They’re racing!
It’s autumn and those wishing to extend their racing season have taken to the woods and grassy areas of the East Coast to hop over barriers and tote their bicycles up hills and over dales. In recent years, cross has not only given cycling-obsessed individuals a reason to purchase another bike, but it’s also created a whole new milieu for athletic accomplishment. Which leads us to wonder if the fresh throngs at the "laid back" cross races have been greeted with open arms. Do the new riders get it? Simply put, has cross been ruined by road racers?
He is currently losing to Myerson big time.
http://cyclistsarenotrockstars.blogspot.com/
Being obsessed with watt numbers, worried if your coach disapproves of you, and adopting cyclocross all have something in common:
http://tiny.cc/z46qq
At least cyclocross isn’t bad for the sport of cycling.
if CX is ruined by road racers it’s only because most of these roadies com into the game with bigger engines than the CX only/MTB crowd. fortunately, the trade-off is the roadies don’t have the handling skills to really stay with the front group. the playing field stays level.
Just asking what happens if a good road racer has skills in the trails??????????????I don’t know,like Roger maybe? Or a reg.cat4. I just gotta say as a newbie into cross (my 5th race yesterday),if you put a man(or woman)on a bike they want to WIN! So it’s serious to a point.
1st race – Beacon Bs = 4th
2nd Race HPX Bs – 1st
Cat 1 on the road with bike handling skills but he is a freak…
ERgometo are you saying Sean Smith is ruining cycling by being good at it? crap. i’m gonna sign up for a charity walk. you can’t ruin that! and you get such cool shwag! stay away sean smith!
No – just pointing out what happens when super strong Cat 1 meets solid off road skills and races cross. I suspect SS will be doing well in the Elites next year if he sticks with it. Nothing but a compliment. BTW – stop trolling.
You ask if cross has been ruined by road racers. Who do you think raced cross before road racers arrived? Kayakers?
it was rowers
Tranvestites?
Drunken Belgians
out of your element. shut the fuck up donnie!
Does anyone know what Sean does for work?
He blogs about how awesome he is, and how mediocre everyone/everything else is
an honorable profession, that
he is quantitatively awesome at bike racing. let him blog.
bib tights when it’s 60 degrees, no embro, wearing gloves, no hole shot skills, terrible lines, ugh, they’re killing cross
yeah, get Johnson, Powers and Driscoll out of the sport! They are ruining it for the Kona boys.
I remember when nationals in boston had 30 people and you rode on what ever you could pull together. Now everyone buys a bike, coaching and flashy kit. To go with that their ego feels like they have some entittlement. It is like your favorite underground rock band that has gone top 40 pop- ugh.
some nice cx bikes for sale in classifieds.
slap on the ween hammock and go get muddy, baby!
I invite anyone interested in trying it to come to Staten CX. NYC Velo is doing free CX rentals for our race- a whole fleet of Kona Jake the Snakes.
there 20 people who race cross in NYC and 17 of them need a ride
Schmalz if you’re cross-curious, always wear protection and don’t go running around tubeless.
why do you call portland PDX? is your airport that awesome?
militant, self-righteous fun-having or mopey serious-taking?
Does this site ruin our view of local racing by being around? Are we Schmalz’s puppets?
If you were my puppets, you’d all be bringing me a vodka tonic RIGHT NOW!
The fucking thing was invented so that roadies could have something to do in the otherwise-off season. Just because actual road racers are picking it up in greater numbers and thus depriving the early US adopters of easy top tens doesn’t mean that it’s ruined
Everyone’s a winner in cross. Wheeee! Medals for all!
A little off topic, but the dumbest thing about cross is when fat C racers are wearing skinsuits. Really? How many extra seconds did that aeroness save you.
I believe the point of the skinsuit is not “aeroness”, but so that your clothes don’t snag when jumping, carrying, etc…
throw bike in river, dive in after it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9_Fs1QtsOY
Fat dumb fucking unitard-wearing new cross racers–no finer sight to see (for a bike shop owner).
Bravo!
re skinsuit: Oh. Never had a snag. But I could see that being the reason. they still look bad.
skinsuits look bad if yr a fat fuck. they look great if you actually ride your bike enough to not be a fat fuck.
this is what the average nyc racer looks like in the morning pre-race:
http://www.calabriafromscratch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Stuffing-seasoned-meat-into-casing.JPG
They look like an old lady’s hand?
cross have been ruined by non roadies. technical single track is for MTB hairy legged cotton docker short wearing pot smoking full suspension dread locked gravity games loving tubeless thumb shifting trail maitainance UFC watching punk asses
most guys look liked stuffed sausages.
from now on, i’m going to cheer, “snausage primes for first up harlem hill!” at crca races.
stuffed sausages with a little vienna sausage appendage
Road season is 8 months a year. That’s plenty.
Cyclists are just such snobby dicks…road racing was cool and exclusive and the best thing ever until NYVelocity and Cat 5 was a race without training wheels – like back in the day when the only way to get on a CRCA team was to sponsor one. Now CX is diluted like the drinks at a trendy NY bar.
What’s next??
How about you shut up, take a shower, shave your ugly face and race your f’in bike. Win a race and show how utterly fabulous you are…too bad, by then winning bike races will be a loser’s game too…
Why is this even a feature on this website? Why aren’t you covering the races instead? Lot’s of local riders are out there racing every weekend and instead of covering the results you put up this inane bullshit? If you have nothing to say or don’t care about cross why even bother putting anything up?
I’m very sorry I wasn’t able to cover every local race last weekend, I was busy. Email me your address so I can mail you your subscription refund.
“argument”
the end all for this site
no go away and let us snark each other since we can’t f each other
tea bagger for lance
tech single track at a cross race? Give me a break- obviously you have never seen techy singletrack in your life.
It is great that all sorts of weirdos are showing up for cross- ups the game and shrinks the world a little more.
Sincerely,
a hairy legged, fat tire riding, cross loving and sometime road racer.
The Boy Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
The one thing that will ruin cross is the one thing that can sometimes ruin road racing: People taking it too seriously. Unless you’re getting paid to do it, you’re a pay-to-play racer. Have some fucking fun with it! For something that should be a pleasurable outlet, i’ve seen way too many miserable people in this sport and its sad. We’re amateurs. Self-important delusions of grandeur ruin it for you and everyone else in the long run.
We’ve had a ton of new CX racers this season, and the NY CX scene is very, very supportive of it. people come out to try it for the first time and are simultaneously humbled by how hard it is and amazed at how fun it can be. We have practices every week at both Randall’s Island and Prospect Park, and its very, very beginner friendly. I dare you to give it a try- what do you have to lose?
Turn yourself inside out when you race, then have a beer and enjoy the time spent with your friends. who cares if you look like an overstuffed sausage in that skin suit? I know i don’t….
“Self-important delusions of grandeur ruin it for you and everyone else in the long run”
Is CJ trying to be ironic?
I totally agree with you, except that I think that is how the influx of roadies is killing it. What you are describing is the attitude that used to exist at races. Now that magazines are rating 2,000 dollar cx bikes as ‘mid-level’ and guys are slathering on pricey embro etc, it has become much more vain and self centered, like the roadie scene. Where are my pics? where are my results? It used to be bring whatever bike you got, come out and have a blast, not discussion about who is the top rated.
Roada mtn cx track or just ride until its no longer fun. Don’t worry about the others.there is more good than bad at most races.
Roada mtn cx track or just ride until its no longer fun. Don’t worry about the others.there is more good than bad at most races.
this whole thing is really dumb. do posts like this ruin cx?
if i show up with a ridley di2 cross bike and a ralpha unitard, even though my waist looks like the big fat banana nut muffin i eat every morning, will that be ok?
crying about the posts is much more productive. I think this is actually an interesting discussion, maybe without the negativity of “ruined” but how has it affected the cx scene. This site is great, what ruins it isn’t the argumentative crowd, it’s the constant “you guys all suck, ride your bikes”. Well, yes, riding bikes is good, but a site dedicated to, “I rode my bike today!” would suck, or would be called nycc.
nycc: i rode my bike to nyack today and had fun, wheee!
nyvc: i rode my bike to nyack today because my online coach told me to, and then i came home and cleaned my bike and emailed him my power files while he was banging my girlfriend at her apartment, laughing together at what a tool i am.
the only negative as far as i’m concerned has been that races sell now out faster and fields are larger. however, there are now more races offered, so it’s a wash.
I’m not so sure that it’s true there are more roadies in cross now. The fields in the mid-Atlantic and New England seem smaller than they have been in past years. There’s a little more cross interest in NYC than there used to be, and more coverage online, but it’s not like roadies are “invading” the scene. The equipment has gotten a lot fancier than it used to be, but that doesn’t really change the feel of the races.
There’s no “right” attitude to have for cross. There have always been both type A racers who are serious about results and laid-back types who are just doing it for fun. You don’t have to race in a thong and pour beer on your friends to be in the cross spirit. It’s OK not to like mud. Just come out and try it, and don’t worry about whether you’re ruining the sport.
there are like 20 people who race cross in NYC
This is my first cross season. I’ve done 6 races and never had so much fun on a bike. I have only experienced open arms and support from all sorts of people at races.
If you take a bad line or do something someone doesn’t like in a NYC road race, you will cursed at, mocked, pushed, and occasionally karate kicked. At cross I hear a bit of wheezing and coughing but no complaining even after someone crashes out a group of riders at the hole-shot. Everyone just grabs their bikes and keeps racing. Shit happens, move on. Very refreshing.
6:09
+1 “Thumbs Up” why not join in the fun! Play GF swap with your coach for a discount?
Or, “sure, racing cross will help your road season”, another weekend away from Significant Other, so the Coach can Play Lube and Squirt!!!
I hope you come back with better bike handling skills after CX, so I won’t have to kick you no more in RC. Everything is fun/new/exciting and seems friendly at the beginner’s level.
crash a few more times on the road. you’ll be karate chopping every goofball like your current self who gets too close to your front wheel.
I’m bi-cyclist and cross-curious.
If you do it just once, does that mean you are a cross’er?
You Freds are making something out of nothing. Out west, it’s a bike, there’s a race, time and $ permitting, and you do it – Road, CX, Track, MTB. One might have a preference, or excel at a discipline, but most guys and girls just like to race bikes, any bikes.
you gotta be kidding me. just go to the message board over there right now for a glorious fight btwn derrick supporters and ellen supporters. dream on buddy.
So Dan, you don’t actually race cross you just want to know if its been ruined by roadies?
To answer your question, no it’s still fun.
I am cross curious…
Who cares.
Ride yer damn bikes and be happy.
I hate anything that refers to itself as a “scene”
totally ruined, and I’m serious.
yes
YES.
Here in Ireland they’re talking about makinng the courses less technical to accomodate the roadies!!
stay away schmalz!