JBV Coaching/ProBikes CX Clinic – Review
Justin Deardorff shares his experience at the Fulcrum/JBV Coaching Cyclocross clinic sponsored by ProBikes. Enjoy Justin’s report and stay tuned for a couple more in the next few days.
by Justin Deardorff
Roughly twenty-five riders collected on a breezy autumn morning to get schooled in the ways of cross’ by Coach Chris Mayhew and the guys from Pro Bikes. It was a perfect day for a clinic, and the assembled crew ranged from the mid-teens to the mid-fifties, with an assortment of spandex to match the varied age range. I had heard of the clinic from discussion started in the “Pittsburgh Crossers” Google group; really my only link to the world of CX. I followed the link, read the description, and decided it was time to stop shaming my cross’ bike by trying to ride road with it and to let it get a little dirty. I hoped to learn about the mysterious race discipline in the process, as it seems the only way one learns about cx is from those experienced with the sport; a sentiment echoed by Coach Mayhew himself.
We kicked off the clinic with a session on re-mounts, and I found myself staring at the right leg of our coach, wondering what lotion he had applied that left a chalky white appearance, and wondering why he only applied it to his right thigh and knee area. After a few attempts mounting my own bike, I quickly realized that it was a lube of some sort, because my right thigh was on fire from seat chafe! Tip #1 acquired.
Next, we proceeded on to dismount techniques and the 3-points of contact method for riding with one side clipped out. The dismount proved to be trickier than it appeared, and there were several of us who ended up going for a tumble in the upper field at Frick Park. Being completely new to cyclocross and coming from a cross-country MTB background, I found myself to be a far cry from proficient in any of the skills.
Once we had the dismount and re-mount down, barriers were added the equation. This allowed us to test everything together in sequence: dismount, run up, barriers, remount, pedal mash! I think everyone in involved saw a noticeable improvement in their skills and Coach Mayhew and a few of the guys from Pro Bikes were watching the whole time, critiquing form and offering suggestions for improvement.
The clinic wrapped up with a mock-starting line and several group sprint starts. “In cyclocross, you get your dessert at the beginning,” is how Coach Mayhew put it. The sprints were a fitting end to a fantastic Saturday morning session. Peppered in between each technique review were Q & A sessions and tips and tricks from those who had been riding cross’ races for years.
As the session came to a close, I could see that people were eager for more, but we were warned that despite the fun, we had put in a solid workout. All in all, for $10 and a t-shirt, how could you go wrong? Thanks to JBV, Chris “don’t do this or you could DIE!” Mayhew, and Pro Bikes for putting on a fantastic clinic. I’m officially hooked.
