A short history of Iowa Cyclocross
(Ten or so years of Cyclocross Mafia)

You can Google Cyclocross and get a pretty good history of the sport. Iowa's short encounter with the sport begins with a handful of mountain bike races held at Sugar Bottom in the '90s, posing as cyclocross. The sport wasn't exactly thriving and contracted to a singular cyclocross race in the state. Cross fanatics had to travel to anywhere but our fair state to get their fix.

It would be safe to say, without our Godfathers of Cyclocross, 'crossers wouldn't have the thriving scene we can participate in today, from Renegade Cross in Des Moines, the local series in eastern Iowa, or even the epic Jingle Cross Rock. Yeah. It all started here.

Hope. Driving stakes. Passion. Asking for dollars. Commitment. Long days in the saddle. Prodding. Meeting with City Park Managers. Raffling off cyclocross bikes. Work. Raking leaves. Rebuilding broken barriers. Faith. Raising thousands of dollars for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, Iowa Chapter. Injuries. Family. Spreading the Gospel.

1984: Rob Versteegh and Marc Hollander meet on the basketball court as part of the 5th Grade YMCA Rockets basketball team. They decide basketball sucks and look for something more fun, involving bikes, mud, and beer.
1997: Versteegh buys a Steelman cyclocross bike because he thinks the sport is super cool, despite the fact he's only seen the 'sport' in VeloNews.
1999: Hollander wins the Category 3 Iowa State Cyclocross Championship (the only cyclocross race in Iowa) on a Bontrager Race mountain bike. He is hooked and shows up for 2000 with a Surly Cross Check. Versteegh truly falls in love with a bustling Kansas City cyclocross scene, as he watches Steve Tilford lap him and the entire field (twice!) in a mud and snow covered course, while using prototype pedals that didn't work (AFTER he had ridden over from Topeka to Kansas City).
2001: Versteegh & Hollander join forces to promote the Des Moines DoubleCross and Woodland Park Cyclocross Races. Thirty braved flash floods to race the first day. Now there are three races...
2003: DoubleCross grows to four races with three in Des Moines and the Iowa State Championships move to Newton. State, held on October 3, had 39 participants.
2004: Cross grows to the Iowa Cyclocross Series with five races in Des Moines and Newton, and PsychoCX in Bettendorf. Godfathers G-Marco, O-Dawg & Pauly are introduced.
2005: The seven race Iowa Cyclocross Series is augmented by the Mid-American Cross Cup with races in Kansas City and Omaha. A little race called Jingle Cross Rock enters the scene and pushes the calendar into Thanksgiving.
2008: Renegade Cross was born, creating a free, inviting and competive environment for folks of all ability levels to fall in love with cross.
2009: Scheels joins the Cross Mafia to promote the 2009 Iowa Cyclocross Series powered by Scheels. Now there are fifteen races across the state including three UCI events during Jingle Cross Rock.
2010: Participation at races statewide go through the roof. Clinics and practices help make the sport inviting to beginners. Now seeing beginners from a few years ago getting good at mountain biking and road racing.
2011: More events pop-up on the calendar. Events are more festival-like as folks come to race and hang out.

Cyclocross isn't easy, or they'd call it golf. Thanks for helping build the sport we can all say, "that's my sport."