Cyclo-cross, a form of bicycle racing that combines elements of road biking and mountain biking, has a strong following across the US, but it's in New England that the sport has its biggest fans. The DVD of the 2003 Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series gives viewers a taste of what high-level cyclo-cross looks like, with coverage of the men's and women's events at all six events in the circuit.

The DVD covers the entire Verge cyclo-cross season, from October to December: Downeast Cyclo-Cross in Maine, Clif Bar/ECV Cyclo-Cross and Cycle-Smart International Cyclo-Cross in Massachusetts, ChainBiter 5.0 in Connecticut, WE Stedman Grand Prix of Cyclo-Cross in Rhode Island, and the series finale, the Patterson Construction/NEBC Cyclo-Cross event. One of the interesting aspects of the program is that we get to see the big picture, with some riders doing better on some circuits, while others excelling in other locations. Since the race series is held in New England, there's also a nice seasonal flavor as we see the changing of the seasons throughout the different races: we get everything from gorgeous Indian summer weather to treacherous ice and snow.

I'm a devoted fan of road racing, but I'm not familiar with cyclo-cross, which puts me in the category of "interested casual viewer." I've seen some solid television coverage of cyclo-cross in the past, so it's certainly possible to make race coverage that's exciting and accessible, but unfortunately the Verge DVD is more of a taste of what could be, than a really solid race program. The key characteristic of the Verge DVD is that it's really oriented toward viewers who are already thoroughly familiar with cyclo-cross in general and the riders and courses in particular. For those viewers, it's a reasonably interesting retrospective on an enjoyable series; for non-aficionados, it's not particularly engaging.

The Verge coverage is hampered by the fact that many of the most important and exciting moments in the race happen off-camera, so the commentators are left with telling us that a particular rider crashed or was passed, without showing it. Clearly, the lack of thorough coverage is an issue with the setup of the cameras at the race itself, not with the preparation of the DVD, but the end result is that the program feels like it's missing a lot. If the Verge series continues to be popular, it would be nice to see more extensive filming of the races.

The editing choices for the DVD program also tend to work against it. With the entire program running only about 35 minutes, I felt that the races were cut down too much, with the program rushing through each one without enough time to capture the tactics and excitement of each race. It's also difficult to keep track of where each rider or group of riders is in relation to the rest; with the camera switching back and forth between the leaders and the chasers, it's very easy to get confused about who's in the lead. This is less of an issue if you're familiar with the riders, but it certainly would have helped to have on-screen captions or clearer commentary about who was doing what.

Over the course of the program, some riders clearly come to the fore, and we learn a little bit more about some of the key riders from the commentary, but it's in bits and pieces. We do get some short introductory segments with the commentators, but this is focused on more general comments such as the course design; it would have been extremely helpful to have had an introduction to the major contenders so the viewer would have an idea who to watch for. What you really need, going into the Verge coverage, is a decent familiarity with cyclo-cross, both nationally and in the New England area. That will let you know who's who: which riders are major contenders, which are local favorites, which are on the way up and which are having a tough season. The 2003 DVD coverage assumes that viewers will bring that to the viewing experience themselves; for future programs, it would be a big enhancement to have more attention to this within the program itself.

The program wraps up with a nice recap of the season from the commentators, with the added bonus of short interview clips from many of the top riders playing while the credits roll.

The DVD

The Verge DVD is a bit of a hassle to deal with, due to the way that it was produced. There's no time coding on the program, which means that your player's "position memory" feature won't work. There's also no "chapter selection menu." Fortunately, the DVD does have chapters, placed sensibly at the start and midpoint of each race, so it's at least possible to skip ahead to the section you want.

Video

The image quality is reasonable here, considering that this is live footage of outdoor racing. The print is clean, with natural-looking colors, and a reasonable level of detail. Some video "tearing," with some thin flickers of the previous frame bleeding over into the next frame, appears early in the DVD, but fortunately it doesn't get too distracting and it isn't apparent later in the program. Overall, the transfer is quite watchable.

Audio

The audio is handled well here, with the voiceover commentators coming across cleanly and clearly. The sound balance is handled correctly, and the overall sound is clean.

Extras

There are no special features here.

Final Thoughts

The Verge 2003 cyclo-cross DVD is a reasonable sampler of the series' races. It's not the complete race coverage that I would have hoped for, and it's not particularly accessible for viewers who are new to cyclo-cross or who aren't familiar with the racers involved, but it's also one of the very few DVDs available with cyclo-cross racing at all. For viewers who are dedicated fans of the sport, especially those who know who's who among the riders here, this DVD will be an enjoyable recap of a season full of exciting incidents. If you've read all the way through to this paragraph of the review, you probably fall into that category, so consider this DVD to have a mild "recommended" rating.