Dirty Secret

[Tamar]

Noooo....not that Finbar! Rather the confessions of a tester who's re-discovered the delights of off-road disciplines and gotten somewhat evangelical about the whole dirt'n'mud thang.

If you've never heard of cyclocross but want to do something a bit different, hone your bike skills, get an intense workout, meet some fun people and get caked in mud....then 'cross is soooo the discipline for you.

You don't need a fancy bike - ok, so you could buy a fancy 'cross bike but any old hybrid or mtb will do.

You don't need to be superfit, you just need to be able to ride hard for an hour. Obviously being fit will help if you want to beat George....but if your ambitions are somewhat lowlier (next week I'm aiming to come 3rd from last instead of 2nd from last) then you'll find a wide range of abilities to ride with and lots of support and friendly faces.

You don't need to be a bike-handling god...the courses are not as technical as mountain bike courses and most of it will be rideable...although if you've never ever ridden on anything other than tarmac then it might be adviseable to do a practice run off-road somewhere first just to get the feel of things...but as 'cross is designed to be winter training for roadies masquerading as off-roaders, you'll see plenty of people who aren't so hot on the bike skills...as well as those who are jaw-droppingly fluid as they weave round trees, traverse effortlessly across slippery grass slopes and glide with control and precision round the muddy corner you're about to slide helplessly into.

You can sell it as a 'day out' to the family as there's shorter races for U10 (inc as young as 5/6) U12 and Youth as well as the main event for Juniors, Senior, Vets & Women.

If you want to know more then there's pics and write-ups from London League round 1 in the results section of the forum and some more chit chat about 'cross in the racing section. London League round 2 is this Sunday (27 Sep) at Deer's Leap near East Grinstead...1pm start for S/V/W/J. Come along for some dirty fun. Grins guaranteed.

[Andrew G]

[quote]Noooo....not that Finbar!

[Snoop Doug]

Nice one Tamar Looks and sounds like you had a lot of fun, and for sure with a post title like this - I predict mega viewage

[George]

Shhhuuussshhh Tamar we don't want everyone knowing about our Dirty Secret