Practice makes perfect. Or, as the Belgians would say, “Oefening baart kunst.”

Many members have been attending weekly practice at the Vaught Cyclocross Compound with that thought in mind. Greg Vaught, Steve VanNieuwenhuyse, Jim Clevenger and others put many hours into designing and maintaining the cyclocross course, which includes a nice run-up, barriers, tight off-camber corners, and various other obstacles that allow the team to change the course up to imitate course characteristics for upcoming races.

Clevenger has taken the lead in outlining the practice drills and showing many of our team members, new to cyclocross, the tricks of the trade. Nigel Vaught is new to cyclocross this year, but he is starting off strong. He won his first race at Buffalo Bill Cyclocross and earned podium spots in both of his races this weekend (September 26-27) at Cyclocross at Raytown BMX.

Cody Jones, also in his first year of cyclocross, is a natural, getting 2nd place in Category 5 at Buffalo Bill Cyclocross and another 2nd in Category 4/5 on Saturday at Raytown BMX.

Tim Herre is quickly becoming a consistently strong cyclocross racer in the Kansas City area. How’s this for consistency: 5th place in both of his Cat 1/2/3 races at Raytown BMX and also 5th place in Single Speed on the first day. He improved to the podium with a 3rd place in Single Speed on Sunday’s race.

One of the largest fields at Raytown BMX was the Masters 50+ category, sporting 29 racers in that category for Saturday’s race. Clevenger and Paul Fancher both podiumed , earning 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Vaught finished strong with a 5th place. Chip Zimmer and Ben Christian also navigated the BMX obstacles to great finishes.

Steve VanNieuwenhuyse is getting better and stronger as the season progresses. He had a top 5 at Buffalo Bill Cyclocross and earned a podium spot with Saturday’s Cyclocross at Raytown BMX race. Amy Van Nieuwenhuyse also podiumed in the Women’s Cat 4 with a 2nd place on Saturday.

I’d be remiss if I did not mention our Gazelle of Cyclocross, Paul Aldeguer. He started the year with a bang, getting 3rd at Buffalo Bill Cyclocross. He used his gazelle-like qualities on Saturday to navigate the obstacles at Raytown BMX for 4th in the Masters 40+ category and doubled up races, going 6th in the largest field of the day in Cat 3/4 (32 racers).

Fall is officially here. The leaves will start changing colors. The temperatures will start to drop. The days will get much shorter. The Big D Cyclocross contingent will get stronger.  Oh yeah, cyclocross is here.

The Vaught Cyclocross Compound is only open to Big D team members. Join the team if you want to play. Or, if you prefer to simply sleep comfortably at night as volatility still lurks in the markets, give our title sponsor a call, Keen Wealth Advisors.