Hooked on 'Cross
What could possibly be appealing about riding around a field for an hour, through sand and mud, in all sorts of weather conditions, complete with hurdles that you have to jump over while carrying your bike?

When I first heard of cyclocross, my answer to that question was, "not much." I just couldn't understand how or why anyone would want to extend their cycling season all the way into the snowy holidays, nor how they could do it while running and jumping and bunny-hopping.

And then I tried it. And I was hooked.

'Cross is a great way to take advantage of summer fitness from the road or mountain bike, compete in a low-key, family-friendly, supportive and fun environment, and get a bit of a jump-start on next year. I truly believe the races are the hardest thing you can ever do on two wheels, but somehow that just adds to the allure. You haven't lived until you're picking mud out of your teeth five days after you raced!

So what does it take to race 'cross? The good news is, not much. Any mountain bike without bar-ends will do, or you can visit the local shop to pick up a 'cross-specific rig. ('Cross bikes make great commuters, by the way.) Then you check out www.chicrosscup.com for the Chicago Cyclocross Cup series (first race in late September), and www.wicycling.org for the Wisconsin races (with a bunch in Milwaukee). Then just show up and race.

Training
The type of training you do for 'cross depends a lot on the type of riding you've done all year. I race a pretty full schedule of road and mountain bike events. Because I want to do well in 'cross, I start adding in a bit of running in August and take a couple weeks of rest in September before training hard again once the season is under way. Other racers I know just carry over their fitness from the summer and call it quits after a couple of 'cross events.

'Cross races are short: 30 minutes for beginners on up to one hour for the elites, so the time commitment-for both training and racing-isn't huge. As daylight shortens, this is key: all you have to do is get out on the bike a couple of times a week for steady rides (even commuting to work) and you'll be in enough shape for 'cross. With one exception: Wednesdays.

The greatest day of the week
Wednesdays are every 'cross racer's favorite day. Wednesdays are the day we open it up, doing a hard interval and technique workout on improvised 'cross courses throughout the city. A few of us have managed to pull together other like-minded crazy folk for organized practices (info can be found on the MadCross.org Web site). These are the days we work on our form, our starts, our bunny-hops and our fitness without the pressure of race day. What could be more fun than that?

These workouts tend to be loosely structured, beginning with some off- the-line jumps to work on the super-fast starts that characterize a race. Then, we might do some sprint intervals of a few seconds to a couple of minutes in length, often on a short circuit in a city park, and hopefully with a hill. After that, it's time to work on our "running"-approaching 14- inch high barriers at speed, dismounting the bike, lifting and carrying it over the barriers, and then re-mounting. Especially in the early season, this one is always good for a scraped shin or bruised ego!

To close it out, another round of starts, or a bunny-hopping contest, or even a bit of on-the-bike bumping make it a fun end to the day. Best of all, 'cross is a great leveler-beginners and intermediates can practice alongside the elites in a non-threatening way that helps everyone to improve.

So there is an appeal after all, and after several seasons of racing 'cross, I'm super-excited that the National Championships are in the Midwest (Kansas City) this year. Racing with and hanging out with 'crossers from all over the country is an awesome way to finish the season, even if it does mean riding around for an hour in a field, running and jumping and sliding around in the mud and sand in all sorts of weather!

Chris Strout is a Category 1 cyclocross racer for MetLife/Pony Shop. Look for him early mornings at Montrose Harbor or Mt. Trashmore, shouldering his bike and running up the hills. He can be reached at scstrout@yahoo.com.