Cyclocross - Bike handling skills

So i'm pulling the trigger tomorrow on a 08 Tricross comp.

Hoping to do a seven race series this fall, but want to get some experience before the first race. What are the best suggestions.

Put in about 100-150 miles a week on a road bike.

Thanks!
Brett

Spend a lot of time on mounting and dismounting.

Check out cyclocrossworld.com, which will have an endless amount of reference and information. Also, search through the archives of cyclingnews.com and grahamwatson.com to see great pictures and information about cyclocross racing.

Most of all, though, ride your bike a lot off-road.

if you have a steep hill with trees on it i'd recommend practicing tight, off-camber turns. just treat the hill like it's a slalom skiing course only with the trees farther apart.

Definitely spend lots of time off-road. Practice your transitions. Practice bike handling off road.

And have fun this fall!

Hurt yourself until you cry like a little girl.

Or don't bother and let the first race do it for you.

Practice the dismount/remount thing until it's comfortable and unstressed. You should be able to run a little bit. Get used to riding really fast on grass. Intervals are a good idea - short ones, long ones, pyramid intervals - they're all good and all apply to cross.

Mostly learn to handle the transitions without needless stress and be ready to have fun wallowing in the glorious pain.

Ron

run run and then run some more

Matthew "CX" Panas

Practice your remounts on a cheap saddle. Watch those technique videos from velonews, and also search youtube for "superprestige". Don't remount on an uphill grade; just carry or push until it crests, then remount. Unless the ground is very smooth, it's better to shoulder the bike than push it. Interval training is important because you need to be accustomed to spiking your heart rate then recovering. Start the race at a reasonable tempo and just see how many clowns you'll reel in toward the end. View the race as an obstacle course time-trial.

I tried doing some dismounts and mounts down at the park in tall grass this morning. Dismounts are no problem, since I've been doing that for years, but mounts are another story. I got so I could lean the bike towards me as I'm slowly jogging along side, and then swing my leg over. Not sure how to do the running jump thing yet. Time to watch some videos.

For the remount, watch the videos and don't over think it. It's just like stealing a bike from in front of the 7-11. Run along with the bike and throw a leg over it.

The first rule of the dismount is that you must be rolling at a speed you can run. Since momentum is the only force of nature willing to help a man in cyclocross it's faster to come off the bike as fast as you can run, even if that means dismounting an stride from the barrier and then leg it out on the remount if needed. The urge to wait until you're up to the barrier before dismounting will cost you a lot of speed until you are extremely skilled and the urge to immediately jump onto the bike afterward causes hopping and stress. As you get good you'll start spending less time on foot, but let that come to you.

Ron

Not sure how to do the running jump thing yet. Time to watch some videos.

DO NOT DO THE "running jump". There is no jumping on the saddle in cyclocross. Do you feel like crushing your testicles? Hm?

NO JUMPING on the saddle!!

You just throw a leg over and land on the INSIDE of your thigh, then SLIDE onto your butt. Then pedal.

Practice it at a walking speed. Then slowly speed up. Relax-- you won't get it right away. maybe not even for weeks. But practice whenever you can and you'll reap the benefits!

You probably see women doing the flying leap thing. Sheer fallacy. They don't have 'nads to sit on and crush. However, they probably deal with bruised labia. Crazy!

Remounting is easy in theory. In reality, however, it's not quite as simple as just throwing your leg over the saddle. Keep in mind you'll probably be moving at a jogging pace when you're doing this maneuver. So, you need to take a giant lunging step up onto the saddle, landing your inner thigh on the saddle, then pivoting your hips and rolling your butt squarely on the saddle. If your freehub is in good working order, the right pedal will be resting there at the 2 o'clock position, just waiting for you to step in and start pedaling.

If you have access to a local cyclocross clinic, you should really take advantage of that. There's no substitute for hands-on training.

By the way, I've done the flying jump onto the saddle many times without crushing the unmentionables. I have, however, completely missed the saddle and landed on the rear wheel. Now that is embarrassing.

The guy in the velonews video is jumping on the saddle.

i think the point is that jumping high up and landing on the saddle is a)less efficient than a smooth leg swing and b)risky even when it's faster.

yeah, i see some pros who look like they're doing the superman jump but they've (presumably) worked hard to maximize the rest of their game and are looking for any advantage they can get. plus, presumably again, they've got a lot of experience with it. it seems that folks are practicing really hard and taking big risks to shave that tenth of a second off per transition.

in the grand scheme of things it seems that stuff like cornering and running are better uses of my practice time, but again i'm not anywhere near the top levels.

Hoping to do a seven race series this fall, but want to get some experience before the first race. What are the best suggestions.

Buy Simon Burney's new edition of "Cyclocross: Training and Technique (http://www.velopress.com/cycling.php?id=247)." Commit it to heart and memory.

By the way, I've done the flying jump onto the saddle many times without crushing the unmentionables. I have, however, completely missed the saddle and landed on the rear wheel. Now that is embarrassing.


Once I wore bibs that were a little loose in the crotch. Weren't keeping everything all hoisted up and out of the way. Once.

"Ooof" doesn't even begin to cover it.

So make sure that your shorts are fitting properly so they can do their job.

So... lunacycle. How'd your harbls look jammed up in the cantis? :eek:

The guy in the velonews video is jumping on the saddle.

if it's the video I think it is, he is popping onto his inner thigh on the saddle and then sliding over as per irbeej. He takes special care to explain this. I think beej is referring to people (like me) getting over enthusiastic and doing a big leap with like 4-6" of daylight between their legs to land square on their crotch. It feels like a much smaller movement when you're doing it properly than it looks watching someone do it. The jump is just a very slight move onto the saddle while tucking the trailing leg so it looks like a hop, which I'm not good at doing. I'm guessing it will improve with practise and better timing.


it seems that folks are practicing really hard and taking big risks to shave that tenth of a second off per transition. in the grand scheme of things it seems that stuff like cornering and running are better uses of my practice time

I concur, but a good, fast dismount/remount is pretty cool.

it seems that folks are practicing really hard and taking big risks to shave that tenth of a second off per transition.

in the grand scheme of things it seems that stuff like cornering and running are better uses of my practice time

I can't tell you how many times I've gotten stuck in a pile-up because someone up front didn't know how to get off or on their bike.

It always seems to go something like this:
A.) Rider jumps off their bike STRADDLING the top tube
B.) Rider remounts by first straddling the top tube, clipping in then pushing off

In both of these moves, the rider comes to a complete halt. This is not a move expected in the C's or B's. And certainly not from some dude all tarted up in coordinated kit on a spendy bike.

Good transition technique will:
Save you time;
Look cool;
Reduce your chance of crashing;
Reduce your chance of causing those behind you to crash;
Show your respect for cyclocross and its heritage ;)

My best accident was near the end of a race, I'm following a guy who was as dog tired as I who tried to innovate a maneuver to get over a log. He cased it, I was rolling up behind him standing on the left pedal and the right leg had just come around. He crashes and this exhausted dummas grabs both handfuls of brake, there was a lot of traction. I go over. He sees this. Now we're both tangled in bikes and laughing at each other and other people ride by laughing at us.

Oh, there was a point, uhh, oh. yeah. When you get tired or desperate you will think of things to try to do to save energy or go a little bit faster with what energy you've got. These are things you haven't practiced - and you didn't practice them because these aren't the smart things to do. Don't do them. You never approached a barrier at an angle, put a foot on it and lifted the bike over in practice, don't do it in a race. Don't do anything in a race you haven't tried before. Okay, unless the fast kids are doing it and your insurance is paid up. Do the drill and stick to it.

I did see Sven Nys himself try dismounting over the top tube and waddling the bike over this ugly muddy rise that nobody could ride over. Everybody would just stall at the very top of this hillock and then dismount run two steps and then remount - so Nys tries every possible approach to this thing on each lap even the straddle waddle. He didn't do that one again, and went with a conventional dismount and run up, starting earlier on the hill where there was momentum.

Which gets back to advice for the OP, watch some cross videos on the web. See how the real guys do it. Just watching that Belgian action makes me better. Also watch the normal guys like us on youtube, and see what mistakes to watch for and what pain and futility look like.

Ron

I went to the MADCROSS cycle-smart clinic for cyclocross. it was great.

i think we agree beej. didn't mean to imply that transitions arent important, just that a simple mini-hop is generally better than the six inch of daylight flying leap that comradehoser was describing (and don't let him fool you, his transitions are pretty damn good).

thanks, dirty.

on the subject of cool transitions, here are a couple:

http://plusonelap.blogspot.com/2007/08/barriers.html

if you let the vid play through, youtube gives you a choice of related vids and there's another of the same race (called "men's cyclocross a)

speed and grace. also, note the mtbiker going all hoppy n' stuff. I like how at the end of the first clip, the camera just drops to the ground like the guy's all dejected.

plus, the dude's a SSer, so a little inspiration for you my SSing friend.