Interested in Racing Cross?

[mfarnham]

Lots of people in the club race cyclocross each Fall. It's a totally different culture from road racing (more welcoming and silly) and is particularly inviting to newbies of all ages. When I race, my goal is not to get lapped, and while I don't think I've ever achieved that goal, it's a ton of fun anyway. And there are several bonuses that come with it. 1) It's a great full-gas workout that's over quickly and is a nice way to change up your training; 2) You develop a better sense of balance on the bike; and 3) You develop a greater comfort with how to handle your bike through slips and slides and on rough surfaces. All of these yield benefits to your road riding. And it's stupidly fun.

I'm just posting this to put a few resources in one place on the forum for people who might be interested in giving it a try.

Victoria Cross Club is the most informal way (short of a Rolf-guided trail ride) to get into Cross. They have not posted their 2019 schedule yet.

[EDIT] Here's the 2019 link!
https://raceroster.com/memberships/3999 ... cross-club

Cross on the Rock is a Vancouver Island race series, which has races in Victoria and all up the island. Here's the Cross on the Rock schedule for 2019: http://www.crossontherock.com/races/

You may have heard that Cross involves rapid mounting and dismounting and carrying of the bike over obstacles. If you find that intimidating (it's not if you do it as slowly as I do) Broad Street Cycles holds an annual clinic to teach basic Cross techniques. I've done it and highly recommend it: https://www.broadstcycles.ca/cyclocross ... pt-23rd-2/

For more on morning Tripleshot cross rides, see http://www.tripleshotcycling.com/2018/0 ... on-gifing/ .

And of course, don't forget to sign up for the Tripleshot CrossFondo, which has some elements of a cross race, but is more of an overland adventure over local trails, including usually inaccessible private property. https://tripleshotcrossfondo.ca/

Enjoy and ask around at coffee if you're cross-curious.

Martin

[mfarnham]

I went to the first Broad Street Cycles clinic last night, and it was great. Really well run, with good instructors who broke things down nicely for us and then gave everyone some individual attention during repeated drills. About half the attendees (both instructors and students) were women. Almost everyone was a beginner at cross (only a handful of the 30 or so there had raced cross before). There were a couple Women's Clinic graduates there. Current Tripleshot folks who were there included me, Amy Errington, Mary Griffin, Andrew Neale, Todd Hatfield, Ron Schouten, Mark Ashby, Celeste Wang, Jessie Planeta, Wayne Lackner, and Glenowyn and Shawn on the instruction side. I may be missing some.

We covered running dismounts and remounts, lifting the bike over obstacles, and shouldering the bike. All things that can significantly improve one's time and especially confidence in a CX race.

Oh, and local cycling star Rob Britton was there giving tips too!

If you missed last night, that's OK, because the instruction offered last night will be repeated next Wednesday evening. And those who went last night will be offered new instruction at the next level. So something for everyone, including people with experience who want to brush up on skills.

Super fun and a great example of the welcoming ethos of cross racing.

http://www.broadstcycles.ca/cyclocross- ... pt-23rd-2/

Cheers!
Martin

[shawn]

I'm glad you enjoyed the first session, Martin! You flatter me by labeling my enthusiastic cheering as "coaching"

Session 2 is tonight and for those who don't know, it's being held at my home, 4017 Prospect Lk. Rd., just between Munn and Burnside.

Anyone needing to arrive by car is welcome to park along the edge of the large field beside the driveway.

Shawn