the Cyclo cross racing post

bobley

My lad is 11 next month and he's just coming up to the end of his first year racing. He loves it and now I'm loving it too. What am I going to do until September? I think we've missed a few potentially fantastic racing years.

devhads

TGOTB there's a full calendar of age group closed circuit races, starting with Under 8s up to Under 16s. My son did about 40 races last year. There's one tomorrow at Hillingdon at 12.00 followed by adults races for all categories.

Agree with the Under 8s at cyclocross, I think the Eastern league categorise the U8s separately but race them in the same race.

bobley

Devhads - J has a footy game tomorrow so we cant make it to Hillingdon but we'll catch up with you soon.

devhads

bobley wrote:

Devhads - J has a footy game tomorrow so we cant make it to Hillingdon but we'll catch up with you soon.

OK bobley, send me a FB message if you're going to any races and we'll catch up. Well done on your final standings BTW, going to have to train hard this summer!

PuttyKnees

Loads of racing for youths all the way to u8s, both circuit and MTB. Look and ye shall find. Closish to us are three circuits and in addition to the adult racing there is an extensive programme of youth racing. It's brilliant. I'm sure there's plenty near you too TGOTB.

Bobley - as above - get stuck into road/mountain bike/track. Absolutely loads of opportunities for young kids to get stuck into racing. If you can't find anything ask your local Go Ride club or BC Go Ride coach to point you in the right direction. My kids started in the local cross league, joined a local club, and are now actively racing all year round.

PuttyKnees

And so it begins again. trophy races announced and I see some board members on the list already!

tgotb

Guess I need to think about doing something with the large stack of hubs, rims, spoke and tubs in my spare room :roll:

PuttyKnees

I absolutely know that feeling. Need to sort bearings and reglue tubs. I so hate those jobs with a passion.

ugo.santalucia

Right... I got my self a provisional licence (BC silver) and got SPD pedals and shoes (I was on road SPD-SL before)... ready to take on a couple of races at Herne Hill in the autumn...

Questions: last thing I want in the world is to spend an hour and a half to do ten miles with the car, hence I will cycle there. Is there anywhere where I can leave a few bits of not much value without them getting nicked? Water bottle, tools and spare tubes, maybe a rain jacket...

Also, should I join the main field or go for the beginners event? In other words... is the beginner thing for kids and real bicycle strugglers or it's a decent competitive introduction? Happy to stick to the back of the main field and see how many I pass/how many times I get lapped. I've got the fitness and decent bike handling, just need to learn the tricks.

BTW: I am a drive side dismounter, being left handed, is it going to cause havoc and be frowned at? Currently practicing dismount/shoulder/mount at Richmond pedestrian Thames bridge on my commute to work and only stabbed my balls with the saddle once

cyclingsheep

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Right... I got my self a provisional licence (BC silver) and got SPD pedals and shoes (I was on road SPD-SL before)... ready to take on a couple of races at Herne Hill in the autumn...

Questions: last thing I want in the world is to spend an hour and a half to do ten miles with the car, hence I will cycle there. Is there anywhere where I can leave a few bits of not much value without them getting nicked? Water bottle, tools and spare tubes, maybe a rain jacket...

Also, should I join the main field or go for the beginners event? In other words... is the beginner thing for kids and real bicycle strugglers or it's a decent competitive introduction? Happy to stick to the back of the main field and see how many I pass/how many times I get lapped. I've got the fitness and decent bike handling, just need to learn the tricks.

BTW: I am a drive side dismounter, being left handed, is it going to cause havoc and be frowned at? Currently practicing dismount/shoulder/mount at Richmond pedestrian Thames bridge on my commute to work and only stabbed my balls with the saddle once

You can safely leave stuff around or ask a friendly face if you can leave it in their car. As for class, you definitely do not need to ride in the beginners, I never did and you're fitter than me. As for dismounting, if I could dismount both sides there are courses where it helps so get off which ever side you like. Hopefully I'll see you at a few races mate, it'll make the Sunday rides a bit fun from now on

veronese68

cyclingsheep wrote:

it'll make the Sunday rides a bit fun from now on

Yikes!

tgotb

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Right... I got my self a provisional licence (BC silver) and got SPD pedals and shoes (I was on road SPD-SL before)... ready to take on a couple of races at Herne Hill in the autumn...

Questions: last thing I want in the world is to spend an hour and a half to do ten miles with the car, hence I will cycle there. Is there anywhere where I can leave a few bits of not much value without them getting nicked? Water bottle, tools and spare tubes, maybe a rain jacket...

Also, should I join the main field or go for the beginners event? In other words... is the beginner thing for kids and real bicycle strugglers or it's a decent competitive introduction? Happy to stick to the back of the main field and see how many I pass/how many times I get lapped. I've got the fitness and decent bike handling, just need to learn the tricks.

BTW: I am a drive side dismounter, being left handed, is it going to cause havoc and be frowned at? Currently practicing dismount/shoulder/mount at Richmond pedestrian Thames bridge on my commute to work and only stabbed my balls with the saddle once

Excellent! There are a couple of races on at Hillingdon too, which is a pretty easy ride from Richmond, and probably a more interesting CX course.

Definitely join the main field; there'll be a huge spread of abilities, so you'll have someone to race against. The novice race tends to be mostly people who have never contemplated any form of bike race, generally on MTBs. Someone on a CX bike who knows how to ride it and is fairly fit may look a bit out of place.

There's always somewhere to leave a bag, I often leave warm-up kit in the back of the finish line tent.

Drive-side dismounts - see Kevin Pauwels. Unlike road racing, where there's obviously a big safety aspect, getting in other riders' way is a bit more acceptable in cross. You obviously don't want to hinder riders that are lapping you, where avoidable, but the onus is still on them to find a way past (just use your common sense, but you don't have to mess up your own race to get out of their way). For riders on the same lap, again use your common sense, but there's nothing wrong with making it difficult for an opponent to pass. If your choice of line or dismount technique (or even whether to dismount) makes it difficult for the rider behind, that's their problem.

In an ideal world it would be handy to be able to dismount on either side according to the course, but it seems to be surprisingly difficult!

Cross is a lot more grassroots and friendly towards beginners than some other disciplines. I've never heard of an incident where anyone got p*ssed off with another competitor's incompetence; almost everyone is incompetent at some point, it's just that some riders manage to be less incompetent than others.

ugo.santalucia

Thanks for the advice, very useful and yes, Hillingdon is a good bet too, especially considering I know a "cyclocross way" to head there too.
Yeah, I have tried to dismount the other side, but I think 30 + years of dismounting on the right are a hard habit to fight

devhads

The novice race tends to be mostly people who have never contemplated any form of bike race, generally on MTBs

The novice race in the Central league will have a good mix of MTB and CX bikes with a slight preference to CX bikes. Whether they are fairly fit or know how to ride is debatable. I did my first event on a CX bike in the novices and like TGOTB said I had not ridden any sort of race before, was not really that fit and certainly didn't know how to ride (still don't), and I won it fairly easily. Well as easily as any cross race can be won. Went into the vets after and usually finished 3/4 way down the field.

You'll be fine going straight in to the vets. The great thing about cross is it doesn't matter where you are in the field, you've always got someone to race against. Never had any issues at all in the Central league with getting in the way of better riders, by that I mean I probably have but I've never been shouted at or anything. I just leave my stuff with my son, which generally means within two minutes it's just left lying around, and apart from forgetting stuff I've never lost anything.

Hopefully see you at the back of the race at Hillingdon where the real racing is

tgotb

devhads wrote:

Never had any issues at all in the Central league with getting in the way of better riders, by that I mean I probably have but I've never been shouted at or anything.

If you're getting lapped, you're inevitably going to get in the way of other riders. Use your common sense, but don't get hung up about it. At the front of the field passing slower riders efficiently is part of the game. If someone gets stuck behind you on a singletrack section, that's their problem, but a decent CX course shouldn't have much singletrack anyway.

DavidBelcher

The new season has arrived with a bang (not literally, but commiserations to anyone who has suffered a puncture lately) so I'm back posting my exploits on BR!

Last Friday evening I took part in Rugby Velo's supposedly "fun" Go-Ride race at Kirkby Mallory, which turned out to be a very competitive affair! I thought I'd put in an OK effort, and the rebuilt bike seemed to be working well enough, but on reading the final results today I was a miserable 72nd out of 80 finishers. Then again, thanks to relocation earlier in the year I haven't raced over the summer at all, my last competitive outing being in early January, so maybe I didn't do too badly given the circumstances. Having moved to Leicestershire I can take my pick from both West Midlands and Notts & Derby events this autumn, doing one of each some weekends....or at least that's the plan!

David

PuttyKnees

If you're a drive side dismounter then two things you should be aware of. First, since most people are going to dismount on the left and will expect you to do the same, you might find if you go into a barrier together, you will have less room than you expect! The other is that if you have someone changing bikes for you, they will need to stand at the fence, as the pits are generally set up for standard dismounts.

sopaRiva

I'm hoping to get out to the Notts and Derby League more this year, once a bike is sorted! Was ace last year, really good organisation, and its just a lot more fun than road racing....
Busy winter though, but it serves as the perfect weekend break.

DavidBelcher

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Thanks for the advice, very useful and yes, Hillingdon is a good bet too, especially considering I know a "cyclocross way" to head there too.

Hillingdon has a proper clubroom these days (first time I rode a Central race there the facilities were v. basic), if you need to leave rucksacks and water bottles whilst the race is on then it's quite a safe bet. I travel by train to all my races and usually find that the people in charge of the signing-on desk are quite helpful when it comes to finding a spot to store a kit bag.

David

FransJacques

Ugo, if you want to do some practice laps at HH, I'll be there this Saturday for the 10am to noon track training.

After that I'll be up for some noodling in the outfield and around the sides of the track fence. We can ride the typical features they throw into a race.

HH is typically very hard on equipment - there's all sorts of rubble mixed into the earth: broken bricks & masonry bits etc.

DavidBelcher

sopaRiva wrote:

I'm hoping to get out to the Notts and Derby League more this year, once a bike is sorted! Was ace last year, really good organisation, and its just a lot more fun than road racing....
Busy winter though, but it serves as the perfect weekend break.

I had my first taste of N&D racing today, having kicked off my West Midlands campaign on a cracker of a course (the bone dry woodland tracks at Sundorne felt a bit sketchy on the corners though, as I run mud-orientated tyres) at Shrewsbury last Sunday.

Hilton Fields this afternoon was, on reflection, probably better suited to the riders on hardtail MTBs given the extreme ups and downs plus the general lumpiness of the terrain. The warm weather, as usual for CX, didn't really suit me either. I still managed to finish though (somewhere near the back of the field), purely out of sheer bloody-mindedness having paid £18 to enter, although I did have an "off" or two, going over the bars on a couple of occasions. Picked up nothing worse than a slightly scabby knee, thankfully! Off to Henley tomorrow to resume West Mids action....

David

dangerousdave.

DavidBelcher wrote:

sopaRiva wrote:

I'm hoping to get out to the Notts and Derby League more this year, once a bike is sorted! Was ace last year, really good organisation, and its just a lot more fun than road racing....
Busy winter though, but it serves as the perfect weekend break.

I had my first taste of N&D racing today, having kicked off my West Midlands campaign on a cracker of a course (the bone dry woodland tracks at Sundorne felt a bit sketchy on the corners though, as I run mud-orientated tyres) at Shrewsbury last Sunday.

Hilton Fields this afternoon was, on reflection, probably better suited to the riders on hardtail MTBs given the extreme ups and downs plus the general lumpiness of the terrain. The warm weather, as usual for CX, didn't really suit me either. I still managed to finish though (somewhere near the back of the field), purely out of sheer bloody-mindedness having paid £18 to enter, although I did have an "off" or two, going over the bars on a couple of occasions. Picked up nothing worse than a slightly scabby knee, thankfully! Off to Henley tomorrow to resume West Mids action....

David

Glad I decided against then! I did shrewsbury last weekend and enjoyed it bar the dust. Can't make henly but will be in reditch next weekend. Good luck for today

DavidBelcher

dangerousdave. wrote:

Glad I decided against then! I did shrewsbury last weekend and enjoyed it bar the dust. Can't make henly but will be in reditch next weekend. Good luck for today

Cheers - Henley was great fun, not ridden there before. Didn't feel quite so out of my depth as at Hilton, although it was still a challenging course, and if anything a bigger field competing. Lots of sand, soil and dust in evidence today too - might well treat my chain to a bit of TLC before Redditch comes around. Not had any results through as yet from Henley, although I somehow managed to roll in 64th out of 76 yesterday after expecting to place even lower!

David

PuttyKnees

Hilton would be great in October...

DavidBelcher

PuttyKnees wrote:

Hilton would be great in October...

I'd probably still fall off a lot if it got moved to later in the season, but at least the ground might be a tad softer.

David

cyclingsheep

First race of the season for me next weekend, undercooked for sure but still can't wait.

tgotb

cyclingsheep wrote:

First race of the season for me next weekend, undercooked for sure but still can't wait.

:shock: You're playing catch-up, some of us have been racing for nearly a month!

cyclingsheep

TGOTB wrote:

cyclingsheep wrote:

First race of the season for me next weekend, undercooked for sure but still can't wait.

:shock: You're playing catch-up, some of us have been racing for nearly a month!

Oh I know. Prior commitments and all that.

DavidBelcher

Shock horror exclusive - after 4 parched races this season, there was actual mud to be had at Redditch yesterday, and great fun it was too! Lots of tricky singletrack, tree roots & stumps and an "always pass lapped riders on the right where possible" rule certainly helped to sharpen up my handling skills in the space of one afternoon.

However, my skinny Panaracers didn't quite cut it on some of the trickier terrain and lacked "bite" uphill and through mud. Thankfully eBay smiled on me recently with a pair of barely-used Clement PDXs for just under 50 quid, so they might be going on for next Saturday as "insurance" although not having ridden at Markeaton Park (Derby) before, I've no idea what the course might be like.

David

antsmithmk

Just entered my first senior event for next Sunday. Rode 3 novice events last year and was dead after 30 minutes. Have really stepped up my fitness over the summer so we shall see how the hour goes. Hopefully won't come last...!