Cyclocross Comes to Canton

A new form of bicycle racing has emerged, and it is catching on fast.

Known as cyclocross, the sport combines the two more popular forms of racing: road racing (think, Tour de France) and mountain biking, and is described by those who do it as a versatile enough that riders can enjoy the best of both worlds.

At a cyclocross clinic on Satruday, hosted by Canton’s Two Wheel Tango specialty bike shop, Dave Massy, a sales representative for Specialize Bicycle Components, introduced a group of local riders to some of the newer, more advanced mechanics of the sport.

Massey explained that Canton has a lot of roads that are ideal for cyclocross training, specifically its dirt roads, most of which can be found out on the west side of the township, near Beck Road, in places, and along North Territorial Road.

“You can do it on a lot of the trails around here,” he said. And there are awesome dirt roads around here.”

The Cyclocross season begins in about a week. It gives riders, Massey said, a chance to continue training after the spring and summer road-racing season ends. One of the great aspects of cyclocross, he said, is that the bikes can handle the rough climates of the fall and early winter – including rain and lighter snow.

“I’m not really looking at cross racing,” said Kevin Postel, a Canton resident who is a street bike racer. “I’m just looking for a way to extend my season.”

For about an hour, Massey explained some of the more technical differences between road, mountain and cyclocross bikes – including tires, overall size and weight, features that made a cyclocross bike easier to carry, and brakes.

Cyclocross races are like mountain biking in that they are run on off-road terrain. But, unlike mountain biking, cyclocross bikes are much lighter, and can handle rougher ground. Whereas mountain bikers tend to stick to trails, cyclocrsss riders veer from them, in search of more challenging topography.

“It’s definitely not a sport for the feint of heart,” Massey said, explaining that because of the terrain in cyclocross, it takes a great deal of focus to negotiate, including knowing when to get off a bike and carry it over and obstacle, which can be physically draining when it is repeated over and over. “There’s no place to rest in a cross race. You’re going a hundred and ten percent.”

Unlike road racing, cross races are not distance races. Cross races are performed on shorter courses, that zig-zag through dirt, gravel, wood chips, and sand, and are judged on time. Beginners usually run half-hour courses, intermediate bikers ride 45-minute ones, and the advanced competitors go a full hour.

“I think the general atmosphere at a cross race is why I do it,” said Adrienne O’Day, an Ypsilanti native, who went on to say that cyclocross races tend to have more of a community feel, where crowds gathered at a race can get as excitable at those at a mainstream sporting event. “It’s hard, though. It’s crazy. You have to get off your bike, go over obstacles, and get back on it.”