Cyclocross Worlds in USA

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Pretty good day for US cyclocross-

From Cyclingnews.com

2013 Cyclo-Cross Worlds to be held in Kentucky

Louisville secures first US cyclo-cross world championships

The 2013 world cyclo-cross championships will be held in Louisville, Kentucky, the UCI announced on Friday.

As part of the agreement, Louisville will also host the 2012 and 2013 world master cyclo-cross championships.

It is the first time a cyclo-cross world championships will be held in the USA and is thanks to the hard work of Joan Hanscom and Bruce Fina, who organise the US Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross in Louisville.

“This is thrilling news. We’ve been working for six years with the US Cycling National Team and six years on the USGP to further develop the sport in the US to the point where our riders can be competitive on a global scale. Hosting the worlds in the US is the next logical step,” Fina said in a statement issued by USA Cycling.

Despite most riders facing a transatlantic flight to take part, the big names in the sport are enthusiastic about racing in Louisville. Belgian cross star Sven Nys even said he would delay his planned retirement in 2012 so that he could ride in the 2013 world championships.

The course for the world championships will be in the Eva Bandman park, just a mile from the centre of Louisville. The venue is set to become a permanent cyclo-cross park thanks to support from the city of Louisville.

“I was impressed with the vision and detail of the plans to develop the area into a cyclo-cross race venue. The area, terrain and surroundings lend themselves perfectly to a major race venue,” UCI cyclo-cross technical delegate Simon Burney, who inspected the course, said.

The world cyclo-cross championships will be held in Sankt Wendel, Germany in 2011 and in Koksijde, Belgium in 2012.

By:
Stephen Farrand

Get out tonight and check it out

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Biggest and Brightest Full Moon of 2010 Tonight

Tonight’s full moon will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. It offers anyone with clear skies an opportunity to identify easy-to-see features on the moon.

This being the first full moon of 2010, it is also known as the wolf moon, a moniker dating back to Native American culture and the notion that hungry wolves howled at the full moon on cold winter nights. Each month brings another full moon name.

But why will this moon be bigger than others? Here’s how the moon works:

The moon is, on average, 238,855 miles (384,400 km) from Earth. The moon’s orbit around Earth – which causes it to go through all its phases once every 29.5 days – is not a perfect circle, but rather an ellipse. One side of the orbit is 31,070 miles (50,000 km) closer than the other.

So in each orbit, the moon reaches this closest point to us, called perigee. Once or twice a year, perigee coincides with a full moon, as it will tonight, making the moon bigger and brighter than any other full moons during the year.

Tonight it will be about 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter than lesser full Moons of the year, according to Spaceweather.com.

As a bonus, Mars will be just to the left of the moon tonight. Look for the reddish, star-like object.