[Closed] Why isn't cyclocross more popular?

You know there's a summer evening race series in Bristol? If not then it kind of proves what I was going to say - that publicising it is part of the problem.

I think it's a bit of a circular thing. When there's a big entry field it's more fun as there is generally someone to race against (this is doubly so for women, my girlfriend hardly races any more as she's not enthused by the idea of riding round a park by herself for 40 minutes).

There's also an uncomfortable truth element - a lot of mountain bikers think they're fitter and faster than they are, and don't want to pay £10 to have their arses handed to them by a bunch of roadies.

I like what the Rollapaluza guys are doing with the Muddy Hell race. Proper atmosphere, a fun unconventional course and a spectator-friendly event rather than a bunch of blokes slogging round a wet field. Not to detract from the hard work of the guys who put the local events on, but a few more trimmings could see it becoming really popular.

I live in bristol and notice swindon have some evening night races which seem really cool.

I'd highly recommend you do at least one round of the series. It's and excellent series on a fantastic little track. 🙂

It's XC racing with the horrible bits turned up to 11 and the fun bits removed, on bikes purpose built to be rubbish. No ta.

Only half kidding btw- I've got a cross bike, I enjoy riding it but cross racing is for masochists and lunatics.

is the answer "it's for roadies who want to be different and arn't actually competitive on a road bike"?

For clarity: I don't beleive this, I overheard it in a conversation on the interwebs

Or alternatively:

[s]cross[/s] racing is for masochists and lunatics.

There's clearly a market for it though, as evidenced by the massive popularity of Strava, and I'm much more excited by the thought of racing head to head on a closed marshalled circuit than wondering what corners of my local trail I can cut to win a little pixellated cup.

I did 3 cross races last winter and absolutey loved them. Yes i wanted the last lap bell to ring urgently but once it was finished i was properly grinning! Have done a load of road races this year and didn't enjoy 1 of them!

I did know about the summer series (a bit late). Also saw the vid fro the muddy hell and that looks awesome. I friggin love night riding and to race and night would be awesome.

I'd love to get a few of the bristol clubs together and chat about a night race.

It was actually Chas (thurman merman) that first got me into a cross race about 5 years ago at a -2 ashton court 🙂

Used to do a lot of it but I got sick of thrashing myself round the edges of playing fields in the rain.

There's clearly a market for it though, as evidenced by the massive popularity of Strava, and I'm much more excited by the thought of racing head to head on a closed marshalled circuit than wondering what corners of my local trail I can cut to win a little pixellated cup.

Exactly. and that's what I love about cross. You always seem to be racing for position. There's always someone behind and smoeone in front. Not like road racing.. you get dropped and you're out!

Chas is a good bloke, I haven't seen him at a race recently though!

There are quite a few race organisers round Bristol so the experience is there, it's just getting everyone to work together and expand the horizons a bit. We nagged and nagged one organiser to put on a race as part of the first Bristol Cycle Festival, didn't hear anything back from him, and then it turned out he'd run one in Victoria Park (sadly with a fairly low turnout).

Are you in a Bristol club mr agreeable?

Yea. chas gave it up a while ago. He never really wanted to do any road racing and after trying it for a couple of seasons I can see why.

I know a few from bristol RC, bristol south and my club (VC Bristol) are keen on cross this year. I think the turnout is going to be a lot more. Might have a word with a few in the club about putting on a race and what it involves. We put on a road race every year

is the answer "it's for roadies who want to be different and arn't actually competitive on a road bike"?

For clarity: I don't beleive this, I overheard it in a conversation on the interwebs

Maybe 🙂 I just hate the non racing and tje time it took up. Also the crit races where everyone rides around in circles and there's a sprint at the end. I just found them boring

I normally race in Las Vegas Institute of Sport colours, so at risk of offending Clubber I'd say I'm not part of a "serious" club. We do have a bit of event organising experience and I'm sure there are plenty of members who'd love to help out.

We spoke to Blaise Castle about putting on a race there a while back and they made positive noises, but it would have been inside quite a limited area. I don't think we have any BC-licenced officials either although I might be mistaken.

Now this looks good (yes, i know it's poncy rapha

[url= http://www.rapha.cc/super-cross?locale=UK&utm_source=buffer&buffer_share=a065b ]Rapha supercross[/url]

You know there's a summer evening race series in Bristol

You know there's a summer / autumn series in Leicester.
Tonight !!, i'm off there now 😀

http://bikeraces.wix.com/beaumont-summer-cross-series

so wait a minute you get a road bike and race it round a field?

that sounds amazing, to think ive been wasting all my time trying to get to places like the alps

^
Yes but you've got more chance of pulling at a cyclocross race.

(May be a lie)

2 leagues around the north east neccl and cxne both get 50+ during winter. I'd race through summer if it was on. Safer and more accessible than crit racing on open roads.

If the terrain were available I'd prefer xc though in a similar but more technical format

Exactly. You don't need to whack your £3k bike on top of your audi and mince/faff around in some car park for ages. You can race down some local park, enjoy battling for position.. oh and did i forget to mention the pain and taste of blood in your lungs

A few reasons.
You don't get many cross specific racers here, and a good few are racing road through Spring and Summer.
Also someone has to do all the work i.e finding venues, doing all the BC stuff, getting marshals etc. What percentage of those that race ever help in any way?
Cross dates would clash with the road and XC.
Most racers I know, like myself prefer to race road and MTB Spring Summer, and race cross over winter.
And Kimbers don't start, we're talking cheap hour long races, where we race other folk. We can't nip off to the Alps three times a week to race.

We drove all the way to London for Muddy Hell and I wasn't disappointed. Something like that locally would be ace.

Are the Bristol races still on ???

1) it seems i'd need a cyclocross bike
2) i haven't got a cyclocross bike
3) the courses do look a bit dull, and everyone seemed to get off and run/walk the interesting bits
4) i reckon i'll buy a cyclocross bike and find out for myself...

We can't nip off to the Alps three times a week to race.

People have been fed a fantasy image of mountain biking - all dust, endless singletrack and huge mountains. Whereas your average UK ride or race is far more like this:

and everyone seemed to get off and run/walk the interesting bits

That'll be the [i]cross[/i] in cyclo cross

[url= https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events?fromdate=23%2F08%2F2012&todate=&hc=3&region_id=1&distance=&postcode=&zuv_bc_discipline_filter_id=4&zuv_bc_race_category_id=&zuv_bc_licence_discipline_id=&series_only=0&keywords=&resultsperpage=20&series_id=&submit=Search ]Bristol series dates[/url]

The BC website doesn't make them easy to find; apparently we're in the South, not the South West. Oo-ar.

Thanks Mr A

It's hard.

It's hard.

The Gloucester club run quite a few events as well.Not that far to go.

Cross is now huge, I've been "racing" since 93 and it's suddenly gone big.
Kimbers - I've seen you in Brentford on your shonky Kona - just put your big shorts on and come and race at Minet Park at the end of September. You can ride there and back, and while you're at it you can buy me a pint at The Fox on the way home.

I did a few cross races last year and really enjoyed them but damn they are hard to be competitive in. In CX theres like 40 and i'd be bottom 10 for sure where mtb theres more riders of similar speed.

I dont know how youd go about attracting more novice riders but probably starts with the courses being more interesting

My other beef with CX is that when you look at some euro and US races the races look preety good, sand, barriers, some running etc

some of the races i've done down south have had zero sand, zero barriers, zero running, and mostly around fields

I'll be trying to not come last again this year though, great workout

It's massively popular up here in the North West. Regularly have 100+ fields and I think there are 14 rounds of the NW league this season. Also massive fields in the Yorkshire league.

oh and the other thing that just slightly anoying is that whilst im prety much central to where the wessex cx are, the majority of them are still over an hour away, so being not so fast and driving longer than im racing is a little off putting.
Rant over, i sound like a whiner.

Now get your asses to cx races down south please, i want to race in a 100+ field, that would be carnage 🙂

You need to come to [url= http://www.yorkshirecyclocross.org.uk/ ]God's own country[/url]. We have a winter and a summer season series ... it's great and not just playing fields.

There's also the 3 Peaks (entries closed now, try next year), Hell of the West and [url= http://www.mytriclub.co.uk/mills-hills-sportive-14th-october/ ]Mills Hills[/url] which promises to be great.

Not quite sure why I love cyclocross so much - it hurts *a lot* but when it's fast it's very fast and it makes me giggle.

Probably because CX races are too hard for most people (especially the weekend warriors on this forum) at 55 I think it's too late for me to give it a try 😥

at 55 I think it's too late for me to give it a try

Bollocks is it. I'm regularly battling with Ian Small in the NW League and he's in his 70s 🙂

So basically a cross country race carrying a bike?

Is he on medication for high blood pressure?

So basically a cross country race carrying a bike?

Courses nearly always have a tricky feature. And I thought hurdles were compulsory? And I might be wrong, but I think that sand has to be a natural feature of the course.
I think CX gets it bob on.
ap didn't we have over 180 at Hillingdon?
As for 55 being too old....bolios. I'm only 52, 53 after the last race and I love trying to hang on.

For the London/ South East people...[img] [/img]
[url= http://www.vcl.org.uk/cross/ ]http://www.vcl.org.uk/cross/[/url]

Up to 100 riders at most Nw cx races.14 rounds (10 of them consecutive!) is more than enough for me.It takes 9 months just to recover to start all over again!!

It's getting big in 'merica. Lots going on in the winter round here (SF).

especially the weekend warriors on this forum

Clover - Member

You need to come to God's own country. We have a winter and a summer season series ... it's great and not just playing fields.

There's also the 3 Peaks (entries closed now, try next year), Hell of the West and Mills Hills which promises to be great.

Not quite sure why I love cyclocross so much - it hurts *a lot* but when it's fast it's very fast and it makes me giggle.

I've done a few of these each summer for the past three years, mainly as a bloody hard training session. I just fit some rigid forks and some Schwalbe CX Pro tyres to my mtb and make do. There's always a few mtbs in the field, although there's a very distinct disadvantage if it's sodden/muddy. In the dry I'm usually lower mid-pack as the disadvantage lessens. School playing fields are the usual venue, so you get to see more of the long jump pits than I ever did whilst doing PE!! If you check out the results sections you might spot that a well-known (around these parts), Todmorden-based mtb magazine editor likes his regular cx fix too....

Lol I would but I don't want to get my road bike dirty 🙂

As for the strava digs - plenty of racers do it, better than just thinking you were faster.

I'll push myself to big XC events (1-2 days) for the achievement but apart from that it's gravity for me. Off for mini dh this sunday 2 tracks BBQ (no uplift) for about £15 can't complain (weather not included)

you being a sponsored pro 'an all....

Yes, I was sponsored in the past, how did you know?

well we have ridden together Dibbs, though some years ago now, so it's quite conceivable i would have known.
sorry, i just get a bit sick of the 'you lot on here' statement. maybe the stereotype fits too well? i certainly can't ride for shit. put it down to me being tired and emotional. 😉

plenty of racers do it, better than just thinking you were faster.

Strava's been debated to death, but let's just say that if you're fast over 45 minutes you'll be fast over 5 minutes too.

1) it seems i'd need a cyclocross bike
2) i haven't got a cyclocross bike
3) the courses do look a bit dull, and everyone seemed to get off and run/walk the interesting bits
4) i reckon i'll buy a cyclocross bike and find out for myself...

Er.. no you don't need a cross bike. In theory any bike. I've seen some old boy on a tourer with a pannier rack riding around the field

If you check out the results sections you might spot that a well-known (around these parts), Todmorden-based mtb magazine editor likes his regular cx fix too....

Not just that, he also organises the Tod one (next one December 30th). It's all his fault that I'm a believer...

Probably trailed around in your wake a few times Sanity Assassin as I am proud if I get above lower third - I managed six of the summer series this year.

I think I do it because I don't try that hard or go that fast under any other circumstances and I think it's made me go faster in general.

crotchrocket - Member

is the answer "it's for roadies who want to be different and arn't actually competitive on a road bike"?

For clarity: I don't beleive this, I overheard it in a conversation on the interwebs

The guys I know who Cross can regularly knock out 21 min or faster 10 mile TT's and do all sorts of (road) racing. Age ranges from early 30's to mid 50's.

I've never done a cross as a) I'm too lazy, b) I don't have the requisite competitive spirit and c) don't want my legs ripped off and shoved down my throat for 60 mins of 'fun'.

considering this:

The guys I know who Cross can regularly knock out 21 min or faster 10 mile TT's and do all sorts of (road) racing. Age ranges from early 30's to mid 50's.

and other comments much along the same lines, it seems i need to add a point 3b) to my earlier comment...

3b) it does sound like i'd have my ar53 handed to me on a plate

Cross seems very popular to me at the moment. Fields have been getting larger and larger. It's a really good way of racing because you can go your own pace and with the fact that it's in laps you are always involved.

The downside is that it's a day out for an hours riding round a park.

1). Generally the races are when it's cold or wet or both
2). They are very well publicised
3). A lot of people don't enjoy the direct competition thing (as in don't think the popularity of Strava is an indication of how many competitive people there are out there)
4). A lot of the courses are pretty dull (especially on an MTB)
5). To be competitive you have to train specifically for it (as in high intensity stuff)

I used to race cross in the off season as a junior but never really enjoyed it, mostly due to 1 & 5 above. At that age anyway I found it difficult to have fun at a race unless I was vaguely competitive (as in not getting lapped all the time), might be a bit different now if riding one with mates (and the ones where there's short-cuts involving alcohol are especially appealing).

I think point 1 is what ultimately limits the sport more, although it doesn't stop the Belgians I guess (although they don't have many other options :p ).

Why isn't cyclocross more popular?

Or killing puppies? Or smashing your balls with a hammer? Or riding road bikes off road? Oh...

CX - work of the devil. Want to ride off road? Buy a mountain bike.

Rode MTB for last 12 years, bought a road bike 4 years back, and then built a cheap cross bike up as a little project. Done 2 races recently at Hetton, got absolutely blitzed by old & young. Just great fun, welcoming people, £5 to ride, good singletrack course which varied every week. I'm 43 and never raced owt in my life, just a challenge to see how I get on, reckon I'm hooked already. Try it!

Most of the sports I enjoy are run out of a village hall or gazebo in a cold field - cross country, cx and fell racing - and I rather think that's the way I like it. Few quid to enter, most of the money handed straight back as prizes. Fell racing even has a constitutional aim not to make itself more popular. How un 21st century is that?

In answer to the OP because it hurts like hell, similar to cross country running so is avoided by the vast majority!

I on the other hand love cross country running and racing through mud until my eyeballs pop 🙂

Fell racing even has a constitutional aim not to make itself more popular. How un 21st century is that?

Yup, long live the FRA 🙂 There rationale is that anyone who wants to be cold, lost and exhausted on the edge of a cliff and enjoys it will naturally find their way to the FRA and join.

CX - work of the devil. Want to ride off road? Buy a mountain bike.

that's the thing.. I do.. but if i want to race xc then i'd have to travel quite a way. xc racing isn't as accessible as cx i'd say. The fact you can set up a course on a local park is bonus for me.

I disagree that you need to be fit to enjoy it. I did my 1st cx race a few years ago and the field was made up of all types of guys and gals. Came 20th i reckon and was still grinning at the end of it. Did some road racing the following year and did another cx race and came 6th. Still the same level of enjoyment

tricky il be doing the hengrove races untill i get a car next year and can get to the others,got my tricross built up last month tis great fun at a/c and really get some wierd looks going on from other riders that dont understand what u really can do on a cross bike
oviosley as with any new toy its getting more use than my mtbat the mo but its just nice and easy to ride there get muddy and ride home on
really looking forward to my first cx race 😀

I enjoy cyclo-cross racing. Having bought a cross bike last year and ridden a few races I will be back for more this year.

It is not mountain biking, it is more akin to road circuit racing, but on more interesting off-road terrain. A hard workout and great fun.

Anyone in the Wilts/Hants/Oxford area should give the Wessex Cyclo-Cross races a go. A nice mix of courses, all events well organised.

[url= http://www.wessexcx.co.uk ]Wessex CX Website[/url]

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