When road bikes turn feral...

The road season in Europe is drawing to a close, so that means it's cyclocross time! These guys are some of the best bike handlers around... imagine riding (and running with) a road bike with slightly fatter tyres, in freezing conditions, often in snow, ice and mud, with your heart rate pegged for an hour. That's core. Of course I'd never do it, if it meant getting cold and muddy! But I like to watch.


My favourite road race has always been Paris-Roubaix, probably because of it's 'off-road' elements, namely miles of cobblestone (or 'pave') sectors which batter the riders and machines, about the closest thing to mountain biking on the Pro Tour. This week saw a new race on the calender, the Monte Paschi Eroica, which caught my eye with it's sections of white gravel road, rendering the riders rather ghost-like at the end of the day. Just something cool about dirty bikes. Or is it just me?