Getting started

[flatclimb]

Hello,

I grew up mountain biking by following after my Dad who rode to and from work every day. Got my first Norco Mountain Bike at 7 or 8 and rode it everywhere (loved going through deep mud in back alleys in the spring). In my early teens got inspired by shore riding and rode a hardtail til the end of high school and built trails with friends. Then Road biking looked interesting so I started riding a lot again and joined a club. I feel like I've pretty much been everywhere except for Cyclo Cross. To be honest at the beginning I thought it was silly and looked like a b*stard child from so many different types of riding. But now I've been intrigued to figure out what it's all about.

Where do I start? Would I need to pick up a new bike? Other than wheels are the bikes any different from a road bike?

If money's looking good I would like to start next fall.

 

[DirtyWorks]

The bike is a little different than modern bikes. Higher bottom bracket and more room between the stays/fork blades.

80's road bikes that need the longer caliper/center pull brakes are good candidates if you need to go cheap. Peugeots were great for this.

If you've got a parts box of stuff, Nashbar has a ~$100 frame that will do just fine.

A new bike from an OEM will run about 2cm smaller. For example, I use a 54cm road frame and a 52cm 'cross bike. On the very high end, 'cross bikes fit wildly different than road bikes. I tried a 50cm Ridley (not OEM) and found it a bit big.

Just go and do it. No one is going to ding you for bringing something that does the job like a mountain bike or an old road bike.

Simon Burney's book must be some kind of all-star reprint by now: http://www.amazon.com/Cyclocross-Training-Technique-Simon-Burney/dp/1934030058

 

[fatandfast]

most of my races are 45-60 minutes. The most improvement I have seen came from running(30-45 min) and doing sprints..I did 50 yards sprints..in sets of 4 and I was pretty toast after the 4th one. The only thing I can tell you is practice your dismount..like until you are blue in the face..when I started most battles were between me and my bike. The other strange thing about the discipline is the fast start..you have to be able to go full throttle for a while..and get paid back on other parts of the course. It's kind of like when you first start doing TT's you go out way,way to fast get anerobic after you just started and then you try and settle down and it's hard to restart the race after 10 minutes into it.In cross you have to be able to go at about 110-130% for the first lap and then settle down. Most guys are exploded by then and by the time they find any rythm they are 3 minutes back..Also there are lots of videos (youtube,ehow) that are super helpful..

 

[flyor64]

One pointer I've seen many times is that most local (and even some regional) races will allow you to race a mountain bike at first to see if you are indeed interested in pursuing the sport.

Could save you a boat-full of cash if it turns out not to be something you're in to...