Cyclocross
Biking With Attitude
While cyclocross doesn’t garner large television audiences or even a stable of celebrity athletes to promote the sport, it is one of the fastest-growing segments of bicycle racing in the United States, according to USA Cycling.
Known by many names—CX, Cyclo-X or ‘cross—cyclocross is a form of bicycle racing that started in the early 1900s in Northern France and Belgium. According to the USA Cycling website, www.usacycling.org, competitive cyclists confronted with long, cold winters and difficulties in training on city streets took to the parks and off-road trails to continue their workouts to ensure top performance when road races returned with warmer spring weather. The idea was to meet a group of friends or competitors to race off-road on wooded trails, across open fields and through park trails from one town to the next on a typical touring bike.
What started as a way to train in adverse conditions now enjoys a growing fan base. According to the website for the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the international governing body for cycling, championship races in Europe draw in excess of 10,000 spectators. While the sport doesn’t draw the same attention in the United States, the numbers are increasing rapidly.
“It’s had a unique and almost ‘cult’ following, but ‘cross is becoming more mainstream as the popularity continues,” said Andy Lee, director of communications for USA Cycling, the national governing body for competitive cycling. “Currently, the United States has more internationally sanctioned cyclocross events than any other nation in the world.”
Hundreds of large and small races can be found from Florida to Oklahoma and Washington, D.C., to California. The season runs from September to the end of December with races taking place practically every weekend. Nationals are held in the United States in December with World Championship races in Europe in late January. The U.S. Gran Prix (USGP) of Cyclocross, a six-race national series, determines the USGP champions who will receive automatic USA Cycling World Championship berths each year. In December 2007, Portland, Ore., hosted the USGP for the fourth-consecutive year.
“The United States is now considered a legitimate cyclocross nation given the number of world-class events and the success of American riders internationally,” Lee said.
American athletes have won three world championship medals since the international federation began a world championship format in the 1950s. In 2007, U.S. riders Daniel Summerhill (Junior Men), Katie Compton (Elite Women) and Jonathon Page (Elite Men) doubled the United States’ total medal count over the past 50 years by winning world championship medals. Compton is also the No. 1 women’s cyclocross competitor in the world.
According to USA Cycling, the number of cyclocross participants is growing. Last year, almost 40,000 people registered to race in cyclocross events in the United States. That number rose from 17,000 participants in 2004. The 2007 nationals drew close to 2,000 participants and featured races in junior U23, collegiate, master, elite and professional classes. “It’s by far the biggest and most prestigious cyclocross race in the United States,” Lee said.
Cyclocross doesn’t have a “signature” event like the Tour de France, but it does have its celebrity participants. Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong regularly competed in cyclocross races for off-season training for major road races.
What Is Cyclocross?
“Cyclocross can best be described as a marriage of road racing, mountain bike racing and steeplechase,” Lee said. “It’s biking with attitude. The bikes most closely resemble road bikes, but have special tires and modified components that are specific to the terrain and conditions of a ‘cross race.”
Events are usually held on closed courses with the majority of the course covering grass, trails or obstacles. A typical course includes several man-made or natural obstacles that require a rider to dismount the bike and climb stairs, carry the bike over barriers, or run with the bike through otherwise impossible terrain.
Adverse weather; wet, sandy, muddy conditions; cold temperatures; and snow are often unique elements of a ‘cross race as well.
Cyclocross is considered one of the most demanding types of bike racing because it requires speed, agility, mounting and dismounting techniques, physical power, and running while carrying a bike. Riders don’t draft or coast in this extreme event, Lee said.
Because of the many obstacles in terrain and the nature of the course in both on- and off-road courses, stronger riders generally move ahead of the pack, creating a gap between all riders in the field.
“One of the challenges our sport faces is the intimidation factor of mass start races,” Lee said, “but our events are separated by categories, so riders of the same experience and talent levels compete together.”
| SPORT Report
• Number of USA Cycling clubs nationwide: 2,157 clubs in 2007
• Number of participating athletes: 44,764 male, 6,499 female
• Number of events annually: 2,472 events in 2007
• Number of new events added last year: 150
• Average economic impact on the host city: Varies among events, typically from $2 million to $15 million
• Targeted areas of expansion: Women (currently women represent approximately 15 percent of total membership), juniors and mountain bike membership
Contact: Andy Lee (719) 866-4867, alee@usacycling.org; www.usacycling.org
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Lee said USA Cycling sanctions many events across the country that feature beginners’ fields, and the endurance component at that level often results in a safer race environment without large groups entering technical sections or barriers en masse.
When a cyclist reaches a section with very steep hills or “run-ups,” he or she must dismount the bike. It’s common to see a rider pushing the bikes up hills or carrying the bike across the right shoulder as he or she scrambles up stairs or over wooden barriers that measure 18 to 20 inches high.
With bike in hand, the racer dismounts at full speed, runs over the barrier and quickly remounts the bike to continue the race. By forcing the rider off the bike, technical skills become either an advantage or disadvantage in individual times. Compared with other forms of cycling, cyclocross emphasizes both bike-handling techniques and endurance.
Riders are allowed to change bikes and receive mechanical assistance during the race. Professional riders often use a pit crew, but average cyclists might bring family members or friends to help clean the mud and muck off the bike and hold the spare during the race.
A cyclocross bike isn’t necessary, but bikes are built specifically for the sport. The ‘cross-specific bike is lightweight like a road bike, but the frame and the front fork are made stronger to handle the abuse of the rough terrain. The wheels are also stronger than road-racing wheels and are noticeably larger in diameter and have knobby tread patterns for extra traction.
Brakes on the ‘cross bike are similar to mountain bike cantilever brakes. A true cyclocross bike also has higher bottom-bracket clearance and wider clearance for the larger tires.
The equipment for cyclocross is the same as what is typical of all cycling events: “a ‘cross-specific bike with off-road wheels and tires and the same accessories you’d use for road cycling or mountain biking—a helmet, glasses, gloves, shoes, jersey and perhaps some cold-weather gear like a rain jacket/windbreaker, etc.,” Lee said.
Newcomers to the sport also find it possible to compete on a standard mountain bike, but, because of the weight, many beginners opt for the lighter-weight cyclocross bike, which is easier to carry on run-ups.
Fast FACTs
• Races are generally 1.5 to 2 miles long. Elite-level racers compete in hour-long races, while beginner- and intermediate-level racers may ride for 20, 30 or 45 minutes. The first two laps are timed and an average lap time determined. Each lap generally takes five to seven minutes.
• Cyclocross is raced in all weather conditions, rain or shine. At the 2005 nationals, near-blizzard conditions forced two races to be postponed, but inclement weather is what many athletes enjoy about the sport.
• Cyclocross courses are not typical, but they all include common elements. Rules state that 90 percent of the course must be navigable. When the terrain is too steep, riders dismount, sling their bikes over their shoulders, and then jump back on the bike to continue the race. The width of the course never measures less than three meters wide, and there is at least one equipment pit.
• Because of the short nature of the race and the narrow width of the course, it is important for racers to have a good start.
‘Cross-Crazy
The course for the 2007 National Championships in Kansas City was described as a challenging course for competitors, but perfect for spectators. The nearly two-mile-long course through Wyandotte County Park in Kansas City featured rolling terrain in the scenic setting of hillside oak and lakeside sycamore trees. “We wanted to make the course very hard,” said Race Director Bill Marshall of KLM Marketing Solutions. “Cyclocross is tough, no matter what. Our intention was to make this course both technical and fast.”
Marshall is no stranger to cyclocross. He’s staged several UCI races in the 360-acre park. He designed a signature element in a pair of back-to-back stair sections, each 40 feet long, that come about a quarter-mile from the finish line.
In this section, riders are forced to run up stairs, get on their bikes, dismount and run up a second set of stairs. Designers found the back-to-back stair sections crucial at the 2006 nationals in Providence, R.I. “They had two run-ups close to the finish. That makes it very interesting if it is a tight race,” Marshall said.
At the 2007 nationals, course designers wanted to ensure that all racers had an opportunity to move up quickly, so special attention was given to the start area to leave enough room for quick movement through the pack before the course narrowed.
“We tried to make it as close as possible to the start you would see on a UCI course,” Marshall said, adding that the course included a few turns to slow the racers and give others a chance to make up time.
One of the most exciting parts of the Kansas City race for spectators and cyclists alike was a section that passed close to a pond. Last time in Kansas, four-time Cyclocross National Champion Steve Tilford crashed into the pond during a race. Tilford recovered from the frigid plunge and came back to win, according to Marshall. “We’re officially naming that pond the ‘No Tilly Zone’ to recognize that feat,” he said.
The 2007 nationals in Kansas City drew almost 2,000 participants, compared to only 600 seven years ago when the last championships were held there and to 1,940 riders in the 2006 nationals in Rhode Island.
Organizers said the best way to learn about the sport is to attend an event. Races are usually held in parks so it is easy for spectators to watch the action or follow the competitors along the course. Admission is typically free of charge because events are held in public parks.
Courses are typically marked with police-type tape on either side of the closed course where the riders have a wide berth between the edges of the course and other riders. Several races in all categories, such as men, women, juniors and seniors, are held on the same course during the race day—making it possible for all age groups and genders to compete.
“As the sport grows, the opportunity to make a living from it will also grow,” Lee said. “Currently, most events, race series and riders are financially supported from industry sponsors, but there are a few major non-endemic sponsors of ‘cross racing. As big as it’s becoming in the United States, it’s still relatively small. Also, there is no gate and little television in the sport, so promoters earn their revenue primarily from local or industry sponsorship and race entry fees.”
Lee said when venue costs, operations, prize money, insurance, sanctioning fees and other incidentals are factored into the equation, most events are a “break-even endeavor.”
That doesn’t seem to matter to the ‘cross-crazy type, Lee said. “If you’re a competitive road cyclist or mountain biker, chances are you’ll love ‘cross if you give it a try.