(Peanut here... Uhhhh... not true!!! I asked the Ride Bully to write this blog cause he's a damned fine writer and I know you guys get sick of hearing from just me)
Just after Kathy and Karen tore it up at Gloucester I had a short conversation that asked the question. "Why don't more mountain bike guys race cross"? Kathy responded with a perplexed "I don't know, but they should".
So when in doubt, write it out.
First a little background on me. My first passion has been riding mountain bikes, and I've been doing it since 1994. I liked it so much I decided to get a job at a shop in Mass to support my addiction. I've been riding ever since and currently enjoy road, cross, and mountain. Bottom line I'm attracted to the simplicity, complexity, technology, adventure, adrenaline, competition, challenge, and personalities of the sport of cycling. I'm not a mountain biker or roadie, nor am I a cross guy. For all intensive purposes I'm just a cyclist.
So what keeps the masses from crossing over from the dirt to the dirt? Did that make sense? No!
So what's the deal!
The two sports seem almost interchangeable.
Both sports are primarily done off road in sometimes adverse conditions, both sports require power and technical bike handling ability, and both sports require a bicycle! (OK so that last one was a bit obvious) Seriously though if you're a MTB racer and just need to get your weekend fix of racing then cross may be the perfect fit.
Sure the cyclocross races are shorter but you've got to be on the gas for the full 40 - 45 minutes. If you're not on the gas you're last! Silly you say? Check the popularity numbers, The typical New England race has 80 to 125 participants per racer category, and guess what, they're all racing at once. This would be the equivalent of sending off the full Elite/Expert/SingleSpeed mountain bike fields all at once every Sunday. The larger races will see upwards of 1000 racers per day.
Like a mountain bike race no two venues are the same. There's power, technical, and hilly type courses. Like mountain bike racing the equipment is insane except lots of folks bring with them a spare set of carbon wheels, or even a spare bike that they leave in the pit just in case of a mishap.
It's spectator friendly! Bring the family along. Most laps are 6-8 minutes in length and there are plenty of great crashes to be witnessed. Many races take place at a park or school. So more often than not there is something for the little ones to keep them occupied.
And just how many mountain bike races do you know of that have a beer tent on location?
So what's the deal? What's not to love? I have lots of bikes in the stable at home and while they may not all be the top of the line full XTR/Red/Record components. They are all fun to ride and race with your buddies and teammates. If you haven't given CX a try then you don't know what you've been missing.
Here's a short list for all you MTB guys of the Top 5 reasons why you should try a CX race.
1. You enjoy massive quantities of pain delivered all at once.
2. You've run out of quality MTB races for the season.
3. With shorter days you're looking to extend your season of fitness.
4. You want to see if you can beat Andy Gould at something bike racing related.
5. You love to race bikes, hang with your buddies, and have frosty libations at a most festive environment surrounded by many like minded bike folk.
For those of you hot shot mountain bike racers reading this saying "but I don't have a CX bike" you're in luck cause you can race your MTN bike! So come on out and let's see what all you fat tire folks can do!
Hey do you see what this thing does to my fur!?... Someone buy me a Cross Bike!
Sincerely,
The Ride Bully
My sincere thanks to the Ride Bully, for taking the time as a guest writer to our Blog... nice job.!!!
The Peanut Gallery
