CycloCross
Origins and history

There are many stories about the origins of cyclo-cross. One is that European road racers in the early 1900s would race each other to the next town over from them and that they were allowed to cut through farmer's fields, over fences or take any other shortcuts in order to make it to the next town first. This was a way for them to stay in shape during the winter months and put a twist on road racing. In addition, riding off road in more difficult conditions than smooth pavement increased the intensity at which the cyclists were riding and improved their on the road bike handling abilities. Daniel Gousseau of France is credited as having inspired the first cyclo-cross races and organizing the first French National Championship in 1902. Géo Lefèvre, the originator of the idea for the Tour de France, also played a key role in the early days of the sport.
The sport began to spread to countries bordering France, Belgium organized its first National Championship in 1910, Switzerland did so in 1912, then Luxembourg in 1923, Spain in 1929 and Italy in 1930.

Cyclo-cross proved itself as a sport extending beyond the boundaries of France when in 1924 the first international race, Le Critérium International de Cross-Country Cyclo-Pédestre, was held in Paris.
Like many international cycle sports, CX is administered by the Union Cycliste Internationale; although it wasn't until the 1940s, around 40 years after cyclo-cross' inception, that the UCI began its regulation and the first world championship was held in Paris in 1950.

Cyclo-cross began to become popular in the US in the 1970s.

Cyclo-cross began to become popular in the US in the 1970s and in 1975 the first US National Championship was held in Berkeley, CA. The Surf City race series held in Santa Cruz, CA holds a lot of history of cyclo-cross in the US. Portland, Oregon hosts some of the largest events in the country.

Racing Seasons
Typically a Fall and Winter sport, the season starts in September and runs until February with World Championships occurring in late January. Because a season spans two calendar years seasons are often referred to as both years that they span; such as the 2005-2006 season, as simply saying 2005 could imply late 2004-2005 or early 2005-2006 (this is less of an issue outside Europe in countries such as Canada and the US where the national championships happens in November and December respectively and racing tapers off dramatically after that). Due to the placement of World's a rider's cyclocross racing age is always one older than their road racing age.

Equipment

Bicycles
Cyclo-cross bicycles roughly resemble the racing bicycles used in road racing. The major differences between the two are that cyclo-cross frames have wider clearances, knobby tires, cantilever brakes and lower gears. Also, a heightened bottom bracket was typical 10+ years ago; now many cyclo-cross-specific frames do not have elevated bottom brackets. Many cyclo-cross bicycles are setup with a single chainring and chain "drop" guards. This helps to eliminate problems with shifting due to mud and grime build up during racing.

Our line of Cyclocross Bikes

Jamis "SuperNova" $1925.00
The Supernova is made of super lightweight Kinesium tubing with a flattened top tube to ease portaging, top mounted derailleur cables to keep them clear of the mud, carbon seatstays to provide comfort so you have some pop in your legs for the final minutes, and a replaceable derailleur hanger when you bite it. It’s a World Cup level frame and spec package that’s race-ready the minute you roll it out of the store.

Jamis "Nova" $1300.00
The Nova is fully competent on the cyclocross course, but often sees use as a hardworking off-season training bike thanks to the tempered ride and feel of Reynolds 631 steel. Generous mud clearance between the stays and fork blades means lots of room for oversized tires and fenders. A Shimano 105 drivetrain puts performance where it counts whether you’re contesting the weekend ’cross series or trying to beat the traffic on your winter commute.

Raleigh "RX 1.0" $1199.00
Raleigh hits the trail for 2007 with the RX1.0, a versatile bike that can handle racing the cyclocross circuit, commuting, touring, or anything else you throw at it. The butted aluminum frame is decked out with an Easton full carbon fork and a killer parts kit. You won't find a better cross bike for the money.

Cyclocross Group Rides

Marlin, "SuperDave", Steve Turner and "Butch" come back from a mudfest

Steve proudly displaying his mud encrusted Teesdale

Our Standard Tune-up ($50) includes a wash. It sounds strange, but as a bike washer I like seeing a bike this dirty. It shows it's beeing used correctly...Andy.

Our Custom shop Cyclocross Bikes

Steve Turner just found out he's bringin' home one of our custom Raleigh Cyclocross bikes.

"SuperDave" built up this "totally custom" Jamis NovaCylocross bike with his own components on a new Reynolds 631 steel frame.
Reynolds 631 air-hardened chromoly actually gains strength in the weld zone area, instead of losing it like all other welded material, allowing Reynolds to draw this tubing thinner, for a lighter, stiffer frame with outstanding "feel". Heat treated cro-moly rear stays and investment cast dropouts

Marlin with his new custom built Jamis NovaCylocross bike

"Butch" seen here envisioning a Campi triple on his forever evolving Tom Teesdale

Clothing
Clothing is similar to that of road racing. However, since cyclo-cross is a cold-weather sport there is an emphasis toward warmer clothing such as long sleeves, tights, knickers and arm and leg warmers. In the warmer races there is a very strong preference for skinsuits for maximizing freedom of movement. The other advantage of skinsuits is that they are tighter, preventing the jersey from getting caught on stray tree branches during some singletrack sections of the race course. Mountain bike shoes are adopted, as they allow the competitors to run, unlike their road racing counterparts and their degree of traction (compared to smooth bottoms found on road racing shoes). Toe studs are used to aid in running up steep muddy slopes and in the adverse underfoot conditions.

Courses
Races almost universally consist of many laps over a short course, ending when a time limit is reached rather than after a specific number of laps or certain distance; the canonical length for senior events is one hour. Generally each lap is around 2.5-3.5 km and is 90% rideable. Races run under UCI rules must have courses that are always at least 3 m wide to encourage passing at any opportunity, however sections of singletrack are common for small races in the USA and Great Britain. A variety of terrain is typical, ranging from roads to paths with short steep climbs, off camber sections, lots of corners and, a defining feature, sections where the rider may need to or be best advised to dismount and run whilst carrying the bike. Under-tire conditions include asphalt, hardpack dirt, grass, mud and sand. In comparison to cross-country mountain bike events, terrain is smoother. Less emphasis is put on negotiating rough or even rocky ground with more stress on increased speed and negotiating different types of technical challenges.
Each section of the course typically lasts no longer than a handful of seconds. For example long climbs are avoided in favour of short, sharp inclines. Sections are generally linked together, or long straights broken up, with tight corners. This not only allows a standard length course to fit in a relatively small area, but also forces competitors to constantly change speed and effort. Accelerating out of corners, then having to decelerate for the next before accelerating again is a common theme.
Obstacles that force a rider to dismount and run with their bike or to "bunny hop" include banks too steep to ride up, steps, sand pits and plank barriers. Besides the start/finish area, these obstacles may be placed anywhere on the course that the race director desires. Several race directors have tried to limit bunny hopping by placing barriers in pairs or in triple (although under UCI rule no more than two barriers can appear in succession), however this hasn't stopped some of the best bunny-hoppers from getting over them. The regulation height for a barrier is 40 cm although this is treated as a maximum at smaller events. Plank barriers seem to be more common in the US than in Europe and UCI regulations only permit one section of them on the course.
Since outside assistance is allowed, pits are included to provide a consistent area for this to occur. A pit to the right of the course is normal since most rides dismount to their left. In larger events a separate pit lane is featured so only those wishing a new bike or other assistance need enter the lane (this type was debuted at the Zeddam, Netherlands World Cup of January 1999). In some cases pits are provided in two different parts of the course.
An exception to this short course format include the Three Peaks, a 61 km single lap race held annually in Yorkshire.

Technique
Although courses are often less technical than those of mountain biking, the particular obstacles require specific technical abilities of their competitors. Steps, barriers, ditches, stairs, steep slopes and deep mud or sand require running whilst carrying the bicycle. This approach was invented by Octave Lapize and proven by Eugene Christophe who in 1913 had to carry his broken bike down the Tourmalet during his win of the Tour de France. Although this sounds simple, doing so in the middle of a quick-paced race is difficult. Being able to dismount, pick up the bike, put it back down and remount smoothly and quickly without losing any speed requires a huge amount of practice and skill. However, the best cyclo-cross racers in the world, and some top-level local competitors, make it seem effortless.
A more recent development to overcome obstacles such as barriers and sometimes ditches is the bunnyhop which began its popularity in 1989 when Danny de Bie used it to his success in becoming World Champion. Bunny hopping is less popular today due to race directors setting up barriers two or three in a row to limit its use. Although, several skilled riders are still able to do so despite the back to back to back barriers.

Here is Jeremy Powers with the "bunny hop" in the Friday Night Lights Summercross at the New Jersey State Fair.

Copyright © 2007 Niantic Bay Bicycles