Mid-Atlantic
Cyclo-cross series has emulated, if not outright copied, much of what
you see on the DVD.
http://www.cycle-smart.com/store/home.html
Andrew Albright
Monkey Hill Cycle Sports
Coordinator VERGE Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross Series
