tekhna

Damn I wanna do cyclocross... that looks like so much fun! Was this your first time out on the course?

Psimet2001 

On that course, yes - if you don't count the pre-ride that morning. My team hosted this particular race in the Chicago Cyclocross Cup series, and our "team captain" designed the course.

This is only my 3rd cross race ever. Started 3 weeks ago with a race every week. Doing better than I had anticipated. Went kind of "blah" into the first one just to see what it was like and then it dawned on me that most of the guys in there didn't race road and had no left over form from the season...so I cooked it for race 2 and 3.

Race 1 - 40th out of 67
Race 2 - 17th out of 45
Race 3 - 14th out of 55

It's a ton of fun and the atmosphere is totally different. After the first race I said, "that's the hardest thing I have ever done on a bike." but I don't think I believe that anymore. It is intense. It is like a TT, but with the added pressure of having to think, react quikly and technically, while interacting with other racers....like a TT and a crit rolled into one with a jog and some jumping thrown in for good measure...

YMCA

yes, that would be a small gear
29.1 inches to be exact
why didn't you just ride your 53x49 to show your manhood?
or better yet, a 60x55

botto 

you know i mean the 42 or 39 for the inner chainring, you dope.

YMCA

it's more fun to confuse the nOObs
and being a former Dutchie, wouldn't you have said 44
chainring to the old-school stars and a favorite of mine

botto 

never had a 44. 42 was as big as i went. something to consider for the future, i guess.

ridethecliche

Heh, lucky you.

I would love a cross bike, a better mtb, a fixed gear/ss, and a TT bike.

I have no wife to tell me that I can't buy them.

Unfortunately, I have neither the funds, nor the space.
(I suppose my parents would tell me not to buy them.)

waterrockets 

That one's made a few appearances. But in general, yes.

txvintage

Well, this pretty much predated most "Brifter" options to begin with. When you're in the drops, the bar end was pretty sweet, and from the hoods was a lot closer than the DT.

I ran this set up in Washington State, Hawaii, and Southern Cali. Lot's of varied terrain, and almost never used my FD. The one down fall was a crash could wreck havoc on your barend, but they are pretty tough to begin with. They also have a friction mode if things go really badly, lol.

ridethecliche

Hm, I would consider a barend FD. That would be pretty sweet!

kudude

I'm a roadie, this is instead of riding a trainer. #688

umd

Damn, I wanted to try cross this year. You guys without broken collarbones are lucky. I'll ride on the road but I'm not going to be a cross-newb like this.

Psimet2001 

Smart move. Can't explain it, but it's like a switch goes off when you ride cross and all reason and personal safety limitations seem to go out the window.

Duke of Kent

Agreed.

I did some dumb @ss sh*t in my race Sunday. The "switch" got turned on a bit too late, but it was good to turn it on again.

And it was awesome.

umd

Especially considering how many times I crashed when I tried mountain bike racing... I figure it would be more likely than not that I would fall and damage it all over again

kudude

i'm not sure i like the idea of a sport where I'm "lucky" to not have my collarbone broken

ps -- I'm too fat for this sport

startedspyder05

All you really need is a tough road frame (steel?) with enough clearance for larger tires right? I don't know a lot about cross, but I do know I need to start doing it.

bodaciousguy

I got back into biking when I was 16 and remember watching clips of cyclocross races. I thought it was a joke and was pretty confused to see guys take it so seriously. 5 years later and I still think it's a pretty wacky. I mean why don't you just go mountain bike racing? I makes about as much sense as this

classic1

Cyclocross is a much older sport than mountain bike racing. Its been going since the 1940's IIRC. The mountain bikes wasn't invented until the 1970's and didn't become a widespread consumer product until the mid-80's. Perhaps that will clear up some of your confusion?

Youngin

Ehhhh. I had that set up for my broken wrist. It was ok... going to the big ring was tough sometimes, but the trim was beautiful.

Allegheny Jet

Two cross races to date and two more to go. In the first I rode a full suspension mtb and was 6th out of 17. In the 2nd race I rode a cross bike and was 6th out of about 25. Not sure of the exact racer count due to some juniors being mixed in the field of 30+. The 2nd race featured wet ground making riding thru the high grass hard, the mtb might have been a good option. The winner of the A race was on a hard tail mtb with a cross front tire.

crying for O2 after a hard start

[IMG][/IMG]

just like "carrying the suitcase"

[IMG][/IMG]

Racer Ex 

While you guys were carrying your bikes around (and why you don't install one of those "grabbers" like you see on late night infomercials I'll never know), I was getting hunted down like vermin by a 7 time TDF winner on REAL race bikes.

Pre vomit photo



Pre "Dude, were we supposed to turn back there?" photo

startedspyder05

Amazing.

waterrockets 

Those are some great shots Ex. That's the funniest looking crit bike I've seen.

Racer Ex 

I spend a lot of time OTF.