Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
MICKEY DENONCOURT: Some regions of the country and of the world have cyclocross races that
are full of sand. Sand is really a big feature of a lot of races than other ones, and so
people put a lot courses together here in the U.S. with sand. They will run you through
like volleyball pits and stuff like that. Riding through sand is pretty hard. It always
wants to grab your front wheel and move it around when you're pedaling in a straight
line. Cornering in sand can be almost impossible. The things to remember when you're riding
through sand is you usually want to ride a slightly lighter gear, move as much of your
weight back on your bike as you can. It's like sort of over the back wheel, so your
front wheel sort of floats, then you usually want to ride on the tops with your hands super
light on the bars. So as you're riding through this deep sand, you just really let your front
wheel sort of hydroplane, like on a boat, sort of pick your way through. For sections
longer than 15 or 20 yards, it's almost impossible to usually make it through there without a
lot of horsepower. Like sometimes you just end up getting off and running through sand.
Cornering through sand is--well, I think it's pretty fun. Sand, loose in general, you usually
have to stick a foot out to really catch yourself in case you crash. As I come through this
corner right here, this is sort of make a left-hand corner right here through this loose
dirt, you'll see what I'm talking about. The front wheel ought to slide out as I move my
foot. So watch as I come through.
So yeah, you know, the sharper the corner is, the more likely you are going to slide.
I moved my foot enough that it really pushed my wheels into the ground. But in a loose
sandy corner, what you want to do is pick a nice, wide arc through it and usually, just
for the sake of safety, you want to take your inside foot off so you stick it out and forward
to move your weight through the corner and that usually helps you stay up. And also if
your front wheel starts to wash out, so if I'm taking the right-hand corner, take my
right foot out, my wheel is likely to wash that way. Being able to put a foot down and
sort of push off, keeps you from going down and it keeps your momentum up.