tips for newbs?

[Lithuania]

im still fairly new to road racing and hope to compete in cross this fall

any and all tips regardless how dumb they may be will be appreciated

[dutret]

use fat tires
practice cross stuff
don't be that guy who passes everyone going into corners and then crashes in front of them
try for first or second wheel at the start and don't be afraid to go off by yourself

[Lithuania]

practice cross stuff


can you elaborate on this?

[dutret]

Mounts, dismounts, shouldering and running with the bike and more importantly knowing the bikes limits on grass, dirt, gravel mud etc.

[92degrees]

The Cycle-Smart DVD on cross skills is an excellent place to start and will give you some drills that you can do on your own.

http://www.cycle-smart.com/store/#solutions

[Lithuania]

excellent thanks

[dirtyphotons]

velo news has a semi-decent podcast explaining the basic skills. can't find it on the nets but it's there in iTunes. there are like six parts, it made things a little clearer for me.

i like trail riding for skill practice. you can mount and dismount for logs and shoulder and run the steep sections. MORE has a weekly trail ride leaving capitol hill bikes on tuesday evenings.

http://www.more-mtb.org/forum/calendar.php?do=getinfo&e=672&c=2

as i said we'll probably be doing some practices, not that any of us are experts or anything. but it's always more fun to fall over with other people watching right?

i think we're gonna do the fort circle trail monday night.

[dutret]

theres a good online thing too but I don't remember where.

Quite frankly I think cornering makes a much bigger difference in an actual race then all the showy stuff.

A crappy dismount/obstacle/mount isn't going to set you back any farther then going through a corner slow. There will probably 3-6 obstacles but 15-30 corners each lap.

[92degrees]

Agreed. Choosing poor lines through corners or off-cambers set me back more than anything else last year.

[jfmckenna]

Quite frankly I think cornering makes a much bigger difference in an actual race then all the showy stuff.



Corners are where races are won or lost. You absolutely have to corner fast and gracefully to win. A sloppy mount is almost as fast as a perfect mount. It is still very important though. I used to race on courses that would have like 3 sets of 3 barriers now it's typical that you see the UCI standard of 1 set of 1 or 2 barriers and maybe a natural dismount somewhere else.

[Lithuania]

velo news has a semi-decent podcast explaining the basic skills. can't find it on the nets but it's there in iTunes. there are like six parts, it made things a little clearer for me.

i like trail riding for skill practice. you can mount and dismount for logs and shoulder and run the steep sections. MORE has a weekly trail ride leaving capitol hill bikes on tuesday evenings.

http://www.more-mtb.org/forum/calendar.php?do=getinfo&e=672&c=2

as i said we'll probably be doing some practices, not that any of us are experts or anything. but it's always more fun to fall over with other people watching right?

i think we're gonna do the fort circle trail monday night.

would a cross bike be managable at a place like wakefield or rosaryville?

[dirtyphotons]

would a cross bike be managable at a place like wakefield or rosaryville?

i've never done rosaryville. i did the wednesday race at wakefield last week and one guy was racing the beginner class on a cross bike. he did alright, seems like it would be challenging to say the least. i probably wouldn't do it on expensive wheels but it's doable and probably fun.

[fixed.rider]

would a cross bike be managable at a place like wakefield or rosaryville?
Rosaryville would be a better place than wakefield. Cedarville, right near R-ville would be really good as well, as far as getting comfortable handling the bike on dirt.

[idcruiserman]

The Cycle-Smart DVD on cross skills is an excellent place to start and will give you some drills that you can do on your own.

http://www.cycle-smart.com/store/#solutions

Linky no worky.

Is this the DVD? (http://www.bikemannetwork.com/biking/p/VI-SOLCX)

[comradehoser]

here you go:

http://www.velonews.com/vntv/

scroll down to "cross clinic with Brandon Dwight"

I ride with dirty monday nights when they happen--this monday is on, I think. Come on down.

[92degrees]

Linky no worky.

Is this the DVD? (http://www.bikemannetwork.com/biking/p/VI-SOLCX)


Huh, it worked for me. Yes, that's the DVD. Good stuff.

[Lithuania]

unfortunately im off the bike for at least a month while i recover from broken wrist

[Lithuania]

Rosaryville would be a better place than wakefield. Cedarville, right near R-ville would be really good as well, as far as getting comfortable handling the bike on dirt.

right on I will definitely check those places out. any where else?

[dutret]

Awwww sorry to hear that. Your season started off so well too.

[Lithuania]

I ride with dirty monday nights when they happen--this monday is on, I think. Come on down.

what is this?

[comradehoser]

it's this:


as i said we'll probably be doing some practices, not that any of us are experts or anything. but it's always more fun to fall over with other people watching right?

i think we're gonna do the fort circle trail monday night.

me, dirtyphotons, rashfreedom, and maybe rocksinhead get together on the odd monday in DC and do our best to practise cross-crap for the upcoming season: off-road, off-camber stuff, run-ups, barrier hops. Vpower will probably start up some stuff in the late summer at UMD as well.

[dirtyphotons]

yes, this monday will be a fort circle trail ride. meet at eastern market metro at 6pm. we usually do seven but i wanna do as much as possible and get outta there before dark.

[vpower]

know when to suitcase the bike and when to shoulder it.

on some really big hills when you are really beat, you will be tempted to push the bike up the hill instead of shouldering it. this is slower and harder even though it doesn't feel like it.

[Bertie]

I had my first CX season last year, in fact my first racing of any kind on a bike. Here are the errors I made through the season and resulting tips from these. 1) I do think mounts/dismounts are important, but more so to do with the speed you get back on....to be riding quickly is an energy saver and a time saver. 2) Agree with the cornering stuff, but you are just gonna have to keep pushing that limit yourself. 3) Sit the heck down on corners where possible, or more precisely get weight back a bit. My back wheel was the one giving way until I realized that rear weight on corners and not standing on the pedals was good for cornering stability. 4) It is important to have a good grip on your shoes. I used floppy Shimano's and stiff Sidi's. The shimano's may not have transferred the power as well but when I missed the clip/cleat my shoe did not slip off the pedal when remounting as much and saved a lot of time messing around getting back in the clips at remount time. 5) Get a good warm up, and its probably easier to do that on a wind trainer than the course. 6) Going round the course before the race at 10mph is NBG. Take the corners and obstacles fast on the practice lap....It is a different course always at race speed than warm up speed. 7) Don't bother riding into sand to save energy, until you've done it loads of times you'll stumble one way or the other and waste all sorts of time. Get off the bike before you enter sand (unless it is really shallow or hard) 8) Its a fitness sport for sure (anaerobic threshold rather than power and strength), fast starts are great if you are truly jostling for the podium, but most riders start fast and get into lactic threshold way too soon and then you pick them off easily later on. 9) When shouldering don't let the bike swing round too much and keep knocking you in the back of the head. 10) No need to ever be in the drops. 11) You will be tempted to slam 80 psi in the tyres for speed, don't, don't, don't you will skid, bounce and crash....much better to drop the pressure and grip round the corners for maintaining valuable momentum speed 12) I could go on but thats enough. Prepare to enjoy one of the most satisfying, fun, friendly, gruelling sports out there, its awesome.

[Lithuania]

I had my first CX season last year, in fact my first racing of any kind on a bike. Here are the errors I made through the season and resulting tips from these. 1) I do think mounts/dismounts are important, but more so to do with the speed you get back on....to be riding quickly is an energy saver and a time saver. 2) Agree with the cornering stuff, but you are just gonna have to keep pushing that limit yourself. 3) Sit the heck down on corners where possible, or more precisely get weight back a bit. My back wheel was the one giving way until I realized that rear weight on corners and not standing on the pedals was good for cornering stability. 4) It is important to have a good grip on your shoes. I used floppy Shimano's and stiff Sidi's. The shimano's may not have transferred the power as well but when I missed the clip/cleat my shoe did not slip off the pedal when remounting as much and saved a lot of time messing around getting back in the clips at remount time. 5) Get a good warm up, and its probably easier to do that on a wind trainer than the course. 6) Going round the course before the race at 10mph is NBG. Take the corners and obstacles fast on the practice lap....It is a different course always at race speed than warm up speed. 7) Don't bother riding into sand to save energy, until you've done it loads of times you'll stumble one way or the other and waste all sorts of time. Get off the bike before you enter sand (unless it is really shallow or hard) 8) Its a fitness sport for sure (anaerobic threshold rather than power and strength), fast starts are great if you are truly jostling for the podium, but most riders start fast and get into lactic threshold way too soon and then you pick them off easily later on. 9) When shouldering don't let the bike swing round too much and keep knocking you in the back of the head. 10) No need to ever be in the drops. 11) You will be tempted to slam 80 psi in the tyres for speed, don't, don't, don't you will skid, bounce and crash....much better to drop the pressure and grip round the corners for maintaining valuable momentum speed 12) I could go on but thats enough. Prepare to enjoy one of the most satisfying, fun, friendly, gruelling sports out there, its awesome.

wow man thanks

[cardstock]

Bertie, that is great advice, the only one is #10. The drops are a great place to be if you have longer hard packed or cement straightaways to sprint on or climbs you are going to ride. Just be versital while you are racing. Sometimes it is faster to run, sometimes it is faster to ride, sometimes it is a better idea to relax for a little bit and sometimes it is better to make yourself hurt bad.....it takes time to figure all this out. The MOST important thing to do is have fun while riding your bike and focus on the ways to "improve" your racing after you are comfortable doing what you are doing.....but I think Bertie is spot on with all those tips

[bitterken]

Re: drops

I'm in the drops a lot when the going gets technical. It lowers my center of grav and I really believe I have more control in the corners.

[SaddleBags]

im still fairly new to road racing and hope to compete in cross this fall

any and all tips regardless how dumb they may be will be appreciated

Sign up for Iron Cross in PA. You'll have 60 miles to figure it out.:p

In the limited races I've done (3), I can only add to get a good starting position. If you're in a big field, by the time you cross the start line, the first group is gone.

Good luck with your recovery and maybe see you in the mud this CX season.

[Lithuania]

Sign up for Iron Cross in PA. You'll have 60 miles to figure it out.:p

In the limited races I've done (3), I can only add to get a good starting position. If you're in a big field, by the time you cross the start line, the first group is gone.

Good luck with your recovery and maybe see you in the mud this CX season.

thanks maybe we can meet before a race sometime.

[amorrow]

Two things:

I always lost rear tire traction when going up steep inclines. I (sorta) learned that you have to either stay seated or shove your ass way back to keep the weight on the back wheel.

I agree about the running/sand comment above. There are some places where it's an advantage to stay on the bike, but not always.

[danimal]

coming to cross from road racing, i can't echo enough how important cornering is. there were many races last year where i'd power past people on the grass or paved sections, only to get passed in the corners.

any advice on cornering would be appreciated?