I am in a semi circle straddling my bike and surrounded by a
bunch of smiley faces. The atmosphere is full of anticipation and nervous
tension. For me it feels like I have been let loose for the day, and I am
secretly a bit giddy with this opportunity to run amok on my bike. I look
around and can judge by the faces that I am not alone, confirmed further by the
rider next to me who confides, ‘this is the best way to spend Mother’s Day!’
She reveals that her two sons are spending the day with her in-laws.
Our leader is Kate, and she is wearing an all-black tightly
fitted outfit complete with long socks. It is the uniform of her inner urban
bikie gang, but this sort of gang is far from usual. Called the ‘Dirty Deeds’
crew, they are the heart and soul behind the burgeoning Cyclo-cross movement in
Victoria. And today this über cool gang is teaching a Beginner’s class on
‘cross skills for women.
What is Cyclo-cross? Kate tells us that it is like an
off-road bicycle racing circuit involving a bit of sand, a bit of grass, a lot
of mud, and some small bits of paved surfaces. The course designers add in
‘obstacles’ such as steps, barriers or slippery muddy slopes which cannot be
ridden on a bike. The participant needs
to jump off, get over the obstacle, and then remount their steed. The
atmosphere at the events is very supportive, and in the last few years have
generated huge inner urban crowd followings despite the depths of winter in
which the ‘cross season prevails. All participants are wildly supported no
matter the level of ability. While the winners are clapped politely, the
biggest cheers are reserved for the best crashes. For some strange reason I am
comforted by this explanation.
We are told the number one ‘skill’ to master is the combined
art of dismounting, getting over the obstacle, and remounting in an efficient
manner as possible. Kate is gracious in her demonstrations and assures us all
the grass is soft enough for all of us to try the new techniques without fear.
I noticed straight away the difference in backgrounds in the riders attending. I know some of the faces in the group from their racing
backgrounds – track and road, but there are mountain bikers, commuters
and tourers present. Many have never raced before.
As we began our first attempt at dismounting, I became aware that
our cycling backgrounds were irrelevant. If you have a hint of bike skills (and
most women do given that 90% of us rode as kids), it was relatively simple to
pick up the skill of a Cyclo-cross race dismount. It was very liberating across
the whole group to see everyone learning something completely new, and to pick
it up so quickly.
The session continued and we tried to pull all the new
skills together in an attempt to establish a flowing dismount,
cart-bike-over-the-barrier, and remount in a fluid movement. Two women who had
quickly picked up the dismount-jump-remount combination confessed they had
backgrounds in horse riding. Those foolish ones on mountain bikes (me included)
immediately noticed just how heavy a mountain bike is to pick up and cart over
an barrier, but we comforted ourselves that the extra pre-season weight training
from hiking these beasts would pay off in the long term. Here’s hoping anyway.
We added some more skills including cornering on grass and
race starts before participating in a mock race. This was definitely a
highlight for me, trying to put all the newly acquired skills into a pressured real-time format. It was crazy. I scared myself, rode hard, breathed
harder, dropped concentration in parts and tried to recover in others. I
finished the race with my head spinning but loving every second of it,
alongside thirty other women feeling the same way. Giddy indeed. And totally awesome!
The Cyclo-cross skills session is part of two development skills series for women. They are:
Next skills sesh:
Saturday May 18
10am
Darebin Parklands (meet by the Ranger hut)
Suitable for anyone with an off-road bike
Next Tapas (90min skills and theory session):
A focus on handicap racing (a style of racing where honesty and teamwork is rewarded)
Sunday May 19
10am
Albert Park Lake (meet at the VIS/old South Melbourne Football ground)
Suitable for anyone with a road bike
