CROSS ON THE MIND

The summer must be coming to an end, but don’t despair, the crisp (& wet) autumn mornings just mean that cyclo-cross season is only a few short weeks away. If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to dust off the old cross bike, pump up the knobbies and add running to your weekly training repertoire.


Some of the most stunning visuals from the sport show racers carrying their bikes up steep hills.

Many of you out there might be struggling just to get through the rest of the road or mountain bike season and thought of racing through the fall and winter might be more than you can bear right now. However, for some riders, cyclocross has become the primary racing discipline. What was originally created for ‘off-season’ training has now become THE racing focus… Cross on the Mind…

If you are like me, for the past few months you’ve had ‘cross on the mind. All the training, racing, and riding you’ve been doing, you’ve had ‘cross at the back of your mind, a presence that is always there, always ready. It doesn’t matter what bike you are on, when you come to a stop you do a cross style dismount ‘for practice’. If you are lucky enough to work at a place that allows you to bring your bike into the office you opted to ‘carry’ your bike up the stairs vs. taking it in the elevator. If you are out mountain biking and a log is laying across the trail, instead of rolling over it, you do a run up and carry... Cross on the Mind…

I’m guessing that most of you reading this already know what Cyclocross is all about, however if you don’t, Cyclocross is exactly what it looks like; a ‘cross’ or mixture of cycling events. Cross is a ‘cross’ between road cycling and mountain biking (though it was created almost 100 years before some guys in Marin started bombing down Mt Tam. on their converted fat tire ‘clunkers’) with some running and jumping over barriers thrown into the blend as well. Some say it is the steeplechase of cycling, I would agree with this and I also agree that it is the most grueling segment of cycling... Cross on the Mind…


Cyclocross is hard, plain and simple. It may not be an all day (or night) endurance race or stage race; however, there are very few sports that require the intensity of cyclocross over the entire time of the event. If you could take the feeling of two boxers going toe-to-toe in a wild melee of punches, and then somehow make that last for an entire hour, you might get close to the sensation of a cyclocross race... Cross on the Mind…

How does a cyclocross race work you ask? Basically, the cross organizers will set up a 1-2 mile course that will cover varying terrain including grass, dirt, sand pits, mud pits, short run ups, monster runs up, single-track, off-camber sections, and you cannot of course forget the barrier sections (Cross barriers are 16 inch high boards that must be traveled over – either via carrying the bike or bunny hopping. Savvy course designers place multiple barriers one right after another or at the base of a steep hill to prevent the bunny hops)


The author, during the 2004 Halloween ‘cross crusade’ race running the infamous ‘6 pack’

Races are held on private land, college and high school campuses, motor raceways, and city parks (among others) Races range in length from 30-60 minutes depending on category with the elite racers hammering for the full 60 minutes around the 1-2 mile circuit. Depending on the length of the course, the weather and the difficulty, anywhere from 6-12 laps will be completed. The season begins at the end of September in the United States and finishing up with the National Championships in early December. The World Championships are held (usually) during the first week in February.

Cyclocross has hooked beginners and seasoned cyclists alike, so long as they have a taste for dirt and pain, but why? “Why is cross on the mind?” Why is ‘cross getting so popular? Why do men and women, young and old with trembling legs and heaving lungs want to ride (and run) in the most inclement weather of the year at speeds and intensity that is just below the ‘puke’ threshold?... Cross on the Mind…

For me, it’s the love of the mud and the lack of the pretension that many of the other cycling disciplines have. The weather and the course are the great equalizers. It’s more like a group of riders analyzing the mud left by a day of steady rain and wondering how much pain the promoters have decided to dish out this week… Cross on the Mind…

Additionally, at least here in Portland, it is also so accessible. It’s a sport that a ‘working- family guy’ can train for and succeed at while still maintaining some semblance of a real life. Races take place on Sundays (and lucky for Portlanders) within a few miles of town – thus, one can race and be back in time to still spend time with the family. Additionally, the courses are spectator friendly. I have to say, you haven’t experienced a bike race until you race in the rain and mud with failing brakes and spectators line the course banging cowbells cheering you on (or in some cases heckling you).

Oh, it’s also about the beer…Beer goes with cyclocross like holes go with donuts. So much that course organizers in Belgium apparently run stretches of course through the beer tents so that the rabid fans don’t have stop drinking in order to cheer on their heroes... Cross on the Mind…

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