Here is what John Dodgin has to say about the Specialized Crux:
I became the lucky owner of a Specialized Crux cyclocross bike just over a month ago, here’s a quick review of one of the most agile cross bikes out there.
Here is what John Dodgin has to say about the Specialized Crux:
I became the lucky owner of a Specialized Crux cyclocross bike just over a month ago, here’s a quick review of one of the most agile cross bikes out there.
Super location, super crowds, chips, quality belgian beer, cowbells with the usual mix of racing for all categories. Good on Rapha, Brockhole, Lakes Road club and Furness flyers for a great event at Brockhole yesterday.
Biketreks team was out in force with Richard, Kieren, John, Mike and Nic all competing in the Senior event, part of the North West Cyclocross Association league. Good effort by all around a fairly technical course. Sympathies to John who had a cracking race up until the sticky concoction of gravel, leaves and cloggy mud got the better of his rear derailleur. This highlights the top service and support by the team at Biketreks who, immediately after the race, had already put John back on the road!
Full results and many quality photographs to come.
Photoset by Cheryl King over on Flickr:
Photoset by Mylene Bertrand over on Flickr:
Photo courtesy of C. Jackson.
From blistering heat to mud, rain and wind at Leverhulme park - Proper cyclocross conditions on what was a well designed course.
Biketreks Racing Team's John Dodgin and Nic Bertrand competed in the Senior event. After a good start and riding comfortably in the top 15 John unfortunately had to pull out because of a rolled tubular tyre. Nic once again didn't have a great start but was, relatively speaking, happy how he felt his riding was progressing from the previous week finishing in 33rd place, one lap down on race winner Nick Craig (Scott UK). Results on North West Cyclocross Association website.
Many thanks to Horwich CC for a great event.
We are all looking foward to a double week-end of cyclocross racing including Rapha Supercross on 15th October at Brockhole Lake District Visitor Centre on the shores of Lake Windermere - ideal opportunity for all to try your hand at cyclocross and watch some good racing.
We are all very giddy with anticipation for the next cross races! We have received the team bikes for those team members who appreciate mud, dirt, slippery grass and sometimes snow and ice. We are very grateful to being equipped by Specialized with their cross racing thoroughbred CruX. The bikes have been built expertly with care and pride by Biketreks mechanic Alex.
Beautiful!
Biketreks Racing Team at Clayton Vale Cyclocross - Photos courtesy of SportSunday.co.uk
The first cyclocross event of the season for the Biketreks Racing Team took place at Clayton Vale in Manchester on Saturday 1st of October, raced by Nic Bertrand and John Dodgin. The race organised by Velocity is part of the North-West Cyclocross Association's league series. The venue saw a good turnout of riders for the youth and senior races who braced themselves for unseasonally warm and sunny conditions - so much for cyclocross being a winter cyclesport!
The Clayton Vale circuit could be classed as 'not a traditional cyclocross course', with pretty much all singletrack and very little room for passing slower riders the start off the line was all important. Also mixed into this fun loop was gravel, steps, a sandpit and long finishing straight consisting of energy sapping soft wet ground.
A chaotic start to the race saw over 110 riders all jockeying for position into a strech of track no wider than 4-5 riders and an inevitable crash occured, with riders going down in front of them both Nic and John where delayed and spent the majority of the race chasing back through the field passing slower riders by using the limited parts of the course wide enough for overtaking. By the end of the race John had managed to work his way up to 19th position and was left wondering what he could have achieved if his start had gone better - something to work on for next week! Meanwhile Nic started to find a good rythm two laps into the race in the opressive heat finishing an eventual 43rd (Must do bettter!) - one lap down on race winner Giles Dake. (REPORT & FULL RESULTS)
Our Biketreks riders are looking to build on this through the coming weeks and months, after a successful road season the team are looking forward to using the discipline of cyclocross to keep having fun over the winter, give themselves high intensity workouts and improve bike handling for road racing next season.
Many thanks to Andy and the team at Biketreks as well as Specialized for their continued logistical and financial support for the team, the Biketreks riders look forward to racing on the excellent Specialized CruX cyclocross bikes throughout the season.
As we've come to expect at North West cyclocross races, there are also many superb photographs that capture the moment and the effort rather well courtesy of SportSunday photographers David and Laura:
- Seniors, Vets, Women and Juniors
John Dodgin on Pen-Y-Ghent - Photo by Andy Holden (Full set of his photos on Flickr).
Yesterday, 25th September 2011, saw the 49th edition of the 3 Peaks Cyclocross race. The race, famed as one of the toughest event of its kind in the world is, in its current form, a 61KM race compiling climbs over Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-Ghent on a tortuous circuit that involved scrambling up near vertical slopes such as Simon Fell and the more rocky ascent of Whernside before hurtling down a number of technically demanding descents to re-join the road sections that bridged between the most arduous terrain. With riders onboard cyclocross bikes and with 3 months of wet weather affecting the terrain staying onboard the bike, avoiding crashes, punctures and injuries are always at the forefront of all the rider's minds.
With fatigue from 3 peaks training receeding because of some well earned rest off the bike this week, anxiety and self doubt are being transformed into sheer excitement - actually looking forward to the event as opposed to knowing very well that it's one special race to line up for and respect but also wondering why we entered at all given it is so near the end of the road racing season.
Good luck to all competitors on Sunday.
Nothing to do on Sunday? Come out to cheer all the riders. Good spots to spectate are Whernside, Ribblehead and Pen-y-Gent.
Watch out for 5 riders sporting the Biketreks Racing Team colours this week-end: Andy Stephenson, Mike Wardle, Richard Wood and of course Biketreks RT's John Dodgin and I, Nic Bertrand.
Three Peaks Checklist:
Trained? tick
Tapered? tick
Excited? tick
Bike Ready? tick
Kit bag ready? tick
WE ARE READY TO RACE
.... to this...
Training is in the bag and competitors are getting itchy feet to get on the start line. Yesterday the peaks looked their best in fairly dry weather and minimal wind. Conditions have been good for the past few years. Is the weather going to play ball this year?
All eyes will be on the Ingleborough Web Cam, the Weather Forecast for the Yorkshire Dales
