KMC CrossFest moves from Providence to Connecticut

Image 1 of 7

Stephen Hyde (Cannnondale) taking the win during the Sunday race in 2015(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)

The storied Providence, Rhode Island, cyclo-cross race, now the KMC 'CrossFest, has been forced to find a new venue so that the event could continue to grow. It had become the most popular and heavily attended cyclo-cross race on the New England calendar, and as such news of the move was a bitter pill to swallow for much of the cycling community. Roger Williams Park had become known for its challenging courses, festival atmosphere, and memorable races.

"We realized this past spring that we had exceeded the capacity of that park and, frankly, that entire city. We heard your comments on parking and lodging and crime," Fries said."And despite our generating more than $2 million of economic impact each year, the city steadily raised every fee and restriction to levels that could only be described as prohibitive. We would have had to raise entry fees by $20 to remain there. We did not want to do that to our customers."

The race organization then reached an agreement with Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, located on 500 acres of rolling hills in sleepy northeast Connecticut, 38 miles from the Providence venue. The land has held racetracks for 76 years, and an 18-hole golf course for 65 years. This new venue solves the problem of parking, has an on-site restaurant and will be able to hold night racing under the lights of the racetrack.

In 1938 one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever hit New England, known as "The Long Island Express," devastated the Hoenig family farm and surrounding areas. John Hoenig responded by removing the downed trees, bringing in a rock crusher, building a sawmill, and moving thousands of cubic yards of gravel. All of these items were needed to make his dream of creating the country's first asphalt racetrack come true. A year or two later it did.

Holding bicycle races at automobile racetracks is certainly not new in this country. The Sea Otter Classsic at Laguna Seca Raceway has grown to be the largest bicycle racing event in the US. Other races have been held at Infineon Raceway in California, and Portland International Raceway in Oregon. In Belgium, Zolder's racetrack has been the site of many cyclo-cross events, including the 2016 World Championships.

Jeremy Powers (Aspire Racing), who won the last four C1 events in Providence, is nursing injured ribs and a head cold and is a likely non-starter. His season has had some ups and downs so far, particularly with worse-than-hoped-for results at the World Cups in Las Vegas and Iowa City because of his injury in a crash before Wisconsin's Trek CXC Cup. He is aiming further down the road at the Pan American Championships and Valkenburg World Cup.