Cyclocross season is definitely here. For those of you who are not in the know cyclocross is riding a modified road bike with mountain bike tires in the mud, rain, snow, sleet, whatever, plus to make things even more interesting the courses throw in barriers that force you to hop off your bike, carry your bike over the obstacle, hop back on your bike and ride. The courses are circular and a race consists of 10 or so loops.
I have not been racing but to mix things up at VQ we ride the trails in October and November or until it gets too cold to ride outside. My lower temperature limit is 28 and sunny. However i will ride in the rain and mud as long as it is warm. This past Sunday is a great example of mud, rain and just a messy messy trail at a very comfortable temperature.
VQ meets at 7:30 on the Des Plains River Trail. It had been raining for the past week and I expected the trail to be soft but rideable. However we found a mud flooded route. There was water everywhere and where the water subsided there was mud. Being bike nuts we saw dry and rideable, ok not dry but Noah was nowhere to be found, and we mounted up and left.
We quickly broke into 2 groups. The fast group and the group I was in, the not as fast group (I am being politically correct.) Several people had ridden the course the day before and they led us around the first water hazzards. The riding was fast and muddy. When you drafted mud and gravel were thrown in your face. The people who had fenders thought they were being polite however the fenders just aimed the rocks right at your face. The accuracy was uncanny. At half point I felt like a odd kind of bird because my stomach was full from eating so much dirt and gravel.
After 10 miles we hit our first water barrier. The underpass had flooded and we had to carry our bikes up the steep muddy embankment, cross highway 41 and ride down the other side. The slopes were slippery and traction was iffy at best. Several people fell into the muck and emerged coated in grime. At the second flooded underpass one person decided that they would try to ride slowly through the water. They turned around when the water went up to their knees.
We crossed 2 more underpasses in various stages of flooding. At the half way mark my clipless pedals stopped working. After 10mn of futzing I was able to unclog the left foot and decided to ride with 1 leg clipped in and the other just gripping the cleat. About 25mn later my chain kept slipping. I looked down to see a vine wrapped around my cassette causing my chain to jump. That took another 10mn to clean.
After all the hassles we headed for home. When I reached our starting point I was elated. I had a great ride. OK my bike was a total disaster, my cleats were clogged and I was covered in mud. But the weather was warm and we were able to beat the water and the mud and have a really fun ride; and that is cyclocross. Every ride is an adventure with new obstacles to overcome and I was able to share the experience with friends. So my suggestion is get out and ride no matter the weather because its fun and everything is wash and wear. Plus nothing is more enjoyable then breaking out of a rut. See you on the trails.
