[Closed] The Cyclocross season is upon us. Yay!

MK lower course, super bumpy, endless climbs and wind. I could lick some smooth tarmac right now.

5th place today in the south of Sweden's double header.

Super wet heavy grass for 90% of the lap, one very long very steep run up, one short, some stairs, and plenty of off camber turns. Love it, bring on tomorrow.

So just to check, is the course open to pre-ride all morning (like a Gorrick xc for example) or is it closed when an earlier cat is in session?

How high are the barriers? I've watched the couple of 2011 vids on YouTube and they only seem about 12" high. I never got around to practicing (anything!) my dismounts today so wondering whether to just hop over them....

Anyone racing Western League, Netham Park, on the 27th? I've not ridden the venue before, is it any good?

Just found out it's been cancelled. 🙁 They've been trying to get this venue for 2 years now. Don't want a repeat of [url= http://road.cc/content/news/70545-bristol-crossgate-council-now-working-cx-organisers ]crossgate last year[/url]

To confirm the Netham Cross is OFF due to the poor conditions and over night rain. Can't take the risk of carving up the grass on our first event here with the council stance on letting us use it with a £2500 bond if we do any damage.

Tricky- sounds like well earnd rest day to me misses just found out how much it is per race lmao
Will it be rebooked for another date and the series extended or just skipped all together?

We'll folks, it's bright and breezy with the odd flicker of rain here trackside at Basingstoke. Just been out and warmed up alongside the vets etc. That class looks epic, with the combined races the field takes up literally the whole circuit. The other seniors are currently in the carpark on their rollers which doesn't bode well. I feel ever so over-biked on the full susser and Maxxis Ardent 2.4's are pants at shedding mud so wish I hadn't been lazy as I nearly put the Rocket Ron back on.
I wish I'd left my bottle cage on or brought one for my pocket too as it's pleasantly warm.
The bank is catching a lot of people out but I rode it a couple of times on different lines and with a bit if grunt on the run up it's no bother. Will see how I fare at 2:40 when I'm half dead 😉

I don't want to like it because I really can't afford any more machinery but initial impressions are that it's great fun. Practiced a few proper dismounts and apart from finding my pedals again as I bounce back on I reckon I'll be ok. The boards look like proper 14" spec ones so no chance of hopping them I feel 😉

I fancy a light cx bike but with flat bars- still can't see a need for drops.

Right, quick glug of squash and I'm off into the fray 🙂

Is crosshairs full dead?

I fancy a light cx bike but with flat bars- still can't see a need for drops.

I had a nice light cross bike for about half a lap at Brecon today. Then it got heavier and heavier as I got more and more tired. Finished just in time, one more lap and the whole thing would have ground to a halt ❗ Must have weighed 30lbs by the end.

[s]anyone go to AllyPally to the Raphael Supercross?

I was going to head that way to ride but it's windy on the coast, and windsurfing won.

as crosshair is MIA ill give a short review on Basingstoke today 😉
I was in vets with seemingly half the population of basingstoke... busy..
In contrast to Reading the week before this race was rain free but substituted with wind... but not so bad. There were some tight bends to negotiate that caught a few people out and sending a few through the course tape which was in permenant repair.
The mud was the sticky type which my mud 2s wernt clearing very well making the corners hard to negotiate but took it steady as seen a few offs. BMX track and berms was fun and one of the easier obstacles.
I managed to make up a few places on the barriers section which was unexpected.
The biggest problem seemed to be the short steep slope which looked easy enough but turned out to be difficult due to the ruts, i saw people go over the bars and also off the back and one guy doing a fantastic backwards roll back to the bottom..
first 2 laps were carnage and run ups and only on my final lap did i get to the top without a comedy fail.

great course, great fun.

No, all's good 🙂 I stopped at Newbury for a car wash then been feeding/walking 8 dogs and pressure washing mud out me treads 🙂

Well, that was great fun! I felt really nervous before the start prob because of my conspicuous machinery. I had already decided not to start off the front as the Senior warmup had shown me how fast these guys are. But the gridding meant I didn't get a choice anyway 😉

I put a big wide maxxis on the front as I was supposed to be xc racing last weekend but didn't go so this was its debut outing and I hate it! Way too wide and needs real commitment to get it onto the edge. However, to be fair, by the last lap I'd adjusted and was flinging it in without too many worries.

So what's this CX racing like from a newbies perspective then?
The course was really good fun and had enough different sections to keep it interesting. Obviously none of it is worse than the car park at an xc race but that really didn't matter. Away from the start and a quick down-wind sprint was the fastest bit of the course. Then was a twisty turny bit around some little garden things and a huge bottleneck meant I was able to get a breather and take in the surroundings. Then we took an upwind sprint into a tight bend which took me until the last lap to realise wasn't as slippery as it looked and could be took flat out. Uphill drag across the playing field and into the first off camber section. I felt obliged to make this look easy on my Mtb and I gained ground on various people every lap here. Up towards the car park and a couple of tight sloppy bends around the trees. Again, I was overly cautious up until the last lap when I was looking for ways TO die to relieve me from my pain 😉
Quick downhill, downwind blat across the grass and then out the back into the BMX track. Again this suited me and a quick click into 'traction mode' meant I could be creative with my line and avoid the target fixation on the telegraph pole that everyone else was getting 😉
Through the trees and into the wet ruts of 'soggy bottom' this was genuinely tricky and rewarded light hands- just let the bike do what it likes. Next was an uphill drag through the peripheral trees of the playing field and every lap it was balancing the fact that this gradient suited me against the knowledge that I needed a few spare bpm for the fast approaching 'bank'.
I I can happily say I rode up it every lap and gained a couple of places there on each of the first three 🙂

By this point, the relentless climb from soggy bottom and the epic headwind meant most of my compatriots treated this as a bit of a slog. Then was a cool off camber bit which I loved and even experimented with a few different lines to see which felt quicker. Finally a slalom around the cricket pitch before the two full-height barriers at the start/finish line.
I pretty much nailed this every lap and certainly never gave away ground- my quick practice had paid off.

Lap one was a bit of a sort out, lap two I had a few battles and made up places. Lap three and four were spent too'ing and fro'ing with a couple of guys and after that I honestly can't remember much. I was knackered! Anyhow, there was a guy on a Kona hard tail I'd been back and forth with but I just didn't have the legs on the last lap which turned into a bit of a lonely slog.
One funny thing was a guy called 'Tom' (apparently) who I battled with during a couple of laps. We passed his dad about three times a lap who was shouting various words of encouragement- especially at the bank. Then I heard him say about me 'go on! Get past the big lad!!!' Of course, this spurred me on and I did him back on the downwind fast bit and fended him off to my favourite drag from soggy bottom. Anyway, that pretty much finished him off and he must have blown up because he was soon out of sight.

Next lap his dad looked a little miffed when 'the big lad' appeared without Tom in tow 😀
I nearly shouted 'Sorry mate, he got owned by a fatty on a Mtb' but thought better of it 😉

Anyway, I have no idea where I finished but it was really good fun and great training.

taxi25 - Member

I had a nice light cross bike for about half a lap at Brecon today. Then it got heavier and heavier as I got more and more tired. Finished just in time, one more lap and the whole thing would have ground to a halt Must have weighed 30lbs by the end.

Tell me about it. I knew mine was gathering mud but when I finished and was scooping handfuls out of the frame gaps...

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Brecon was flipping ace today! Clocks back, filthy 'cross, loving winter!

3rd place today, first podium in the national cup.

Rounding up a frantic weekend away, 600km of driving, the whole family in the car plus bike and spare wheels, rushing to the cinema yesterday after the race and a birthday party today.

Still, took home a load of gels and some MuckOff brushes and liquids yesterday and a nice winter training top today, and more importantly loads of cup points 8)

In action:
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Podium:
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Worst result of the year so far for me 9th place. A bit of a balls up on the start line, despite laying 3rd overall I wasn't gridded and had to start right at the back.

Cross debut today, was lying about mid field until I got a puncture on the penultimate lap. Finished the race on the rim. 34x17 was about right. Need to fiddle with my cantis and go down to 32c tyres, had a few clogging issues.

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I'm shit at remounting.

Saturday I was properly ****ed and I look it.
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42/54 so not horrendous 🙂 only 1 lap down too. Plenty of room for tangible progress 😉

Does anyone know anything about the Striking Bikes cx at Stroud this Subday??

Does anyone know anything about the Striking Bikes cx at Stroud this Subday??

Im well gutted that theres a cx race at southampton this weekend but its the national series so i cant race it 🙁
no races for me this weekend...

That's it Dobo but the link from BS didn't work and even a quick google doesn't turn anything up. I thought I was xc'ing this Sunday but had my dates muddled up. So I then had a quick look for other events within an hours drive and found that one.

[url= https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/93182/Team-Striking-Bikes-Cyclo-Cross/Western-League-Round-6 ]https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/93182/Team-Striking-Bikes-Cyclo-Cross/Western-League-Round-6[/url]

There's not a lot more to know than above really - entry is on the line and seniors race is at 11:45. Should be £11 to enter (plus a day licence if you don't have a race licence).

dobo, you could just pop down and watch for a bit? It can be entertaining, instructive and maybe a little awe-inspiring to see the top racers in action.

Saturdays looking bloody dreadful 😀

At least it will be dry up above on Sunday 😉

I've been in the process of CX-ing my old GT hardtail this week but I don't reckon my rigid fork will be here in time so I reckon its another race on the mtb. I've put some Shwalbe CX pros on, bought it its own M520 pedals, ordered a steel rigid fork for it (1.5kg lighter than the Rockshox on there though), replaced the cheap and nasty V-brakes with some Shimano Deore/Acera ones and converted it to 1x9. Can't wait to try it out 🙂

Just upgraded to Strava Premium so will be hitting the Sufferfest vids too as my 'proper' training has ground to a halt.

dobo, you could just pop down and watch for a bit? It can be entertaining, instructive and maybe a little awe-inspiring to see the top racers in action.

the first cx race i saw was at southampton (i used to live at chandlers ford), i then raced southampton over xmas or new year and barely made it round, it was very hard. cant recall if it was the year before last but i had a proper good wipeout in the snow/ice on a bend.
Just talked to the misuses about going and well obviously she not keen, but you never know.
Got to get in my long run tomorrow morning first whatever happens, got some events i need to be ready for.

Oldgit - proper cross misery pic that one!

Our weather luck changed last weekend here in Helsinki, rained for a few days before then tipped it down for 3 of the 4 hours before the race, followed by a light drizzle for the ride to the course and race itself. This was the 'cross where it should not be' series so was expecting an interesting course, arrived a bit late and told I didn't have time for a lap as it was 20 + mins and they were already delaying the start so people who were practicing would make it back on time! A few trickled in looking pretty muddy and dead after one practice lap... Was muddy, rocky, rooty, somewhat downhill and technical for the first 3rd, flattish, rooty and very muddy for the second, and short sharp repeated fireroad hills for the final third. These killed you just in time to hang on for dear life on the next time laps dh section... Mostly on a rock base though so the mud was watery rather than claggy.

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Had a good ride though, first race where I felt I could give it full gas when I wanted after little training before the season and a cold a week or two back. And managed to break my run of 5th places with a 4th overall and second CX (as the course favoured MTB or monstercross), so am now join leader of this series as the main contender double flatted...

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The organiser of the more traditional series, next up this Sunday, has been rubbing his hands with glee at all the rain and planning the most evil, muddy field Belgian mudbath style route he can figure, he's been wanting a mudfest for months now and I think he'll have it on Sunday!

Wow that course looks fun SSBonty 🙂

I had a good time at Stroud today. The course was fairly short but had a great mix of terrain with a nice singletrack bit including a couple of steep climbs. I was pleased to ride them both each and every lap.
It was vets/juniors/women and seniors so no chance to get lonely this week. Had a couple of good battles and then was lapping very closely to one of the women. The fact we each had our quick and slow parts meant we really did egg each other on- great fun.

Can't believe how tough it is- I know everyone says it but it is relentless. Didn't check out my result so not sure where I finished.

nice one crosshair, was tempted but stroud a little too far.

SSbonty those trails look fantastic

CX next weekend at oxford although the course is mainly field (you just know there will be a strong headwind) and some rooty singletrack if i recall.

Anyone in and near Yorkshire try this in 2 weeks time.

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I love the way they leave the novices until the course is really fruity at the end 😀 😉 🙂

I love the way they leave the novices until the course is really fruity at the end

It can swing both ways. One week the novices were lapping 5 minutes faster than the seniors. The week after the seniors had the driest run.

That's an interesting point Oldgit- Five mins a lap is a big difference.

If we are pimping our local CX events, im organising this one next Saturday (9th Nov).

South Shields (so all you north-east riders get along!)
Gypsies Green [b]Velodrome[/b], a unique venue, was great fun last year.

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I love the way they leave the novices until the course is really fruity at the end

So who raced this weekend?

Double race weekend for me, Saturday was a failure summed up by this timely picture:
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Sunday was a little better but still not what I expect.

You guys?

No CX for me- was Gorrick XCing instead. Might go to Bath this coming Sunday...

Swedish Chef - Ooof! Is the racing so close that one fall will drop you way back, or was it just one of those days when everything went wrong?

I missed the previous weeks race which was all the organiser had hoped for and more by all accounts - a muddy death march with ripped off mechs and totally blocked wheels galore! Couldn't make it but sounds like SS would have been perfect...

This weekends was the first familiar track this year, but I was a feeling a bit rough so took it relatively easy. Lots of rain here in Helsinki in the week before, plus in the am of the race, so standing water in quite a few places but the track itself - fireroad, singletrack, a few muddy run ups and one precipitous slither down a steep grassy and rocky bank - held up pretty well, better than last year. The rain held off and it was even a little sunny towards the end of the race.

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This was back to the 'CX where it does not belong' series, so plenty of rooty singletrack with opportunities to flat or go badly wrong. And a climb up a short DH run complete with small jumps! Maybe as I was taking it a little slowly I managed to not have too many problems and felt like the hardest sections were flowing pretty well.

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The above drop off caught out plenty of people - off-camber, diagonal roots on the approach meant you ended up being forced mostly into a line heading for either the left or right of those roots on the downslope, not the line down the centre. See [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/52956555@N06/sets/72157637525044283/ ]this photo set[/url] for some dismounts, alternative lines round the trees, a couple of wheelie drops and plenty of mid- and post-crash images at the same dropoff!

It was also the Finnish fixed CX championships, so plenty of unsuitable bikes ridden in good spirit. I even won a cycling cap for I think first singlespeed. Ended up 6th after a run of 5ths and one 2nd, but was overtaken by 2 folks in the last 1/4 lap and had nothing left to hold on so not too bad considering I was feeling rough. Quick tyre swap from 'proper monstercross' (46mm) to 'just monstercross and only cos the UCI changed the rules a while back' (35mm, still legal for all but the Finnish championship here) for the regular series this Sunday, hopefully feeling on better form...

Respect to rider 27 in that set!

The Finns have an odd sense of what CX is but I like the fact everyone is racing with a smile.

One of those days, was about 2 minutes or 10 places behind where I [i]should [/i]have ended up.

Yeah, the fixed thing brought everyone from fixed mixte riding lasses to bike couriers, alley cat racers to old school fixed road hardmen, on top of the normal mix of cx racers (which runs from full lycra clad/UCI legal bikes through stuff like mine - SS, flared drops, wider tyres but on a normal cross frame - to MTBs etc). Lots of beer after - we hire a communal sauna for post ride warming up 🙂 Number 10 is a multiple Finnish championship winner (track, road, cross, MTB) who rides the series under the pseudonym 'Bruce Wayne' wearing a cape, mask and full body fringed bat outfit!

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There didn't used to be pretty much any CX races in Finland other than the national championships, so a bunch of couriers and bike shop guys started a series for mostly cross type bikes on mostly cross type terrain. It's unofficial, so it's way easier to mark out a track using forest singletrack and fireroads with some grassy/muddy bits than hiring/stealing a lawn, park or school playing field for a fully grass type traditional track. Rules are somewhat relaxed - tyres under 2" and rigid forks/drop bars qualify for series points. And of course MTBs welcome but no points scoring. Mostly just for fun, and sometimes just to see what course a CX bike can actually be ridden round!

This year a complementary series has started up, with stricter rules - 35mm or less tyres - and more 'normal' CX courses, though still most of the races are towards the technical end of the normal CX spectrum and less grassy just as it's easier finding courses. Most of them are not too different to the more technical regional races in the UK. More 'normal' and UCI legal cross bikes at this one, as lots of folk buy them as commuters or to ride gravel/fire roads.

As more of an MTBer than road or CX rider I find the courses a great mix of the technical and the 'chucking up a lung' all out speed sections - usually lots of short sharp hills that are borderline doable on single speed, short blasts connecting the mud/hills/singletrack etc. The one by the beach involving multiple dismounts and runs through the sand was fun!

Same for me, was around 2 mins down, all on the last lap, but luckily that was only 2 places as we'd put in a good gap when I was battling for 3rd and 4th before then.

There wasn't any racing the weekend just gone, just as well as I've had a heavy cold.
Racing, or hope to be racing on my favorite CX course this coming Sunday. I'm just hanging onto 3rd overall, but I think that will start to slip away soon.
I always seem to get a cough or cold in the cross season.

Bit of a long shot but don't suppose anyone is finding there 50-52cm cross bike to small? Really struggling to move my 54cm tricross around as nimble as I'd like

Right ,the land bruisers are off and some proper cross tyres are on for Sundays cross in Bath .I may even ride the mile there from my house .Look out for me near the back on a five bar gate orange Dave Lloyd !!

I went for a proper long CX hack yesterday in the late blazing sunshine! over a route that normally takes me 2 1/2 hrs on my Niner I took 3 hours just because it was so much fun.. What a stunning day, today is much the same..
Wow 8)