cyclocross questions

Tue, 9 Mar 2004 14:25:11 -0500, <[email hidden]>,

Raymond and Jodi Placiente said:

I'm planning on buying a new bike and have been considering
a cyclocross bike. I plan on doing a fair amount of road
riding, but there are also an abundance of hard-packed dirt
roads in my area. I know that the cyclocross will handle
the dirt fairly well, but will it be able to hang on the
paved roads with straight road bikes...assuming that the
riders are equally skilled and fit. Thanks for the help.

Ray

Tires and gearing on a cookie-cutter unit might be
comprimised.

Raymond and Jodi Placiente said:

I'm planning on buying a new bike and have been
considering a cyclocross bike. I plan on doing a fair
amount of road riding, but there are also an abundance
of hard-packed dirt roads in my area. I know that the
cyclocross will handle the dirt fairly well, but will
it be able to hang on the paved roads with straight
road bikes...assuming that the riders are equally
skilled and fit.

I'm not having any problem passing the other cyclists out
here in Seattle. Of course some of that is I never stop
cycling, and most of these people don't cycle in the winter.
But I'm pretty happy with my Surly Crosscheck. With the
stock rings (48/36) and cassette (12/25) you should have a
pretty decent range. If you really want to spread your range
an 11-28 cassette is nice.

It does steer different than a race bike (higher bottom
bracket), but I've managed to get used to it. And I love the
large amount of room for decent size tires/fenders/etc.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared
for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter." --
Winston Churchill

Rob,

Try taking some salt tablets with you & when you feel a
cramp coming on pop one immediately for relief, caution if
you have high blood press consult a doc first. Eat bananas
on the ride, lots of potassium. Also before riding take
Calcium/Magnesium /Zinc and Potassium tabs to keep your
essential mineral levels up when lost through sweating. This
causes electrical nerve shorts which causes muscles to
contract, I was told all this by a guy who rides 600 K
brevets. It works.

Also hydrate a lot on the ride.

I live in Florida and it gets really hot / humid most of the
time and I used to suffer from cramps a lot but now hardly
ever after the above.

Regards,

Graham

onset of

Quoted message said:

cramps in my calves after a ride and ocasionally durring a

time trial run

Quoted message said:

the cramps are very severe

"Raymond and Jodi Placiente"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message news:3IqdneauT9yLh9PdRVn-
[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm planning on buying a new bike and have been
considering a cyclocross bike. I plan on doing a fair
amount of road riding, but there are also an abundance of
hard-packed dirt roads in my area. I know that the

cyclocross

Quoted message said:

will handle the dirt fairly well, but will it be able to
hang on the paved roads with straight road
bikes...assuming that the riders are equally skilled and
fit. Thanks for the help.

Ray