Cyclocross Ride

was balmy again today like yesterday, so I saddled up the Jamis for a ride. Being early in the
season, and being unsure of my legs, I didn't want to venture too far from home, so I find my rides
these days less the daylight-burning point-to-point rides of the summer than meandering up a variety
of hills and rises in town. Mapped, they would probably look like one of Billy's errands in "The
Family Circus."

There is a little-used network of gravel trails in my town, stretching for about five miles or so,
interconnecting with a county-maintained trail. I've always been kind of sniffy about most
recreational trails, as they tend to meander. But being in a meandering mood, I decided to explore
some of the gravel trails here in my town.

I pulled my bike off the main road and onto the trails. It was the middle of the day, and I shared
them only with a few good-natured dog-walkers and birdwatchers. Some went uphill, some went down,
some were level. All were hardpacked dirt or sand or gravel. My 32mm tires did fine, and I
discovered a positive to my considerable on-bike bulk: excellent traction uphill. Mostly in the
middle ring. Heard birdsong, saw cardinals. Jarred my way through to the end of state maintenance
and decided to see just how far I could go into the improvised trail that went into the woods.

Not far at all, it seemed. Mud here was deep--all the way to the spoke nipples--and smooth tires
don't grip too well in those conditions. Many dismounts. No running: CX racers have the benefit of
knowing the course. I had no clue where I was. I should have known I was in for trouble when the
only tracks I saw were dog prints and 2.5 inch tires. I thought briefly of the mountain bike at the
pawnshop, and thought better of it--too many bikes already.

I turned for home and did a few hills. Maybe with a surfiet of enthusiasm.

Fourteen miles on the day. There will be more miles on other mornings. I'm still getting the muck
out of my drivetrain. And the soreness out of my legs. And the smile off my face.

-Luigi

In article <[email hidden]>, luigi12081 @cox.net says...

Quoted message said:

was balmy again today like yesterday, so I saddled up the Jamis for a ride. Being early in the
season, and being unsure of my legs, I didn't want to venture too far from home, so I find my
rides these days less the daylight-burning point-to-point rides of the summer than meandering up a
variety of hills and rises in town. Mapped, they would probably look like one of Billy's errands
in "The Family Circus."

There is a little-used network of gravel trails in my town, stretching for about five miles or so,
interconnecting with a county-maintained trail. I've always been kind of sniffy about most
recreational trails, as they tend to meander. But being in a meandering mood, I decided to explore
some of the gravel trails here in my town.

I pulled my bike off the main road and onto the trails. It was the middle of the day, and I shared
them only with a few good-natured dog-walkers and birdwatchers. Some went uphill, some went down,
some were level. All were hardpacked dirt or sand or gravel. My 32mm tires did fine, and I
discovered a positive to my considerable on-bike bulk: excellent traction uphill. Mostly in the
middle ring. Heard birdsong, saw cardinals. Jarred my way through to the end of state maintenance
and decided to see just how far I could go into the improvised trail that went into the woods.

Not far at all, it seemed. Mud here was deep--all the way to the spoke nipples--and smooth tires
don't grip too well in those conditions. Many dismounts. No running: CX racers have the benefit of
knowing the course. I had no clue where I was. I should have known I was in for trouble when the
only tracks I saw were dog prints and 2.5 inch tires. I thought briefly of the mountain bike at
the pawnshop, and thought better of it--too many bikes already.

I turned for home and did a few hills. Maybe with a surfiet of enthusiasm.

Fourteen miles on the day. There will be more miles on other mornings. I'm still getting the muck
out of my drivetrain. And the soreness out of my legs. And the smile off my face.

That last one will be tough <Grin>. Nice story!

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

There is a little-used network of gravel trails in my town, stretching for about five miles or so,
interconnecting with a county-maintained trail. I've always been kind of sniffy about most
recreational trails, as they tend to meander. But being in a meandering mood, I decided to explore
some of the gravel trails here in my town.

We've got something like this too, under the powerlines. Very steep hills.

Quoted message said:

Fourteen miles on the day. There will be more miles on other mornings. I'm still getting the muck
out of my drivetrain. And the soreness out of my legs. And the smile off my face.

I hope you keep the joy in your heart.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato and .net for .com

Home of the meditative cyclist:
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"To forgive is to set the prisoner free and then discover the prisoner
was you."

Quoted message said:

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

There is a little-used network of gravel trails in my town, stretching

Claire Petersky said:

We've got something like this too, under the powerlines. Very steep hills.

Around here, powerline trails might be overdoing it for a cross bike; they're very rough, including
deep puddles and mudholes that will submerge your bottom bracket and require MTB-fat tires.

The hills are the same, though. I wonder why power lines are always in the hilliest terrain
available...cheap land?
--
Rick Onanian

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Fourteen miles on the day. There will be more miles on other mornings. I'm still getting the muck
out of my drivetrain. And the soreness out of my legs. And the smile off my face.

I think that we've almost forgotten how cyclocross racing came into being - it was FROM these sorts
of rides and not the reverse.

Cyclocross racers these days aren't designed for the sort of riding that we'r talking about here but
really there's minimal changes to a CX bike to make it ready for this sort of riding.

I don't feel bad coming in from a ride with the bike almost invisible under a coating of mud. But I
sure wouldn't want to do that with my Colnago Super re-paint. The Atala is almost a perfect riding
cross bike.

On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 19:28:27 GMT, "Tom Kunich" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Fourteen miles on the day. There will be more miles on other mornings. I'm still getting the muck
out of my drivetrain. And the soreness out of my legs. And the smile off my face.

I think that we've almost forgotten how cyclocross racing came into being - it was FROM these sorts
of rides and not the reverse.

Cyclocross racers these days aren't designed for the sort of riding that we'r talking about here
but really there's minimal changes to a CX bike to make it ready for this sort of riding.

What sort of changes, curiously? Having only ever seen one honest cyclocross bike in the wild--
and that was an IF Cross I saw zipping through my town powered by someone who looked the business--
I'm curious.

From as much that I can gather, the difference between my tourer and a cyclocross racing bike is two
centimetres of chainstay length......

Quoted message said:

I don't feel bad coming in from a ride with the bike almost invisible under a coating of mud. But I
sure wouldn't want to do that with my Colnago Super re-paint. The Atala is almost a perfect riding
cross bike.

Never have anything so nice you'll never use it, I guess. Probably why I'll never buy a Leica, but
that's an entirely other hobby.

-Luigi

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What sort of changes, curiously? Having only ever seen one honest cyclocross bike in the wild--and
that was an IF Cross I saw zipping through my town powered by someone who looked the business--I'm
curious.

From as much that I can gather, the difference between my tourer and a cyclocross racing bike is
two centimetres of chainstay length......

And over-the-counter cross bike generally doesn't have a triple and has STI or Ergo shifting instead
of bar ends. While there's nothing wrong with the expensive shifting, they are pretty easy to screw
up while dodging between trees and falling down in mud. Bar-ends are cheap and reliable.

Quoted message said:

Never have anything so nice you'll never use it, I guess. Probably why I'll never buy a Leica, but
that's an entirely other hobby.

One of my Eddy Merckx's cost almost $4K and I can hardly bring myself to take it off of the hook. On
one ride I was coming down a hill really enjoying myself and I ran over a stone in the road that was
exactly the same color as the road. It broke both of my Campy Atlanta rims and cost me about $350 to
fix. Back on the hook.....

And yet I have two better bikes that cost a third of that (used) and which I have no qualms riding
though it would be very expensive to replace them.

So there is something to be said for us tightwads buying only used bikes.

"Tom Kunich" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have a couple of cyclocross bikes. A couple of week ago I rode one from South San Francisco over
to Pacifica and then back up over the dirt ridge trails. It's a LeMond Poprad but it only had a
single front ring. I'm putting a triple on it right now so I'm waiting for parts to come in.

My other 'cross bike is a world championship CX Atala. It has barend shifters and only a 7 speed
on the back but a good triple. It rides like

an

Quoted message said:

absolute dream.

This evening after I got home it was threatening rain in the sky but I wanted to get in some
miles. I pulled the Atala out and rode up the

street,

Quoted message said:

down to the shoreline trail and 10 miles down the trail to the trailhead

and

Quoted message said:

then came back. Over the paved sections the knobbies rode perfectly

smoothly

Quoted message said:

and when I hit the trail, whether it was muddy or drying from the last week's worth of rain, the
tires didn't even threaten to slip.

The trails ride along the shoreline but occasionally dodge inland a couple hundred yards or so
before going out again. The wind was cold but not too cold. I kept it in one gear for the whole
ride, probably a 39/25 or so.

The

Quoted message said:

idea was to enjoy the ride and not to wear myself out. I'm coming down

with

Quoted message said:

that cold that's going around and I don't feel like making it worse.

18 miles in a little over an hour and a quarter and I was back home. Sure beats the hell out of
sitting around the house after work.

Rides like this are something to look forward to! In cold months, before insects and vegetation
take over, my club has group trail rides like this regularly. This is a lot of fun and a welcome
change of pace.

I converted a 30-year-old road bike for this purpose. I bought a used MTB crank, derailleurs, and
cassette off e-bay and built wheels with Sun CR18 rims and LX hubs. I'm using Ritchey Speedmax tires
($15 at REI). The old frames allow clearance for the larger tires and are available cheaply. I
didn't put much money into the bike and it suits the purpose very well.

I plan to use it in summer months on unpaved, (but maintained), trails where the road bike
configuration will be comfortable and fast.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <[email hidden]>, Tom Kunich

Quoted message said:

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What sort of changes, curiously? Having only ever seen one honest cyclocross bike in the wild--
and that was an IF Cross I saw zipping through my town powered by someone who looked the business--
I'm curious.

From as much that I can gather, the difference between my tourer and a cyclocross racing bike is
two centimetres of chainstay length......

_ Bottom bracket is generally higher on a cross bike and angles are a bit steeper, minor
changes really.

Quoted message said:

And over-the-counter cross bike generally doesn't have a triple and has STI or Ergo shifting
instead of bar ends. While there's nothing wrong with the expensive shifting, they are pretty easy
to screw up while dodging between trees and falling down in mud. Bar-ends are cheap and reliable.

_ Buy a Surly Cross-Check, while it doesn't come with a triple the crank is drilled for it. All you
need is the 74 BCD ring ( get a steel one ) and a new front derailler. Less than a grand, frame will
last forever. A cross bike you aren't willing to ride in 6 inches of mud seems a bit useless to me.

_ Booker C. Bense

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<[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <[email hidden]>, Tom Kunich

Quoted message said:

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What sort of changes, curiously? Having only ever seen one honest cyclocross bike in the wild--
and that was an IF Cross I saw zipping through my town powered by someone who looked the business--
I'm curious.

From as much that I can gather, the difference between my tourer and a cyclocross racing bike
is two centimetres of chainstay length......

_ Bottom bracket is generally higher on a cross bike and angles are a bit steeper, minor
changes really.

Quoted message said:

And over-the-counter cross bike generally doesn't have a triple and has

STI

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

or Ergo shifting instead of bar ends. While there's nothing wrong with

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

expensive shifting, they are pretty easy to screw up while dodging

between

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

trees and falling down in mud. Bar-ends are cheap and reliable.

_ Buy a Surly Cross-Check, while it doesn't come with a triple the crank is drilled for it. All
you need is the 74 BCD ring ( get a steel one ) and a new front derailler. Less than a grand,
frame will last forever. A cross bike you aren't willing to ride in 6 inches of mud seems a bit
useless to me.

Actually, not on a REAL(tm) Cyclocross bike. Although I think that my LeMond Poprad has a higher BB
my Atala has a particularly low BB so that when you put 'cross tires on the BB is in the normal
road position.

I think I'll sell off the Poprad since the Atala is just such a cool ride even though it's a
meager 7 speed.

Luigi de Guzman said:

Quoted message said:

Cyclocross racers these days aren't designed for the sort of riding that we'r talking about here
but really there's minimal changes to a CX bike to make it ready for this sort of riding.

Quoted message said:

What sort of changes, curiously? Having only ever seen one honest cyclocross bike in the wild--and
that was an IF Cross I saw zipping through my town powered by someone who looked the business--I'm
curious.

Quoted message said:

From as much that I can gather, the difference between my tourer and a cyclocross racing bike is
two centimetres of chainstay length......

Booker covered the minor differences in geometry. A purpose built cross bike will also be a bit
lighter, since you have to carry it, and thus probably not as stiff under a heavy loaded-touring
load. The gearing is a little different but many people customize theirs anyway. Some people race
cross on converted old touring bikes (that's what mine is) so it's not that big a deal. A really purpose-
built cross bike doesn't have water bottle bosses, but unless you're a pro, that's vanity.

The cross racers I know don't have a problem riding 60+ miles over mixes of pavement, fire road, and
singletrack. I can't keep up with them on technical descents though.

In article 403c5596$1@darkstar said:

A purpose built cross bike will also be a bit lighter, since you have to carry it, and thus
probably not as stiff under a heavy loaded-touring load. The gearing is a little different but many
people customize theirs anyway. Some people race cross on converted old touring bikes (that's what
mine is) so it's not that big a deal. A really purpose-built cross bike doesn't have water bottle
bosses, but unless you're a pro, that's vanity.

The cross racers I know don't have a problem riding 60+ miles over mixes of pavement, fire road,
and singletrack. I can't keep up with them on technical descents though.

A 'cross bike is sort of the Swiss army knife of cycling, with any number of functions. If I'm doing
a road trip and don't feel like dealing with more than one bike, I take a Steelman Eurocross, a
couple of bottle cages and a pair of road wheels (or tires).

I just got back from a trip to Arizona, where I spent a few days riding a Eurocross with Michelin
tires (Sprint front, Mud rear) on the various trails and roads in McDowell Mountain Regional Park
outside Fountain Hills. I saw lots of mountain bikes, even a few full-suspenders, but boingy-boingy
bikes weren't a must-have item on the trails I rode. My low gear of 36x25 was plenty low enough for
the short climbs on a fast roller-coaster ride like the Pemberton Trail, and I never even had to get
off and run. You have to be a little more judicious on technical sections of trail, is all, unless
you enjoy visits to the ER.

When I lived in Westcliffe, Colorado, the 'cross bike was always my first choice. My favorite loop
blended a dirt private road, a couple of gravel county roads, a chip-sealed two-lane highway, jeep
tracks and horse trails.

The 'cross bike isn't perfect for anything but racing 'cross. Still, it's a damn' good all-rounder
for the guy who only wants the one bike but rides in a variety of conditions.

Cheers,

Patrick O'Grady Mad Dog Media maddogmedia.commaddogmedia.comOpen ↗