Cyclocross racing - training

AstraMonti

What's the deal with it? It might be a good idea to keep me busy in the winter. Where/how do you train and race?

I am thinking of getting a cheap cx frame (PX Uncle john?) and moving the 105 triple and the rest of the gear from beone. Would that made any sense? Do you use normal wheels (Mavic Aksiums) with knobbly tyres?

What else do I need to know about it?

Raam

http://www.irishcx.com/2010/09/swords-2010-saturday-cyclocross-training-sessions-announced/

The first of the weekly training sessions (Details on Tuesday & Thursday Team Worc Session to come) has been announced by Swords cycling club. The groups sessions will start on Saturday 18th Sept and every Saturday thereafter (except race days). There will be a new format for 2010, harder and faster paced sessions with short handicapped race at the end.

Sessions will include:-

Course set up/bike set up
Warm up & stretching
Skills practice
Handicapped race
Warm down
Total time approx 90 mins. Home early to rest.

Details

Where: Meet at Peacock Pub, Rivervalley Shopping Centre, Swords, Co Dublin.
Time: Saturdays 10.00 am – 11.45 am
What to bring: Bike & Helmet. Water. MTB pedals and MTB shoes, or trainers.
Please note: This only is open to members of cycling Ireland (i.e. members of CI registered clubs).

Helmets are compulsory. No Riding will be permitted on public footpaths or football pitches.

Bike: Cross bike is best, or an MTB with bar ends and bottle cages removed.

Some old style touring frames will also work fine.

Spread the word.

See you all on Saturday the 18th September.

Raam

Yes normal road bike wheels will do, but with the knobbly tyres. Unless you are awesome, which I am not.

AstraMonti

Cheers for that Raam!

I wonder if Orwell has something similar, as they will be my choice as a club, due to being close to me.

Is the triple ok for it or there is a need for different gearing?

Raam

I think a triple would have a tendancy to get clogged up with mud. I've been advised to go for a single front ring, 44 or 46. Sure give it a go with what you've got and you'll figure out what suits you best.

AstraMonti

Right.. I might be in contact for your frame in the near future ...:rolleyes:

Lumen

AstraMonti wrote: »

What else do I need to know about it?

It is really very tough, physically. Much harder than entry-level road racing.

The races are not handicapped, so you're off with the likes of Ryan Sherlock. Since most normal roadies are busy eating, drinking and enjoying the off-season, cyclocross is populated with double-hard bastards who can't bear the thought of a few months without competition. This is perfectly safe but doesn't do wonders for self-esteem when you're lapped a few times.

And then there's the crashing, smashing your bollocks off the saddle, ripping your shins open on pedals, and so on.

I remember Blorg describing a nighttime training session as the hardest thing he'd ever done on a bike.

Raam

AstraMonti wrote: »

Right.. I might be in contact for your frame in the near future ...:rolleyes:

You are welcome to check it out anytime.

strummer_ie

This sounds quite interesting, might come for a looksee.
I see where the meet point is, but where will the training session actually be ?

mtbireland

Our Tuesday night/ Thursday night training sessions will be starting soon.. You don't have to be a member of our club (Team-WORC) to do them. We cover all the skills, dismounting, mounting, pickup, setdown of the bike and how to carry it etc... bit more to it than most people think. We also do lots of cornering sessions and teach you how to pedal fast through the corners. We our planning a second session which will be about speed and this will be on the Thursday nights.

Re chainset... as Ramm said single ring is all you need now that Irish courses have moved away from farmcross.

Normal road wheels are fine..... you will need brakes for the bike... make sure not to use V brakes but get some of the proper cross canti's... CRC have them from about €12 per set.

Everything else is pretty much the same as a road bike although you'll find the cable routing is usually a bit different to avoid the mud.

You can sign up for the Stevens Supercross Cup if you like... http://mtbireland.com/cyclocross

Raam

strummer_ie wrote: »

This sounds quite interesting, might come for a looksee.
I see where the meet point is, but where will the training session actually be ?

Not exactly sure, close by the meeting point I expect.

Lumen

Choose a frame with a replaceable gear hanger (maybe they all have them) and avoid expensive rear derailleurs. They tend to get ripped off by the mud.

AstraMonti

Cheers for the replies!

Lumen wrote: »

Choose a frame with a replaceable gear hanger (maybe they all have them) and avoid expensive rear derailleurs. They tend to get ripped off by the mud.

You do have the uncle john, don't you? Have are you finding it?

Lumen

AstraMonti wrote: »

You do have the uncle john, don't you? Have are you finding it?

It's fine. I stuck some TRP EuroX cantis on which improved the on-road braking enormously (not that it matters for racing).

The frame is a bit agricultural but it does the job.

Quite a tall and upright bike, not exactly racy geometry.

I recently managed to ding the top tube, so might use that as an excuse to do a frame swap at some stage. Something with a flattened top tube would be nice.

AstraMonti

mtbireland wrote: »

Our Tuesday night/ Thursday night training sessions will be starting soon.. You don't have to be a member of our club (Team-WORC) to do them. We cover all the skills, dismounting, mounting, pickup, setdown of the bike and how to carry it etc... bit more to it than most people think. We also do lots of cornering sessions and teach you how to pedal fast through the corners. We our planning a second session which will be about speed and this will be on the Thursday nights.

I am totally noob on anything off-road related so all this sounds perfect to me. Where do you do your training sessions?

mtbireland

Southside based with the sessions taking place up in Ballycullen....

Cross is going to be huge this year..!!!! I'm very excited. First race is being run by Apollo and the course they use has really come on in the last two years. Nice urban park with some very fast sections and a bank which is used really well for a short run and then a couple of slow off camber hairpins to sort the men from the boys... well worth the 1:45hr trip up to Lurgan to do.... the week after is the first round of the Stevens Supercross cup... nice and handy event at a new course in Swords....

AstraMonti

Did a bit of searching for frames, and I gathered that for my budget I am between the PX Uncle John and the Kinesis 5T (sorry Raam, if yours is too big for you, then it would be even bigger for me!). From the looks side of things they are both a bit meh.. but I am not going for anything more than that. Any opinions or other suggestions?

Raam

I got that Kinesis, but in black. Honestly, it will probably be covered in shíte anyway after a race that it makes no odds.

AstraMonti

lol you 've certainly got a point there. Where did you get if from? Shinybikes seems to be the the cheapest.

mtbireland

In that range you will only get 'meh'...... Good news is that in that price range you can sell cross bikes very easily so when you get bitten by the cross bug and you want to buy a carbon cross bike for next season you should have no problem selling the bike.

Raam

AstraMonti wrote: »

lol you 've certainly got a point there. Where did you get if from? Shinybikes seems to be the the cheapest.

Shinybikes.

Lumen

mtbireland wrote: »

when you get bitten by the cross bug and you want to buy a carbon cross bike for next season you should have no problem selling the bike.

What are the cool kids riding these days?

mtbireland

A couple of these on the way.. and the lower end ones too... The ultegra one is very good value....Robin will be on a Stevens..... current Irish cross champ Joe McCall will be riding a Focus .. Still a few Ridleys knocking about too.

AstraMonti

This needs to go to images of beauty!

RobFowl

Are any of the "heads" riding disc brakes now that they are UCI legal??

midonogh

I am looking at getting a cross bike as my winter trainer/commuter and will try the Swords training sessions and race. Currently looking at a Basso Devil Cross. I ride a 56cm in road bike, do I go for the same in a cross, or do I go for a smaller frame?

mtbireland

Nobody moving to disc's this year... There really isn't much point for cross as there is very little braking on proper courses... more feathering and the canti's when set up right and well able for it.

mtbireland

midonogh wrote: »

I am looking at getting a cross bike as my winter trainer/commuter and will try the Swords training sessions and race. Currently looking at a Basso Devil Cross. I ride a 56cm in road bike, do I go for the same in a cross, or do I go for a smaller frame?

Go for the same size bike... that is.. same lenght top tube... worth noting that some bikes (Ridley for example) have a very high bottom bracket and therefore the seat tube length is shorter but the bike is the same size as your road bike in theory....

But no ... don't buy anything smaller.....

billy.fish

Race cross.

Man/woman up.

Best cyclesport bar none.

Tuesday sessions will get you stronger.

That is all, return to your mundane lives now.

AstraMonti

More noob questions.

Do you use the same road tubes or some more stronger? For thorns etc

I was watching some racing youtube videos and none of the bikes had waterbottles, cages on them. Are the circuits small enough that you don't actually need water or it's just don't work with bottles on the bike?

billy.fish

AstraMonti wrote: »

More noob questions.

Do you use the same road tubes or some more strong enoughs? For thorns etc

I was watching some racing youtube videos and none of the bikes had waterbottles, cages on them. Are the circuits small enough that you don't actually need water or it's just don't work with bottles on the bike?

Bigger tires = bigger tubes. Still the same thickness though. Or just move up to tubs

You're not allowed race cross with cages, or take on water during the race, or bottles, you can carry one, but you have to finish with it. Cages get in the way while carrying the bike.

Its only an hour anyway

midonogh

I have ordered my Basso. What should I be doing for pedals and shoes. I am thinking SPD and MTB shoes. Are there any cyclo-cross specific shoes or any MTB shoes that are better than others?

DirkVoodoo

midonogh wrote: »

I have ordered my Basso. What should I be doing for pedals and shoes. I am thinking SPD and MTB shoes. Are there any cyclo-cross specific shoes or any MTB shoes that are better than others?

I guess as long as you can run in them, maybe something like SIDI dominators?

billy.fish

MTB shoe with some flex,make sure it has toe studs that you can replace.

markdrayton

How long do the CX training sessions run for? I'm moving to Dublin at the end of Sept but have a month away in the US, returning beginning of November. Will they continue up to the Irish champs?

billy.fish

markdrayton wrote: »

How long do the CX training sessions run for? I'm moving to Dublin at the end of Sept but have a month away in the US, returning beginning of November. Will they continue up to the Irish champs?

Pretty much run up until the tuesday before nationals.

Depends on snow though

markdrayton

billy.fish wrote: »

Pretty much run up until the tuesday before nationals.

Brilliant. Tues and Thurs?

billy.fish

markdrayton wrote: »

Brilliant. Tues and Thurs?

Yeah should be, thurs sessions are allot less formal, and much more about just training hard.

Quick hard laps, no waiting up.

markdrayton

billy.fish wrote: »

Yeah should be, thurs sessions are allot less formal, and much more about just training hard.

Quick hard laps, no waiting up.

Sounds great. See you in November! (Will be on a Cube CX bike.)

AstraMonti

Would a cross singlespeed work in a training/race?

billy.fish

AstraMonti wrote: »

Would a cross singlespeed work in a training/race?

Should be grand some of the folks raced on them last year, hope you can run!

AstraMonti

haha

Just remembered that my fixie is the Singlecross model so I might try with it before splashing any money; but if it's gonna be too hard for a newbie.. then I might leave it as well.

billy.fish

AstraMonti wrote: »

haha

Just remembered that my fixie is the Singlecross model so I might try with it before splashing any money; but if it's gonna be too hard for a newbie.. then I might leave it as well.

You'll be grand, you wont be compeditive, but TBH cross is hard even with gears! Thats the joy of it. IT sucks no matter where you are, but it sucks so much that it becomes the greatest feeling ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWGnM_1ViZA&feature=related

If that doesn't make you want to take part....god i dunno....

mtbireland

yeah single speed will be fine for just tipping around and learning the basics...

Will be meeting there tomorrow night at 6:30 here... please note these are unofficial training sessions, just a group of people out on their bikes... These are seriously no pressure sessions and all levels welcome....

billy.fish

mtbireland wrote: »

yeah single speed will be fine for just tipping around and learning the basics...

Will be meeting there tomorrow night at 6:30 here... please note these are unofficial training sessions, just a group of people out on their bikes... These are seriously no pressure sessions and all levels welcome....

THink after todays rain i'll stick my mud option on....its going to be awesome.

AstraMonti

Where exactly is the meeting? The map doesn't have a specific point.

mtbireland

Anywhere in that area...you won't miss us...just head up towards the big mound at the of the GAA pitch.....

AstraMonti

Are you guys meeting tomorrow? Yesterday there was a small crisis so I couldn't make it.

AstraMonti

Just back from a half hour on the park going on the grass and on various little slops.. Man it's difficult, especially with no gears.. but huge fun to go wherever you like

billy.fish

Folks,

Tuesday is on like Ariston*

Bring yourself, your cross bike OR mountainbike, some thing to drink, and a set of lights to get you home (not for riding with during session).

Then get your lovely self out to Knocklyon park for some of the best and most social** training you will ever join in.

Its cross season baby, get the real bikes out.



*Apparently they made 5million units
** training may not be social, training may hurt,it will however be awesome

Lumen

Powertap Zipps on a £180 frame?