Sunday, 12/05/2004 - Cyclocross
With cyclocross nationals in Portland this year (next weekend). I thought if I was ever going to do cyclocross this would be the year. Wanting to race on the cheap, I found a bike on EBay. Took a course from our local ex-cross pro Craig Undem at www.cycleu.com and hit the races.
What is cyclocross racing? Well it’s basically off road road racing. From 50 ft, the cyclocross bike looks much like a typical road frame. But then when you get close, you see the differences. Because of the whole off road nature, the frames are much beefier, larger tubing and stronger welds, etc. Unlike a traditional road frame in which the bottom bracket is the lowest point in the frame, the cyclo-cross BB is about level with the rear drop outs. There is a little extra clearance for larger tires with nobbies, cross tires are generally 30 - 32 mm and are run at mount bikeish pressures. The bikes all generally have cantilever breaks. The UCI band disk breaks last year, though in my category they are very legal.
In some ways cross its about as far from ultra distance as you can get. The races are short, super short 30 - 45 minutes. The races involve lots of tricky terrain wet grass, mud, leaves, etc. There are barriers that require a dismount and that you run / carry the bike over, think steeple chase but with a bike. The courses are real twisty and as a result the rider is constantly re-accelerating through the race and the whole race feels much more like a power workout.
Since I'd never raced cross before this year I, started in the Men's C bracket.
What is cyclocross racing? Well it’s basically off road road racing. From 50 ft, the cyclocross bike looks much like a typical road frame. But then when you get close, you see the differences. Because of the whole off road nature, the frames are much beefier, larger tubing and stronger welds, etc. Unlike a traditional road frame in which the bottom bracket is the lowest point in the frame, the cyclo-cross BB is about level with the rear drop outs. There is a little extra clearance for larger tires with nobbies, cross tires are generally 30 - 32 mm and are run at mount bikeish pressures. The bikes all generally have cantilever breaks. The UCI band disk breaks last year, though in my category they are very legal.
In some ways cross its about as far from ultra distance as you can get. The races are short, super short 30 - 45 minutes. The races involve lots of tricky terrain wet grass, mud, leaves, etc. There are barriers that require a dismount and that you run / carry the bike over, think steeple chase but with a bike. The courses are real twisty and as a result the rider is constantly re-accelerating through the race and the whole race feels much more like a power workout.
Since I'd never raced cross before this year I, started in the Men's C bracket.
Labels: Cyclocross
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