Sometimes the most inopportune occurrences are opportunities in disguise. To that effect, as I recovered from a recurring ankle injury over the last couple of months that took me off the dance floor and off my bike, I took advantage of that time to pick up my camera and document activities I'm usually too busy enjoying to photograph.
Enter Cyclocross. My newest fascination and claim to insanity consists of riding muddy, bumpy, root-infested tracks with my trusty Fuji Cross Pro, leaping off the bike and shouldering it over barriers only to leap on again in one fluid motion to continue hammering the course into submission. At least that's the idea. Let's say it's a work in progress.
Cyclocross is relatively new on the cycling scene, at least compared to your very established Road and MTB scenes. I'm enamored with it - whereas road riding is a continuous sufferfest where pain equals speed, Cyclocross (CX for short) has a much more technical approach, dependent not only on strength but where your placing is equally determined by how you handle your bike and how you approach the course. Do you ride the switch backs, or run them? How fast can you make that turn on your bike without wiping out? How do you approach the corner on the first lap? What about on the fourth, cause now the course looks very different? Do you bunny hop those two consecutive barriers? The answer to that last question, in case you were wondering, is no. There are people with those skills ... I am not yet one of them.
As we've started weekly training sessions in City Park, the turnout has been pretty impressive and has given me a chance to shoot some great action footage. Check it out below.