This thing called Cyclocross

Last weekend, Emir and I attended THE Cyclocross clinic at Rosaryville State Park. This wasn't just your everyday clinic. It was organized by a great group of knowledgeable coaches (Fulcrum Coaching (Dan Tille & Rusty Williford), JVB Coaching- Chris Mayhew) along with some other talented cyclocross riders, namely, Jeremy Powers - arguably one of the best Pros in the US.

Well let me tell you, this was a real eye opener and an incredible learning experience! We started at 9 a.m. and went until 5 p.m. We didn't know what to expect. Hell, I don't even own a cross bike. Custer let me borrow his (Thx!). We had just bought Emir his bike the previous weekend. Chris Richardson at Bike Doctor-Waldorf really took care of us and got him fitted on it. The level of service and experience of the staff there is top notch...so lucky to be sponsored by them. Regardless, we were pumped to begin this adventure.

I knew cross was going to be a different animal than racing on the road, but I had no idea it would be so dramatic. After the formalities were over, we set out with the beginner group to learn how to re-mount. HOLY bejuses! I must have practiced jumping on that bike a hundred times. There's definitely a right way and WRONG way to do this. It's NOT nearly as easy as it looks, especially when you try to do it with a little bit of speed. Emir and I had a good chuckle when we got home and compared our saddle bruises and butt chafing! Too funny. 

Then we covered dismounts and jumping barriers. Again, not so bad until you start adding some speed. Then it gets real interesting. I learned more in those first few hours than I ever thought possible. We got some great technique pointers throughout the day which will help us immensely as we practice on our own. The one standout thought that came to mind pretty quick is that cross WILL humble you. Peter Nicoll put together a great video. He shared it here:Somewhere in there, he captured me taking a fall...lol! As I mentioned in a note to Rusty, when you take a fall in cross, you pick yourself up, dust off and laugh about it. On the road, you just cry. I like cross already. I think I fell more than Emir. He kept making fun of me and pretending that he didn't know me after I fell, lol. But, I do have to pay him back now since I got a short clip of him going down (I was just about to start filming him. He's going to kill me for posting up!) I got a few good action shots of Emir.

Here's a few more shots during a Q&A with Jeremy:

AND NOW THE MONEY SHOT WITH JEREMY POWERS!

I really can't thank Rusty enough for squeezing us in. It was such a blast learning something new and being able to share the experience with Emir. We had some good bonding moments - lots of laughs together. But most important, we got a taste of what this sport is about. A whole lotta respect for it and a yearning to give it go this fall. It will be a fun adventure.Oh, one more video in from Bill Schieken of In the Crosshairs (cxhairs.com)some of his pics: HEREBruce Buckley also shared some amazing photographs:HERE