One of the biggest challenges with learning to ride ’cross in the mud is ... finding ways to ride in the mud.
Although this season is been incredibly muddy in several parts of the country, the typical cyclocross season seems to only have a few mudders in any given scene. And those muddy race days can require significant post-race mitigation and working with locals to make sure surfaces return to their usual grassy state.
Given these challenges, heading out to the local part and ripping around when things get messy is just not an option. It is poor form and liable to fracture relationships between local communities and cyclists.
Fortunately, every year about this time, Mother Nature provides cyclocrossers in many northern locales with a more friendly way to get some practice slipping and sliding while keeping the bike upright.
Winter 'cross can be fun for the whole family. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
Winter snow in cyclocross hotbeds such as Chicago, the Northeast and Upper Midwest provides a great opportunity to get out and practice riding in slick conditions. For those readers in warmer locations, perhaps I can recommend a winter wonderland vacation in the Upper Midwest with fat biking, cross-country skiing, poutine, cheese and some old-timey polka music?
Since to me, everything is training for cyclocross season, here are some ways to get out and enjoy the winter wonderland while also maybe picking up a skill or two to help with your bike handling next cyclocross season.
Click the next button to read each of the five sections.
Embrace the Winter Wonderland
The arrival of snow does not necessarily mean the end of riding bikes for a seemingly endless period of time in many parts of the country. Getting out on the ’cross bike, fat bike, commuter or cross-country skis can provide some extra bike handling training, fitness and cure for the wintertime blues.
After being miserable during the winter after moving to the Upper Midwest, I found that embracing the winter wonderland can help make riding season seem to come at least a little bit quicker.
As always, these are some of the things that have worked for me. If you have other, perhaps better, ideas let us know. After all, I will probably be the person face-down in that snow drift.
Embrace the winter wonderland this year. © C. Fegan-Kim / Cyclocross Magazine
