Cyclocross - CX and SSCX races and training

Great race @Incredibly_Cross, it was my second go at a cross race which was pretty testing since my last race was years ago. I'll definitely be attending the other rounds :)

@MarkEE what's going on in the Cyclopark?

The East Kent CX at Discovery Park was pretty awesome. Fast tarmac sections with high speed hops up and down kerbs, mega offcamber banks and 3 dismounts per lap with some tricky running sections, it was very similar to some of the Belgian stuff. Good prizes too.
I highly recommend making the journey when it comes up again.

You neglected to mention that you won.

It was my kind of course. Close racing for the top 3, it was my race-craft rather than fitness that did it.

Never take a trackie to a sprint.

Well done.

http://www.londonxleague.co.uk/2015/07/round-10-sun-29th-nov-2/

Hey you got a pic of me!

So it turns out that doing CX on a slick-tyred road bike is HARD. Had loads of fun though. Sorry for anyone held up by me - when I wasn't sliding over the track, I was battling against the mud stuck between my wheels and brakes/frame/forks.

Ace

One of the more 'interesting' LL courses. And I mean that in a good way.

Bring mud tyres. That is all.

I'd recommend adding toe studs to @Howard's list of Cyclopark necessities. I spent a lot of last year's race slipping down banks. Probably won't be as muddy this year though.

No hard feelings at all, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what was going on, bar the whole not being able to hear much and lack of peripheral vision..

Inphota has posted a MASSIVE gallery of pics from Round 2 on Sunday, check them out here...

http://www.inphota.com/albums/incredibly-cross/

The results from my race on Sunday have been posted and there's two bits of good news to come out of my abysmal performance.

1) I didn't come last. Some guy managed to clock a 25 minute lap, most likely due to a mechanical and ended up coming in behind me in the results.

2) Despite riding a like a quadriplegic tortise with emphysema, due to the low turn out this is technically my best result in the league. I'll be ditching that bad result from when I felt I was doing well but everyone and their mate turned up to race.

if I run a narrow wide chainring do I also need to run a chain catcher? I don't have a clutched rear mech.

No. I've been running an Absolute Black wide narrow chainring since February without a chain catcher or a clutched rear mech. I'm tempting fate, but so far it's been entirely faultless.

lovely, thank you

Yep - just ride it around, hop off some curbs etc, see what happens.

I've ridden trail centers on the MTB with the clutch turned off, no chain drops.

But I have noticed the amount of chain wrap - short cage vs. long / med cage - plays a part in keeping the chain on.

More is better?

Yes :)

Gutted I missed it :(

Thought tumble drying my Northwave Hammer CX was a great idea, but it wasn't. I am normally a EUR 46 / UK 11 / US 12, but these are now slightly too small (probably a 45-45.5). I will sell them for 30gbp if you fancy...
Not my photo, but I can take some tomorrow.

I'm sorry, but I laughed.

:-)
London house standards makes shoe drying difficult and slow.

Stuff 'em with newspaper

Take the insoles out first