Dirty Deeds Spooky Cross : 2nd of November 2013

The Dirty Deeds Urban Cyclocross series for 2013 finished in style with the second annual Spooky Cross race. The end of season event has fast become known as a great party to say goodbye to the Cyclocross season for another year, costumed racing is encouraged with a 50% discounted entry fee for any one sporting a costume at registration, $5.00 instead of $10.00. Considering that some events entry fees are in the hundreds these days this is a refreshing change back to the affordable racing that I remember when I was young. This also encourages people to give this magnificent sport a try even if they feel that they will be off the back of the race, just to be out there amongst it and absorbing the atmosphere. 

The race format for the Spooky Cross races is somewhat different to most Cyclocross races too, this year we had a short (ten minutes) scratch race followed by another short handicap race for all of the race divisions. These were followed by a relay event, two people racing on one bike taking turns each lap, this was some of the most entertaining racing I have ever witnessed. Riders are encouraged to match up with another rider who is of a very different size to them so that the bike ends up being comically oversized or undersized, great to watch but not so fun to be the rider on a bike that's too big for you. The transition area was one of absolute carnage as riders finishing their lap would come flying into the transition area way too fast for them to be able to get off their bike smoothly to pass it onto their partner. This lead to many comical pile ups and tangling of bikes, to everyone's credit though there was nothing but smiles and laughs all around. The relay event was followed up with the main event, the Brunswick Cycling Club Dirty Deeds Cyclo Cross Single Speed Cyclo Cross World Championships or "BCCDDCXSSCXWC" for short. This was another short race but this time with only one gear, for the single speeders exclusively. Again, another fun looking race, I may need to invest in a single speed cross bike for next year...

The two best Cyclocross riders in this country, Allan Iocuone (National Champion) and Lewis Rattray (Australian Cyclocross World Championships representative) sharing a moment over a beer mid race.

Relay transition area.

So, at the end of the day it was all a bit sad to think that we will need to wait till next winter before we can  do this all over again. But I did manage to talk some more people into trying the sport out next season. Whether you have a Cyclocross bike or not you can still race with us and have a great time in one of the open category races on any bike you like, the more inappropriate the better. In the mean time I plan on organising some rides through the bush this summer that a Cyclocross bike would be perfect for, keep an eye out on our Facebook page and Twitter for details, all are welcome.

- Brad.

Sycacross #3 : 1st of September 2013

Just a quick post to keep you up to date with the events I have been attending, this past weekend I went to the third round of the Sycacross Cyclocross series. This series is being run by the good folk at Whittlesea Cycling Club who are doing their best to promote all aspects of cycling in the Whittlesea area. They are holding all of their Cyclocross events at the Sycamore Reserve in Mill Park, this park features a BMX track that they have made good use of by incorporating it into the Cyclocross course.

We rode a full lap of the BMX course, albeit it backwards, on the cross bike. Great fun, although when riding the wrong way around a BMX track you will find that the track doesn't flow all that well. However, considering the alternative, this was a good choice by the organisers. Going the right way around the track would mean riding some fairly steep kickers that would have been difficult on a cross bike. After our BMX lap, we went around the outskirts of the track starting with a barrier jump followed by three logs that could be ridden if you could manage to hop your bike over in time. 

Then some nice reducing radius turns through some trees and a dip down to a gully where you had to hold as much speed as possible to get back out the other side and dodge some rocks that were hiding well in the grass. This lead to the longest "climb" of the course, this got harder and harder each lap, where you also having to contend with the headwind as you changed direction. A few more sharp turns and we went into a tight 180 degree turn up a hill, a spot for many a stalling rider. 

We then headed down a descent into the wind where you needed to pedal to keep any speed up,  before a left hand bend that lead into a hay bale barrier and the one big water feature of the course, a very deep, very stinky mud puddle.  This is where some spectators had set up a pole hand up, a hand up is when a spectator hands a racer something during a race. Usually something to drink or eat, beer, water, cash, whatever, but when attached to the end of a pole the racer HAS to go through the centre of the puddle to reach the hand up, crowd participation at it it's best.

The last round of the Sycacross series is being held on the 29th of September, they have classes for everyone from kids to hybrid to mountain bike riders and of course cyclocross riders. Come out and give it a try and support a cycling club that is doing their best to support the local cycling scene. Even if you come out just to spectate and heckle it is all appreciated and you will have a great day out at the same time. See you there.

- Brad

Trek Crockett 5 Disc Review

Any one who has read one of my blog entries or talked to me in person will know just how much I love the sport of cycling and of all the different aspects of the sport my absolute favorite has to be Cyclocross. I have been following the sport since the 1990's and got my first Cyclocross bike in 2002. Back then the major players in the bike industry did not bring a Cyclocross model to the country so the only way you could get one was by importing one yourself from the USA or Europe. Needless to say, you never got to see too many cross bikes out and about back then. 

Fast forward around a decade and almost all of the major bike industry players have a cross bike to offer the Australian consumer, a lot of them offering 3 or 4 models. The Cyclocross bike is a perfect bike for a lot of people. You can use it for racing Cyclocross, commuting, touring, bike track riding, rail trails, light duty mountain bike trails and you can put a set of road tyres on and use it for your favorite road ride as well. I have used my cross bikes for all of these and more. 

For 2014 Trek have expanded their range of cross bikes, in 2013 they signed a number of big named Cyclocross riders to their "Trek Cyclocross Collective" team. Probably the biggest name of these was Katie Compton, 2013 World Cup overall winner. Katie is well known for being a very meticulous rider, wanting her bikes to perform flawlessly and has worked with Trek to help them develop this new range of cross bikes for 2014. The bike that Katie rode last year was a prototype of the Crockett that is now available to us mere mortals. The geometry of this new platform is completely different from previous years cross bikes and should lead to a bike that handles the rigors of Cyclocross even better than the Cronus and Ion from last year.

Trek Crockett 5 Disc 

I was lucky enough to receive one of the first Crockett's available in Australia, good timing too, I got it the week before the National Cyclocross Championships and the final round of the Dirty Deeds Cyclocross series. A weekend of cross racing to break in a brand new bike, sounded good to me. 

Nice clean lines with no brake at the top of the fork.

I got to take the bike out for a quick spin before the first race, not nearly long enough but it gave me an idea of what to expect. The geometry of this new model is more in line with the Trek road bikes than their current range of cross bikes. This leads to a quick handling bike that is still stable through the corners and at speed. Standing up and stomping on the pedals results in an immediate response at the wheel, very efficient and stiff without having an overly harsh ride quality. The new frame is made of Trek's Alpha 200 series aluminium, their top of the line alloy material. 

I love a nice new shiny cassette. 

The alloy frame no doubt contributes to the stiff and efficient ride quality. The frame is also set up to run the gear and brake cables internally to keep them out of the mud and help reduce wear to the cables caused by being exposed to the elements. The carbon fiber fork is the same as the fork they designed for their Domane road bike. This IsoSpeed fork has been designed to offer good vertical compliance for the bumps but still be stiff laterally for steering precision. The backwards facing drop outs mean that the fork will handle like a straight blade fork but with the comfort of a raked fork. This along with Trek's patented E2 tapered steerer system makes for a stiff and yet comfortable ride. The frame also comes equipped with the Trek 3S integrated chain keeper which stops the chain from bouncing off the crank set to the inside, handy considering the rigors of cross racing.

The parts attached to this frame are reasonably modest but I think are a good choice for cross racing. Cyclocross is notoriously hard on components and having cheaper parts means that when the inevitable breakage does happen it isn't too much of an impact on your wallet to get the part replaced. This also means that the bike has a recommended retail of only $1,999.00, not too bad as a way to try out Cyclocross.  The bike has mostly Shimano 105 parts with an FSA 36/46 Cyclocross specific crank set spinning in a press fit BB86.5 bottom bracket. Avid BB5 mechanical disc brakes, post mount, with 160mm rotors handle the stopping duty. The wheels are an in house Bontrager set with 135mm rear hub spacing and are tubeless tyre compatible. 

The package comes together nicely; the new geometry and stiff frame works in conjunction with the Cyclocross specific build to make for one very impressive Cyclocross race bike. The handling of this bike is rock solid, with lower US style bottom bracket height and a longer top tube you end up being in a long and low riding position that really helps to put the power down and maintain stable handling. The disc brakes help with confidence in that they will start braking straight away when you apply them, not having to get rid of a layer of water and mud off of the brake surface before you get any friction. The 36/46 chain ring combination matched to a 12/30 cassette makes for a very usable gear range for its intended purpose.  I found myself staying in the big ring for longer and also using more of the cassette while in the big ring which allowed for a straighter chain line, this is great for helping to reduce wear. 

The handing of this bike is going to suit a more aggressive rider who has the ability to push the bike to its limits, when you get to those limits though it feels very secure and stable. The aggressive geometry allows for a very quick handling bike, very responsive to input from the rider. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing depending on your skill level. If your inputs are the right type of inputs then you will get great results, if those inputs are wrong though the results might not be so pleasing. Quick changes of direction, a staple of cyclocross racing, are perfectly handled by the Crockett. High speed corners are another place this bike shines, you would normally expect a fast handing bike to be less stable at speed but, like Trek's road bikes, this is simply not the case. They manage to bring the best of both worlds together for a ride quality that is hard to understand until you have ridden one.

I have got to say that I am impressed with the new Crockett cross bike, fantastic bike for the money. Having Trek's proprietary technology designed into a cyclocross frame has definitely helped create a bike that is perfectly suited to it's intended use. Given the price point of under two thousand dollars the weight of the bike is quite reasonable and if you spent some money on upgrading the wheels you could bring the weight down quite a bit. You could pretty easily take half a kilogram off the weight of the bike right there. As a first timers cyclocross bike you really couldn't ask for a better package, good quality parts without being overly expensive, built in versatility with the hidden fender mounts, good consistent braking in wet or dry conditions and the famous Trek handling has carried over as well. Well done again Trek, very pleased.

- Brad.

Dirty Deeds #2 : 11th of August 2013

It has been a while since my last entry here, so let’s visit the last event first, the Dirty Deeds Cyclocross round two on the eleventh of August. This event was held at Darebin Parklands in Alphington. This was held the day after the National Cyclocross Championships and would be the first event for the newly crowned 2013 National Cyclocross Champions, Lisa Jacobs and Allan Iacuone. 

Personal commitments and an accident that destroyed my Cyclocross bike kept me off my wheels for a month. I got my replacement bike built before race day but my first ride was actually at the National Championships on Saturday, (the less said about that event the better), so hardly an ideal preparation. 

Upon arrival at Darebin Parklands, I was struck with the usual sight of a massive line for registration followed by the not so usual sight of a fly over in the middle of the course.

Fly Over

Fly Over

This is a fairly regular addition to courses overseas but it is the first time I had seen one here in Australia. The course was the usual work of art that the crew at Dirty Deeds are now famous for, excellent use of the available elevation and great use of the existing track network.

Just after the start of the course we were sent through an increasingly soggy section of grass / mud that led into the one barrier on the lap. This section got to the point that I was sinking almost to my ankle as I got off to jump the barrier, tough. We  then ran over to climb the stairs up the fly over, remount at the top and fly down the ramp, Woo Hoo! After the fly over, we went around a couple of off-camber corners before dropping down a hard pack track full of rocks. Holding your speed through this section meant a great lead in to the next descent which led into the biggest mud pit on the course.

Probably the best place to spectate and heckle from, there was a huge crowd there and each lap I was going harder and faster into that mud pit. This seemed to keep the spectators happy; the bigger the splash, the bigger the cheer. This lead into an off-camber left hand bend that saw most riders drifting and/or crashing around, great fun! 

 Mud Pit

Left Hander after the Mud pit

After coming around that corner we went around a few hairpins on the flat before climbing our way back up away from the mud pit. This lead into a tight right hand turn on a climb that lead to a quite a few more interesting stalls and crashes and another hot spot for the crowd. A few more turns and we started heading up again past the pit area, a fairly gentle climb but on soggy grass that was very bumpy meant it was tougher to ride than it probably looked. Then we went along a nice hard pack section of dirt, ah relief, before coming back into the start finish area to go and do it all again, Yay!

This event marked the first Cyclocross event for a friend of mine and it was fantastic to see him racing with such a huge smile on his face.  

First Time Cyclocrosser

I have managed to convince a few people to try Cyclocross out now and am pleased to say that everyone who has tried it seems to agree with me about just how much fun this sport is. It is a very special type of pain that you go through in these events, you learn a lot about yourself and what your body is capable of.

You also remember why you ride your bike in the first place, to have fun! Slipping and sliding around in the mud and just generally doing all the things you have been told to never do on a bike you remember what it was like doing these things as a kid.

I think that anything that helps you connect with that side of your personality is a good thing. When you see the smiles on the faces of the other competitors even though you know that they are in pain, tells you something about just how much fun this sport is. 

Well that is it for now, until I write about the next event, get out there and try something new, something different just to see if you will enjoy it. As they say, don't knock it until you have tried it.