cyclocross questions

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

Raymond and Jodi Placiente wrote:
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
Born in Essex but prefer Florida.

onset of
cramps in my calves after a ride and ocasionally durring a
time trial run
the cramps are very severe




"Raymond and Jodi Placiente" wrote in
message ...
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