Jules said:

eragot said:

Jules. Did you feel the shaking? I agree wholeheartedly. 

There is a real lesson here and I think it is this:

If you're new, don't bother learning the step-through until you are a minor Jedi at all your other skills.

If you are a cagey veteran and already step-through, then you probably have the skills & proprioception to experiment - but please for the love of all that is holy don't go preaching what you've already learnt with the metaphorical 10k hours of practice as a good path for beginners.

(end rant)

No.  Not the lesson at all.  

Not to take anything away from Eric, whom you all know I hold in high regard in the cross world, but dude is tall. And until the ONLY UCI rule that cross promoters insist on following to the Nth degree is that damn rule that barriers can be up to 40cm tall (UP TO folks, UP TO...christ...and they don't have to be at the base of a climb), then tall ladies and gents are always going to look better over the barriers. In general.

If you have a chance (and you do, every year, at least 4 times in two weeks), check out the modestly sized Tim Johnson. Looks very good over the barriers...of course guys like Ryan Trebon make those barriers look like they are not even there.

It's borderline irresponsible to be teaching or advocating step-through for beginners.  "It works for me" is going to be cold comfort the first time someone Joey's themselves at a race trying to step through like it's 1999 again.

Oh, so now it's about safety and not being able to unclip.
I thought pedals had evolved to the point where that wasn't an issue.

(just to continue to fan this flame)

and I don't think it is 'irresponsible' to teach people what works for you.
I do it all the time.

And if you watch Joey's crash, you will note that he has successfully executed the step-through and has taken two steps prior to reaching the barrier. This crash has nothing to do with the failure of his dismounting technique. He just misjudged his distance to the barrier.

@Stokes that is an out-of-character dose of imprecision...

I actually think step through is safer. I feel more aware of my speed and line when I approach the barrier and it sets you up in a better running position. I learned it from Burney's book after having seen only one live cross race. No one showed me the correct method but I got it to work reasonably well (though my remount was always a mess).

Jules said:

It's borderline irresponsible to be teaching or advocating step-through for beginners.  "It works for me" is going to be cold comfort the first time someone Joey's themselves at a race trying to step through like it's 1999 again.

And frankly, "it works well if you practice it" could be said of the regular dismount, and I have yet to hear that an hour of practice on the "regular" dismount is not faster, better, more reliable and safer than an hour of practice of step-through.

Jules,

I'd like to fan the flames a bit more. How do you know if one way is quicker than the other? I know from my ski racing days that what feels fast and what actually is fast may not be the same thing. The only way we knew in ski racing was to have timing (a wand in the start house and electric eyes at the finish and potentially at intermediate points along the course).

And what is faster for the distance of 10m before and 10m after a set of barriers may not be faster when considering the whole race. E.g. it may not set you up the right way for the next "feature" (turn, roots, hill, etc).

I think my last sentence is a little dubious but possible. I think it is a stronger statement for a debate between dismounting and bunny hopping barriers.

Craig,

I found this video of bubblecross with shots of several Kissenas

If everyone would just learn how to hope the barriers, this "method" discussion would be moot.  Just hop them, duh.

Good video, but it's misleading because it makes it looks like everyone's just having fun...(and not in the depths of pain)  haha

^ hilarious..!  I think i've been racing the wrong field.  this looks more fun.  haha

Oh, I am so going to Crossasaurus next year...

What say we rent a bus??? love the pumpkin beer hand-ups!! Do it yerself punkin ale!!

BUMP!

This race has been a team favorite in past years and has returned to the original course location. Lots of off camber, a single track through the woods, a sandy beachfront followed by a climbs, a "jump" through a kids playground - AND its the day after Halloween so you can wear your costume from the day before. What else could you ask for?

As of Saturday I am the only one from our team registered. What's up with that Registration closes the 30th, so I guess you have time, but this is one of the best local races - don't miss it!

ALSO, I signed up for a tent area which gives us VIP parking... but I am not sure who has the Kissena tent...

Over an inch of rain forecast for Wednesday

I'll be there and will bring the tent I have. See you then.

Bump. Here it is. One of the most fun courses of the year.

Looks like we've got a few KCC racing. Pre-ride, learn the fast lines...especially through the sand. A couple of years back, the last lap I finally found a good line through the sand. That was dumb of me.

Cat 5: Niall

Cat 4 40+: Jim N

Cat 40+: Patrick, Marc

Cat 4: Dan

I'm out.  A birthday party for my sister conflicts.  

bummed.

Seriously. So much fun. Sad to miss it, but Lisa is working the marathon in the morning and the clinic in the afternoon.

A fun day out there and as always, a fun course. A few changes from years past - a section of the sand that you hit directly after a set of stairs making it a must run, a serious drop off in the woods near the finishing straight that looked treacherous in pre-ride but was pretty much a non-factor during the race, and the uphill path through the woods after the beach ride was more eroded (rocky and rooty) but still rideable.

I had a middling good start but the guys in the front just had too much power and by the end of the first lap I was slotted into about 10th place with 9th in my sights and 11th nipping at my heels. And that's where it stayed, though as I came around the final corner onto the finishing stretch I saw 9th place running with his bike (flat). I got out of the saddle and sprinted it out but missed getting him by about 5 seconds.

Crossresults had predicted me 10th and they were right. In fact the 9 guys that came in ahead of me were the exact 9 guys they predicted would (though in different order).

Niall raced the Cat 5 (same time as me) and he seemed to have a decent race despite a crash when he overcooked a corner. Dan Strika raced the Cat 4 and 4 40+ - back to back. Nutter. Patrick and Marc were racing later in the day so we hung out a bit before they got serious with the pre-rides.

Nice connecting with the KCC crew. Our afternoon start meant we missed watching the morning races, but everyone seemed happy to be out racing bikes.

There are a lot of nice things about this race, the course being the primary thing. But this year, they had Tom Mains doing registration/results meaning it was the honor system pick up your own number, and we get an email with lap times. I'm glad he's doing our race registration. That was such a nightmare last year. The other nice thing is that there was all kinds of Halloween candy on offer and that meant, I was full of Nerds, reliving my past, at the start.

Patrick lined up with a Bad-ass Skeletor costume (including an O2 depriving mask) on the front row. I was just a bit late to the party so I got a second row start. But not as late as a couple of the pre-race favorites, who literally pulled up to the line 10 seconds before we were supposed to start. And of course, they didn't have the decency to go to the back of the pack, they parked themselves right on the front row. Manners boys, manners. There were only like 3 rows of us, they could have started back row with minimal penalty.

Anyway, not a great start for me, but since the prologue loop hooked us into climbing bumpy grassville, I kept it conservative and just passed people on the way up. By the time we were back on level ground, I was about 6th or 8th wheel and looking to move up more. Carving around a muddy turn I went in too hot and ended up sliding out and on the ground.

Everyone passes me. I get up and spend about 15 seconds feeling sorry for myself and wondering perhaps if I should just ride tempo the rest of the race and enjoy the sand and climbing single track. But then I was like FUCK NO, I didn't come here to enjoy the scenery, I came here to race.

So game on. In the end I was 7th out of 23 starters. And honestly looking at my lap times and comparing them to the guys in front of me, not sure I would have done too much better placing wise if I didn't wipe out.

After the race, I changed out my CX treads for some road slicks and rode home. About 3.5 hours of extra riding, including more climbing than I would have liked with loaded backpack in tow. This was mostly due to the fact that my primary source of navigation was the knowledge that I had to go Southeast and the sun's position in the sky. It took me about an hour to get to the top of Skyline Drive from the race, then it should have been straight forward on the way home. Actually most of the ride was quite pleasant (beautiful vistas, changing leaves around Ringwood) until it got dark and I got lost/stuck in Teaneck. I totally worm-holed myself. Everything would have been fine if it weren't for a bridge that was out somewhere between here and Ridgewood throwing me off my normal route.

Still a good day overall. This remains one of the most fun courses around. I look forward to racing it again next year!

Lets just say that I decided to have some fun... so I borrowed a Skeletor costume from one of my boys. They were into YouTube Skeletor video parodies a few years back. 

This was the first time I have worn a costume to a CX race. First off, this polyester costume is HOT. Not in the "nice muscles, Skeletor" way either. I was sweating like a pig. Good news is that I only had to stop once to untangle my costume that got caught around my pedal.

The biggest problem was the mask which was jammed up against my nose and eyebrows in an uncomfortable way due the helmet putting pressure on the top of the mask. Once the racing got started I didn't notice the discomfort, but I DID notice my breathing. A lot. The mask intensified my labored breathing so loudly that someone would have been forgiven if they thought I was having an asthma attack. Who needs a heart rate monitor when you've got a mask?

I had some cheers of "way to go He-Man" and "go Skeletor" but only got quizzical looks from the pre-teens that I called out to with "He-man, always he-man!" Kids these days...

I haven't seen pics from the race yet, but it is safe to say that the mask is better looking than the pain face I was making during this race. My best work was on the sand and single track. My worst was on the bumpy grass and the steep descent. I'd like to blame this on my restricted field of vision, but I would probably be giving myself too much credit.

Bubble has always been a good one. Mark it on your calendar next year.