Who's ready for cross season to start???

[cwodiva]

It's August and I"m already searching the calendars for races and the season start in October. Anyone else daydreaming about cross season? :)

[han-grrl]

Well not exactly...very very nervous though! I am borrowing a friends cross bike for this season, which will be nice to try, and i am not sure my fitness is up to cross standards (ok i know it isn't!) but i am excited none the less!

[Kalidurga]

I don't race 'cross, but I looove to watch! I've done the same thing as you, putting races on my calendar so I can plan around them this fall :D

[Voodoo Sally]

Me too. I've been sitting here since last week looking at the upcoming 'cross calendar for my region this fall, marking my calendar, getting excited . . .

[segolene]

I wish! Cyclocross is like a sect here: gotta know the right person who is going to tell you where and when the race is happening! :(

[crazycanuck]

Please explain the diff betwn mtn biking & cyclocross??

We don';t have this type of biking (cyclocross) in Western Australia...It's not caught on yet.

Actually...We had a guy participating in the 12hr a few years ago on a cyclo cross bike..Let's say they're no match for pea gravel...

C

[Kalidurga]

Here are a couple of links about cyclocross:

The Case for 'Cross (http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/features/cyclocross.shtml)

Wikipedia: Cyclocross (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclo-cross)

Cyclocross Circuit: The Cyclocross Bicycle (http://members.aol.com/napavelo/equip.htm)

The 'cross races I've seen so far are very spectator friendly. The courses were fairly small, so it was easy to walk around and get different vantage points. And it's amazing to watch the dismounts/remounts at barriers!

I've been toying with the idea of contacting a cycling website or local paper to see if I could submit race reviews and photos this season. The idea of that, though, makes me as nervous as racing makes some of you ladies :eek: :rolleyes:

[segolene]

Do, cyclocross needs more exposure!!:)

[SheFly]

It's August and I"m already searching the calendars for races and the season start in October. Anyone else daydreaming about cross season? :)

OH YEAH BABY! Our first race of the season is August 23rd! WOOHOO! New frame coming, time off the bike in prep... Can't wait! Counting down the days.

SheFly

[Eden]

I've got a line on a used itty bitty cross bike (a Redline Conquest 24) for cheap. If it fits me - if its not actually too small, that would be amazing... I've never tried a bike that was actually too small.... I'll be giving cross a try out this fall.

[SheFly]

I've got a line on a used itty bitty cross bike (a Redline Conquest 24) for cheap. If it fits me - if its not actually too small, that would be amazing... I've never tried a bike that was actually too small.... I'll be giving cross a try out this fall.

Uh-oh - you're gonna get hooked... :D

SheFly

[Sheesh]

I was in the shop tonight talking with the owner about getting a cross bike. He doesn't have much in stock, but he spec-ed out a Salsa Chili Concrosso and a Redline Conquest Pro for me. While the Salsa is beautiful (I LOVE the colors!), it's a bit expensive so I'm going with the Redline. :D

[Eden]

Uh-oh - you're gonna get hooked... :D

SheFly

double uh-oh - I looked up the geometry of the Conquest 24 - its really not much smaller than my road bike.... I think I'm going to get in trouble for bringing home another bike. BUT honey, it followed me home.... can I keep it, can I, can I .....
who doesn't need 5 bikes :p
(now how do I break it to my coach that I'm not going to be stopping racing in September)

[SheFly]

double uh-oh - I looked up the geometry of the Conquest 24 - its really not much smaller than my road bike.... I think I'm going to get in trouble for bringing home another bike. BUT honey, it followed me home.... can I keep it, can I, can I .....
who doesn't need 5 bikes :p
(now how do I break it to my coach that I'm not going to be stopping racing in September)

Only 5?!?!?!?!? Tell him that you know someone on the forum who has 8 - that will put him in his place, and make you seem much more responsible :D .

Racing is just BEGINNING in September! I'm back on base training to gear up. I think I'd better get out and do some running though - UGH!

We've hooked another one - WOOHOO!

SheFly

[cwodiva]

Shefly : your avator looks so cool !! I'm going to do some practice mounts/remounts tomorrow.


In case anyone is interested, here is a good link to build your own practice barriers.


http://www.bikeman.com/thepit/crossbarriers.htm


I have most of the pieces and need to buy a few more, then will put them together this weekend. A friend of mine had them last year and they were great to practice with. I just hope I can get them together, I'm not super mechanical lol!

[Drtgirl]

I am both excited and nervous! I just picked up my bike today and took for a short spin before it got dark. It is so much fun to ride! Tomorrow I'm taking a "cyclocross 101" clinic...that is going to be interesting :o

[Eden]

I've actually borrowed the dinky bike for a little while to see if it will work for me or not.... it definitely would need some modifications, its really tiny. I put a longer stem and my seatpost/saddle on it this afternoon and took an hour long spin. Most of it was on the road, but I put in a bit of playing around in the grass too. It felt pretty darn zippy, feels like it flies up hills, but that could be the really fast spin from the 155 cranks fooling me too...... wish I had a speedo on there this afternoon.
so there's a bunch of pros and cons..
pro - "adult" sized cross bikes are pretty much all to big for me, at least I could modify this one to fit....
con - tiny wheels could be quite a disadvantage, they are 24"ers - that's even smaller than 650's. I'm not even sure that there's much selection in tires or replacement wheels in this size. pro though.... I'm not sure I could manage a cross dismount/mount with 700c wheels - not sure my feet would clear the wheel. It seems like it would be relatively easy with these little wheels.
con - I cannot get my whole arm through the frame - I certainly can pick it up and carry it, but its a bit akward as my elbow hits the BB
We'll see. I'll probably have my coach look at it to see if I'm crazy or not for considering this.

[han-grrl]

I would love to hear about your clinic - was wondering whether something like that existed around here, still digging!!


I am both excited and nervous! I just picked up my bike today and took for a short spin before it got dark. It is so much fun to ride! Tomorrow I'm taking a "cyclocross 101" clinic...that is going to be interesting :o

[Drtgirl]

I would love to hear about your clinic - was wondering whether something like that existed around here, still digging!!

There is a local company here called Cycle U. They put on clinics, offer coaching services, bike fitting, etc.

The clinic was 2 hours and covered just the basics- dismounts, re-mounts, shouldering, etc. Most of us were first-timers and the setting was very relaxed and supportive.

Maybe you could ask a local team to put on a clinic??

[Eden]

So I'm not the type that usually names bike - cars etc., but I've been calling this the dinky bike or dinky for short and it seems to have stuck. I have decided to buy it - To get a cross bike that *really* fits right I'd have to go custom. Small can be modified, too big not so much. Until I see how much I like doing this, I'm not prepared to spend the $2,500 - $3,000 it would take to go there. The scary thing is that except for the size of the wheels its not too much different from my road bike. Guess that is telling about how short I am.....
(oh - and I found out that there are 24" BMX race wheels so I do have a bit of choice for decent tires and they are cheap to boot - like $15-$20 each cheap)
I've missed Cycle U's cross clinic and there's not another one for a while, but there are drop in clinics at Woodland park - taught by the #1 cross rider in Washington too, so I'm going to give that a try.

[Drtgirl]

So I'm not the type that usually names bike - cars etc., but I've been calling this the dinky bike or dinky for short and it seems to have stuck. I have decided to buy it - To get a cross bike that *really* fits right I'd have to go custom. Small can be modified, too big not so much. Until I see how much I like doing this, I'm not prepared to spend the $2,500 - $3,000 it would take to go there. The scary thing is that except for the size of the wheels its not too much different from my road bike. Guess that is telling about how short I am.....
tires and they are cheap to boot - like $15-$20 each cheap)
I've missed Cycle U's cross clinic and there's not another one for a while, but there are drop in clinics at Woodland park - taught by the #1 cross rider in Washington too, so I'm going to give that a try.

I also went with a smaller bike instead of the larger one.

I know there is a cycle U clinic on Sept 8 and a women's only on the 19th. The Woodland park ones sound great but they're at 7am on weekdays. Doesn't work for me since I start work at 7.

[cwodiva]

Eden,
You are going to have so much fun on that bike! That's great news about the bmx tires.


Ladies,

What kind of wheels/tires are you running? I really want to get a new set and get rid of my crappola old road bike set, but I don't want to spend an armload of money either. Something middle of the road nice, durable (I ride my cross bike a lot on the trails around here since they are not techncial at all, as well as on the road), and fun to race on.


Thanks!

[Eden]

I also went with a smaller bike instead of the larger one.

I know there is a cycle U clinic on Sept 8 and a women's only on the 19th. The Woodland park ones sound great but they're at 7am on weekdays. Doesn't work for me since I start work at 7.

yeah I didn't want to wait until the 19th and 7am is fine for me - I figure the classes should be small too since it is such an odd time. ( I don't see the class on the 8th?)

[Pedal Wench]

Only 5?!?!?!?!? Tell him that you know someone on the forum who has 8 - that will put him in his place, and make you seem much more responsible :D .

Racing is just BEGINNING in September! I'm back on base training to gear up. I think I'd better get out and do some running though - UGH!

We've hooked another one - WOOHOO!

SheFly

I have 8 too! 9 if you count the cross bike I just borrowed (but have to give back!) I'm taking my first cross clinic this weekend. I saw one race last year and it looked like fun, so I might give it a try. Looks like 9 bikes might not be so bad...

[velogirl]

Ladies,

What kind of wheels/tires are you running? I really want to get a new set and get rid of my crappola old road bike set, but I don't want to spend an armload of money either. Something middle of the road nice, durable (I ride my cross bike a lot on the trails around here since they are not techncial at all, as well as on the road), and fun to race on.


Thanks!

I run Bontrager XXX Lite Carbon Tubular wheels with Tufo Flexus tires for races.

My training wheels are whatever extra 700c wheels I've got sitting in the closet. For training, I prefer a 32 spoke wheel (for strength) with an aero rim.

I see a lot of Mavic Ksyriums out there at the races.

[SheFly]

I see a lot of Mavic Ksyriums out there at the races.

I'm going to be running a set of these on my new 'cross bike this season - mostly because we have a spare set, but also because they are lighter than any of the other wheel sets we have.

After bruising my shoulder last year, I decided I need to lighten the load a little bit this year :D . Hoping that the new Specialized Tri-Cross frame and carbon parts will do the trick!

SheFly

[Kalidurga]

SheFly, which TriCross model did you get? I'm thinking of trading in my '06 Sport for the 2008 Comp model. I won't be racing, but since you will I'm curious how the bike would do in competition. I'll look forward to seeing your race reports :D

[SheFly]

I got the TriCross E5 frameset. DH still needs to get it built up for me though. We had bought a Cannondale Optium, but it turned out to be too big. I can't wait to try the new Specialized (it's also lighter than the Cannondale by about 1/2 lb with just the frameset)! I'll keep you posted on how it feels compared to last year's ride (I got a pretty cheap deal on a Flyte last year).

SheFly

[spokewench]

I'm going to be running a set of these on my new 'cross bike this season - mostly because we have a spare set, but also because they are lighter than any of the other wheel sets we have.

After bruising my shoulder last year, I decided I need to lighten the load a little bit this year :D . Hoping that the new Specialized Tri-Cross frame and carbon parts will do the trick!

SheFly

Re: your bruised shoulder. I've seen a lot of people pad their top tube so it doesn't bruise them so much. Looks kind of funky, but it is cyclocross after all. Just a thought

spoke

[SheFly]

Re: your bruised shoulder. I've seen a lot of people pad their top tube so it doesn't bruise them so much. Looks kind of funky, but it is cyclocross after all. Just a thought

spoke

Lots of people do that, I have seen it to. Of course, that would add weight to my really light bike :D . I figured out, finally, the proper shouldering technique so that the weight is actually in the crook of my arm vs. completely on my shoulder. It's also amazing the difference a lighter bike makes.

Some of the women on my team, however, are considering 80's style shoulder pads under their jerseys!

SheFly

[velogirl]

I know some women who insert a shoulder pad in their skinsuit. Remember shoulder pads? Don't you wish you kept all the ones you removed during the 80s?

From a technique pov, try shouldering a bit higher (toward your neck) so you place the bike on the meaty part of your shoulder, not on the bone.



Re: your bruised shoulder. I've seen a lot of people pad their top tube so it doesn't bruise them so much. Looks kind of funky, but it is cyclocross after all. Just a thought

spoke

[Eden]

Yeah - I was talking about how much it hurt to shoulder the bike (I have no natural padding on my shoulders so it feels like the darn bike grinds right on my bones!) and one of my team mates said *don't* pad the bike. She said you bruise up and it hurts the first couple of times, but then you get used to it (kind of like breaking your butt into a saddle). If you pad then you never get used to it and you always have a low level of bruising/painfulness.