Cyclo-cross

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:Cyclo doherty.jpgCyclo-cross (sometimes CX, Cyclo-X or Cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races take place typically in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is September-January), and consists of many laps of a short (2–3 km or 1–2 mile) course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles requiring the rider to quickly dismount, jump the barrier and remount in one graceful motion. Races for senior categories are generally between 30 minutes and an hour long, with the distance varying depending on the ground conditions. The sport is strongest in the traditional road cycling countries such as Belgium and France (and particularly so in Flanders).

Cyclo-cross has some obvious parallels with cross-country mountain bike and criterium racing. Many of the best cyclo-cross riders cross train in other cycling disciplines. However, cyclocross has reached a size and popularity that racers are specialists and many never race anything but cyclocross races. Cyclo-cross bicycles are similar to racing bicycles: lightweight, with narrow tires and drop handlebars. However, they also share characteristics with mountain bicycles in that they utilize knobby tread tires for traction, and cantilever style brakes for clearance needed due to muddy conditions. They have to be lightweight because competitors need to carry their bicycle to overcome barriers or slopes too steep to climb in the saddle. The sight of competitors struggling up a muddy slope with bicycles on their shoulders is the classic image of the sport, although unridable sections are generally a very small fraction of the race distance.

Compared with other forms of cycle racing, tactics are fairly straightforward, and the emphasis is on the rider's aerobic endurance and bike-handling skills.

A cyclo-cross rider is allowed to change bicycles and receive mechanical assistance during a race. While the rider is on the course gumming up one bicycle with mud, his or her pit crew can work quickly to clean, repair and oil the spares. Having a mechanic in the "pits" is more common for professional cyclocross racers. The average cyclocross racer might have a family or friend holding their spare bike (if they're lucky).

1 Origins and History
2 Equipment
- 2.1 Bicycles
- 2.2 Clothing
3 Courses
4 Technique
5 Cyclo-cross Championships
6 Notable Cyclo-cross Racers
7 References
8 External links

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Origins and History

There are many stories about the origins of cyclocross. 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. According to Konrad (1996) Daniel Gousseau of France is credited as having inspired the first cyclo-cross races and organizing the first French National Championship in 1902.

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 cyclocross' 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 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 cyclocross in the US.

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Equipment

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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 years 10+ years ago, now many cyclocross specific frames do not have elevated bottom brackets. Template:Details

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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 on getting caught on a tree branch during some singletrack section of the race course. Mountain bike shoes are adopted as they allow the competitors to run unlike their road racing counterparts and theyre 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.

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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. Courses consist of a variety of terrain ranging from roads to paths with short steep climbs as well as sections where the rider may need to or be best advised to dismount and run whilst carrying the bike. Obstacles range from banks too steep to ride up to man-made objects like steps and plank barriers that force a dismount or a bunny-hop. At times, these obstacles may be placed anywhere on the course the race director desires. Several race directors have tried to limit bunny hopping by placing barriers in pairs or in triple, although this hasn't stopped some of the best bunny-hoppers from getting over them. The regulation height for a barrier is 40 cm.

Exception to this short course format include the Three Peaks, a 61 km single lap race held annually in Yorkshire.

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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. Watching the best cyclocross racers in the world do this, they make it look much easier than it actually is.

A more recent development to overcome obstacles such as barriers and sometimes ditches is the bunnyhop which began it's popularity in 1989 when Danny de Bie used it to his success in becoming World Champion. Today Sven Nys, an ex-bmx racer, proves the importance of technical skills as he continues to dominate the sport.

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