This is Cyclo Cross

Do you know what cyclo-cross is like today? This article was sent to the newsletter explaining just what it is all about…
I turned up at Mallory Park on 23rd November for the 4th round of the National Trophy Series, to be met by Eric Eadon on the gate. He was surprised to see me, and I said to him that it must have been 20years since I last rode Cyclo-cross. Eric replied that it must be longer than that! I have just discovered some photographs in my scrapbook of me riding at Mildenhall in 1977! So how much has it changed?

Well this year there were no streams to ride across, no flights of concrete steps to ride down, and there were no alarming descents like the famous ‘lift shaft’ which I remember on Kenilworth Common.

The following information taken from the British Cycling website sums it up very well:

Muddy marvellous! Thin tyres, thick mud and some of the most exciting (but safe) racing you will ever come across – that’s Cyclo-Cross.

Cyclo-Cross is an almost exclusively winter sport. Short courses (often less than a mile long) on grass, generally in public parks or on playing fields, are tackled on machines which look very similar to Road bikes. Thin tyres have a knobbled tread and powerful brakes and low gears make Cyclo-Cross bikes easy to handle on the rough.

Massed starts make for fast races, which are usually no more than an hour in length – shorter for juniors, women and Veterans. Tactically, it’s best to get to the front early and stay there. In practice, the better riders are often as good at running with their bikes as they are riding them. With ice, tree-roots and even man-made obstacles in their way, they are extremely agile at mounting and dismounting whilst keeping forward momentum. Many include running in their training.

If that all sounds like hard work, then don’t forget that Cyclo-Cross is also one of the most accessible forms of cycle-sport. Races have a relaxed, informal atmosphere and entries are usually accepted on the day. There are categories for younger riders, usually with a reduced entry fee. The short lap length means that the better riders often lap some of the slower competitors, but that’s not the end of the race – you can still submerge yourself in the action, enjoy your own private battles and forget whether you are first or a hundred and first.

Steve Osborn

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