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Many of you have shown interest in cyclocross, or plan on doing some races this fall. The Georgia Cross Series is a wonderful way to start and get experience. We have 7 races with a overall points series and state championship.
This page is for anyone interested in cyclocross and I will try and explain what cyclocross is, how to get ready for a race, and what equipment is needed.
Introduction:
I first became interested in the sport of Cyclocross after reading about it in a cycling magazine in Athens a few years ago. Cyclocross is an offshoot of road cycling that began around 1900 in France. Cyclocross was a sport that took place during the winter months, and was similar to a steeplechase foot race. It was designed as an alternative for riders to sit around and get fat during the winter.
One of the first designers of the sport wrote, “ Think about a cyclist in wartime. He cannot use main roads; he has to ride or walk across unmade roads and worm his way through the undergrowth and clamber across ditches.” The first races were little more than foot races with bikes carried at times on the shoulder. As it developed as a sport, Cyclocross employed teams of riders who would ride on paved, dirt, or grass surfaces across fields, pastures, and trails. When an obstacle became too hard to ride (like a steep hill), riders in a fluid motion would jump off of their bike, run with it, or shoulder it and run, and remount. Dismounting requires swinging your right leg over the bike, gliding on your left foot, while braking. The idea is not to stop; you want to carry as much momentum into the obstacle as possible so you can remount. Remounting requires that you jump back onto the saddle and get into your pedals as fast as possible. Sometimes it seemed as if the riders hardly had to slow down through the process.
Many
professional riders began using Cyclocross in the off-season to prepare for
bigger road races in the spring.
Today it has become a sport where riders prepare and ride specifically for the Cyclocross season. Since mountain bikes became popular, Cyclocross races were altered so they could not win so easily. Cyclocross bikes are like regular road bikes with knobby fatter tires—mountain bikes are easier to ride and would have an advantage. Organizers decided to make the courses tough by adding dirt and paved sections with wooden barriers (6’ long, 2’ high) in front of hills and in succession so that mountain bikers could not jump them. This made the courses a wonderful blend of riding, dismounting and remounting up to 50 times a lap. The courses are short in the Georgia, being less than 2 kilometers and contain open fields, grass, dirt roads, and steep hills.
The hardest part to the sport is being fluid. You can loose valuable time dismounting, running and remounting. You must train by running and riding.
Your Bike:
The Georgia series allows you to race a proper cyclocross bike, a road bike, or a mountain bike (sans bar ends). Cyclocross bikes are the best for some courses and are more traditional but I have seen plenty of riders win races with mountain bikes. A cyclocross bike can either be bought from a store, or you can get a welder to braze on some cantilever brake mounts to an old road bike. In the age of high tech disc brakes, the cantilever brake is still the favorite for traditional 'cross bikes. They allow you to run a fatter tire and let mud pass through the forks and frame easier. Your 'cross bike should be set up pretty much the same as your road bike. I prefer to reverse my shifters on the handlebars so that when I dismount to the left I can feather my rear brake and still have control. Most riders use the STI shifters and I would advise using Shimano 105 parts since your bike will take a beating and you may need to replace a part. However, many other riders use the more traditional bar end shifters which allow you to shift better while in the drops. I use this system on my back up bike ( a six speed) and like it but I still prefer STI.
Your position on the bike should be such that you can reach the drops while sitting up with your arms and legs about 90 degrees to your torso. Comfort and power takes place over aerodynamics in this sport. You will get rattled around so position will help you stay fresher longer. Some folks even raise their brake hoods up a little to get more upright. You may prefer to lower your seat a little in order to facilitate dismounting and remounting. Ideally, your reach to the handlebars should allow you to do so without bending over too much.
There are endless debates over what kind of tires to use and what pressures to run. In the links section of this article there is a link to a tire overview. The bottom line is run the lowest pressure you can get away with without flatting. I go anywhere from 40-65 psi and I use clinchers. You can go lower with tubulars. Tubulars are the traditional choice but clinchers work well around here. How fat? That is also debated. There is a UCI limit of 35 mm for any type of bike in 'cross. I usually go for 28-32mm. Some folks change bikes on the last lap and have their second bike pumped way up for the ending sprint.
Gearing is different in 'cross. The front ring double combo should be around a 48/38 and the cassette should be somewhere in the range of a 25 or 27 big cog.
You should have no water bottle cages, bar ends or bike bags on your bike ('cross, road or MTB). There are "pits" in 'cross so you can exchange bikes, tires, etc. there.
The Race
Cyclocross race courses are varied in nature. There is pavement, grass, dirt, and sometimes sand pits. There are almost always barriers and steep hills in the Georgia races. Single track is not allowed. A typical race course will be between 1-2 km and depending on your class, you will do probably 5-7 minute laps. So, in a 45 minute masters race, the number of laps is based on the leader and you could do 9 laps or more.
Cyclocross races begin with a sprint to the first set of barriers. You need speed and position to keep to the front and practicing starts is essential in cyclocross preparation. You may ask a friend who is racing in a separate race to hold your place at the start until you arrive. Prepare your warm up much like a criterium. Come to the line warm and ready. The courses are open to riders early so get there 2 hours before your race. Wear non-race clothes in your warm up and pre-ride the course slow at first (some of us even walk or run the course early to look at the barrier placement and other obstacles). You may want to do 2-5 laps of the course, increasing your pace with one lap at race pace. The rest of your warm up should be on the turbo trainer.
Since cyclocross is a winter sport, it will be cold, windy, wet, and sometimes snowy or icy. Buy some embrocation such as Atomic Balm or Borne warm up products and rub it in before your race. If it is wet, you can cover this treatment with Bag Balm or Vaseline. Most riders wear skinsuits but you do not have to. Road uniforms are fine but prepare for the cold, however be careful not to over dress especially if you have applied the heating embrocation.
After the start you will be mounting and dismounting over wooden barriers about 12" high. Some are singles and others are doubles or triples. You may not bunny hop the barriers except for the pro/1/2 category. This means that you have to ride up to them, dismount, run over the barriers, and remount in one fluid motion. Pros do it in 3 foot steps. It is beautiful to watch. The only way to get good at this is to practice over and over and over again. The dismount begins as you maintain a speed with your bike you can run into. Brake or coast within 2-3 feet of the barriers, brake with your left hand (provided you switched hoods), swing your right leg over you bike while grasping the top tube with your right hand. Place your right leg between your clipped in left leg and the bike, step though and unclick your left foot, take a step and clear the barrier (lifted bike in hand) and then in one swoop, push off with your left foot and sling yourself onto the seat. Most beginners stutter step the remount because they are afraid of damaging their naughty bits, but with practice you can clear them and not do any damage (Lance stutter stepped by the way). Confused? You need to see some folks do this so that is what training camp is for. Steep run-ups like hills or steps will require you to dismount the same way but grasp your bike's downtube with your right hand and put it on your shoulder. Many 'cross riders buy a women's blouse shoulder pad and wear this in the race to avoid bruising. Ride everything you can if you can maintain speed. Most time is lost by poor form over barriers or cyclists not being fit enough to run.
During the race you will keep an eye on the lap cards to know how soon you are to finishing. Many finishes are on pavement so if it is close you can sprint. Be ready for the effort of cyclocross to be that of a time trial. It is very easy to pop early by going out too fast. Remember, most novices do this and you will pass them later.
What happens if you have bike trouble? Unlike road or mountain bike races, 'cross has "pits". You can have an extra bike, wheels, or both stashed into the pits. If you flat you must complete the course in the proper direction to get to the pits. You may not cross the course to get there. In may European races, there is a pit mechanic there who will wash and lube the spare bike so that the rider has a new bike each lap. They have compressors, buckets and rubber boots and take pride in their pit work. in our series, a friend or teammate may help you if you get a flat or break a part. You should roll by the pits, dismount, leave your bike in the pits and your teammate should be running with your new bike for the exchange. This usually never happens and you will have to stop and get your bike yourself. If you only have 1 'cross bike, use your mountain bike as your back up just in case.
Cyclocross courses get pretty muddy and rough by the time the later categories race. This why the pre-ride is so important. You will need to think fast and pick lines that are not obvious.
Preparing for Cyclocross: Sample Fall Build Up Training Plan
In the Links section there will be sites to check out about preparation but here I will let you know how I have prepared in the past. For the 'cross workouts on your own, buy some 12" board and some stakes so you can practice dismounting and remounting. I go to school parks and use barriers as well as the playground mulch beds for obsticales. Buy some cheap soccer cones and use these to set up cornering routes.
August:
Running: Begin to run 2-3 times a week. If you do not run all year around, run once, wait for the muscle pain to go away and then run again. That pain is from micro-tears in your muscle and you do not want to damage your legs, just let them adapt. Get some base running in, meaning slow running with varied topography. Work up to 45 minutes 2-3 times per week.
Riding: Monday-recovery ride: easy 1-2 hour road ride. Tuesday-Sprint workout on 'cross bike (grass) or road bike. Do 15 second sprints, some from a standing start and others with a rolling 10 mph start in the 39 or 52 (road). Start with 4 and work up to sets of 5 with 2 minutes recovery between sprints and 5 minutes recovery between sets. Wednesday-'Cross workout (grass or dirt- a park works well for this): Work on cornering skills using cones to ride around. Focus on technique and form, not power and speed.Thursday-2-5 hour road ride for endurance. Friday-recovery day. Saturday-repeat Tuesday's workout. Sunday- Road ride with Thursday's length and add blocks of 3 minute time trials at or just below LT (work up to 20 minutes).
September:
Running: Run 2-3 times per week but now you can begin speed work. Running in a cyclocross race is sprinting not distance. You can replace one of your Tuesday-like sprint workouts with running. Begin first on flat ground and later in the month move to a hill you can repeat or stadium stairs. Do the same sprint numbers as you would riding.
Riding: More of the same except: Tuesday: increase your number of sprints (riding). Wednesday: using the same drills, set up a small course in a park and begin to do circuts at speed. Work up to doing the same number of minutes at LT that you would in you race, meaning if your race is 35 minutes long, work up to that.
You may also substitute the local 'cross camp for Saturday's workout.
October:
Running: 1 endurance workout and 2 speed workouts. You may divide your cycling sprints and running sprints at this point.
Riding: More of the same. Try and focus now on race efforts on Saturday and skills on Wednesday. Practice starts and mounting technique. Keep working up to your race effort time at LT heart rate.
November-December:
Monday (and maybe Tuesday): recover from your weekend race.
Tuesday: Recover or decreased sprint workout.
Wednesday: 'cross workout starts and light coursework (Best Friend Park workouts fit well here).
Thursday: Endurance ride-do not over do it.
Friday: Short sprint workout 3-8 to get ready for the weekend.
Saturday and/or Sunday: Race
Hope this helps. If you need more specific instructions, email me at bobkuhn3@hotmail.com or check out the links below:
The cyclocross bible: Cyclocross Training and Technique Simon Burney
Bike set-up Part 1 Part 2 Part 3