Robin does cyclocross
I am thrashed from my first cyclocross races this weekend. Using singlespeed for both. Crazy and fun. Mud fest with rain. Cat 4 45+ i was 20 out of 60. 2 minutes back of the leader. I have the power i need. Need to develop skills and seed myself near the front. Hoping to work up to cat 3 soon.
Second race was the single speed category. These are some strong guys. I was cooked from the first race finishing last. Got caught by the cat 1 ladies. Fell once the first race. Fell many times the last race with sloppy course and body not coping. But finished.
So hope to do a race every couple weeks for the season. Will just enter one race per event and give it all out. Only do two events if mechanical for the first.
The single speed thing is fun. Not shifting. Consenus is that running up the steep hills is faster. I was passing folks on their regular bikes with my bike on my shoulder. I need to work on the remount but mostly the re-clipping in. Either go back to shimano spd ( not liked in the past), adjust my speedplay frogs so i can get in easier, or maybe try crank brothers. Fun learning the tech behind single speed. Think i will put a bit larger cog on the freewheel for easier climbing. And super spin it more on the flats.
Second race was the single speed category. These are some strong guys. I was cooked from the first race finishing last. Got caught by the cat 1 ladies. Fell once the first race. Fell many times the last race with sloppy course and body not coping. But finished.
So hope to do a race every couple weeks for the season. Will just enter one race per event and give it all out. Only do two events if mechanical for the first.
The single speed thing is fun. Not shifting. Consenus is that running up the steep hills is faster. I was passing folks on their regular bikes with my bike on my shoulder. I need to work on the remount but mostly the re-clipping in. Either go back to shimano spd ( not liked in the past), adjust my speedplay frogs so i can get in easier, or maybe try crank brothers. Fun learning the tech behind single speed. Think i will put a bit larger cog on the freewheel for easier climbing. And super spin it more on the flats.
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Second day of racing this past sunday.. 45+ category four. 7 out of 70+. !!! only minute some from first. should be up with the front guys but not having a racing hx, I get stuck in the back at the start. only person on a single speed. flattish course which suited my power. still plenty muddy. 200 feet beach run included. This a bit hard with my heavy steel frame.
so I guess my goal should be to work up to category three by the end of the season.
The 45+ race is typically the first race of the day. if I have a mechanical, may occasionally jump into the Single Speed category later in the day. But those Single Speed guys are strong!
you folks have to try this. buy a cheap single speed from Bikesdirect and do it.
That sounds so awesome Robin, I've always wanted to do cyclocross but I dunno why I never got my act together when I was in the midwest. Our cyclocross season starts much later down here in SD because it's neither cool or wet yet.
Biggest barrier for me has always been fear of repeatedly eating it crap and hurting myself, but assuming falling at much lower speeds into mud / softer terrain not as big a deal as hitting deck on roads?
Keep kicking ass and posting reports, get me fired up to buy a cheap bike.
By the by. Pedals. Speedplay frogs not good for cross. Too hard to click back in. Crank bros Candy ARE the bomb. The egg beater deal with a platform to use until the click happens.
Ummm, not necessarily. Falling off a bike is falling, so while the road rash issue maybe a little different, the collarbone breaks, etc. can still happen as it's more likely that bunches will go down together in the mud & tight turns vs the road. I could just be bitter about this as last year a cyclocross crash led me to tear 2/3 of my labrum, rotator cuff and part of my bicep tendon.....but I'm just a litte bitter at the douche who thought they could go up the inside of a 90 turn at full speed in the mud----but I will race cross again next year!!!! 45 minutes of oxygen debt followed by a beer
Every time I think of CX, I think of this guy named Joey, who is a friend of a friend down here in TX.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MzmCWyN9ow
Don't worry, he ended up fine (I think).
Joey not paying attention?
yes epic, at least in my mind.
this last weekend another learning experience. I am now ranked in one of the two series I am doing. so got to start up front with the big boys! unfortunately I had a fairly spectacular crash near the beginning. couldn't hold the line and went off course. so most went by me. caught up to finish 12/60 starters. hills which is where I do most of the passing (even with single speed, luckily I pre-rode the course and was able to change to the wheel with the bigger cog).
long sand features. stayed upright the first one. fell on everyone afterwards. clipped in. floundering around in the sand. picture 6-6 skinny guy. then starting running the sand with the bike. as fast that way.
what a whole body workout. now wrecked at home with a cold and off work. but this is some crazy, scary fun.
Also still researching cross race series down here. This time year still too warm and dry for proper cross.
Also have a cheap single speed mountainbike for pit bike.
I'm gluing my Challenge Grifos for my race this weekend as we speak. For me Cross in the fall is just awesome and so much fun. I find it to be a totally different vibe then a road race or crit which for lack of a better work is always uptight.
Cross is also another excuse to get more gear ; )
yes I am starting to get even more raised eyebrows from the wife from the bike parts that arrive every day.
Attila running tubulars then. nice to be able to run at very low pressures I understand.
For the three types of tires I use a mix of stuff. For file type tires which typically run at a higher PSI since they are meant for packed ground I use an old clincher wheel with Conti CX speed tires. For mud I converted an old pair Ksyriums with the Stan's kit to tubeless and run the Michelin Mud2s which are great mud tires and with the tubeless setup you can run lower pressures. Finally for the all around go to choice I use the Grifo on the tubular rim.
The biggest investment for all this stuff though is a $15 tire gauge, something like an Accu-Gauge or SKS so your pressure is accurate and predictable. It does make a big difference.
Last but not least as you are finding out just get out there tear it up and have a blast!!
Ranked 7th in series. Still trying to break into the top six for a race to get points towards cat 3 upgrade. I almost did last race but wiped out on last lap and lost places. I actually led race for a while.
Getting over two month cough and feeling stronger.
Bought a cheap frame last week. Threw together a bike from parts lying aroud the garage. I now have a geared bike for the last race! So we will see how it goes. No more getting passed on the paved straights. Assuming i can remember to shift the sram way ( my other bikes shimano).
And i think this new bike brings me up to 7 personal bikes.
Nice work Robin. Looks like you're having fun, and that's what it's all about.Look forward to seeing you crack that podium.
Jen. mabye 12 total (though tandem counts as two?). so i need to move up to 13. then 14 because unlucky number. .........
Suk. thanks. yes hope to have fun on my new Frankenbike.
As far as the mount and dismount...the guys that are awesome look like ballet stars to me! So graceful and powerful!