I was wondering what it is like racing in these western states where it is dry all the time--in looking at pictures it looks all dry and gravely and arid--is it like this all season? People must lay it down pretty hard on that stuff, but no bike cleaning I bet.

We are pretty much heading right into the mud and snow season here in Western NY / Ontario area, bring it on!

Where I'm from (western Oregon) we have to go east to dry out.

I've done a few cross races over in Bend Oregon, which pretty dry, and they have all been very dry and dusty. So, you end up having to clean your bike anyways.

I'd rather race in the mud. I've never liked choking down the dust, and with no water bottles, it really sucks.

Where I'm from (western Oregon) we have to go east to dry out.

I've done a few cross races over in Bend Oregon, which pretty dry, and they have all been very dry and dusty. So, you end up having to clean your bike anyways.

I'd rather race in the mud. I've never liked choking down the dust, and with no water bottles, it really sucks.

yeah its dry here, sand is prevalent at a lot of races which is tough to ride/run through.

its fast though. mud would be fun, but not a lot of bike cleaning no.

jeremy

from what I can tell (I wasn't racing last year) we actually had more mud here in Southern California than they did in Portland because of some freak weaher phenomenon. From what I heard, the season was quite muddy, at least at times.

I've only done one race this year, and it was completely dry with lots of sand. Secretly I loved not having to clean my bike, but felt a bit guilty that it wasn't quite the whole traditional CX suffering package.

oh well, it's still fun, and a race is a race!

In Colorado we get it all. The season starts in Sept and runs to 1 st week in December. The early races are hot, and due the dryness, hard bone jarring ground in some sections. We get these thorns called goatheads which are perfect for causing flats. This past weekend it was rainy and 45 degrees with lots of sand at the boulder res. Time to throw out the chain after that one. Later in the year we'll get a race or two that is snowy and COLD. Maybe not that damp bone chilling BFLO cold, nasty nonetheless. A good mix of conditions that suits every rider differently.

I was wondering what it is like racing in these western states where it is dry all the time--in looking at pictures it looks all dry and gravely and arid--is it like this all season? People must lay it down pretty hard on that stuff, but no bike cleaning I bet.

We are pretty much heading right into the mud and snow season here in Western NY / Ontario area, bring it on!

It depends. Later in the season we get rain. Last year the Ca. state champs were run in freakish rain, It rained like 3 inches in a couple hours. I personally like adverse conditions. I've done a few road races in cold rainy conditions and feel at an advantage from the start. So many racers lose motivation in these conditions.

agreed last year was muddier than norm. weird when doing cx races in 90 degree temps.
we mimic Holland with the sand content. You have no idea what it's like trying to rail turns in either deep sand or powdered sandstone on top of river stone. we get lots of flats and lots of crashes but we just have to wipe the blood and dust off the bikes.
my 3 race total so far
1 Flat
5 crashes (almost 2 per race, and it's cost me some top 5's) but I'm pushing like hell
lots of flesh off my shins, knees and elbows.
last weekend was my 'local' course. I got paranoid about flatting (after seeing numerous teammates flat) so I upped my psi by 5 lbs. MISTAKE. every corner I could rail, I was now washing out the front wheel.

from what I can tell (I wasn't racing last year) we actually had more mud here in Southern California than they did in Portland because of some freak weaher phenomenon.

Yeah, the Oregon winter last year was what they called a "drought". That is such a funny term to use, since the ground was saturated all winter long and it seemed just as dreary, since on all of the "dry" days we get fog in the valley. So it wasn't like we ever saw sunshine.

And we still still was rainy quite often, just not quite as often and it didn't rain as hard as normal. Spring made up for it though, it was extra wet.