herbie bmx

OK, so I,m a BMX racer. Have been for years. I do a few Crits hear and there I guess for cross training, or should I say, for something different. I do OK in them.
I was posting a thread originally to ask about flavors or a new Crit bike. Alot of people have told me, "wow! you should give cross a try". I've looked at a few u-tubes and???? Some one tell me a little more.

Do you guys use flats, or clips? I was reading a Shelton art. on single speed cross. Wow! maybe thats my thing. When does the season usually run?
Please give me some imput, not slam.

vanwaCX

The season starts now. Races till December most places around the country. SS cross is getting bigger -- nice field sizes depending on where you are. Clipless pedals are standard though platforms would work, just not as well.

Turns out that the best cyclocross racer in the world, Sven Nys, started out in BMX.

Races are 30 minutes to an hour depending on what class you are racing. You'll need to practice a couple skills like getting off and getting on the bike without losing momentum.

There are lots of resources out there so have at it. I'd say cross is the best form of bike racing there is.

flargle

On a muddy day you might be better off with football cleats and flats.

Ophidian

I raced BMX myself for 16 years and racing cx is fun. I never tried flat pedals it should be fine. One thing about cx I found was it's 30 to 60 min of 100% effort. No time for rest.

flargle

Plenty of time for rest, except it only comes ten seconds at a time.

It's actually the opposite of 100% effort (as in, say, a 40K TT on flat ground). Terrain dictates that heart rate spends a lot of time above and below threshold. Being able to spike heart rate, and then recover, is of the essence.

Ophidian

Your talking about heart rate, I'm talking about cross being hard the whole time your racing. There's always barriers, stairs, decents and corners. How did you feel your first race? I felt like I was going 100% the whole time. Thus my statement.