#DOACC – The ‘cross commute

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You might think that living and working in central London doesn’t exactly make for the ideal placement to train for cyclocross. And you’d be right. There’s very little #DirtyDropBarGoodness to be had, but the commute is often dirty and on drop bars! Life’s about finding silver linings though, and whilst we’re both undeniably excited about an imminent move to the countryside (and the commensurate amount of dust gathering on our over-used turbo trainer), there are some aspects of our 6 & 8 mile commutes to the city that are surprisingly useful to the aspirant achtervolger.
Chris
My commute takes me from the leafy, homely zone 2/ 3 ‘burb of Forest Hill to UCL in Euston. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, there are some lovely quiet offroad paths that, in summer, when the Dulwich parakeets are in full song, seem almost like they go through the jungle. Other sections on what feel like city centre motorways are less pleasant, but alas necessary. There are plenty of things I get to practice!
Lights, camera, action
Starts: I counted as I rode in this morning. There are 38 sets of traffic lights on my way to work. Whilst my starts are still a bit crap, they’ve improved a lot in 3 years…I guess that’s a lot of intervals!
Leaves on the line
Slippery surfaces. Wet leaves on a cycle path. Nothing cx throws at you can be as scary
20141015_090544
Exciting obstructions. “Hello? Yeah, I’d like the ambulance service please, I’ve just taken out a fixie rider with the door of this phone box”
In the pack
Close racing. Waterloo bridge. Feels like a scary cross between the 3/ 4s race at Crystal Palace and a SkyRide. Have seen more elbowing on this short stretch of my ride than I’ve seen in many years of CX.
Motorpacing. Motorbikes. Some are lovely, some are less lovely. They all provide a helpful draft in the bus lanes, and can briefly make you feel like a cx pro as you whizz past your fellow commuters behind them.
BMX
Skills. Yeah, okay, I have obviously never dared to try taking my cx bike on the Peckham BMX track, but just watching the kids race here is enough to inform and inspire.
Rachel
My route goes east from the front door, through more leafy suburbs to the pillars and tall ships of Greenwich. Then I run/spin through a Victorian foot tunnel under the river and up the ‘Isle of Dogs’ to the amusement park for boring grown ups that is the Canary Wharf estate. I use every cx skill you can imagine. No wonder so many Londoners are good crossers!
foot tunnel
Fans. Not yet that common at UK cross races, but I feel like a star every morning when the lollypop lady cheers me, says ‘stay safe’ and then on a Friday wishes me a lovely weekend.
Whoop de whoops
Whoop de whoops. Otherwise known as speedbumps. Some cyclists find them annoying, I like to get some skills practice in, using the upside to get air or pumping the downside like a good Belgian crosser.
We jammin'
Take the line. Cars on the other hand have to slow down for speedbumps and even more so for narrow bits of road. It’s great training for diving into the singletrack first to try and get in front and carry speed.
3 peaks eat your heart out
3 peaks. No bridges for me, I cross the river at Greenwich through the foot tunnel. Every day I dismount, shoulder my bike and run down 80 stairs, through the tunnel and up the other side. It’s not quite Pen-y-Ghent but it feels as hard at the end of the week.
 
Zombie apocalypse. Imagine it, pedestrian crossings every 100 yards, each one going red to green. But by the time its red all the coffee-starved suits have already walked out in front of you. Call it an assault course, call it Canary Wharf, passing backmarkers is easy by comparison.

And of course Boris made sure there were pits everywhere

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