Mud, snow, mud, rain, sweat, mud and grass. Here’s your layman’s guide to cyclocross, cycling’s brutal winter version. Did we mention there was mud?
Cyclocross? What’s that? Cycling that makes you angry?
No. It won’t make you angry (much). It will make you very cold and very muddy, though! The easiest way to describe it is this: if road cycling is athletics for the summer, then cyclocross is cross-country running for the winter.
That sounds like hard work!
It is, but it’s also one of the most thrilling and technical cycling disciplines around. Races last an hour at most, over several laps of a twisty grass and mud circuit, and riders often have to dismount to carry their bikes on foot up slippery hills or over hurdles and other obstacles.
Carry the bike?! I hope it’s light!
It is. Most CX bikes are based around a road bike frame for lightness, but there are lots of bits adapted to suit the different requirements. Gearing ratios are lower because acceleration out of corners is more important than top speed, while brakes tend to be discs or cantilevered because rim brakes just get gummed up with mud too easily.
What about tyres? They must be different too.
Very much so. Knobbly mountain bike-like tyres are run at very low pressures to maximise surface area and grip. While road bike pressures will often be more than 100psi, most cyclocross tyres will run at around 20-25psi and often as little as 15psi.
Do you have to use a special cyclocross bike?
At an amateur level, not at all. Lots of novices start out by racing bikes that they already own, so well-specced mountain bikes do the job very well, and it’s not unheard of to see newcomers racing hybrids, too.
But with all that mud, what happens if the bike just jams up completely?
Then you do a Valentino Rossi and call into the pits! Most riders, especially at the higher levels of the sport, generic viagra kopen will bring a spare bike with them as well as a crew member. If their bike becomes too muddy during a race or isn’t suitable for the conditions on the day, then they can dive into the pits and jump straight onto their spare. Meanwhile, their crew member can pressure-wash the mud off the main bike and check the tyre pressures so it can be re-used later in the race.
Often, these spare bikes are single-speed machines so that there are fewer mechanical parts that can get clogged with mud – Dorvics has special single-speed CX bikes available!
I’m guessing this isn’t a huge sport in this country?
No, although like most cycling disciplines there’s been a big surge of interest across the UK over the last decades. Belgium and the Netherlands are the cyclocross heartlands: most of the World Cup races take place there, attracting huge crowds of fans with bobble hats and bells devouring frites and beer by the bucketload.
Do cyclocross events take place around here?
Absolutely! The Central Cyclocross League (CCXL) races every weekend from late September through to Christmas at venues across the Home Counties and outer London. Leighton Buzzard Road Cycling Club organises a round at the Cedars Upper School every October and hundreds of cyclists from across the region travel to take part.
Dorvics supports this event with on-site servicing and helps prep many LBRCC competitors’ bikes before and during each CX season.
Thanks to LBRCC member and cyclocross racer Ross Gallacher for contributing to this article (he’s the one in the photo above carrying his bike through a snow gorge last season!)
If you’d like a cyclocross bike – or virtually any other type of bike, for that matter – then Dorvics can help you with our bespoke building service. If you can dream of riding it… we can build it! Click here to get in touch with our friendly expert team and find out more today.