Yeah, i was really hoping to get to several of the King’s CX TT events before the season opener on 9 Sept, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to do any except the one on the 5th. Is the Kings course open any other times? I’d love to just go there and ride.
Yes it’s open whenever you want. It’s in decent shape even with all the rain though I did get a bit muddy today.
A background in tri and time trial could be handy. Bouncing the HR off the limiter and running.
I think a good workout may be runup intervals or a gravel ride bricked with a hard 5k run.
I’m trying this fall also. I’ve two left feet, so, will eat dirt at least once myself this season.
Cyclocross is hella fun. Make sure to train your legs in that zone 4-5 as well as training your liver for copious alcohol consumption (you know, to get the full cyclocross treatment)
I hope you get a chain catcher on the front.
Doesn’t look like it from the pictures.
2x is fine but much easier to drop a chain in CX.
One tip… low tire pressure. As the local speedsters for tire pressure advice.
i’m thinking about picking up a cross bike as a commuter for this winter - anyone else done this?
my route is all paved road shoulder, but it rains like mad here in vancouver and the braking my tri-bike scares the crap out of me in traffic sometimes
A background in tri and time trial could be handy. Bouncing the HR off the limiter and running.
I think a good workout may be runup intervals or a gravel ride bricked with a hard 5k run.
I’m trying this fall also. I’ve two left feet, so, will eat dirt at least once myself this season.
If you’ve got run fitness at all, you’ll be fine. I don’t bother running more than 20 minutes twice a week just to keep my legs honest and really not until a little later in the season since most running doesn’t happen until we get to the sloppy conditions in Oct and Nov.
Background in triathlon helps. . . but cross isn’t really about riding at the limit consistently. It’s more about riding above the limit and recovering without blowing up nor slowing down. I do lots of muscular endurance building into the season and now I’m doing lots of VO2 intervals.
I hope you get a chain catcher on the front.
Doesn’t look like it from the pictures.
2x is fine but much easier to drop a chain in CX.
One tip… low tire pressure. As the local speedsters for tire pressure advice.
Yeah, good call. I just went and checked the bike and it doesn’t have one. On the tire pressure…yep, the guy who is sponsoring the team talked to me about that, and it makes sense. I’m sure I’ll be asking lots of questions on the proper pressure.
Cyclocross is hella fun. Make sure to train your legs in that zone 4-5 as well as training your liver for copious alcohol consumption (you know, to get the full cyclocross treatment)
I’m trying to steadily increase my beer consumption as part of an overall training package…
Yo, yo yo, Be careful out there , tire pressure can be very tricky with tubeless. Burp, burp your tires then suck. How would I know that? The idea is to ride with lower pressure to aid traction in corners, but too low and the sidewall folds up or goes burp burp. The newer tires have stiffer sidewalls but then that takes away some of the suppleness you really like. Getting better all the time the tubeless systems.
My A race wheels have really expensive tires and get glued on. Schweet those FMB tubies. Boo hoo hoo if you pop a 150$ tire.
50% of the time for cross I am tubeless (more for training) and the rest including Wednesday worlds I usually just ride tubes and clinchers. I am 100% tubeless mtb, 50% cross tubeless, and 0% Road tubeless. But I am open.
I think the best plan with all tire selections is to pump the tires up to 40psi (2.5bar) ride the course a bit then go pssss , pssss letting a couple lbs out. Ride some more go pssss, pssss let a little more out until you feel like your tires are folding under you in corners, you are bottoming out more than once a lap, or say oh crap this is too low. Then put a couple lbs back in. Find what pressure feels good for the day then check what it is. For the first dozen or so races white down the psi and how you felt. I have records from the early 70s with cx tire pressures.
I have a Silca floor pump with the mega gauge that only goes to 60 psi (4 bar) it works really well for cross psi numbers. After literally 100s of tests like this, I know what works for me.
Don’t believe those numbers of 18psi for cross tires you read about. Those numbers work for light weight pros who ride light on their wheels. Body size has a ton to do with your psi. Most new riders hit 90% of the roots and rocks on the course, I know I still do. I weigh plus or minus 90kg. 32 to 35 psi seems the sweet spot for me. If it is a hard pack rough course I sometimes add a couple lbs for protection.
Cyclocross is fun, painful and addictive. It is pure suffering for 45-60 min then you have so much fun post race. Cross reminds me where triathlon was 35 years ago. Everyone cheers on each other, tells stories post race, and the whole family is welcome to race. Probably best to leave bowser home. Muddy dogs going home or loose on the course ain’t too good. My pup does get to go sometimes, but is a pain the butt when he does.
Now what is really really fun is the single speed class. If the sport is not complicated enough just add the one gear ratio factor into the mix.
Daym cross season is a short 4 weeks away for me and I have the big need for some more speed. Ouch 2 a days starting this week, promise.
Some early season CX races around here have some instruction and practice for new CX riders. I joined a bike race team, that had a few sessions to help newbies that was super helpful for me and other. It is a fun time, hard effort and great way to improve bike handling skills. Local to me they had practice series one night during the week. It is a blast!
Awesome, thanks for all of the great tips. I am really excited up this upcoming season, the team I’m joining seems like a bunch of really good folks and the whole atmosphere just sounds like fun to me.
If you are on FB there’s a page called Orlando Riders and Runners. On their live stream last night they were talking about a cyclocross event held in January. Not sure who it putting it on though.
Bumping this thread with a bit of a progress report…
I’m 7 races in and having a blast. I’m getting my ass handed to me in the Cat 5 division, which is a bit disheartening considering that I’m almost always top 25% on the bike in a tri, but this is a completely different kind of fitness. Whereas I can lay down some decent power over a tri course, this is so much more explosive and I haven’t trained for that. Plus my bike handling skills are not where they need to be, but the learning curve is steep! It is really great being part of a team, with a tent and post race beers. Just finished the Cincy Cross weekend with races yesterday and today; really epic conditions yesterday with drizzle and mud. Got lapped yesterday but rode way smarter today and finished on the lead lap. Got some good pics of the pro race yesterday which I’ll post in a separate thread.
I did my first CX race in September, a week after the season’s last triathlon. CX is incredible. It’s 30-45 minutes of high intensity fun. Unlike du/triathlon, CX is a thinking sport. I can’t just put my head down and pedal. It requires constant attention.
I’ve done enough races to upgrade to Cat4. I am also getting my butt handed to me on a platter. Darn 15 year olds - they’re fearless and tear down the course with no worries.
I’m definitely hooked.
I did my first CX race in September, a week after the season’s last triathlon. CX is incredible. It’s 30-45 minutes of high intensity fun. Unlike du/triathlon, CX is a thinking sport. I can’t just put my head down and pedal. It requires constant attention.
I’ve done enough races to upgrade to Cat4. I am also getting my butt handed to me on a platter. Darn 15 year olds - they’re fearless and tear down the course with no worries.
I’m definitely hooked.
Totally agree on the thinking bit. I was pissed to get lapped right at the end and finish a lap down, and really thought about what I needed to differently. I was being too aggressive in the sketchy spots and not aggressive enough where you could hit the gas. So I rode much cleaner yesterday and whenever the conditions allowed it, I put out as much power as I could sustain. Still made one dumb mistake coming way too hot into a muddy corner and hit the ground hard, twisting my seat out of whack and having to smack it back into place before I could continue, and getting gapped by a team mate in the process (who I thought I was going to finally beat for once).
Get ready to race with your heart rate at the redline for the full length of the race!
Truth! Did my 2nd ever CX race yesterday, but 1st one where I was equipped with a real bike and was in half decent physical shape. After lap 1 my heart was pounding out of my chest.
I tried it for first time this year too. Did 5 races in Alaska. I am hooked. Like others said, you really have to think, but you think while your heart rate is at it’s max. Racing at that high an intensity put me in a good mood rest of the night too. And it was really fun going to the local trails and practicing in between races.
Hey,
I also did the Kings Cx festival in Cincinnati on Saturday mens Cat4 40+ wave on a Giant hardtail 29er. I started at the very back and have no idea where I finished but it was tons of fun with all the mud. Now looking for a dedicated CX bike myself.
Saturday was pretty epic. They changed the course for Sunday and made it much more fun, IMO, although the camel was still nuts…my ancient mountain bike shoes don’t accept toe spikes, so I could barely even walk it!
I would love to do a season of CX but at 65 I may be ill advised to go bashing around a course full of of deranged teenagers and weekend warriors. The wife and I watched all of the World Championship races a couple of weeks ago and it looked like a hell of a good time. Really a lifetime is just too short to do all the things that you would have loved to do if you’d only got around to it.