Hello again blog readers! Today I will talk to you about my favourite sport and a type of cycling, cyclocross! Last blog, I explained what cyclocross was and why I like it, but without going much into depth. Today however, I will write all about the wonders of cyclocross and what it is in detail!
Firstly, cyclocross is a mass start event, which means everyone starts at once, and the first person across the line wins. In cyclocross, you do multiple laps of the same course, and you do it for around an hour, though younger people do it for 30-45 minutes (I race for 45 minutes).
Because of this, you don’t know how many laps you are going to do, you just know that you are going to race for around 60 minutes. The race officials decide during the race how many laps the racers are going to ride.
Now for the course. A cyclocross course is usually made on a grass field, twisting and turning around with sharp corners and obstacles along the way. Some of these obstacles include something called barriers. Probably the most unique aspects about cyclocross, barriers are usually two forty-centimetre high thin planks of wood spaced around two meters apart. These barriers are mandatory, as most people have to get off their bike to get over them.
There are other common obstacles in cyclocross, including the sand pit. The sand pit is very self-explanatory, it’s just a pit of sand that you either have to ride or run through. The run-up is another self-explanatory feature, it’s a hill so steep that you have to run up the hill with your bike.
The last part of a cyclocross race that defines the sport is rain. Rain is what most cyclocross racers think of when they think of cyclocross because of the fact that most of the races are held in fall and a bit of winter. This makes the course very muddy, and very, very fun.
Thank you blog readers for reading my second blog post, I hope to see you in the next post!