As seen in the Des Moines Register
By Mike Kilen
October 21, 2009
Talk about your tough cyclist.
A hardy, yee-haw group of thrill seekers and pain cushions gathers weekly to ramble through Des Moines parks, pedal through sand, mud, rain, up and down hills. For kicks, they leap over barricades carrying their bikes.
It's called cyclocross and its popularity growth has spawned an eight-race fall series in Central Iowa that landed sponsorship from Scheels this year.
It also encouraged this weekly riding group called Renegades to emerge from the underground.
For several years, the rogue group met by word of mouth, found an off-road location and let fly.
"We were in and out of there in an hour - before the cops came," said Tom Laughead, 51, of Urbandale.
"But guys got older and had kids, including a couple lawyers who said that people don't sue you, insurance companies do."
So this year organizer Rob Versteegh secured a sponsor, New Belgium Brewing Company, to help defray insurance expenses and approached the Des Moines Parks Department for formal permission to use a different city park each Wednesday evening.
It's rain or shine. No excuses.
Tight corners, knee-high barriers
On a crisp, sunny fall weekday evening in Union Park on Des Moines' north side, 40 riders hopped on bikes, most a new breed especially made for cyclocross - half road bike and half mountain bike.
The bike geared lower than a road bike but has skinnier tires than a mountain bike.
The people on those bikes are geared differently, too, a cross of road racers, mountain bikers, triathletes and rec riders.
"It hurts bad," said Mark Fiddelke, 28, of Ankeny, wearing a mountain biker's ponytail but riding a partial-roadie's cross bike. "It's less technical than mountain biking but faster-paced."
He takes off next to Tim Heinle, who pointed to his white T-shirt and said, "I'm a new guy. No jersey." Heinle is one of five newbies on this night. He is no racer and prefers party rides but figured if his fellow RAGBRAI mates could do it, so could he.
The course in Union Park is marked with red flags on the grass just minutes before so it's a surprise. The bikers pedal the hills, around trees, over pine cones, through tight corners, then dismount their bikes, shoulder them, and hop over knee-high man-made barriers.
"It really helps with my bike-handling skills," said Dave Hammer, 48, who rides on the Des Moines Orthopaedic Surgeon cycling team.
Kelli Mente, 29, another road racer, said it's tough because there's no coasting after tough stretches and there's a lot more tire resistance through sand and grass. But the falls are softer, the angry motorists fewer and she likes the late-season workout.
Cyclocross was a European invention of the 1940s for that very reason - to maintain fitness levels after the road season.
Interest in the U.S. started more than 10 years ago and has spread rapidly in the last five years. The number of riders last year in sanctioned events has doubled since 2005 to 61,965, according to USA Cycling.
The Renegades have grown from a handful to as many as 70 people on a ride.
New riders usually bring a mountain bike. If they like it enough they buy a cyclocross bike, which is also good for commuting.
Bike shops report a steadily growing market for cyclocross bikes but not enough yet to create several price points. An entry level bike can be bought for around $1,000.
Contests growing
All practice and no competition would be no fun.
The Central Iowa cyclocross race schedule, eight USA Cycling-sanctioned events, typically runs September through November, with the Marshalltown Cross Race next up on Saturday.
In late September, the Capital City Cross race in Des Moines attracted 87 riders on Saturday and 117 on Sunday, up from 20 riders its first year in 2001. One of the top races in the country is the Jingle Cross Rock in Iowa City, which will attract pro racers from around the country on Nov. 27-29. It started with 60 riders just five years ago and is now an international Union Cycliste International event.
Yet in cyclocross, new riders are encouraged. Unlike many road races, they aren't pulled if too slow on the route, typically a course repeated in laps for 45 minutes to an hour.
"The roadies have the great lungs but the mountain bikers have the handling skills," said Scott Sumpter, who runs the www.bikeiowa.com Web site. "The mountain bikers fly through the corners and on the stretches the roadies get 'em. It's a good mix."
One rider paid his highest compliment to the sport after a few laps of the one-mile course through Union Park.
"It's stupid," he said while pedaling through. "Exhausting."