Cyclocross: An hour In hell

This video was produced for a University Of Oregon electronic media class. It is designed as a short documentary to give people a better idea of what cyclocross racing is. Please leave comments!

• Category

  Sports

[dbassboy94]

thanks alot for making this video... it is a perfect video to show people who have no idea what cyclocross is

[tobarstep]

Suspension isn't very useful in cross racing. Plus it makes the bike considerably heavier, and you end up carrying your bike quite a bit in a cross race. And they aren't true road bikes. The frame geometry is most similar to road bikes, and the tires are definitely skinnier than MTB tires, but they aren't your standard 23c road tire either. Most 'cross tires are minimum 28c.

[Dan Hall]

almost all of the bikes have front and rear derailleurs and weigh between 16 and 30 lbs. Ther are no transmissions because it it just bicycles, only legs and pedals.

[John Ogle]

Thanks for making this! You did a great job! Never knew much about cyclocross, but it looks like a lot of fun.

[Evert Borghgraef]

Those are the woman, but yeah that's it. Here is the entire race: /watch?v=I2g3naMuPN4

The elite men are racing from the 1h mark until the 2h mark.

They sometimes use both front and back for very fast courses with slow, technical passages. But normally they only have the back one's. I don't know the specifications of the bikes, I'm just a supporter, not an actual rider. ^^

[somebodyjones2]

watch?v=oMa4khjymmE that's the one, right?

man, that shit looks cool. :) I could definitely see myself getting into that sport... i'm intrigued by the drop handlebars and i have to assume that most cyclocross bikes don't have front and back derailleurs, right? what would be the point? what's the transmission like? (and how much do they weigh, typically?)

thanks, man! very interesting. :)

[Evert Borghgraef]

Yep, it is very fast. Pure coincidence, but today was the Belgian Championship. Speed up to 26 km/h and a course length of 3km. (+- 2.2 miles I guess)

You can look up the race, I know the last lap is on video somewhere. (It was at Zilvermeer, Mol). You'll notice it's quite a bit more competitive then in this video ^^

[somebodyjones2]

sweet! so that makes it really fast and intense! I'd love to give that shit a try!

thanks, man!!!!!

[Evert Borghgraef]

Over here in Belgium, the races are +- an hour long and are about ten laps. So consider one lap to be a bit over 6 minutes at 25 km/h. So that makes a lap 2.5 km long or about 1.5 miles.

[somebodyjones2]

how long is a lap usually? i'm a MTB rider and I'm used to racing like 3 7-10 mile laps... is it similar?

[somebodyjones2]

that said, "an hour in hell" is a little hyperbolic, isn't it? lol

[somebodyjones2]

so sick!

I'm a hardcore mountain biker, but this looks like a shitload of fun, too. I'd definitely enlist myself in one of these races, too!