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Yesterday another event in the local cross series, South-west of Holland. I had only taken part in the season's opener, in the MTB class, in October. Again so this this. Just no dry grass this time, and more climbing.
It was a 22mi ride in to get there, so I opted for a 40mm Fast Fred in teh back I had never tried before but had gotten for nothing from a guy who thought they were so slow rolling on his airborne Hybrid.
As front I mounted a BlackShark 1.85. Just looking at the thing you know it's going to be great in sloppy conditions, which I expected on that grassy course with frequent cross races, combined with recent rain. It had been dry for a couple days now, so I hoped the Fast Fred would give me speed through the grassy mud track, but enough traction to keep moving. wet finger guesswork, but I was correct. The MTB race is 3rd of the day, so some good track tehre, but nothing too bad, it really held up well for me. Just that little wider than a real cross tire, makes it much more MTB-ish already. But not to the point of collecting tons of mud.
The BlackShark made it all feel like hardpack.
I had a louzy start, got held up by someone that didn't find his pedals or something. I had not pre-ridden the course, and my ride in (lots of hassle setting up my tires) had been a serious time-trial to make it in time, perfect headwind even. Still despite tired legs, I felt confident I was going to move up the ranks, my tire combo did really well in the straights, and when I got the room, I made it up the hills.
Second lap, a little rain/hail shower surprised us (well, the forecast had told me the day before already). Just enough to make rideable mud really slippery. All at once I had the rear wheel slipping from underneath me all the time. I find it very tiring to constantly have to focus on traction rather than picking lines or pedaling as hard as I can. Even my ewak lungs didn't have a hard time, but I felt wasted. Soont he cramps in my calves came, and I was walking most of the hills, losing a spot each time in this relatively big field (32 finishers).
So I "slipped" back to 16th, just outside prize money, damnit! And 22mi back home in the increasing cold, not fun. Good thing I had a group to ride with for the better part of it.
Maybe getting used to the 185mm cranks is giving my calves a hard time? I'll have to move my seat forward a bit I think. Had no time for that at the starting grid.
Also present, and in 2 pics, was Hubert on his pimped Rig. It's like a singlespeed Jones bike with a Rig frame really. He had an even worse start, but faught to 9th, really good, as the sole SS rider in the race. He's on 1.6 BlackJacks, and doing better on them in mud than I had expected from them. I'll have to get one of those as well for sloppy stuff.
It's nice that 29"ers fit sub-35 cross tires, but to me that defies using a mountainbike when I have cross bikes for that. For really sloppy cross-ditions we don't have too many decently rolling ca 40-45mm tires, do we? My BlackSharks are not decently rolling by a long shot, but on a Fisher (long front end, more weight on rear) as a front it's not too bad, and excellent cornering. I felt superior in slippery corners, till the rain came and made my rear Fred useless. No-one knows why the Black Sharks exist, but at least they're discontinued already. BlackJacks come in 1.6 and 1.9, both wire, both have a center tread that may offer less traction than it might.
See Hubert making it up a super slippery hill not even the race winner (on seemingly impractical Racing Ralphs) made it up each time.
It was a 22mi ride in to get there, so I opted for a 40mm Fast Fred in teh back I had never tried before but had gotten for nothing from a guy who thought they were so slow rolling on his airborne Hybrid.
As front I mounted a BlackShark 1.85. Just looking at the thing you know it's going to be great in sloppy conditions, which I expected on that grassy course with frequent cross races, combined with recent rain. It had been dry for a couple days now, so I hoped the Fast Fred would give me speed through the grassy mud track, but enough traction to keep moving. wet finger guesswork, but I was correct. The MTB race is 3rd of the day, so some good track tehre, but nothing too bad, it really held up well for me. Just that little wider than a real cross tire, makes it much more MTB-ish already. But not to the point of collecting tons of mud.
The BlackShark made it all feel like hardpack.
I had a louzy start, got held up by someone that didn't find his pedals or something. I had not pre-ridden the course, and my ride in (lots of hassle setting up my tires) had been a serious time-trial to make it in time, perfect headwind even. Still despite tired legs, I felt confident I was going to move up the ranks, my tire combo did really well in the straights, and when I got the room, I made it up the hills.
Second lap, a little rain/hail shower surprised us (well, the forecast had told me the day before already). Just enough to make rideable mud really slippery. All at once I had the rear wheel slipping from underneath me all the time. I find it very tiring to constantly have to focus on traction rather than picking lines or pedaling as hard as I can. Even my ewak lungs didn't have a hard time, but I felt wasted. Soont he cramps in my calves came, and I was walking most of the hills, losing a spot each time in this relatively big field (32 finishers).
So I "slipped" back to 16th, just outside prize money, damnit! And 22mi back home in the increasing cold, not fun. Good thing I had a group to ride with for the better part of it.
Maybe getting used to the 185mm cranks is giving my calves a hard time? I'll have to move my seat forward a bit I think. Had no time for that at the starting grid.
Also present, and in 2 pics, was Hubert on his pimped Rig. It's like a singlespeed Jones bike with a Rig frame really. He had an even worse start, but faught to 9th, really good, as the sole SS rider in the race. He's on 1.6 BlackJacks, and doing better on them in mud than I had expected from them. I'll have to get one of those as well for sloppy stuff.
It's nice that 29"ers fit sub-35 cross tires, but to me that defies using a mountainbike when I have cross bikes for that. For really sloppy cross-ditions we don't have too many decently rolling ca 40-45mm tires, do we? My BlackSharks are not decently rolling by a long shot, but on a Fisher (long front end, more weight on rear) as a front it's not too bad, and excellent cornering. I felt superior in slippery corners, till the rain came and made my rear Fred useless. No-one knows why the Black Sharks exist, but at least they're discontinued already. BlackJacks come in 1.6 and 1.9, both wire, both have a center tread that may offer less traction than it might.
See Hubert making it up a super slippery hill not even the race winner (on seemingly impractical Racing Ralphs) made it up each time.
