Editor: Racing bikes in sand pits, jumping over obstacles, shouldering your bike when climbing stairs – what makes cyclocross races so special? Velomotion editor Moritz Pfeiffer looked for the answer in the mud.
I have to admit: When it comes to cross racing, I'm a blank slate. Although I've been riding cross bikes in winter - and occasionally in summer - for 10 years, I've never dared to race. For me, riding cross meant finding varied routes off the asphalt and honing your own riding technique. I perceived cross-country racing more as a Belgian phenomenon, as a combination of high-performance sport and a folk festival. Belgian grandmaster Sven Nys' star rose in the late 1990s when I got into road cycling. Nys is still riding and I've finally made the decision to celebrate my debut in a cross-country race.
Premiered in Albstadt
So on Epiphany I am at the start of the everyone's race as part of the Challenge Cyclocross Race in Albstadt. One degree outside temperature, drizzle, muddy meadows, heavy running. Lesson one I'm learning: Cross racing starts from a specific order. Each driver has their own starting field marked on the ground, from which they start the race. Six riders fit in a row. Since the time of registration determines the starting grid for the Albstadt race, I would have been far ahead – if I had been there on time. But because of the cold, I only roll to the line a few minutes before the start. The line-up procedure is already completed, and I'm at the very end. To get straight to the point: The fact that I didn't win wasn't due to my positioning at the start.
Almost 50 drivers and one driver stand close to each other. A look around shows very different facial expressions: respect, poker face, determined concentration. Like me, Matthias and Stefan from Stuttgart are at the starting line of a cross race for the first time. They want to try something new, they say, to think outside the box of pure road cycling. They have no ambitions, they just want to have fun. Lukas from Tübingen, on the other hand, exudes the self-confidence of an experienced racing driver. He usually competes in mountain bike races and is used to chasing over greasy surfaces, roots and stones.
As for the material, everything is represented. Outrageously expensive carbon bolides stand next to noble titanium speedsters, solid aluminum racers next to chic steel crossers. My Storck test bike fits in seamlessly. A few mountain bikes have also joined the field. The size of the field of riders is as colorful as it is gratifying. The amateur race is the most numerous race of the day, even in the elite race in the afternoon the field is significantly smaller. Compared to the previous year, the number of participants in the Everyman has almost tripled. Maybe not a sign of a cross-country boom, but a nice confirmation for the organizers, who only launched the Albstadt cross-country race last year.
Bike races on railway tracks
Then the gun goes off and we start sprinting. Lesson two: Cross races are flat out events. There is no such thing as rolling around in the field. The hairpin at the end of the first straight is the first destination. If you get around in a good position here, you will be far ahead through the following gravel bed and into the first muddy climb. What follows is the most unusual passage I have ever seen in a bicycle race: After a climb, you have to shoulder the bike and climb over a steep, disused railway embankment. After a short trail along the rails, you cross them again in a steep descent. Lesson three: The others also have respect for technically demanding passages, there is no shame in shouldering the bike. The descent over the railway tracks is also continuously mastered by a majority of the licensed drivers in the subsequent races.
After this extraordinary start, the course has typical cross passages: obstacles, a sand pit, stairs. The organizers have designed what they say is a "demanding course" that "also challenges the pros." Lesson four: sometimes you're faster with your bike on your shoulder than you are riding. The deep sand pit is the best example of this. Drivers regularly get stuck here and are overtaken by runners.
Already on the first lap the wheat is separated from the chaff. The specialists set themselves apart easily from the majority of the amateurs, many find their own pace, there are only marginal shifts in position. I'm leveling off at 35th place myself. The wheel dances beneath me on the muddy ground. With the exception of a longer passage in the Albstadt stadium, which is driven on asphalt and offers some relaxation, you are constantly concentrated, constantly looking for the ideal line. Pedal, steer, brake, jump off, run… cross-country races constantly challenge body and mind.
The joy of playing in the mud
The mud is whirled up by the sodden meadow, and within seconds the bike and rider look like they've been screwed. Perhaps the fascination with cross racing also lies in the joy of playing in the mud, as one knows from childhood days. The registration numbers for mud obstacle courses such as Tough Mudder, Getting Tough and Mission Mudder are currently exploding worldwide. When it comes to cross-country racing, you still have a bike with you. It's amazing how heavy a featherweight 8,5-kilogram cross bike can seem when you jump off and shoulder it for the umpteenth time. Lesson Five: Cross is a full body sport.
Halfway through the race it starts to snow. I think that's how it has to be at a cross premiere. Sunshine, 10 degrees and a dust-dry slope would not have made me happy today. I can imagine what it would be like to drive through a narrow spectator canal like in Belgium, with tens of thousands of supporters all around, enjoying themselves in beer tents and at chip shops and loudly cheering on the athletes. That will be the next step, I decide: a cross-country race for everyone in the motherland of this sport.
After 30 minutes, the front laps me. Riders play with the mud, seeming to float thanks to their powerful kicks. I have the feeling that I am digging deeper and deeper into the earth with my stamping. Suddenly Lukas from Tübingen shoots past me from behind. He finishes fourth in the race.
Recommended for imitation
Then all of a sudden it's over. Coasting past the finish line, breathing heavily, high fives with the other riders. Dirty, laughing faces, one or the other disbelieving head shake. People exchange ideas: How did you drive this passage? Did you walk or drive there? When did it go well? Where did the lights go out? Stefan from Stuttgart puts it in a nutshell for many participants: "Had fun, didn't fall, didn't finish last."
Lesson Six: Practice makes perfect. A cross race places very different demands on the driver, which have to be trained. But those who dare get an exciting insight into a special type of cycling. A trip into this world is fun and worthwhile. But be careful: cross-country races are addictive. Lesson seven: After the race is before the race.
Hintergrund:
The Challenge Cyclocross Race in Albstadt powered by Centurion took place on January 6, 2016 for the second time. It is assigned to the international UCI category C2. The course was 2,5 kilometers long at the stadium in Albstadt-Ebingen. The German runner-up Sascha Weber won the elite race, Stephanie Paul won the women's race. A good 140 athletes took part in the seven races, compared to 64 last year. The organizers are the agency Skyder sports promotion and the RSG Zollernalb.
