The cross-country bike is cool, no doubt. Thanks to attacking us from every page, blogs and magazines become more and more popular every year. Any day, there will be a rush of "Winter is coming" and that means changing tires. Probably it's a matter of time before you let him carry on the emotions that accompany the wonderful snow or mud trekking or races around the nearby glade and join the elite group of crosswords. That's great, but there are a few things you should know about before you decide. I drive a lot (or, more strictly speaking, I'm rolling) for about 3 years, Panda went out this week for the first time in the area. It is a good time to mention a few things that probably no one has mentioned before.

(all of the photos come from own collections, of course)

A cross-country bike is a bit pointless

It is noticeably slower on the asphalt than on the road, clearly slower on the ground than MTB. You must really try to come up with a route that will be optimal for this bike. For example, it seems ideal for us to escape from the 10th floor, holding a bicycle on the shoulder, a short ride in the park (such a real one, with pseudo-forest paths) and returning to the flat through the stairs. All of course in less than 60 minutes, because I do not know if you know but ....

a professional cross-country bike turns into a pumpkin after about 67 minutes of continuous driving

The most important thing to know is that not everyone must be a professional because:

It will really pass two different sports.

This is an hour-long race around one route or, as in our case, cyclotourism. Hours spent in the forest, in the mountains, in the cold, in the sand, driving through the mud, walking through the fields. Indeed, not many people reconcile these two approaches.

The flyer is easy to get to know

On Monday morning at work, as she traverses the corridors, a cleaning lady follows him wiping the sand and mud that stay behind him. At the desk from the guy who just adopted the cat (the war scars all over his body), he is distinguished only by the amount of bruises in suspicious places and the fact that he is sitting on the ball because it is soft. It is also easy to find it in the forest. Silence, peace, birds sing, and only somewhere in the distance, it sounds ominous „I will not break away! I will eat it now! It will not break away! Once again, you will definitely succeed! It will not break away! Last try! Oh, my leg - damn root! Urwa! Look now!„ - true story.

You have no condition

[pullquote] Cyclocross is Fight Club with Bikes ~sipclipandgo[/ pullquote] No matter how good you are, getting on CX (cyclocross: cross-country) you find out that it is some other sport. If you've come to a beginner group, you even manage to keep them. You feel like an alpine driveway among a group of German pensioners riding next to you: it is 13 km, the current slope reaches 9%, and you still see them. Not only that, you're going the same pace, but you have blood, sweat, saliva and tears mixed with the caffeine gel on your face, and they talk they dispute whether Ludwik V Bawarski from the Wittelsbach dynasty Margrave of Brandenburg built cool castles in Tyrol (hint: electric bikes). So, yes: you're going with them, but in order not to break off you have to pedaling something more. They are twisting in this forest, they are balancing, the hills are coming up from the momentum, the obstacles are jumping, and you are constantly pedaling in the corpse. You do not have that something that's called flow. After 20 minutes of riding, you put down your bike and go home (because walking / running is often faster than CX, and certainly more convenient). Your bike is not riding, you need lighter and ceramic bearings, and this is not easy because:

There are no cross-country bikes, and how expensive they are

Cool things are expensive, deal with it. They pass over are expensive without any reasonable reason, just like fatbikes. There are not many of them at allegro, and if they get it in a bad size, ugly or "almost new, ridden by millet one season, max hour to two a day". In stores, better and worse. Finding a bike has never been so boring, because instead of wondering which one to choose, you're just looking for one that fits you. Or rather, what you can afford. An aluminum bike at 105 for PLN 7000? Why not ... just when I buy a new one and throw it in a corner after a month, how do I get rid of it afterwards?

You can not ride a bike

You certainly can, but everyone can. Youth was to learn and then you do not forget. Maybe not like Sven Nys, but after all you drive, turn, go down. On the cross it turns out that this is not entirely true. You notice this when a friend passes you on the loop in Błaszczyk Forest, the third, fourth and fifth time. But it's nothing, maybe you're just weak. Misfortune begins when you discover deficiencies even when getting in and out of the saddle. These things are done while driving, like James Bond in the Golden Eye thrown into the abyss behind the falling plane. My blue seat (and around) during the first attempts of such maneuvers confirm that both feats represent a similar scale of difficulty. Even drinking from a water bottle is difficult!

So if you count on the fact that from the first week after the purchase of your wonderful machine you will fly, well ... I just have to remind you of my favorite movie on the internet, be like Joey!

Sooner or later, you'll be the king of the internet anyway. Everyone with a pass will one day see a similar film.

There are muscles above the waist

This is a serious discovery. The more uneven the road on which we are going, the more we are very fondly reminded. After the first rides you will start to consider bikefitting, trzepacki reversal of the sternum, stretching, yoga for the reluctant and the gym pass at once. You start to envy Stas with a job that is so strong that he can help unscrew the jar with his friends in the kitchen. But this is not important at all, because even if you come to terms with this pain, it will turn out that:

The horizontal position is the natural position of the rider

Because the leg did not get stuck because the root was slippery, because the fact that a colleague came down to you or drove up does not mean that you can do it too. And besides, in the winter it is slippery, in autumn and spring in total too, the sand is loose, the mud is sticky, the brakes do not work at all or work too well, and while carrying the bike on the shoulder you can hook him or someone. Adding to this ubiquitous trees and their branches and bushes growing in the least appropriate places, the recipe for success is certain. You will be like this snowboarder who instead of riding on the slope, sits crosswise. Initially, he would get up straight away and as if he was never going further, he now knows that it does not make sense, he will be sitting there again. You would buy a beer, but no where ...

The cross will make you an old man

Unless you are one of those exceptions that can drive and have a leg. Then, people in the city will tell you stories, you'll be asked to have an autograph and fans for a photo - you will become a legend. At least I think so, because I have to go like a grandfather and envy. On the first joint expedition with Panda, after an endless shaft on the north of the Vistula, we go 7 days and 7 nights ... maybe even 8. When I look at the counter at the end I see a distance of 35 kilometers. The beginnings are difficult, when you drive 40km / h, the meter shows 25km / h. If you're flying a bumpy ride (still on a bike, you can go without it on a bend) at a speed of about 80km / h, the same meter shows 28km / h. If you notice that you do not belong to the group that is racing, you will quickly start to consider trips, panniers and tourism. You will become a trekking and you will be visiting with the speed of an Ethiopian runner.

Time is somehow different ... distance traveled too. Not only that, if you ever laughed at people on MTB, you will have to accept the fact that they are faster than you. Even catching up with tourists on trekking takes quite a long time, and alone overtaking maneuver in the forest is like solving Sudoku.

Still something crunchs

Dust, dirt, sand, mud, snow, old bars, stones, old jelly beans, blood, branches and other unidentified foreign bodies. You have all this in the drive, in your mouth, in your eyes, in shoes and in places where normal people do not look during the day. You return home like a model from the Polleny 2000 advertisement guided straight into the bathtub. The next day you stop at people who clean up their dogs to thank them sincerely.

You will never be well dressed

You go outside in a jacket, winter gloves, leggings, winter pants and go for a walk looking at your face freezing. At the moment when you pass the children sticking to the snowman, you are passing by a cyclist on CX in shorts and a T-shirt with sleeves (although this is actually a one-piece suit). Dressing up for the race is easy because you will be too warm. However, if you are going on a few-hour escapade, especially in the mountains, you will not go with the dress. It's the unpleasant moment when the more expensive clothes you have, the more comfortable you ride. Your feet and hands will be cold, in the rest of your body, either too hot (if you go up) or icily when down. It's best if you sweat first and then you freeze it.

The equipment matters

In the road, at an amateur level, it is debatable - especially in Poland, in Mazovia. Whether the road weighs 7 or 8 kilos does not matter much. If the derailleur jumps in a second later and you have to push the handle a bit harder than usual, it's not a problem either. A crotch or a baton? What looks better. It's different in the field. If the chain does not jump quickly enough, you will end up in the sand. Wearing an extra kilogram on our frail arm is like racing with a backpack. You will get a pressure gauge in your fingers to assess whether you have 1 bar below the limit or two in the tires. In the pocket of the pump, which you will pump in depending on the surface.

Arm in frame with millet

In times when I was "racing" in Mazovia, I only saw the winner on the box. At the start he stood 100 meters in front of me, then he disappeared. At cross-country, I go side by side with him. From 3 times, sometimes 4. I can see him on the list, then on the 2nd lap, on the 4th, on the six ... sometimes we even come together at the finish line. I also see the rider who follows him, then one more and one more ... In the end, we have almost the same driving time anyway.

You will become a fan and you will not have to pretend that you like it

It is not without reason that compilation of accidents is the most popular film on a jutsu. Watching cycling is generally boring, even for us. 3 hours of standing just to watch the passage of the cycling column for 5 minutes. It is different in cross-country - the rate is not enough that it stretches, but everyone is going over and over again, every now and again turning over in ever more entertaining ways. The best thing is that serious accidents happen really often, so you do not have to hide your happiness from someone's misfortune. Sad, but true - there is no more interesting cycling spectacle in my opinion.

I do not know why it's cool

The worst thing is that I do not know what's in this sport (or the hobby) is so cool. You leave on Saturday morning, do 100 kilometers for 6 hours and sleep until the end of the day. Alternatively, you go out on a Saturday morning, make an hour with your buddies and go to sleep for half a day. This sport is simply fun and integrates better than any other type of cycling (in my opinion). Either you love him or hate him - and check it very simply, just a few rides. Okay, I lied a little, the worst of all is that:

There is NO CAFE ON THE FOREST. How to make a coffee break in a place where there is no coffee ?! Nobody sells candy bars or cakes there. Why go when you can not eat ?!

If all this has not convinced you, then look at our cross-country trips to the mountains. Pictures reflect it 100 times better than text:

https://www.facebook.com/HopCycling/photos/?tab=album&album_id=458426627674788

https://www.facebook.com/HopCycling/photos/?tab=album&album_id=457521284431989