UK here, Hoping the london CX league is still going ahead. will most likely do as much racing as I can til november/december, Have my off-season, then hit base at xmas in prep. for 2021 road season.
Update from British Cycling:
Still some hope for the UK CX season.
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Now I’ve got my eye on jingle. I think the guy that runs it is a doctor so seems likely to cancel given the way everything is going. Almost surprised it wasn’t one of the first to be cancelled.
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That’s basically what my attitude became in March when it became clear “we” wouldn’t have a hold on this disease anytime soon. Train for the local series, hoping it happens, but if it doesn’t, then improved fitness and on-bike skills will reap rewards whenever racing starts again. I’m not gonna be hopping barriers for the win at anyway, so I’ll work on dismounts when the [now-cancelled] season rolls around.
John is a doctor, and since the race benefits the UI children’s hospital, I think we’re all still holding out hope that it happens… Not just for “selfish” I wanna race this year reasons, but to help out with whatever the children’s hospital uses the funds for… That said, yeah, it seems like it might get cancelled…
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Not a race question, but I was wondering if anyone has used Shim’s RX800 gravel shoes for cx. I know they don’t have toe spikes, but I thought they might be ok for dry courses. Anyone use them even for gravel riding and have an opinion?
I used them last season for cross and honestly wouldn’t recommend them for cx. The main reason is that there really isn’t much of a grippy/rubber surface between the heel and the cleat area. This caused me to slip around on my pedals in situations where I wasn’t clipped in. I ended up glueing a piece of old tire onto the shoe in that area. Another thing I ran into was that when using my crank brothers candy pedals, I felt as though the rubber lugs around the cleat area actually interfered with the cleat actuating with the pedal. I could just be me, but I think that the cleat channel is narrow, and that those lugs are just slightly too tall. They also border on being almost too stiff, and like you said don’t have the option of adding in toe spikes.
For gravel use, I don’t see there being much of an issue. You aren’t constantly getting on and off the bike, at least not with the gravel rides around me. Most of the gravel around my area is tame enough that some people run road shoes and pedals.
Overall I think the xc line of shoes would be better for pure cx use.
Thx for the thorough reply. Yeah I’ve found clipping in w practice starts is a bit tricky. I have shim pedals and the shoes are super stable, but clipping in is not as smooth. I love their stiffness for accelerations, but I tried to run in them a bit and it wasn’t so great. With few if any cx races this year, I’ll wait until 2020 shoes are on sale.
Racing with certain precautions is happening in Colorado. Had a fun one this weekend. Check out my race video and let me know what you think. Comments welcome.
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Hey people did you see two races last weekend? MvdP nailed the Scheldercross, and Gavere superprestige, Tom Pidcock really done incredible job! MvdP being distanced by Tom Pidcock, what a scene. Both races make my jaw wide open the whole time during the race.
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