Grand County Living Magazine - Survey of Cyclocross: The Key to Grand County’s Backdoor

SURVEY OF CYCLOCROSS
THE KEY TO GRAND COUNTY’S BACKDOOR
By Cyril Vidergar / Photo by Carter Photographics

Diagram of an entry level cyclocross bike. Click photo to see a larger version. Bike photo courtesy of www.bikesdirect.com

The Belgian-born and dominated sport of cyclocross is a cross between forest trail riding and running (while carrying your bike). Cyclocross today is an art in evolution. Emerging as an off-season training activity for European road racers, cyclocross has taken off as a decisively separate sport.

The art in motion is defined by the international bike racing body, the UCI, as: “a discipline run on 2.5 to 3.5 circuits, including clearings, roads, country lanes and paths through forests. The riders have to do several laps of the circuit over a period of no more than an hour. To make their way along steep paths, muddy tracks and artificial obstacles, sometimes the riders even have to carry their bikes.”

Keith Sanders on a cyclocross bike

Keith Sanders on a cyclocross bike. Thinner knobby tires and lighter weight makes this bike perfect for riding dirt roads.

Not surprisingly, local mountain bike guru Keith Sanders has developed a name for himself on the state cyclocross circuit as well, currently racing for Justin’s PB-Chipotle-Titus team. “The American Cycling Association (ACA) held junior cross camps here at the YMCA for a few years. Cyclocross could be another sleeping giant for Grand County; the style of bike is perfect for riding county roads,” Keith notes.

The bones of a cyclocross bike were long stuck in a dated road bike ideal, based on principals from the era of the first Cyclocross World Championships in 1950. Bottom brackets positioned for higher ground clearance, long fork rake, and rigid frames with basic seven to eight gear clusters were common (see diagram). The introduction of composite materials in elite road racing began to trickle down into cyclocross around 2003, and today most bikes are nearly identical to high-end road bikes in geometry and composition. Today’s “cross bike” is a hybrid made for two attributes: speed over rough terrain and resilience without weight.

Rich Adams, a Pennsylvania crossbike builder notes, “the (cyclo)cross bike is a rare breed; a winter trainer, a mud racer, a mountain bike and everything in between. Expect great performance and durability whether on a grueling training regimen or a long rough commute.”

The ACA will bring back its junior cyclocross camps to Snow Mountain Ranch this summer, along with a local race, picking up the tradition ACA started in 2000. Local cyclocross-discipline/training guru, Dave Zink, has also incorporated “cross” into his personal training regimes. With renewed attention on cyclocross, Grand County may yet find itself with another alter ego: “Cross County.” You heard it here first!

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