# Ever wondered what's the appeal of cyclocross?



## smutchin (7 Aug 2019)

Wonder no more. I mean, doesn't this just look like sooooooo much fun?


View: https://youtu.be/c4XxUWcZeJs


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## raleighnut (7 Aug 2019)

I'd sooner see em trying to go up it.


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## I like Skol (7 Aug 2019)

Ride that no problem! Having done a couple of CX races I can vouch for the poor bike handling skills of many of the riders. It would seem many do not ride off-road apart from at the race itself.

Of course, I could just end up sliding down gracelessly with the rest of them....


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## Slick (7 Aug 2019)

Sorry, I just don't get it.

I do go and watch my mates daughter compete, which is fun but they aren't sliding down in mud like hippos. 

I also wonder how they keep their rear mech on the bike?


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## dan_bo (7 Aug 2019)

Slick said:


> I also wonder how they keep their rear mech on the bike?



Sometimes they don't. 

A good cross course can be a right laugh though. More should try it.


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## Slick (7 Aug 2019)

dan_bo said:


> Sometimes they don't.
> 
> A good cross course can be a right laugh though. More should try it.


More a spectator sport for me I reckon. I was at the British Cycling Let's Ride in Glasgow on Sunday and some geezers were trying to convince me to give cycling speedway a go. There was a bit of a needle match between Glasgow and Edinburgh that did look like good fun.


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## Threevok (8 Aug 2019)

Eating soup with a fork


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## Milzy (8 Aug 2019)

Slick said:


> Sorry, I just don't get it.
> 
> I do go and watch my mates daughter compete, which is fun but they aren't sliding down in mud like hippos.
> 
> I also wonder how they keep their rear mech on the bike?


I don’t either. It should be mountain bike riding off road or road bikes on road. Growing sport though, massive in places like Belgium.


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## screenman (8 Aug 2019)

I raced cross on and off for over 30 loved it.


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## dan_bo (8 Aug 2019)

https://nwcca.org.uk/calendar/

I'll be missing the first two (Holidays) but after that.....


Time to work on leg speed.


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## Rusty Nails (8 Aug 2019)

Did a couple of races when I was 21. I thought I was quite fit...........I wasn't.


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## screenman (8 Aug 2019)

Milzy said:


> I don’t either. It should be mountain bike riding off road or road bikes on road. Growing sport though, massive in places like Belgium.



I was racing cross long before mountain bikes were invented.


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## smutchin (8 Aug 2019)

Slick said:


> I also wonder how they keep their rear mech on the bike?



My cross bike is a singlespeed.


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## smutchin (8 Aug 2019)

screenman said:


> I was racing cross long before mountain bikes were invented.



There are some brilliant vintage CX videos on YouTube to prove that there's nothing new about the sport - and in fact, they also show how very little has changed over the years...

View: https://youtu.be/H9_Fs1QtsOY


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## screenman (8 Aug 2019)

No river crossing nowadays, I remember one at Enfield that was quite deep and the surrounding area was covered in snow.


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## Milzy (8 Aug 2019)

smutchin said:


> There are some brilliant vintage CX videos on YouTube to prove that there's nothing new about the sport - and in fact, they also show how very little has changed over the years...
> 
> View: https://youtu.be/H9_Fs1QtsOY



They look like silly lads to me. Ban it.


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## cyberknight (8 Aug 2019)

raleighnut said:


> I'd sooner see em trying to go up it.



View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyzpQ5q1AFk


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## cyberknight (8 Aug 2019)

screenman said:


> I was racing cross long before mountain bikes were invented.


Hinault used to do cx races in the off season


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## screenman (8 Aug 2019)

cyberknight said:


> Hinault used to do cx races in the off season



So did Les West, or how about Wort Can Aert.


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## flake99please (8 Aug 2019)

That looks like a blast.


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## Rusty Nails (8 Aug 2019)

Beryl Burton did cyclocross. Nuff said.


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## JPBoothy (22 Sep 2019)

I did my first event (no racing for me) at 50, and I have never been so knackered in my life. I have also never smiled/laughed so much either. If you have a bike that you don't mind getting dirty then it is worth just trying it once as some the courses are in quite nice venues rather than just laps of a taped off muddy field. Beware though, those young-uns are so blinkin quick.


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## Milzy (22 Sep 2019)

It’s makes me laugh how they say MVDP is so good because of CX. He’s so good because he was born with talent & mutant levels of power.


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## Julia9054 (22 Sep 2019)

Tried it once.
Reminded me of those nature films about salmon leaping up river. Not that bit though - the bit at the end where the salmon are all flapping about in the mud and dying.
I didn't quite come last!


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## MrGrumpy (26 Sep 2019)

Max heart rate for an hour, if that`s your thing  I have done two races , first one I got lapped 3 times, second race only once ! However courses very similar to that first video, pure mud fest !


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## Andy in Germany (29 Sep 2019)

smutchin said:


> Wonder no more. I mean, doesn't this just look like sooooooo much fun?
> 
> 
> View: https://youtu.be/c4XxUWcZeJs




The only thing missing there is the Benny Hill theme tune...

I don't 'get' it, but then I don't get Football, Rugby, Basketball, Cross country...


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## JPBoothy (29 Sep 2019)

Andy in Germany said:


> The only thing missing there is the Benny Hill theme tune...
> 
> I don't get it, but then I don't get Football, Rugby, Basketball, Cross country...


Fun doesn't have to make sense


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## Andy in Germany (29 Sep 2019)

JPBoothy said:


> Fun doesn't have to make sense



Dead right.

I don't criticise those who love these pastimes; on the contrary I'm glad we are all different... Wouldn't it be boring otherwise?


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## JPBoothy (29 Sep 2019)

Andy in Germany said:


> Dead right.
> 
> I don't criticise those who love these pastimes; on the contrary I'm glad we are all different... Wouldn't it be boring otherwise?


Absolutely.. When I see Cavers/Pot-Holers crawling through those tight spaces and diving under stagnant water not knowing what is on the other side, I always thing 'no way', but each to there own eh!


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## iateyoubutler (8 Oct 2019)

smutchin said:


> Wonder no more. I mean, doesn't this just look like sooooooo much fun?
> 
> 
> View: https://youtu.be/c4XxUWcZeJs



I have wondered, and I still don`t understand it................


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## snorri (8 Oct 2019)

smutchin said:


> Wonder no more. I mean, doesn't this just look like sooooooo much fun?


Yeah, great fun, did it for years, until I hit my teens. Or was it from the day my mother said you'll be washing your own clothes from now on?


Sorry, couldn't resist.


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## DRM (13 Oct 2019)

View: https://youtu.be/CF3yMhFarFc

This video is proof that Belgium isn’t going to let other countries take over Cyclocross anytime soon, chapeau to Sven Nys for giving something back to the next generation


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## Richard A Thackeray (13 Oct 2019)

I used to race CX
Did it for quite a few years, first on an MTB, then a real CX bike
(ie; no bottle-bosses, no mudguard eyes!!)

Riders now use MTBs & gravel bikes too

It's damned good fun, if cold/muddy/wet
It teaches excellent bike handling skills, that can translate onto the roads!
You might come round a corner & (due to traffic?) have to ride over gravel/horse-sh*t/diesel, invariably the CX-er will stay on the bike, & a less able rider slides down the road

Also, it's a damned hard (level 3 - 4) workout for an hour!!

Only problem is, you might get hooked


Coincidentally, I was in East Leeds, watching a CX this afternoon!
The_ Jonathon Noble Memorial Cyclo-Cross_
(organised by Seacroft Wheelers)
Temple Newsam.

https://yorkshirecyclocross.com/tre...-jonathon-noble-memorial-cross-temple-newsam/

Here's a few pics...















I bumped into my friend Sarah, who was riding her recently purchased ('pre-owned') Boardman
Something told us, that the previous owner didn't ride it off-road, let alone compete on it...


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## Richard A Thackeray (13 Oct 2019)

Also, at Temple Newsam, & the same 'memorial event
*Circa 1993*
At that time, they used the other side of the estate, in Avenue Woods





*Maybe 1994 - 1995??*
_Silcoates Scramble_
Wrenthorpe
(Wakefield)
The 'real' CX bike, an ex Paul Milnes/Bradford Olympic team issue (653 frame/forks)
Later wrote off, by the guy who bought it from me, at the Three Peaks *CX



2008*
Oakwell Hall
(near Cleckheaton)
New Club colours




Whitechapel School
Cleckheaton
(near 'Chain Bar'.... jct 16/M62)
Possibly my muddiest CX, having to pedal down a 1-in-3, to keep going!!




'Summer Season CX'
A school at Huddersfield



*2009*
(the same) Memorial CX, at Temple Newsam


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## dan_bo (13 Oct 2019)

Didn't have the energy to take any more pics today. NWCCA @ Beacon.


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## Levo-Lon (13 Oct 2019)

I quite like a mud bath when its just terrible, such good fun but it has to be on an MTB for me. 
I dont get CX bikes to be honest..


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## Spartak (18 Nov 2019)

Competed in my first CX race this season yesterday at Lockleaze in Bristol ..... A real mudfest after the recent rain... 👍

Great fun on a challenging course....


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## LeetleGreyCells (18 Nov 2019)

My kids race CX and on Saturday did their 8th race of this season. 5 more to go. The kids never fail to finish a race with huge grins on their (very muddy) faces. The two downsides are 1) for we spectators who inevitably freeze while standing watching; 2) I end up washing both bikes when we get home. 

Last week, a chap from our club entered his first ever race (45 minutes). He said he got home, washed his bike and then slept for 12 hours straight through


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## Spartak (18 Nov 2019)

LeetleGreyCells said:


> My kids race CX and on Saturday did their 8th race of this season. 5 more to go. The kids never fail to finish a race with huge grins on their (very muddy) faces. The two downsides are 1) for we spectators who inevitably freeze while standing watching; 2) I end up washing both bikes when we get home.
> 
> Last week, a chap from our club entered his first ever race (45 minutes). He said he got home, washed his bike and then slept for 12 hours straight through



My eldest daughter takes part most weeks and enjoys it once its over... 🤔 my youngest ( 6 year old ) is now taking part too but is a bit more selective in her race choice.... Has to be a flat course and dry conditions !


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## iandg (18 Nov 2019)

Raced CX until I was 15 then stopped as a junior. Approaching 60 now, I'm tempted by local races


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## palinurus (18 Nov 2019)

iandg said:


> Raced CX until I was 15 then stopped as a junior. Approaching 60 now, I'm tempted by local races
> 
> View attachment 493346
> 
> ...



These are great!

Ahead of the curve with the 1x transmission there (and chainguides in the middle picture)


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## iandg (18 Nov 2019)

palinurus said:


> These are great!
> 
> Ahead of the curve with the 1x transmission there (and chainguides in the middle picture)



My dad got me the chain guides made in a Lucas factory workshop. Took in a chainring to get the correct diameter and BCD 

edit - 1x5 with chainguides a common set up in the 70s (I think I rode 45 x 14-28)


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## dan_bo (18 Nov 2019)

iandg said:


> Raced CX until I was 15 then stopped as a junior. Approaching 60 now, I'm tempted by local races
> 
> View attachment 493346
> 
> ...



Great facepulling as well. You should have been an '80s cock rock guitarist.


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## palinurus (18 Nov 2019)

iandg said:


> My dad got me the chain guides made in a Lucas factory workshop. Took in a chainring to get the correct diameter and BCD
> 
> edit - 1x5 with chainguides a common set up in the 70s (I think I rode 45 x 14-28)



I ran 1x9 with a chainguide on the outside (and a dogfang inside) for quite a while- still do essentially since I use the 'cross bike for a bit of off-road riding and for commuting if it snows. I can't be arsed to go outside and see what cassette is on it but I know the front chainring is a 41 because when I changed the double setup I was looking through my bits box for something around the 42-44 mark and thought 'why on earth have I got a 41T chainring?'


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## Spartak (18 Nov 2019)

iandg said:


> Raced CX until I was 15 then stopped as a junior. Approaching 60 now, I'm tempted by local races
> 
> View attachment 493348



The guy behind you has forgotten his bike...


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## iandg (18 Nov 2019)

Spartak said:


> The guy behind you has forgotten his bike...


Cyclists vs Harriers


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## raleighnut (18 Nov 2019)

iandg said:


> Cyclists vs Harriers


In that case he's forgotten his Aeroplane.


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## Spartak (1 Dec 2019)

Great CX at the Western League race in Oldbury Court, Bristol this morning. 

Ex U23 CX World champion Evie Richards even took part..... She won... 😉


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## Beebo (23 Dec 2019)

Even the BBC are reporting the cyclocross. So you know it must be bad. 
The course looks a little muddy!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/cycling/50880633


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