Jonathan Page shows clinic participants an uphill corner dismount
Jonathan Page and Allison Dunlap hit the Marymoor velodrome, site of the 2009 edition of Star Crossed, a day early to spread some of their collective cyclocross wisdom to numerous local riders who turned out to the event’s free clinic which kicked off the first weekend of American UCI racing. Both Page and Dunlap spent some of their valuable time teaching about such important topics as barrier technique, cornering, handling off-camber terrain and remounting.
Turnout was superb, as two groups of 30+ riders circled around each of the two veterans of the American cyclocross scene, often in crowds of four deep in attempt to soak in years of accrued cyclocross knowledge. Page and Dunlap took their pupils around the course and taught riders how to negotiate some of cyclocross’ most difficult obstacles. Page was keen on teaching the merits of good dismounting technique as well as good barrier methods:
Find more videos like this on Cyclocross Magazine
Find more videos like this on Cyclocross Magazine
Alison Dunlap practices barriers herself.
Dunlap spent a good amount of time talking about proper cornering technique, stressing the importance of proper weight distribution when cornering. “Don’t think of it as leaning [your body], think of it as leaning the bike, while your body stays neutral. As the bike leans under you, just that movement along puts your chin on the outside of the handlebars,” providing all the cornering required.
Dunlap and Page will now hope to put their expertise to the test on Saturday and Sunday and grab a pair of wins on American cyclocross’ first big weekend.
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