It’s that time of year when the mornings get a little fresher, the sun gets ever lower in the sky and the ‘cross geeks start dreaming of mud whilst simultaneously stressing about their tyres.
Post summer solstice, it’s not about how many days ‘til Santa calls, the only thing that actually matters is how many days to that all-important cyclocross season opener!
We all started somewhere in cyclocross. For me it was on a singlespeed, with crazy inappropriate gearing, the wrong rubber and absolutely zero skills. I had a hoot slip-sliding my way round those first few courses, running as much as riding, legs on fire for an hour and burning long into the evening after every race.
I’d been slowly lured into the nether world of ‘cross, but left it far too late that year to be anywhere near useful. I’d made the mistake of watching rather than participating, promising myself that next week I’d ride, pin that number on and dive in. By the time I’d taken the plunge, the winter was firmly set and I wasn’t acclimatized; the courses, the weather, the other riders and my bike all got the better of me. That said, what a way to learn.
The next year I planned properly, and started with the league opener, bike dialed in, some rudimentary skills under my belt and shed loads of eagerness. It was a September mud bath, a demanding, treacherous, war of attrition drawn out over a Sunday afternoon. As tough, dirty and painful as it was, it was the perfect start as every race thereafter seemed easier and I never looked back.
The best way to learn about racing cyclocross is from the inside. Sure, with regular skills and drills you can hone your technique and confidence, but it’s the other riders, your decisions and intuitive reactions to them and how you deal with that ever-changing course, things that just can’t be replicated in training.
Practice by racing, don’t just practice to race.
That first season will be brutal, but you’ll have a blast, achieve things you never thought possible on a bike and you’ll improve, each and every time you race. You’ll also quickly set your own targets, see riders week-in and week-out around you in the pack, ones you’ll want to hold the wheel of, ones you’ll overtake now and again, ones you’ll soon be beating.
If you can hang on in there from the early autumn right through to the winter snow, you’ll not only be a more confident and stronger rider, but you will have nailed a raft of courses that you’ll probably see again next year. Plus, importantly, you’ll be known on the start line and made a bunch of new friends/adversaries to boot.
Just think, you to could be sitting back after Christmas enjoying a coffee, a stroopwafel and a well-earned rest, dreaming of next year’s mud with a long list of tyres on your ‘cross shopping list!
