published  10.19.01

Tires - Cyclo-Cross in July? (Part 2)

By Chip Sovek

(Written as a follow-up to September’s article on Cyclo-cross tires. Originally published in Spokes Magazine Sept. 2001)

By now you’ve got your tires picked out, right! Mounted up, I bet you even have had some ride time…even better, some race time. I would hope so with cross season basically over. Tires for cross are a very personal selection and somewhat geographical. By this I mean that us crosser’s here in the Mid-Atlantic would probably start our season with something less aggressive like a Vittoria Mastercross of Michelin sprint.

The “Virginia Cyclo-cross series” is basically wrapped up with the series final happening on December 2 in Reston, VA. If you’ve raced the VACX series last year you’ll remember that we had a beautiful day in October (sunny, mild temps) and then a seasonal fiasco in December. I recall the day starting cloudy, then a little hail followed by snow showers, which made the course very unpredictable.

Since we are on the subject of tires, the weather has a lot, if not everything, to do with tire selection. Tires to a cross rider are like shoes to a runner…just about any of them will get the job done, but only a few will work right! With the right tire choice you can really corner tighter, sprint out of a transition area faster even get a little shock absorption happening if you play with tire pressure. As I mentioned earlier, your tire choice can be geographic in comparison to the Northeast where they are approximately a month (or so) ahead of us, weather wise. The ground up north actually freezes in late November and December. This is something that doesn’t happen (in the greater DC area) until January or February. So instead of starting your season with an aggressive, mud style tire then slowly converting to faster style (less aggressive) tire, due to frozen ground, we here in the Mid-Atlantic often will do just the opposite. October and early November will be somewhat faster (less aggressive) and then late November and December will dictate into the slower/muddier courses demanding more aggressive tire choice. Something like a Michelin Mud or IRC Cross Country, perhaps you might even try a ‘tubular’ cross tire. These are actually really smooth and many racers use them. TUFO, Clement and Dugast are a few brands, but be prepared to shell out some series money ($100+ for Dugast’s) and have them ordered for you, I doubt you’ll find any of these in your local bike shop.

In 1998 a few members of Potomac Velo Club traveled to Boston, MA for the Cyclo-cross nationals and what a surprise we got. Not only did we have to acclimate to 25-30 degree temps; we had to learn a new technique. I called it ‘hang-on-to-your-knickers-and-go-for-it!’ We had been so used to racing on semi-frozen dirt and slower courses that we had to step-up our courage. Once you got up to race speed, which took about 18 seconds, due to the frozen ground, it was all about your center of gravity. What you had to do, especially in corners, was to find your line heading into the corner, trim some speed accordingly, lay-off the brakes and try to stay vertical. Once on while you find yourself doing the “2-wheeled slide” and when this happens the most important thing is not to panic. What saves you is the frozen ruts all going the same direction. Once you entered the corner, if you suddenly find yourself drifting, sit tight and let the ruts catch you. More often than not you would find yourself shooting out the other end and back up to speed. This isn’t for the weak at heart and certainly takes some courage, I’m sure the mountain bikers who race cross can relate.

In the short season that Cyclo-cross offers, it almost helps to have two sets of tires. You can even use the spare set mounted on some spare wheels for a ‘pit set.’ …better yet, have those spare wheels mounted to a spare bike waiting in the pit’s for you. Not many crossers’ have a second bike; in fact, not many people even know what a cross bike is…and then “why would you want 2 of them.” Come December you will get a chance to see exactly why, the 2001 Cyclo-Cross nationals will be coming to Baltimore.

If there were ever a circus that came to town, Cross-’Natz would be it! A circus on bikes: a celebration of the cross season and a good excuse to make some noise. The only reason to keep riding well into the cold months and to keep that cold, dark commute going until you can’t stand it anymore. The Cross-Nationals and Supercup final will be both in Baltimore and you will get to see why the top crossers have 2 (even more) bikes. Heck, they even have a whole ‘pit crew’ too. You’ll see what kind of tires they are running on their rigs, and if you look close enough you might even pick-up a few techniques that you hadn’t thought possible.

I’ve learned that the Nationals / Supercup courses will have some pavement, gravel, stairs (yes, like those in your house), a couple of run-ups and the notorious barriers. There will be two separate courses for each event, lending themselves toward a tactical, challenging and spectator friendly event. Make sure you bring your cowbells and ear-warmers. For more information on these two events please visit www.usacycling.org/cx/

So when December rolls in I can only imagine that you’ve had a chance to try this fun sport, experiment with different tires on different courses. The VACX series will be having its final race on Sunday, Dec. 2 and there are the D42/D20 champs on Dec. 8 and 9 (different locals) as well as the penultimate MAC race on the 9 th. There is one more MAC race on Dec. 30 th in PA. These are great primers for the Natz/Supercup weekend on the 14, 15 & 16 th in Baltimore.

For more information on the Virginia Cyclo-cross Series and links too most things cross in our region please visit www.potomacvelo.com. See you at the races!

Chip

PVC