# cyclocross for beginners (not beginning bike-just cyclo)



## vanjr (Sep 15, 2005)

I may be the worst bike handler (for my level of riding) of all time. My current dismount technique is: unclip 10 yards before I need to stop. Come to complete stop. Put foot down. Unclip other foot. Get off bike. Carry as needed. Stop. Put bike down. Put leg over bike. Clip one foot in. Start moving. Clip in foot 2. This past weekend I tried to unclip my right foot and just swing it over the seat-not even trying to dismount. Could not bring myself to do it. I will admit to more that a few bad falls with clipless pedals on the roads when I started biking 3 years ago. Maybe if you don't want to fall you shouldn't ride cyclocross, but as an old cross country runner, cyclocross calls to me. 

Suggestions how to improve??? Simon Burney's book did not help here. I had hoped to do my first race this year, but I think I am at least a year off.

tia

edit: No coaches or races are within 100 miles of where i live.


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## Lord Taipan (Aug 10, 2006)

Any clinics near you?
Perhaps a local CX'er would be willing to work with you one on one with it. Local CX club to join?
Don't worry, I'm still working on it myself a bit.


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## colinr (Nov 20, 2006)

It sounds like it is mainly a mental block, if you've been riding for 3 years you undoubtedly have the balance to unclip a foot and swing it around. I would guess you are worried about being able to unclip your weighted foot if you lose your balance, before falling down with the bike, right? I have a few ideas...

First off, practice on grass. Hopefully you are already doing this.
Second, you are using mtb pedals, right? If you can adjust the release angle, make sure they are on one of the "looser" settings. You should be able to flick your heel out easily, even if all your weight is on that foot.
Third, try scootering the bike around with a foot (the correct foot) resting on the pedal, using your other foot to push off. It's a little awkward to propel yourself this way but once you are rolling, that's the exact stance you would be in during a dismount. Convince yourself it's a reasonably stable platform. Try it with a foot clipped in.

If you can get the balance of scootering a bike with the correct foot on the pedal, then you have the balance to swing your leg around the back into the scootering position.

If you are uncomfortable unclipping your second foot, try pre unclipping it or using platform pedals at first while you get the other motions.

Hope some of these ideas help!


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## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

Use platform pedals.

Get used to coasting the bike with your left foot on the left pedal and your right leg on the left side of the bike. You can push the bike like a Razor scooter.

Once you get used to that, swing the right leg over the saddle to mount the bike.

Once you get used to that, go back and forth between those two positions.

Now you can do what every American grade schooler used to be able to do before parents got paranoid and started driving their kids everywhere.


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## bopApocalypse (Aug 30, 2006)

The way I learned dismounts:

1. Get rolling on some grass.
2. Stand up on your left foot.
3. Coast around with all your weight on your left foot, and then sit back down and continue riding.

Once you're super comfortable with #3:
4. Once you're coasting on your left foot, unclip your right foot. Let your right leg hang straight down. (Both legs should be straight down). Coast for a bit, then clip back in w/ the right foot and ride away.

Once #4 is easy:
5. Coast, unclip right, and swing your right leg around the back of the bike. Coast with both legs on the left side of the bike. Swing the leg back over, clip in, and ride off.

Once #5 is cake:
6. Start actually dismounting. If you want to step through, coast in that position a little first. Then just unclip your left foot and hit the ground running.

If you really lack confidence in your handling skills/comfort on the bike, just concentrate on dismounts at first - just hit the ground running, and then slow down. Once you're pretty comfortable w/ dismounts, then start working your remounts.


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## vonteity (Feb 13, 2005)

You've just gotta do it. Practice on grass, so falling doesn't hurt. One thing others haven't explicitly mentioned is to rest your hip against the saddle after swinging your right leg over the bike. For some reason no one ever mentions that part, but it's really important!


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## arctic hawk (May 17, 2003)

http://cyclocrossworld.stores.yahoo.net/soforcydvd.html
If you can order this dvd, it's pretty good!


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## Spunout (Aug 12, 2002)

don't ever practice dismounts/mounts slow motion or walking.

Do them fast, race pace.


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## golzy (Dec 18, 2005)

vonteity said:


> You've just gotta do it. Practice on grass, so falling doesn't hurt. One thing others haven't explicitly mentioned is to rest your hip against the saddle after swinging your right leg over the bike. For some reason no one ever mentions that part, but it's really important!


+1... Resting your saddle against your hip lets you put your right hand on the top tube. I was taught to pop up and out of the left pedal - having your right hand on the top tube gives you a little extra leverage to explode out. It also positions your hand for a smoother transition.

Someone also said to not practice in slow motion but rather at race pace. Another +1 to that. I've found that the dismount is about commitment... you need to commit to doing it. If you're moving slow and you don't fully commit to the motion you'll end up in a figure-four-leg-lock (not to be confused with the figure-four-jock-lock) with your right foot on the ground and your left foot connected to the pedal.


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## vegan (Sep 24, 2007)

I practiced in slow motion on my front lawn at first -- got some really interesting looks from the neighbors. This year I wanted to actually get my right leg between my left leg and bike before dismounting. It was a total mental block. I chose my back yard this time for practice. I tipped over a few times but nothing bad. Once I got it going slow, I worked up to doing it at faster speeds. Once you actually finally do it, it's like "Is that all?"


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## vonteity (Feb 13, 2005)

Spunout said:


> don't ever practice dismounts/mounts slow motion or walking.
> 
> Do them fast, race pace.


I really don't think that's good advice, sorry. In our practices, we start off the newbies doing them at walking pace. Fast, race pace dismount + newbie = many owwies.


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## colinr (Nov 20, 2006)

vonteity said:


> I really don't think that's good advice, sorry. In our practices, we start off the newbies doing them at walking pace. Fast, race pace dismount + newbie = many owwies.


Agreed. We're talking about learning the motions here, not perfecting them.


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## vanjr (Sep 15, 2005)

thanx all. some very good, practical tips have been given. i have saved this to a document file and will begin working on the basics.


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## pomole (Aug 26, 2003)

*check out velo news' site*

velo news has some really good how-to videos on their site. 

http://velonews.com/vntv/

-gv


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## justinb (Nov 20, 2006)

I spent most of last year dismounting way too late. As a result, I ended up bleeding too much speed, and often not getting the right leg through, which leads to an extra step. Get comfortable with the left-foot coasting part, and everything else falls into place. And, though it is counter-intuitive and a bit frightening, dismounts become easier with more speed (up to a point). 

Good luck.


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## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

Once you get the hang of it, it's actually EASIER to do at speed. Hopping on at slow speed takes some doing, atmo....


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## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

Kram59 said:


> Once you get the hang of it, it's actually EASIER to do at speed. Hopping on at slow speed takes some doing, atmo....


I agree. But most courses have at least one slow remount, like an uphill barrier section or what. In moments of laziness I sometimes do a cowboy remount in these situations.


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## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

Me too. Esp in the last few laps......(a bad habit I'm trying to kick-I've managed so far this yr)


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## rensho (Aug 5, 2003)

I'm having problems unclipping a weighted left foot on the dismount. I can swing over/thru and coast just fine, but can't unclip out of my eggbeater when I need to. 

I tried a practice dismount on hard/rocky ground at 10-15 mph. Don't do that. That left scars.


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## vonteity (Feb 13, 2005)

rensho said:


> I'm having problems unclipping a weighted left foot on the dismount. I can swing over/thru and coast just fine, but can't unclip out of my eggbeater when I need to.
> 
> I tried a practice dismount on hard/rocky ground at 10-15 mph. Don't do that. That left scars.


Are you moving your right hand to the top tube? Your left foot should not be weighted when you unclip. Push yourself up at the last second with your right hand (it should be on the top tube), to take the weight off your left foot while you unclip.

If you have issues with this, you can also try unclipping before you swing your leg over the bike. It's another pretty popular technique for the very reason you're having trouble with the first style.


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## flanman (Jul 7, 2006)

Vonteity is right.

You can dismount clipped with foot behind by twisting your hip.

Very difficult to do when foot is forward. Take weight off pedal by grabbing top tube and unclip by twisting foot/ankle. Otherwise unclip left foot beforehand. I prefer unclipping before.


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## colinr (Nov 20, 2006)

Which way do you have the egg beater cleats on? I recall that depending on which cleats is on what foot, changes the release angle from 10 to 20 degrees or something like that. If you didn't read the instructions and just put them on randomly you might have the "harder" release setting.


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## SteveCnj (Oct 6, 2003)

vonteity said:


> One thing others haven't explicitly mentioned is to rest your hip against the saddle after swinging your right leg over the bike. For some reason no one ever mentions that part, but it's really important!


Von is correct here, think about always having at least 3 points of contact with your bike. After swinging your right leg over the saddle, your points of contact should be: right hip to saddle, left foot to pedal, and left hand to handlebar while releasing your right hand from the bar to move it to the top tube as others in this thread pointed out. 

Get into that position and practice riding around a bit to get comfortable with it.

Once you've grabbed the top tube you can then support some of your weight on your right arm, which I find makes the rest of the dismount go easier.


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## justinb (Nov 20, 2006)

colinr said:


> Which way do you have the egg beater cleats on? I recall that depending on which cleats is on what foot, changes the release angle from 10 to 20 degrees or something like that. If you didn't read the instructions and just put them on randomly you might have the "harder" release setting.



Yes, the cleat with 2 dots on it should be on the right foot for the smaller release angle. Makes a big difference.


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## Ronsonic (Nov 11, 2004)

Spunout said:


> don't ever practice dismounts/mounts slow motion or walking.
> 
> Do them fast, race pace.



Let's see if the software edits my one word description of your post: BULLSHIT!!

Yes, you can practice at a walking speed. In some ways it's a bit harder than running since you'll have less momentum to help you through that awkward moment of finding the pedal and getting through the first stroke. Practicing at a jogging speed is probably the easiest.

Back to the original poster. You really need more riding / familiarity / comfort on the bike. It isn't going to dump you. My suggestion is to spend more time just playing, go ride on trails and across any patch of grass at every opportunity. Play games with riding no hands, unclip, reclip, both feet up while you coast along. Learn to mount using a "scooter start" which is basically the reverse of a cyclocross dismount. Find out how hard you can corner on grass, how slow can you ride before doing an Arte Johnson, how fast can you ride on an open field without bouncing around bad enough to get scared. Just whatever sort of silliness you want. This is how guys who are good bike handlers learned when they were children. You might crash a little, time to get over that inordinate fear. Crashing on dirt and grass is not at all like crashing in the world of cars and concrete. Even a freeking tree is soft by comparison. Guess how I know. Wear a helmet and gloves and barring directly slamming into a tree you won't end up with anything worse than scrapes. Heck, even the tree will most likely do no serious harm.

Go play, it's really better practice than you'd think. Keep this thing fun.

Ron


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## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

Good advice. +1


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## vanjr (Sep 15, 2005)

This certainly has been a learning curve for me. Prior to a month ago I knew exactly what I wanted to do-get a cyclocross bike for my son, then save up and get a little nicer one for me in my size. Now after trying using his bike for a month to practice my whole plans have been shot. Skills need major improvement. I still want a cyclocross bike (badly!), but getting an aluminum one to race this year is not gonna happen. I may go the steel or ti route and get one that will last forever and have less of a race focus and more of a cross bike ride/utility bike focus and maybe eventually race in a year or two. Then if I get serious about racing I can go with a lighter faster rig and have a workhorse backup. 
But first dismount practice. First slower then faster. On grass. Again thanx to all you experienced riders giving a noob some help.


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## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

Get a Bianchi Volpe and just _ride_ it, mang. Take it to fire roads, parks, gravel roads, etc, and enjoy.

For inspiration, just go here: http://www.rivbike.com/ 
and click refresh a bunch of times.


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## flanman (Jul 7, 2006)

My thoughts are: Don't get hung up on the type of bike or equipment. Cross is all about the engine and the skills. Make sure you have tires that you feel comfortable with and pedals that won't trap you. That's it.

Big deal if your bike is too small or aluminum is stiffer than steel. You're only going to be on it for 45 minutes. Don't worry much about brakes, just about any canti has plenty of stopping power.

If you allow yourself one luxury, I would spend good money on shoes. Plenty of tread and good grip on the arch for when you're not clipped in. Glue a piece of rubber on the arch if necessary.

When you find that you lose places in a race because your equipment hindered you, rather than the engine let you down, then start to think about spending some $$$. I haven't reached that place yet.


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## Supersonic (Aug 31, 2005)

check out the free cross instructional videos on velonews.com. they helped me to learn those skills.


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