Here’s a link to the Cyclocross Calendar that every Pittsburgh ‘crosser needs to know about:
Rachel’s Cyclocross Calendar

More complete details coming soon.

Friday Aug 26th will start at 7p. We will cover all aspects of equipment and soft goods for cyclocross. Tires, brakes, gearing, wheels, shoes, gloves. Space is unlimited for this portion of the clinic, cost is $20.

Saturday will be at Frick Park at 9a. We will cover

• · Mounting
• · Dismounting
• · Carrying/Shouldering
• · Clipping in quickly
• · Exchanging bikes

This portion of the clinic is limited to 30 people. Cost is $20.

Cost for both days is $30.

Bikereg Registration:

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=14060

Facebook Event Link:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=240190166014647

-by Nina Wilczek
Cycling Fusion

My husband and I are both mountain bikers by trade but like most true cyclists we have come to learn to love all aspects of cycling. It was only natural that the evolution of our love of cycling had led us to cyclocross.

I had heard about cross here and there on Facebook and in various cycling magazines. I knew it had something to do with the cold, the mud and an hour or so of maximum effort, threshold riding. It sounded pretty insane, which is probably what draw us to it.

The only problem was, we knew nothing about the sport. So naturally we both immediately bought bikes and jumped right in. We watched YouTube videos on how do dismount, remount and leap over barriers. We practiced a few times down at the rail trail and built a few barriers of our own. We even did a grassroots cross race at a friends house as our intro to the sport.

What made it all really click though was the clinic that we took at Frick Park led by Chris Mayhew and Pro Bikes. The atmosphere was open and relaxed and from the start you could tell that these guys had passion. Not just passion for the sport but passion for helping others like ourselves so that we could come to love this maniacal sport as much as they do.

In just four hours, Chris coached us through remounts, dismounts, barriers and sprints. Chris had lots of stories to tell which kept it interesting and made sure to start with the very basics to break down any potential bad habits before they started. This was key for me, since I’m the kind of person that is always in race mode. I had to start slow in order to learn the basic mechanisms before I could go fast.

Those four hours flew by and before I knew it it was over. I couldn’t believe how much he was able to teach in such a short amount of time and there wasn’t a question that went unanswered. Chris’s enthusiasm and spirit is infectious and as a local Pittsburgh cyclist I am grateful to have people like him and others in the cycling community paying it forward, willing to devote their time and knowledge to newbies like me. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to do the same.”

by Bryan Routledge

Fall arrived and I finally bought myself a cross bike. It was nice to ride it on the trails and the change from the road bike was a relief. But, you buy a bike to race and cross, so I hear, is a blast to race. A quick-few instructional videos on Youtube and I am out the door to test things out. How hard can it be? One dismount and (ugly) remount later I am bruised, maybe broken. Fortunately, in my in-box is a notice that Chris Mayhew is hosting a cyclocross clinic. Maybe that will be a bit less painful.

On Saturday September 25 about 20 or so people gathered in Frick Park. The weather was perfectly sunny and crisp. The Pro Bikes team had a little tent set up with some free Hammer Gel and demo bikes. Chris opened with a quick description of the mount-carry-remount. Then we went through each element step by step. Walking and remounting. A little faster and remounting. Next up was a discussion of the dismount and the carry and onto the barriers. Since lugging the bike over the barriers repeatedly is a little hard on the chicken-skinny arms (perhaps that is just my view), interspersed was a nice discussion of bike stuff and bike set-up. Of particular interest was tire pressure. Apparently, the “max 75psi” on the sidewall of my tire is not a good guide. Who knew? We finished up the four hour clinic with a description and practice of a few starts.

The whole clinic was great and I was surprised when the time was up. The next day I was pretty sore from the lifting o’the bike. But was not bruised and/or broken from remounts. Progress. On to the races.

Thanks to Chris, Pro Bikes, and Brett Rothmeyer

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.

CyclingDirt.org and CrossVegas are excited to announce a first ever Live video stream from this years event on Wednesday September 22nd!

The Cyclingdirt “FanCam” will be streaming Live all night from points all along the course. If you’re not going to be in Vegas, settle down with your computer and catch all the best racing action Live, up close, like you were there.

CrossVegas and Cyclingdirt.org continue to push the envelope and bring cyclocross to new heights in North America.

CrossVegas race director Brook Watts commented, “This a great addition to the race. A lot of American cross fans are used to getting up at early hours to watch web broadcasts of great cross racing, I imagine we’ll have a lot of European fans staying up after bedtime to watch the biggest cross race in America.”

Join Pro Bikes and JBV Coaching September 25 for four hours of cyclocross skills and
drills. Sponsored by Blue Competition Cycles and Fluid Nutrition and Recovery, and
led by JBV Associate Coach Chris Mayhew, this intensive cyclocross clinic will benefit
riders of all levels. There is no better way to jump start your ‘cross season than attending
a clinic.

Date and time: September 25, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Location: Frick Park. 2444 Beechwood Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA. The address is listed for
directional purposes. Park on Beechwood Blvd. From there take the main road all the
way to the back of the park, we will be on the left. (Google Map)

To RSVP for registration, or if you have any questions, please e-mail Chris Mayhew at
chris-at-jbvcoaching.com.

Get ready for an awesome local cross season with Appalachian Bike Racing Association and race director JR Petsko.  JR has a knack for setting up some of the funnest, scariest cross (and road races) in the region. Thanks to JR and his tireless efforts, Pittsburgh/Morgantown has a selection of more than half a dozen local cross races, not including the handful of pittsburgh races set up by other promotors (Murrsyville cross, Raccoon Creek, etc)

• Race: Kickoff Cross, APCXS #1
• Date: Saturday October 2nd, 2010
• Location: Wayneburg, PA
• Registration: Bikereg

Q. Cyclocross racers typically run their tires at very low pressure compared to road or even mountain biking.  Why is that?

I’d argue road racers run too much pressure in their tires but I
suppose that’s an issue for a different website, huh?

Road bikes do not have and do not need suspension given the terrain
they ride on. MTBs have huge tires which are excellent suspension and
then of course most MTBs have suspension as well. On a cross bike the
only suspension is the tire. Also, if you haven’t noticed, most cross
tire treads are pretty lame. Part of that is by design [otherwise the
tire would have a lot of rolling resistance] and part of that is
tradition [mud tires are a fairly recent development].

The main way that most tires stick to the ground is by allowing  the
casing of the tire to conform to the ground. The goal is to get as
large a contact patch as possible while not pinch flatting or having
the casing roll in corners. The lower the pressure the larger the
contact patch and the more traction you get.

Q.  What is a typical PSI that you recommend for dry conditions? wet conditions?

That is a really common question but on for which there is not a
stock answer. It depends on your tire, weight, riding style and as you
mention, the conditions. In general you want to run a bit more
pressure on a dry course and a bit less on a wet course. But that’s
relative to what you typically run. To give a very broad answer start
with forty PSI and start working down.

Q.  Is there a “rule of thumb” for testing your tire pressure when you don’t have a pressure guage or digital tire pump handy?

There is indeed. We’ll call it the Powers method since he
introduced it to me. Take your left hand and make a fist. Now stick
your thumb out. Place your palm over your thumb. Now place your thumb
on the tire so your outstretched thumb is pointing to the side of the
bike. Using your body weight you should not quite be able to touch the
rim. That’s a good starting place for tire pressure and a good
technique in general for learning to check pressure.

Q.  What is the difference in pressures you can run if you have tubular tires vs. clincher tires?

Typically you can go a bit lower in a tubular, say 5 psi or more.
The reasons for this are threefold. One, the shape of tubular rim
means that you almost can’t pinch flat the tube. The edges of the rim
are much less sharp. That’s a big bonus when you’re flirting with the
edge of low pressure.  Secondly most tubulars will have a latex tube
in them. Latex stretches much better than butyl and therefore resists
pinch flatting better. Lastly, tubulars are glued on and not held on
by tire pressure.

12 to 18 PSI is not unheard of. I’ve played around on a bike that had
tubulars at 22psi for a 75kg ish rider.

Q.  When you show up at a race, what is your strategy for finding the perfect tire pressure for your event?

Hopefully by attending your local cross practice you’ve figure out
what tire pressure you can generally run. For me, on Challenge Grifos
it’s 30 PSI. When I get to the venue I inflate all my tires to that
pressure and do a few laps. As you ride you can let out a bit of
pressure till you feel you have it dialed in. It’s trial and error
backed up with a lot of data gathering from previous races and
training. And, as always, you can just use the cyclocross handshake.
Just squeeze the tire of someone you know who just raced and ask them
how that worked for them.

Q.  Do you have any other advice for a new cyclocross racer when trying to find the proper tire pressure to train or race with?

Go to your local cross practice. That’s the place to experiment with
tire pressure since there’s no penalty for flatting. Figure out what
you can run. Then start letting air out. Let it out in little bits
till you can feel the tire start to roll on hard corners. Add 2-3 more
PSI and figure that’s the bottom of your range. As I said that’s going
to vary with the tire, rider weight and style and environmental
conditions. That’s a lot of variables so always be trying a different
pressure and see what works for you. But the last thing you want to do
is experiment on race day.