Every Thursday night from September to Thanksgiving, runners and cyclocross riders gather under their own lights at the Emmaus Compost Center for Fifth Street Cross, a weekly race series that started in a backyard in 2005 and has been bending the rules of bike racing ever since. At FSX, the leaders race for fifth place.
The series is now in its 21st season, with races every Thursday through Nov. 19.
What Happens on a Thursday
Fifth Street Cross, known to regulars as FSX, bills itself as Pennsylvania’s premier weeknight cyclocross and cross-country training race. Each night has three races on one loop:
- A “5K-ish” run of two laps, starting at 6 p.m.
- CX1, the first cyclocross race, four laps, starting at 6:45 p.m.
- CX2, three laps ridden in the opposite direction
Registration opens at 5 p.m. Cyclocross is a short-course mix of on-road and off-road racing, and the FSX loop has it all: grassy fields, tight turns, steps, barriers and pavement. The course sits in the borough’s public works yard at the bottom of a dead-end road, next to an active rail line, where riders work their way around the compost heaps.
The start line reflects the series’ run-what-you-brung spirit. Modern cyclocross bikes line up next to mountain bikes and classic steel frames, and nobody needs a USA Cycling license to race. The event runs rain or shine, after dark, and a rainy night is worth double points.
Where It Started: A Backyard on Fifth Street
Fifth Street Cyclocross was established in 2005 at the home of Bill and Beth Strickland, on Fifth Street in Emmaus, which is where the name comes from. Bill Strickland was editor-in-chief of Bicycling magazine, then published by Rodale in Emmaus and now part of Hearst.
The playful streak was there from the start. The backyard races handed out bonus points for finishing fifth, awarded points for random achievements, and held a Halloween race.
The races kept growing. By 2009 more than 50 people were turning up each week, too many for a backyard, and the series moved to the Emmaus Compost Center, where the borough lets the course stay set up from August through November.
The Stricklands then passed the event to another local cyclist, Ray Ignosh, who took over as promoter in 2009 and later handed it to Andrew Bernstein in 2013. Gabe and Kacey Lloyd of Long Tail Productions co-produced the series with Bernstein for a year and took it over in 2018. It is now in its fourth set of hands.
What Long Tail Productions Added
Under the Lloyds, the event was rebranded as Fifth Street Cross, got its own website and a bigger social media presence, and added the cross-country run before the two bike races. Gabe Lloyd calls the shots on race night and shoots the photos, which are posted to a free public gallery, often the same night. Kacey Lloyd runs registration and scoring.
Long Tail also uses FSX as a proving ground, a place to test ideas in photography, video, race formats and “fun activations” before taking them to its other events. The challenge, Gabe Lloyd told cycling writer Greg Adomaitis in 2023, “is trying to stay authentic to its roots. Authenticity is so important.”
Beth Strickland, looking at what the series has become, put it this way to To Be Determined Journal: “It’s not how it used to be, but it’s exactly how it should be.”
Fifth Is First
The series runs under the motto #fifthisfirst. Fifth place overall is the true podium-topper, rewarded with a golden No. 5 trophy at the end of the season.
“A playful scoring system lets fast riders race while encouraging season regulars to play,” Gabe Lloyd said. “We pride ourselves on being an alternative-format event.”
The run and CX1 change scoring formats from week to week, while CX2 keeps a traditional points system based on finishing place. This Thursday, the run uses the Predictor model: the winner is the runner who guesses their own finishing time most closely. CX1 uses the Metronome system, where the rider who is most consistent from lap to lap wins.
“This week specifically rewards consistency and playing over who’s the fastest,” Lloyd said.
Other weeks have their own twists. The season opened with attendance-based scoring and a Golden Coins bonus week. On Oct. 1, the top 20 runners race while holding bike handlebars. Oct. 15 brings Oracle scoring, where racers predict their finishing positions. The Oct. 29 Halloween edition gives double points to the top five costumes, and the Nov. 19 finale is double points no matter the weather.
Olympians on the Same Course as First-Timers
Because nobody has to be fast to win, the field on any Thursday is remarkably wide. National champions and riders who have raced at World Championships share the course with riders from 4 to 10 years old trying to race for the first time.
“One of the really unique elements about this event is that on any given night you’re likely to find Olympians, World Championship medalists and National Champions competing alongside kids and new riders and runners,” said Bobby Lea. “And it’s a format that allows all levels to safely and enjoyably participate at their own level of comfort.”
Lea would know. He is a three-time Olympic track cyclist who competed at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Games and won bronze in the scratch race at the 2015 World Championships, and he has raced FSX in both of its eras.
“I was introduced to Fifth Street Cross when it was still held in the Strickland family’s backyard and I was fresh off my first Olympic team in 2008,” he said. “As a young professional, it gave me a place to step away from elite competition and reconnect with the grassroots side of cycling.”
“Nearly 15 years later, I found my way back to FSX when my oldest son became interested in racing. This time, it meant something different. It gave us a chance to experience the sport together and reminded me how important events like this are for helping kids and families feel welcome in cycling.”
Beyond Thursday Nights
The Season XXI finale on Nov. 19 is followed by a celebration party from 8 to 10 p.m. FSX also hosts the Sundown Rundown on Saturday, Sept. 26, and the Black Friday 100 on Nov. 27.
Long Tail’s calendar extends past fall, too. RunSpringa is a spring Thursday series pairing a 5K with cyclocross at Wayne Grube Park in Northampton, and Rock Monster, a cross-country mountain bike race and trail run in Mertztown, is set for April 2027.
The Thursday night series has even been the subject of a documentary, Fifth is First, made by Holly Fasching as a senior project. The series is presented by South Mountain Cycle and Cafe.
Oh, and Kids Race Free This Thursday
Children under 9 race free at FSX all season. This Thursday, Sept. 17, is Kitli Kids Night, when free entry extends to every runner and rider 17 and under.
Kitli, a Lehigh Valley-based platform that helps parents find dependable gear for active kids, sponsors the series’ kids racing. Lea is its co-founder. “Our guiding purpose is to remove barriers and make it easier for families to get outside and have adventures together,” he said. “Supporting FSX and helping eliminate entry fees for young riders felt like a natural extension of that mission. It makes it easier for parents to come out on a Thursday night, introduce their kids to racing, and simply have fun riding bikes together.”
Before You Go
- Bring lights. The races run after dark.
- Sign a waiver. No annual USA Cycling license is required.
- Bikes: Mountain bikes are allowed as long as they have no bar ends. Fat bikes are allowed only with tires wider than 3.8 inches.
- Runners wear their numbers on their bodies at all times.
- Parking: Park in the lot at the intersection of Klines Lane and East Minor Street, then ride along the road into the recycling center.
- Cost: $20 for the run and $20 for cyclocross. Juniors race for $12, and kids under 9 race free. Season passes bring the nightly cost to about $17 (six-pack) or $15 (12-pack).
Fifth Street Cross at a Glance
- What: Weekly 5K-ish run and two cyclocross races, open to all experience levels
- When: Thursdays through Nov. 19. Registration 5 p.m., run 6 p.m., cyclocross 6:45 p.m.
- Where: Emmaus Compost Center, 165 Klines Lane, Emmaus, PA 18049
- Kids: Under 9 race free all season. Everyone 17 and under races free on Sept. 17, Kitli Kids Night.
- Since: 2005, founded by Bill and Beth Strickland. Run by Long Tail Productions since 2018.
- Info: fifthstreetcross.com and kitlikids.com
