Cyclocross - My baby - afraid for my baby.....

Interesting how we become attached to inanimate objects. Well, I have, to a silly arrangement of aluminum, carbon fiber, cable, rubber and some steel - my CX bike. Bought it in April, and have ridden the snot out of it on the road - commuting, fitness/training rides, centuries. Now CX season starts, and I am terrified.

I don't wanna break my baby!:cry:

So, I am frantically trying to sell prints, guns, a driftboat, and other stuff to be able to afford a road bike so I can have that backup bike. I still don't want anything to happen to my darling CX friend, and probably nothing more than dirt and mud and untrue wheels will happen.

But I do laugh a bit at myself - EVERY time I walk into the garage, I look at my bike and think to myself just how much I like it and how fortunate I am to have it, and how good a friend it has been to me. I was really stupid to have wasted the past 25 give or take years not cycling - sure would have been nice to have gotten back into cycling before the knee surgeries (running-related).

Now I just have to find someone that want a driftboat, guns, artwork, beer making equipment....anything else I can think of that isn't nailed down......

how about instead of buying a "backup bike", buy tools instead to make repairs, and ride the bike the way it was meant to be ridden.

Your love for your animate bike (for when you ride, it becomes a living thing!) is real, never doubt your true love's garaged glances!

I know what you mean. I feel that way about my bikes too. Having backup bikes does help. This is how the n+1 rule works.

The thing is, I've never had more admiration and affection for my bike than I do after I've just spent 45 minutes covering it with mud and sand, subjecting it to the worst kinds of abuse. Happily cyclocross bikes are very masochistic and they love you for giving them this kind of treatment. I've noticed my old CX bike which has been relegated to full time commuter duties giving me dirty looks when I pass it in the garage. Winter commuting should help smooth that over a little.

How do you have just one bike?

CX isn't going to break your bike (more likely to do serious damage in road crashes, not CX crashes). Just get all the tools to strip the bike down to clean it after races (or at least the really muddy ones) and it should be fine. Plan to replace brake pads a lot, and maybe invest in a second set of wheels (pit wheels), but a spare bike (while nice) is really only necessary for the pros.

How do you have just one bike?

We're working on fixing that. But the root cause is a late re-start to cycling and two boys in college. I'm stinking lucky to have ONE.

I know what you mean. I feel that way about my bikes too. Having backup bikes does help. This is how the n+1 rule works.

The thing is, I've never had more admiration and affection for my bike than I do after I've just spent 45 minutes covering it with mud and sand, subjecting it to the worst kinds of abuse. Happily cyclocross bikes are very masochistic and they love you for giving them this kind of treatment. I've noticed my old CX bike which has been relegated to full time commuter duties giving me dirty looks when I pass it in the garage. Winter commuting should help smooth that over a little.

Yep, the plan here is to put the fenders on the CX baby, and ride it to work. My neighbor is a year round commuter, and has pushed me over the edge. Plus the Bride thinks I should keep the gas money I save for part of my bike fund. Now just how much do you think I'll be driving under that set of rules??? My CAR is going to be giving me dirty looks.....

I hope you have more luck with yours than I did with mine. I decided to do the same thing thinking that the commute would help pay for the bike (3 bridge tolls and a gallon of gas). I could train to race my first races at the same time. I was doing well for a couple months, until another cyclist came around a bend flying low on the wrong side of the road and hooked me. My beloved Masi CXSS ended up with a broken fork and bent frame. Masi's replacing the fork because of how it broke, but the frame is on my own dime. They will do a factory replacement, but it's the new color scheme which isn't near as sexy as the 2011.

I did a CX clinic a week later on my 25 yo Peugeot MTB with no problems. At least while racing, you're all going about the same direction. Now I'm looking to race the Peugeot for my first race or two until my Salsa Chili con Crosso comes in. If I go back to cyclocommuting, It won't be on the Salsa!