Cyclocrossing

[TexasGuy]

This has to be the most physically intense sport ever invented. It's high speed bicycle racing on a short off road course, riding racing style bikes! Learn more about this sport here.

Are these roadster racing style bikes or mountain bike styled racing bikes?

[jpearl]

Cyclocross bikes were and very much still are styled after road bikes, but MTB technology and design has come into play in the past years. 'Cross goes back to the 1940s when European racers needed a way to train in the winter because riding on the road was a cold and sickly experience back in the days of wool and cotton. By riding thier bikes through muddy fields, they could get a workout without getting beat up by cold wind and sweat. The bikes, however, did get beat up and eventually would evolve to have beefier frames, wider and knobbier tyres, and cantilivereed brakes to allow mud clearance. The training, too, modified to a specialized sport called "cyclocross" which was still decades before guys like Gary Fisher would take modified cruisers down Mt. Tam in Marin County, California.

[ZenNMotion]

This has to be the most physically intense sport ever invented. It's high speed bicycle racing on a short off road course, riding racing style bikes! Learn more about this sport here.

I hate this quote- most physically intense sport? Puleeeez... Sure it can be hard, but at the amateur level in the U.S. it's mostly about fun- friendly competion, gettin' dirty, loving "weather" (well maybe not so much in TX...) learning new skills, and eventually the feeling of competence and flight. This scares people out of trying the sport. My roadie team mates, all decent riders and racers are mostly chicken to even try it out because of hyperbole like this. They have no idea what they're missing.