Is cx cycling harder than being on the road?

[grellboy]

Evening. Finally unboxed and set up my Boardman cx team today. Decided to plunge in at the deep end and took it off road for 25 miles thos afternoon (3/4 off road). My friend recommend ed this route as a walking route, but I thought it would be fun on my new bike. It was a circular island...but I had about a metre wide path either side of a dyke and every square metre was covered in six inch high grass and mole hills. It was horrendous. The bike was great but my body now feels like its been a punchbag for Mike Tyson. Is it always this hard, or is a route with a molehill per metre (literally), harsher than usual?

 

[screenman]

A few more rides and you will be floating above all the lumps and bumps like you are riding on fluffy clouds.








Only kidding, if you are pushing on a bit off road gives a tad more overall workout, shoulders, arms, back, etc.

Have fun off road is great.

 

[Spartak]

CX Summer leagues start next month check BC website for your local events.

Lots of fun & a good hours workout ;-)

 

[simon.r]

Have you ever noticed that professional MTB'ers tend to have a lot beefier upper bodies than professional roadies?

 

[grellboy]

I can imagine why! Man, felt like I had been fed through a mangle! Think I was a little too ambitious for my first cx sess!

 

[LocalLad]

It's fun though isn't it?

When I get off road, I feel like a kid again

 

[grellboy]

When I arrived home I just wanted a bath, a meal and a hug. But now, a few hours later, already loooking forward to another - more realistic - bash tomorrow, so I guess it must be fun!

 

[ColinJ]

I once did a 140 mile road ride which involved about 13,000 ft of climbing.

On another occasion I rode a 50 mile mountain bike event over rough, hilly terrain ...

I felt ok after the road ride but completely smashed up by the mountain bike ride.

My mountain bike has front suspension and BIG tyres.

I'm sure that your CX bike would be even less comfortable than my MTB so I am not surprised that you got a bit battered on your offroad ride!

Make things more comfortable by putting the biggest tyres you can on your bike, and perhaps using lower pressures. I overdid the pressure reduction on my CX bike recently though and got a snakebite puncture. For example, try 50 psi in 35C tyres - mine can be pumped to 80 psi but are really uncomfortable at that pressure.

 

[Kajjal]

CX and mountain biking are very different to road biking. There is alot more bike handling and strength needed to get the bike round and over the rougher terrain. Also you will keep feeling your bodies self preservation instinct kicking in on more challenging parts of the trail. Road biking by comparison is more about controlled power and endurance, which does help with mountain biking.

I do road biking over the winter to maintain fitness and for convenience but enjoy mountain biking far more.

 

[Colin_P]

My rule of thumb is;

Offroad equates to double the effort of on the road.
Offroad in the Winter and therefore mud equates to treble+ the effort on the road

It certainly feels like that to me. You can spend a lot of time standing up off the saddle, not forgetting frequent stops to hoik the bike over styles and other obstacles.

 

[outlash]

It's not only physically more demanding but (and this applies more to crossers than MTB's IME) you have to keep your eyes on the trail constantly to pick the line you want. On the road as the surface is usually more constant, you can put your head up more.

 

[MrGrumpy]

My first CX race about killed me, blowing at my arris bigtime. Max heart rate for an hour so yes its bloody hard work out. Either way racing or not there is bit more effort off road than on road.

 

[Ciar]

Love offroad, but for pure pain a nice 25-30 mile ride in Epping Forest during the winter can properly kill you, mud mud and more mud, as well as quick mud where you inadvertently follow a route and end up in a hole up to your waist in mud, mix that in with low lying branches slipper moss covered roots and tree stumps you can't see, it's lots o fun ;-)

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

CX Summer leagues start next month check BC website for your local events.

Lots of fun & a good hours workout ;-)

What he says!!!

not forgetting frequent stops to hoik the bike over styles and other obstacles.

Surely if there's a Stile, it's a footpath, & not the place for a bike?