Digging in deep

It’s more technically challenging than a road bike race. It’s more aerobically intense than mountain biking. And in the middle of the race, you might have to carry your bike over a series of hurdles or up a set of stairs.

The sport of cyclocross, which is often compared to steeplechase, has carved out a small but passionate niche in Birmingham.

“It’s kind of a nice combination of digging deep and using all your muscles to the extent possible, but there’s also a technical component to it,” said Maaike Everts, a UAB pediatrics and infectious diseases professor who has participated in cyclocross for more than a decade. “It’s always a good time when you show up.”

Cyclocross combines elements of both road and mountain bike races, along with natural or manmade obstacles for racers to cross on wheels or on foot. 

The races are only about an hour long and are designed on short courses, which five-year participant Jonathan Crain said makes it more spectator-friendly.

“It can be a lot of different things … I think that’s why I like cyclocross the most because it’s the most varied of any of the disciplines of racing,” said Crain, who works for the ZYP bike-share’s fleet operations. “It’s just fun, it’s a cool atmosphere.”

“It’s really compact so it’s really spectator-friendly,” Everts said. She added that those on the sidelines are typically rooting for each other, but there’s also some occasional good-natured heckling.

Crain, who has participated in several other bike-centered sports as well, said he got to experience that community at its best during a race at Sloss Furnaces. He crashed in the middle of the course when a wheel came off, but was unexpectedly rescued.

“I flopped off the track, but also because it’s cyclocross there’s a lot of people hanging out and … somebody just hands me a bike over the tape,” Crain said. “So I finished that whole race on someone else’s bike.”

At a recent race at Red Mountain Park, I saw clusters of people at every turn on the course, many of them still wearing helmets and cycling gear from their own races that day. They hollered and urged on friends and strangers with nearly identical enthusiasm as the cyclists passed by.

And as they sped down straightaways or huffed and puffed up hills, most cyclists managed a brief smile or even a thumbs-up for their temporary fan club. 

The cyclocross “season” runs from about September to February, and the racers range from serious competitors with special cyclocross bikes to beginners with the mountain bike they brought from home.

 As Crain puts it, a common cyclocross motto is “run what you brung.” 

“You don’t need to be a spandex-clad aerobic machine to do it,” Everts said. “You sometimes just feel super silly.”

In the Birmingham area, races are regularly held at Red Mountain, Ruffner Mountain, Sloss Furnaces, Railroad Park, Avondale Park, Oak Mountain State Park and other locations around central Alabama. 

Each course is a different experience, Crain said. Some courses might require racers to get off their bikes four or five times; others might not require it at all.

“It’s really up to the creativity of the race designer,” Everts said. “You can kind of make a cyclocross wherever you have enough space.”

Cyclocross is most popular in Europe, particularly countries with a strong cycling culture. Everts moved to Birmingham from the Netherlands, which is where she first got to see the sport in action.

“In the Netherlands everybody, of course, bikes. You’re born and you [are] put on a bike,” Everts said. “I never even owned a car until I moved to the United States.”

She also had the opportunity to race in the World Championships in Louisville.

“It was like 10 degrees when we did our race,” Everts said. “It didn’t go very well, but it was a cool experience.”

Cyclocross doesn’t have the same popularity and name recognition in Birmingham as it does in the Netherlands, but Everts said there’s a committed “core group” in the area.

“It’s a really niche sport, so it’s not huge, but I would say it’s very strong,” Crain said.

Learn more about cyclocross on the Bamacross Facebook page.