I’ve raced Mountain bikes, BMX and TTs, but never a CX race.
On the 22nd I will be lining up for my first CX race as a Senior, I was hoping I’d be a Vet, but I’m a little too young and I’m going to get my arse handed to me by a bunch of fit young lads.
Give me some advice, that is not get fitter, as I feel that is too late.

Fit mud tyres, pedal like hell and stick your elbows out

22psi max. But otherwise as JohnClimber says.
Oooh, and as you cross the line, throw up.
The only problem you have is that you are joining late in the season. It’s like crack… You will immediately be addicted but you will only have a few races left. It is the best racing I have ever done.
Have fun.

When you say you’ve done TTs, does that include 25s ? If so, expect a similar hour of pain, during which time you’ll have some horrible moments when you start dreading what’s ahead, but then have some better moments when you know it’s all going to be over in about 10 minutes 😉

Carry a bottle of energy drink, you will need it during the race. If the course requires you to carry your bike a lot, consider fitting a bar-mounted bottle cage. Topeak do a really good one.

Don’t bother with a bottle! Hydrate before and after, if you have time to drink you are doing it wrong!

Yep – last thing you want is a bottle on your bike. Doubt you’d want to drink from it after a lap or two anyways!

In the races over here you are not allowed to carry a bottle. I think the biggest surprise with cx racing is the speed at the start. Much quicker than an XC start but seeing as you’ve raced BMX I would say think of that kind of effort then keep it up for an hour. 😉

Look at the course. In a full field you sometimes can’t see what you are riding on the first lap.

As low pressure as you dare. Just enough to stop pinch flats.

The sprint is off the start line so have a practice clipping in and do a good warm up.

It is about who wins not who rides the most. Dont be afraid to run if quicker for you. If muddy fit studs to shoes if you can.

You’ll not do very well in your first race at the end of the season! Probably start at the back. Try to chase down the person in front.

Enjoy it.

Go off hard, attack the middle, finish strongly.

Ride round and round in circles until someone waves a fabric chessboard in your direction.

Even the guys at the front dont really know what they’re doing.

Learn to slide…

[video]http://vimeo.com/198173804[/video]

Carry a bottle of energy drink, you will need it during the race. If the course requires you to carry your bike a lot, consider fitting a bar-mounted bottle cage. Topeak do a really good one.

First class trolling (I hope)

I will be lining up for my first CX race as a Senior, I was hoping I’d be a Vet, but I’m a little too young and I’m going to get my arse handed to me by a bunch of fit young lads.

When you make the Vets – you’ll get your arse handed to you by a bunch of fit old lads.

Ride just below your flat out limit for 1hr.
Practice hopping off and re mounting whilst your legs are burning and gasping for breath. Try not to fall off or slip onto your face whilst running through some mud. Dont worry about getting lapped.. just try and leave some room for the fast guys. Just have fun.

You’ll be gridded at the back for your first race. If you are relatively fit and fast, expect to move up, especially during the initial sprint. Then just hold your position, try and overtake a few riders and not fall off. As you get to 40 minutes, you should expect your superior fitness from TT to help you gain more places. Aim for a mid third finish. You may be lapped, but that is no big deal. If you aren’t at the pointy end, you are basically racing the two or three guys in front and behind, a bit like XC without the single track.

The fastest riders have the skills as well as the fitness. I lack the former, so am normally going backwards from my initial position, then claw back places near the end of the race.

It’s a lot of fun!

I’ve only done one CX race, but without a doubt my advice would be to go to a park and practice running dismounts, carries and remounts. Then practice them some more. The experienced riders keep their momentum up throughout. Find some youtube clips to see how its done.

I lost places at each obstacle by almost coming to stop each time I hopped off and back on. I’d get some of them back down the straight, only to lose them again at the next obstacle. I had practiced beforehand, but not nearly enough.

You’ll be gridded at the back for the start, so out of the way of the fast guys. But keep your ears open for shouts or “rider right” or “left” after a couple of laps as the leaders come round to lap you. Probably obvious, but that’s the side they’re passing you, not the side they want you to move to…

I did my first cx race recently. My immediate thoughts were I should have tried to get up the start grid as much as possible but I panicked after seeing the start of the race before and started at the back. I reckon starting at the back cost me 20 places at the finish. Go hard, everyone fatigues but if you try to pace it too much you’ll be too far behind to make up the difference. Practise, practise, practise. Mounts and dismounts, go to local park/field and just ride up and down and do loads the week leading up to it. Same with riding around trees/off camber turns/short sharp hills, in your practice rides. Get a couple of practice laps in on the course on race day, no need to ride them fast, just try to take in the course, which bits you’re comfortable with and which bits are more of a struggle. If it’s a really muddy course just get in a big gear and get through it. The race I did was incredibly muddy, the people walking the muddy sections weren’t going that much slower than folk trying to ride it but I found when I tried to run through it it was sapping more of my energy than if I tried to ride it at the same pace. Pick out the best lines lap on lap, these might change each lap but you’ll get a decent idea, if you ride 2 different lines on a particular corner then by the 3rd lap you should know which worked better. Enjoy it!

If it’s a BC regional race 20%-30% of the Field are big hitters – national riders you might have actually heard of, good young riders and decent local riders. After that it’s a lot less serious. Also if it’s this weekend a lot of big hitters will be racing nationals at Bradford so it will be even less serious.

Try and pre-ride the course, particularly to understand the conditions and see how your tyres cope and adjust pressures as needed – if it’s soft, then going low really helps. Very muddy conditions means your drivetrain may get clogged – you may be lucky to be able to change gear after a lap! Don’t worry about your start position too much – at out-of-region races or after a break I’ve not been gridded and started from the back and seen how far I can get up the field which is fun. I remember looking at my HR profile in races, particularly where I was ‘resting’ on a downhill – it simply dropped to 90% from 95%. As a vet I could often get a higher finish / more points by riding in the seniors race…

Don’t think CX off the bike technique is that big of a deal for your first few races, so practice some dismount / remounts, shouldering etc but don’t stress about it. Being super smooth here is nice, but a common sense approach will see you right [plus some courses have minimal get-offs in any case]. Pre-ride the course to see what’s what.

No point burying yourself starting from the back of a CX field. Go as hard as you can but you’ll be dealing with loads of traffic. The front 25% will be gone, but you can move up a lot in an hour CX race from starting at the back.
If there’s bottlenecks, crowded corners etc from the start then keep calm and don’t try anything reckless like going miles off line through the bushes. It will soon space out and you can start to show your class 🙂

Don’t worry about your start position too much – at out-of-region races or after a break I’ve not been gridded and started from the back and seen how far I can get up the field which is fun.

this. I am competing in the Central series, but have also raced a few Wessex, the Coventry boxing day cross and the welsh champs, where I don’t even have BC points to fall back on (racing off day licences as such a noob to racing). Half the fun in such races is seeing how high I can place from such a poor grid. The field will thin out, you will pass people and get passed, some will get quicker, some will have gone off too hard and will blow up so you will have plenty of people to dice with.

You’re jumping in right at the end of the season so everyone else will be at peak fitness and have their technique dialled (I tell myself optimistically 😆 ). I still struggle with the mtber mindset of wanting to ride stuff and seeing getting off the bike as a failure. At the Wessex Oxford round there was a drainage gully you had to try ride through in a chicane, or a MUCH straighter and far quicker running line. I rode it every lap 🙄

If it is muddy listen to your drivetrain and be prepared to stop and unclog it (or, just push on ’til you snap the hanger and rip the rear mech in half which is what I usually do…).

Thanks, some sage advice.
I don’t plan on being competitive, just to have a go and hopefully some fun as I flog myself for an hour.
I’m going to head over to the rec to practise my dismounts and carrys, so that I can remain fluid over the obstacles.

To be honest, regional Senior races are often a lot less crowded than the Vets so start and gridding isn’t quite such an issue. e.g. at NWCCA races there are maybe 70 riders in Seniors and 200 in Vets / Ladies! Pace at the front is the same in both classes (often the Vets winner will also race and win the Seniors straight after).

Oh and tyre pressure is key, go as low as you dare, then let a little more out. Depending on body weight, tyre width and sidewall stiffness but 30psi is a good starting point (which in a 30mm tyre feels feeble). I’m still on clinchers and tubes and on a muddy course without rocky/rooty sections I’ll have 25F/28R. Bottom out once a lap but don’t pinch flat.

Sir wiggins..

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt5h-rnsF6I[/video]

Today was race day and I took on board all of the advice and I didn’t lose or crash (well other than on the practise lap).
I wasn’t super quick, but my bike handling skills were more than up to the technical course even with cantis.

I did have to play with tyre pressure, but went a bit higher than others, which cut through the mud better with my 95kg on board.

All in all a great days racing and well worth a go. I’d recommend it to anyone.

A huge thank you to all for the advice.

Well done. Welcome to the most stupid, horrible and brilliant discipline in cycling 😀

What matters is that you enjoyed it. It’s a lot of fun. And frustration (pinch flatted descending THE bridge).

Plan for next season and set an achievable objective. I’d like CM’s position in the central league vets 😈 , but had not entered enough events before the Imperial Winter Series kicked off.

😉 and gutting, TiRed. The only mechanicals I’ve had have taken me out of ‘high point’ placings, sat in 4th (admittedly early in a race) when a mech went and fighting for 5th when I pinch-flatted at the start of the last lap (managed to nurse it around to finish but nowhere near 5th!).

What’s really won me over on top of the fun of the actual racing is how friendly and inclusive CX is; my first proper season racing I know all the guys around me on the grid, have lots of friendly bantz with them before, (occasionally) during and after the race, and people lending complete strangers racing in different categories their pit bikes seems to be a weekly thing.

Unless something really bizarre happens in the last round Saturday I will have achieved my first full season’s objective of a top 10 (just) and had a lot of fun doing it.