Friday, October 8, 2010

What to bring to a cyclocross race. A rebuttal.

Many have seen, read, applauded, derided and linked to the recent VeloNews article on what to bring to a cyclocross race. Even BSNYC got in on the fun. Here is the nippleworks rebuttal:

Item #

Velonews Necessity

nippleworks Reality

1

Coleman™ portable stove to cook bratwurst

Nut butter and jelly sandwhiches, wrapped in tin foil so they don't get mashed by your gear

2

GSI™ Glacier French Press to make coffee

A paper cupful from the local café, whatever came out of the urn at the race or your beat-up thermos

3

53x11™ Coffee

The industrial supply coffee that the race promoter could afford

4

Crazy Creek™ Leisure Chair

The bumper of my pickup.

5

Mountainsmith™ Deluxe bike cube duffel bag

Canvas shopping bags. One for the clothes, one for the food and bottles.

6

www.cowbell.com™ race noise creation device

My voice or the sheetmetal cowbell I got at as a freebie at a road race a couple of years ago.

7

www.lionofflanders.com ™ Belgian flag

Club tent?

8

Craft ZERO™ extreme base layer

A polypro undershirt that smells like campfires.

9

Specialized™ Equinox Glove

Any mountain bike gloves will work. Many pros race without gloves.

10

www.thestick.com™ warmup massage instrument

My thumbs?

11

Schlamm™ Portland Rain Suit

My yellow commuting rain jacket

12

Kurt™ Kinetic Road Machine wattage computing trainer

A few warmup laps and a sprint or two on the roads around the course.

13

Sixtus™ Start Oil embrocation from Germany

Non Belgian knee warmers. You know, the fabric kind that don’t burn you if they touch your junk.

14

3M General Purpose 45 Spray Adhesive for putting on your race number

Uhh, the safety pins they give you for free when you registered?

15

Nomad™ Portable Pressure Washer

A squirt from a water bottle, a sharp stick or the hose at my house.

16

Park Tool™ Four Brush cleaning set

See line item 15 – a sharp stick.

17

NathanSport™ Power Shower Body Wipes

A wet rag, the inside of my jersey, or if I’m feeling fancy, a baby wipe.


So, I hope this article is informative and helps you decide what to bring to your next cyclocross race. Really all that's required is a bike, a helmet and a good attitude.

6 comments:

Slonie said...

Great post.

Of course, after doing a race in Portland I can definitely see why you need a little extra clothing in places where the weather sucks. You know, "true cross conditions" and all...

-p said...

Ok, but you can probably get away without buying new clothing specifically for apres-cross!

Anonymous said...

Right on. You made me laugh!

-p said...

I'll admit, I probably should have checked the weather report before racing today. Brought the long sleeve skin suit to an 80 degree dust fest. But no need to bring a whole duffel bag full of kits.

Slonie said...

Long-sleeve skinsuits are PRO though. I wish we had them!

-p said...

Long sleeve, insulated skin suits are super PRO. Apparently I can order one, although most likely will not, substituting the above-mentioned undershirt for insulation.