Last race for me yesterday - anyone else wrapping their season up?
I'm done, finished with my usual whimper. Sadly I just don't think I have the correct fitness to really enjoy it, the Scottish season this year certainly required a lot of punch for some of the nasty spikey little climbs and run-ups, and not only was I too heavy but I just couldn't find that punchy power. Once the initial itch was scratched (as one of my comrades in arms put it) the motivation gradually tailed off. I really wish there were more flat, twisty and muddy courses and fewer steep and punchy courses! 🤣
Was all lined up for the second half of the season up here (Superquaich) but since Christmas my turbo sessions haven't been going very well and the wet cold weather has got the motivation at a low ebb so I'm just ticking away for a couple of months before ramping up for the spring classics (some long, relatively flat gravel rides I have planned 😎 ).
Sort of sad to see the season is ending, we used to be big cx fans; raced occasionally (Mrs Kilo did the 3 Peaks one year) watched everything on tv, marshalled our club races, went to the Worlds a few time, etc. But the Eurosport price rise just killed access to easy viewing and I’ve not followed it at all this year and the season has passed me by (I presume M VdP won everything?). Even my cx bike now has road tyres on it 🙁
But the Eurosport price rise just killed access to easy viewing and I’ve not followed it at all this year and the season has passed me by (I presume M VdP won everything?).
It was really good, lots of close racing, different winners and always the chance that Cameron Mason could bag his first win. And then MvdP came back 🙄
I sacked it off at that point, I was willingly paying for TNT for a couple of months but with the adverts that they shoehorn into the middle of the live footage I eventually got pissed off and cancelled on principle, especially after we somehow missed the middle three laps of Namur trying to fast forward the ads and seemingly being stuck in a never-ending loop as punishment!
Just come back from Belgium where we saw the 2 races over the weekend. It's pretty cool watching the elite's go full blast! Now inspired to give it a go next season!
I managed to watch quite a few full races on youtube, always enjoy watching MVDP but it's not really racing, prefer the women's races, much closer and more exciting with stacked fields, although Brand did win loads, but the likes of Puck and Alverado were always in with a chance and Neff adding some colour
There was no MVDP this weekend, so we saw 2 different winners in the mens and womens races! Brand and Alverado were both hugely impressive in two different races and Michael VanTourenheart won on Sunday and should've won on Saturday bar a puncture. It was a mega weekend and I'm very keen to learn the skills and have a go next season.... I just need to find a bike!
Sad times up in Scotland, looks like the last two races of the year are in jeopardy due to lack of volunteers and lack of riders.
I feel a bit guilty as the last round is very local to me and I know the organiser (ish). But I just don't want to race any more CX this year and am in no shape to do so anyway.
I volunteered to help out on the day and will do so if asked but of course this is at the expense of a longer ride I was looking forward to doing somewhere else, which maybe sums up my whole season, not fit enough to enjoy some properly tough courses, and generally with half an eye on the other rides I was missing out on.
There seems to be a general malaise about the racing and I wonder what it is. For me, it just turns out that you can't really enjoy the racing unless you are already 'race-fit'. I had planned to swallow my pride and just enjoy pootling around at the back but I still found it ridiculously tough at times. Not sure if CX has always been like that or if it is just the Scottish courses, I definitely look on enviously at some of the flatter courses down south 🙄
The long season (September to March) and the recent cold wet spell is maybe another factor, perhaps everyone's motivation is just at an ebb. If the season had just been Oct-Dec then that might have been better, although ideally I would have wanted a decent interval between finishing with the summer riding (e.g. end Sept) and getting some training in for CX season, but that would push the start of the season back to November!
That is a long season! Not surprised the last races are struggling though also not good.
I've been done now for a few weeks. Last league event retuned my best result of the season. It seems those events that have significant running sections suit me, I did lots of overtaking running past those struggling to get the wheels turning in mud or up slippery hills.
The Ledegem race in Belgium was eye opening. It was flat, completely flat on a farm with a very short lap. But the road was closed (and used as part of the course), the landowner had built a significant number of features in his farm yard and there where several scaffold bridges (including a down bridge into a dyke). The whole organisation was very different, no chip timing and simple sign-up on the day. The local version of the commissiars seems to travel to each event and there lots of them. 5 just on the finish line counting laps! There was beer on sale 😜 and the vast majority of competitors hung around for the presentations at the end (giving a much more social to the whole event). All in it was great fun and we will be back next year if possible.
Having planned a much fuller season, finally got round to my second race of the season yesterday, fun times at a new course in Fife with a lot of riding packed into a very small space in the closed road circuit.
Would agree with previous couple of posts though that the season has stretched out too long. Numbers were decent yesterday but off a cliff next week, which is really little surprise since it's also the Scottish road season opener next weekend.
I'd say the malaise is a combo of cost and time for many. The CX season started before the MTB/Road season ended and finishes after the MTB/Road season starts. Everyone needs some down time sometime.
I'm keen to get involved in racing cross next season. Typical I've just got interested in it as the season finishes near me in the North West....
Still it gives me time to source a bike! Any suggestions on what I should be looking for?
Still it gives me time to source a bike! Any suggestions on what I should be looking for?
Perfect time of year to buy as folk get rid of bikes at season end. Recommend CX Buy & Sell on Facebook, or just FB marketplace in general. Generally lots of options this time of year. Last year I picked up great condition bikes for both myself and my boy for c. £400 from here.....good frames (Ridley & Merida), discs, 105/Apex level groups, nice wheels, great condition.
There aren't many pure cyclocross bikes available nowadays - they have been gravelised to greater or lesser extents as that is a way bigger market. So it's a question of whether you want something to ride year round, and more of a gravel style is a good thing, or something really focussed on the race season. Both the spesh crux and giant tcx are well quoted as bikes that have retained their cx character - very versatile bikes that race well. Plenty of others - I race a vitus energie which is a mainstay of the UK scene, but I don't know what happened to them post crc going under.I'm keen to get involved in racing cross next season. Typical I've just got interested in it as the season finishes near me in the North West....
Still it gives me time to source a bike! Any suggestions on what I should be looking for?
It doesn't matter a huge amount if you race a gravel bike to start with - you could race a MTB even. Cornering is the quintessential cross skill, and gravel bikes don't do it as well, but this is a subtlety that will be lost in the general maelstrom of legs and lungs.
Second the cx buy sell group. Lots popping up on that at the moment. What size do you need, if 58 hup still have a few of the older model frame left? That would be a good start if building up.
My first cx bike build was in the region of £800 using mostly new parts (hubs and bars I already had). I made what I'd now consider a few mistakes with the gearing spec though. I started with a more gravelly 11-42 cassette and 42t chain ring. This worked fine but does give fairly large steps between gears and the low gear encourages you to ride bits where really you are better off on foot. Now run 11-34 with a 38t ring. I found on the back that a 160mm rotor is too much and leads to more rear wheel locking. 140mm is enough and is easier to control. GRX levers have a nicer brake shape from the hoods, which is where your hands will spend most of their time. The 10 speed level is fine to reduce cost (don't connect the right hand shifter) but 1x11 with a LH brake is lighter. The 400 series 10 speed GRX mech can be used with 11 speed shifters (same cable pull). It's cheaper which is a good thing given the battering the mech takes. Clutch off unless the course is very bumpy (even then I have reduce the clutch tension for nicer shifts). XTR pedals seem to clear mud better than the lower levels. If you are one biking then mud clearance is an important consideration. Some frames (especially alloy with cross braces behind the rear wheel) clog quicker. Most of the carbon designs are smoother in that area which helps. Light wheels are your friend, low mass make a decent alloy set at around 1500g that don't break the bank.
It doesn't matter a huge amount if you race a gravel bike to start with - you could race a MTB even. Cornering is the quintessential cross skill, and gravel bikes don't do it as well, but this is a subtlety that will be lost in the general maelstrom of legs and lungs.
Exactly this, this is the first season I actually raced a bona-fide cyclocross bike, previous seasons it's been my old singlespeed commuter or my MTB with CX tyres on. Best results were actually on the MTB but I think that's more reflective of my fitness this season ☹️
Second the cx buy sell group. Lots popping up on that at the moment. What size do you need, if 58 hup still have a few of the older model frame left? That would be a good start if building up.
My first cx bike build was in the region of £800 using mostly new parts (hubs and bars I already had). I made what I'd now consider a few mistakes with the gearing spec though. I started with a more gravelly 11-42 cassette and 42t chain ring. This worked fine but does give fairly large steps between gears and the low gear encourages you to ride bits where really you are better off on foot. Now run 11-34 with a 38t ring. I found on the back that a 160mm rotor is too much and leads to more rear wheel locking. 140mm is enough and is easier to control. GRX levers have a nicer brake shape from the hoods, which is where your hands will spend most of their time. The 10 speed level is fine to reduce cost (don't connect the right hand shifter) but 1x11 with a LH brake is lighter. The 400 series 10 speed GRX mech can be used with 11 speed shifters (same cable pull). It's cheaper which is a good thing given the battering the mech takes. Clutch off unless the course is very bumpy (even then I have reduce the clutch tension for nicer shifts). XTR pedals seem to clear mud better than the lower levels. If you are one biking then mud clearance is an important consideration. Some frames (especially alloy with cross braces behind the rear wheel) clog quicker. Most of the carbon designs are smoother in that area which helps. Light wheels are your friend, low mass make a decent alloy set at around 1500g that don't break the bank.
Great info, thanks!
I'm 5.11ish, so would be looking for a 56cm frame. Those HUPS would be a bit big unfortunately!
It doesn't matter a huge amount if you race a gravel bike to start with - you could race a MTB even. Cornering is the quintessential cross skill, and gravel bikes don't do it as well, but this is a subtlety that will be lost in the general maelstrom of legs and lungs.
Exactly this, this is the first season I actually raced a bona-fide cyclocross bike, previous seasons it's been my old singlespeed commuter or my MTB with CX tyres on. Best results were actually on the MTB but I think that's more reflective of my fitness this season ☹️
Was the different bike handling characteristics noticeable?
No, but at the time I didn't know any different (and it was an XC racing hardtail).
Now I've spent time on MTB, gravel and CX bikes I do think I notice the difference. Don't let it put you off though, it's all good fun 👍