Louisville, Kentucky used to have one of the most amazing cyclocross communities in the country thanks to the OG’s.

Storm the Green got so big it captured the attention of The US Grand Prix of Cyclocross, who came to town and convinced Metro Parks and the Sports Commission to christen Eva Bandman Park as a cyclocross venue.

Storm the Green became Storm Eva, then the USGP became The Derby City Cup, and finally the crowning jewel: The 2013 UCI Cyclocross World Championships were held at Eva Bandman. The first time EVER outside of Europe.

Sadly, the ‘13 Worlds broke a lot of people and after a few seasons of declining attendance at O*CX races, infighting in the Louisville community, and fallout from the regular flooding incidents at Eva Bandman, the Sports Commission moved to higher ground at Joe Creason Park to host the final Derby City Cup and ‘Cross National Championships.

Over the course of a decade, out-of-town UCI organizers and the city Sports Commission, focused only on event finance and city-wide economic impact, caused certain key local community members to feel disenfranchised.

After Bob Bobrow, who kept the flame alight for so many years, retired and shuttered Storm Eva Bandman before the pandemic, no one was left to organize cyclocross, and the community fell apart during COVID-19.

In 2022, after the pandemic, we looked around and only 8 of us turned up to the weekly hot laps practice. We like to hem and haw that “It used to be 50-60 people every week!”

So then we thought, “We gotta start at ground zero and get people excited to ride weird bikes in circles on grass again.”

With the help of Coach Michael Seiler of Metta Endurance Coaching we hosted a month-long beginner skills clinic. That was awesome. And now with the push of Bryan Davis and Phil Gardner of The Post Racing, we’re setting up a whole new band and hosting a race. —ahem, bringing one back from the dead.

We made it a fancy two-day event to entice you and give you a BIG opportunity to join us— we really hope you do. This year we’re focusing on making it a polished event production, so we won’t do prizes, but hope you understand once you get here.

Be warned, if this thing is a bust, then our fragile egos and finances may not permit us another attempt next year. So please give us some support by racing or cheering for your friends.

Is cyclocross in Louisville really dead? We hope not, and here’s (y)our chance to bring it back.

The race course is 2km long and will feature power sections, tricky off cambers, single track flow, and of course, run ups. Our organizers think plank barriers are stupid so they aren’t in the course. Thank us later. Course map HERE ON OUR INSTAGRAM.

You’ll have plenty of space to park on the grass at the park. Bring your A & B cars just like your A & B bikes.

Preregistration will be available at > http://www.bikereg.com/resurrection-2022 <

We want to be cash-free onsite, so you’ll scan a beautiful barcode and pay online using BikeReg.

A late registration fee of $15 will be added to all categories greater than Cat 5 men, women, and Juniors.

Does your bicycle have two working brakes? If so, you’re good to go.

We’re gonna tell our USA Cycling officials to let anyone with a pulse and a bicycle to race.

Gravel bikes, mountain bikes, cross bikes, fixies (with 2 working brakes), and cruisers all work. Gravel seems to have a “spirit” but that was stolen from cyclocross and dragged out over 200 miles. At the Resurrection, you can experience The Spirit in a mere 30 minutes.

If you’re into details, the regulations state one must race a drop-bar bike with 33mm tires or less.

If you’re running a 1x drivetrain, we recommend anywhere from a 40-44t chainring and cassettes in the range of 30-35t.

Standard 2x ‘cross chainset of 46x36 or road compact of 50x34 will both work as well.

Tire choice is up to you, but as a beginner you’ll hit the sweet spot with intermediate tires like the Schwalbe X-One, Challenge Grifo, Vittoria Terreno Mix, or Donnelly MXP.

Depending on your equipment, your tire pressure will vary on course conditions, riding styles, and your weight. Tubeless tires can be run as low as 20psi in muddy races and in dry races most everyone settles around 30psi.

If you’re using clinchers and tubes, err on the high side, (40-50psi) and embrace the jackhammer. It’s better to have sore hands and shoulders for 10 minutes after the race than a DNF and a trip to the bike shop for more tubes.

Cyclocross is scheduled as a timed event due to several skill categories occurring on the same short course throughout the day.

Distance and lap count is determined based on the length of each lap and racer average speed during the early minutes of the race. Officials will extrapolate those stats into a lap count, and will ring a bell for you on the Final Lap based on that calculation.

For a 30 minute beginner race, you can expect the distance covered to be around 5 miles.

We wrote an in-depth article on this topic called “How to Race a Crit: Tips for Beginners” and we’re pretty proud of it. Give it a read by clicking here!

Now cyclocross is a different beast. So just go out and have fun!

If you have never held a license, don’t worry, we got you. We’ll cover your one-day intro license. Just pay the $40 bucks to enter and go race your bike. Have fun!

If you’ve held a USA Cycling License as a Cat 4 or higher, USA Cycling has an “Experienced” one-day license available for $25.