- [Matt] I've been riding bikes for around 30 years now, but despite that,
incredibly I've never ridden cyclocross, but things are going to change because in
just six weeks time, I'm going to be entering my first ever cyclocross race.
Engaging the help of Tom and Simon, both very good cyclocross riders in their day
to help me along the way.
♪[music] ♪
- Si, I've had pretty much the same road position for the last four decades,
so honestly, what do I need to look for on a cross bike? What's different?
- [Simon] Okay, so essentially, you want to take your road position and you want to
bring it up by one to two centimeters, then you want to bring it back by one
centimeter, so that's all in your handlebar adjustment there. So,
it gives you a little bit more control and essentially, it's just a little bit better
for when you're tackling technical terrain. So that's the first thing.
In terms of your saddle height, the only difference you'll make is if the stack
height on your pedals is slightly different. So, obviously you're running
mountain bike shoes and double-sided pedals, if it ends up being sort of
a few mil higher, then you adjust it, but that's being pretty picky, really.
One thing I'm interested in, Matt, have you made the ultimate rookie error?
The tire pressure?
- Well, I normally run about 105 on the road, so I've stuck in 100 for today.
- Have you really?
- No, I've got 60 in them, mate.
- 60. Okay, cool. Well, you probably want to drop a little bit less,
so maybe about 40 PSI, for normal kind of riding conditions. Racing is totally
different, but for just cruising around, you want about 40 PSI.
♪ [music] ♪
- So, Si, we're stood here in a beautiful park. I mean, if you've never ridden cross
before, is this the best place to start?
- Yeah, I think where you ride your cross bike is really, really important in order
to get the actual most enjoyment out of it. The first thing to remember is it's
not a mountain bike, so you don't want to ride stuff that's too gnarly.
I mean, you can get down there on a cross bike, but the question is is it going to
be fun? If it's too rocky or it's too rooty, the risk of pinch flats is so high
that you have to put 80 PSI on your tires to avoid that and then the bike rides like
crap anyway, it's really hard. So I'd look for stuff that perhaps is a little bit
boring on a mountain bike, but is probably going to be great fun on a cross bike.
So like you say, here we are in a park, it's grassy, it's open,
there's no rocks, there's no roots and that's kind of cool. If you are going to
ride in the woods, which is great, then you want to find trails that aren't too
rocky, rooty, again just avoiding pinch flats and stuff like that.
- And what about riding on the road on your cross bike?
- Absolutely. Cross bikes are great on the road. You know, they are slightly slower
than a road bike, but they are still pretty darn quick. My favorite type of
cross riding, if I'm not racing, is something that mixes both road and trail.
It freshens up boring road rides because you can dive off and take new routes and
things like that. Something with a 50/50 split road and trail is pretty much my
favorite type of ride at the moment, actually.
♪ [music] ♪
- So, Si, my issue, having ridden on the road for so long is that my technique is
specifically designed, I guess, to keep me riding on smooth tarmac.
And the thought of actually sliding and then staying upright at the same time is
completely alien to me, let alone all the bumps.
Surely there's a technique to help take the sting out of things?
- Yeah, there is. I reckon the first thing to do is to introduce the idea of standing
on the pedals out of the saddle to increase control
over bumpy and technical terrain.
So the first thing to do, I guess, is to say hold on to the drops.
You get better braking here obviously, and better control,
just like you do on the road bike. Then you want to have your pedals horizontal
and then stand out of the seat. That means that you can absorb all the bumps with
your arms and legs, so it isolates your torso from the ground, essentially in the
best possible way. And then also, you're free to move your body weight forward or
backward, depending on whether you're going on flat ground, or downhill, or
whatever else. And then you can adopt that any time you don't need to pedal
and you are tackling bumpy and technical terrain.
It's the fastest way to get across it.
♪[music] ♪
- Most of the time in crossy, you're going to have to be in the saddle.
That's in order to keep pedaling and maintaining traction as well.
The ultimate aim is to keep your head and your shoulders still
and everything else moving underneath you.
- So what's the best way to do exactly that then?
- Okay, so you want to have your weight a little bit further back in the saddle than
normal. You want to drop your cadence a bit compared to what you would on the road
and that gives you something to push against and also helps you unweight the
saddle a little bit, it helps your bike move around underneath you.
You want to hold the bars on the hoods, so you can still brake and shift and you want
to hold it loosely, but firmly, if that's not an oxymoron. I find that if I hold
them firmly, it actually dampens a little bit of the vibrations from the bike and
just helps it come under a bit more control. The most important thing is to
keep your arms slightly bent. And that obviously means that you can absorb shock,
but also you can extend them as well, so that the bike can follow into little ruts
and holes and things and that helps to maintain traction. Absorbing shocks isn't
the same as being floppy, mate. You need to have a bit of tension in your arms and
your legs, so you can actually keep the bike under a bit of control.
Just by being floppy, it lets the bike do what it wants
and that's not necessarily the best thing.
- Like a shock absorber, almost.
- Exactly, exactly. So this is pretty much the best position for 90% of cross riding
and particularly if you're going to be hitting something like a patch of mud or a
patch of sand, it's the best way of keeping the bike under control.
♪[music] ♪
- Now, another thing you don't have to think about on the road too much is
maintaining traction while climbing, and because cross is so explosive,
a lot of the time you'll be climbing out of the saddle. But as soon as it gets
remotely slippery, you'll be struggling to maintain traction. So as a minimum,
you need to adjust your technique by moving backwards slightly and then
ideally, you'll also be in the saddle and in extreme situations,
you might need to bounce in the saddle or throw your bike,
just to get over that last little bit.
- Well, that's the basic skills done. Looks like I better get out and do some
training. And make sure and join us next week, when I'm going to be showing you how
to dismount and remount whilst moving. Incredible. You get the coffees in, Si?
For more GCN cyclocross videos, click on me.