Cyclocross - CX and SSCX races and training

Is there anyone out there who has £899 pounds and wants a Raleigh RX Pro (orange) size 54?

There's one going for that price at Blue Door Bikes in Crystal Palace....

where were Van Aert and Van Der Poel today?

Sweeping the course at bethel 😀

No spoilers dude :(

they were at the front...or were they...

(I meant why did they not start the race, not why didn't they race well)

Resting before the Superprestige tomorrow, I'd guess.

I'm assuming yesterday's rain was soaked up pretty quickly at Bethlem (the wood's around here were dry this morning) and it won't be a mudfest?

Was up there this afternoon helping prep the course.

It's not as dry as it was, but most of it is firm. There's a couple of muddy sections in the woods behind the football pitches, but they are a few metres long at most. The forecast for tomorrow is interesting though, as it looks like it's going to rain heavily from around 1130 to 1430, i.e. when we're racing. So it could cut up quite quickly.

nice, 6°C AND rain. Will dig out the neoprene gloves.

Any suggestions for racing in about -4 °C and snow? Seems that winter came early like in the days my mom talked about. For past 5 years we had here green/snowless Christmas and now overnight it is 20 cm of snow in Riga.

I think the advice is file treads and attempt to stay upright for as much of the race as possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0ZLdU_Ks74

I can't see file tread be less slippery than something mid aggressive like X-One's. But I will try both in order for race prep in local woods. Thanks!
Any other suggestions on clothing or riding techniques apart from obvious staying upright? :)

take a dry change of clothes/shoes and a towel

Looks like the rain is arriving later now, so we could miss it. Fingers crossed.

But I dug out the neoprene gloves last night too, just in case.

I've raced in snow twice, once when it was melting and once when it was that fluffy, dry snow (if you know what I mean). Both times it wasn't particularly slippery, apart from on a couple of corners where it got compacted as the race went on. It's not as slippery as muddy conditions, so you can still be aggressive in your cornering.

But I'd imagine if it's properly Baltic cold, then there would be ice underneath?

On clothing, I think when you're racing then you're working hard enough that you don't really notice the cold, so a tights, a base layer and a jersey with a hat and gloves is enough. As @fredtc says though, staying warm afterwards is key, so have plenty of warm and dry stuff to change into after the race.

Thanks alot! I think I will stick with tubeless x ones. File tread cx speeds on my winter bike had less grip even on pavement, maybe its up to tire pressure. Anyway.
It is not that cold at moment, just bellow -1 C but packed snow has tendency to turn icy in these conditions.

I did my first cross race today at Bethlem. It was bloody hard. The first lap went well, I started right at the back but made up probably 15 + places, but then when it came to the long back section I just absolutely died. I know I had too much pressure in my tyres, but even so I was bouncing along struggling to pedal while everyone else went flying past. I was getting lapped by the third lap and it only got worse from there. Also I hit a log and fell off.

Succes <3

#standard

You gave it a go though! Well done.

Sounds like a good Sunday

Falling off means you were trying.

Did you manage one good thing?
Mine was making the decision to get off, run the downhill and then uphill on the first lap. That or finish after I got lapped, by the people who finished second and third, right on the line. Didn't feel like racing after that.

I raced at Strathclyde Park today. It was a fast course, which felt fairly brutal on a singlespeed. There was a long climb on loose gravel (gravelbro, etc) and I walked it on the third lap as I felt cooked after doing a gazelle impersonation on the run-up. Cue my cleats becoming blocked with gravel - lots of kicking at the pedals. Took me half a lap to clip in. I didn't make the mistake of walking there again.

Did you manage one good thing?

I managed to ride up that second hill every time apart from my last lap which I was quite proud of. I saw some people running down the little hills but I'm not sure how much time it actually saved.

It was good fun but it's such a different kind of fitness. I'll happily race against cat 2's on road and track bikes but cx makes me feel like a novice again.

@sumo was that you in the lfgss skinsuit? I told you it was too nice to race cross in!

Nope @owlz twas me you spoke to. Managed to keep it dirt free.