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Cyclocross dismounts are just practice. Normal two-sided XC pedals and MTB shoes.
A few details
- Learn to swing leg over, click out and land on the run without swerving. At first you over slow and swerve. Then gradually, you do it at full speed and don't swerve.
- Jump just high enough to land on the saddle. No higher or the bike bounces
- After obstacle, you accelerate hard for a few strides then remount. You don't remount while stationary.
- Downshift to gear you will need after obstacle. This, along with those few strides of acceleration make for max acceleration after obstacle.
- Dismount with left pedal down. This leave right pedal at top of stroke, This matters for remount.
- Spot pedal while in jumping onto seat. I land with my right foot on pedal at same time as I touch seat. So some of my stored kinetic energy drives pedal down.
- Standard technique is to cross right leg behind left leg when dismounting. This means no running for a moment while you bring the right leg around to continue running
- Advanced technique is to swing right leg between left leg and bike so first contact with ground is already running. More difficult and risky than standard technique but much faster.
I do this when the ground is smooth and speeds are high.
I'd like to add that I spent the first year or two wildly kicking my left foot out with toe pointed, like ballet dork, so that I could hit the ground with my right foot first...but it kept me from falling.
I also started doing step-through back in 2017 because it's way, way fast and I like that it leaves the drive-side crank at 2-o'clock. You're taking chances though so give lots of respect to the dismount. I "scoprioned" a few times that year and once this year cut/gouges by right ankle pretty badly.
As you learn, make sure to complete the dismount at least one body-length short of the barriers to keep dental health in tact.
I like a slick saddle material so that I can more easily slide by hinder over when remounting, easier on the bibs too. I will add some cham-cream to that part of my leg if needed. It works quite well.
Remember that pros practice these 25x per day starting in the summer, I did this year and it shows.
Sometimes you have to go hard if you're remounting up a hill and in a race, after your first podium (didn't make it):
My wife is looking for a bike to ride around town and to get groceries with. Nothing further then 5 to 10 miles. Mostly likely within a mile or two of the house. We stopped by a LBS yesterday and they reccomended a Specialized Alibi C Step-Through. The solid tires impressed the wife as she does not want to deal with flats. $500 and comes with 1 year of unlimited tune ups. Would it be a decent bike or should we check out some other LBS's and see what they have. $400-$600 is probably the price range we want to be in.
Looks perfect. Research baskets and or racks to carry stuff. Most good city bikes have mounting lugs everywhere. Lug mounted stuff is far more secure than some of the generic stuffs that just clamps to the bars or frame.
Also
1. Front and rear DRL's. DO NOT let her ride without front and rear lights even in and especially in the day time.
2. Hi-vis vest ain't stylish but then neither is a neck brace.
3. Teach here how to use the gears. Nothing more excruciating than watching a newb cyclist walking up the tiniest of inclines because they have no idea how or when to shift gears.
Looks perfect. Research baskets and or racks to carry stuff. Most good city bikes have mounting lugs everywhere. Lug mounted stuff is far more secure than some of the generic stuffs that just clamps to the bars or frame.
Also
1. Front and rear DRL's. DO NOT let her ride without front and rear lights even in and especially in the day time.
2. Hi-vis vest ain't stylish but then neither is a neck brace.
3. Teach here how to use the gears. Nothing more excruciating than watching a newb cyclist walking up the tiniest of inclines because they have no idea how or when to shift gears.
I'm always impressed by the Bontrager Flare rear lights on people off in the distance.
No brakes
Geared to cruise at 29-34mph
Fixed gear
20mm tires
Local velodrome is 46° banking, smooth wood. They warn you that if you go too slow you may simply slide down the banking, or hit your pedal on the banking and crash because you aren't leaning over enough.
Never ridden on a velodrome other than a half lap in the rain during a cross race in the 90's. They wont let anyone ride on the track unsupervised. You need to do classes and get certified just to be able do open training sessions.
They warn you many times, about moving up or down the track abruptly or without checking first. For indoor tracks, you run a full disc rear and sometimes a full disc in front.
Signed up for newb class in a few weeks. I have foolish dreams about actually being a competitive pursuit rider. That's a standing start 2k time trial.
2 and 1/2 minutes of pain. That effort duration has always been right in my wheelhouse. I guess we'll see where things shake out.
#srsbzns
Nice setup. Fellow amateur track racer here as well, although I'm still slow-ish and admittedly haven't raced in almost a year. Haven't ridden on a wooden velodrome before, but plenty of what they're telling you makes sense. You''re touching 40mph at full tilt on a track and taking a hit can end pretty badly. Kristina Vogel (well known track cyclist) was paralyzed last year IIRC after falling over on a track. We have Brian Piccollo down here in South FL which is a concrete outdoor track.
What size crank are you running? How do you like the TT bars on a track bike? Had a set of 3T bars on my track bike a while back and wasn't a huge fan. Much prefer a regular dropbar for a track bike, but user preference i suppose. Pic of my track/daily driver below:
Last edited by sometorque; 02-19-2019 at 04:51 PM.
Reason: Quoting pics = Bad.
Pos cat for being a trackie
Neg cat for quoting images
180mm. I am competing in pursuit.
Ah ****. I forget quoting images is a bad thing. Shame on me. Team or individual pursuit? Done pursuit before, but tend to venture more on team/individual sprints. Also try to get in on scratches since they're a hilarious amount of fun.
Anyone ever fly with a Di2 battery? I have a ton of travel to NM this year and will be flying with my CAAD12 in an Orucase, not sure how to handle the battery as the consequences are high if there is a problem.
Super cool, classic frame; the end of an era. Never ride a CAAD12.
Yep. Found it at a local garage sale for $150 in late 2017 and i damn near couldn't throw my money at the seller fast enough. Have an Ultegra 6700 groupset that i've had sitting around for a few years will be going in it , as well as a few other goodies. All in due time when i stop throwing money away on the MSM.
I fly with Di2 bikes all the time, domestic and international. My bikes all have the battery in the seat tube or downtube. Has not been problem for me anyway.
When TSA or relevant agency asks me if there are any batteries, I say yes "small batteries in the computer and shifting mechanism."
They seem to be more concerned about large batteries or loose batteries. I have also used bikeflghts.com and of course they handle everything.
New to me giant trance 29 - advanced pro 2. This will end up a frame up rebuild within the next few weeks, but I wanted to start with the stock build just to get me going and get some parts that were good enough to keep (wheels).
So far I've changed:
-Stem - Syntance Megaforce 2 - 50mm
-Handlebars - Raceface six c
-Drivetrain - NX Eagle swapped to GX eagle with X01 Shifter
-Front tire to 3c version
-Guide T brakes swapped to Guide Ultimate
In it's current state it's 28.2 for an XL with pedals and 2.3 minions. This thing rips for what it is. The replaced my XC/Trail bike and I'll be replacing my big bike soon with a bike that is yet to be released.
02-03-2019, 07:00 PM
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