Now I have the luxury of starting from (approximately) sea-level and from there it only goes up – unless I’m headed for the Dead Sea.

I live in an area of England called The Fens… …To what do I attribute my bicycle brain?

Generations of inbreeding?

There needs to be a caveat to Rule #55 as Sa Calobra can only be climbed after descending it. Unless you walked or drove down first, but that would be stupid.

I would contend Rule #55 is more about those who get a lift up and decend never to climb. If you have a situation where after the decent you are forced to climb – that’s within the spirit of the rule. I agree it is always stupid to involve motorvehicles where not completely necessary.

As alluded in the Article, there is a school of thought in the next town south of here that the best thing is to drive to the top of their climb, decend and ride back up because you have no choice – you must complete the climb to get home. Personally I think that just shows a mental weakness, that they need that carrot. It also detracts from the enjoyment of the decent but seems you don’t have a choice. If I lived on a mountain top, I wouldn’t be driving down, climbing, decending, and driving home again… as you say… stuipd.

I cannot wait to put my Bicycle Brain on for a few weeks and just ride and enjoy life.

Mangy is correct.

The Rules apply only to the road. The other end of the spectrum is mountain biking where many/most of them do not apply for various reasons. CX lays in the middle, it’s where the lines are blurred. Road bike, dirt action and as such (there’s an article in there). I am confused as to the acceptability of the beard in CX

I have no problem with beards in CX. It keeps them off the road.

We passed and absolute abomination on our club run yesterday, apart from mismatched kit and a YHA (each to their own, we can save everyone) he was wearing a Giro Attack helmet along with a beard that was so long that he’d used a hair band halfway down it to keep it all together. Had it been much colder he could have tucked it in and used it as a scarf. I

Cold, wet and muddy? Belgian CX is not attractive to me. Snow on the ground ?!? I can enjoy the occasional wet and muddy race. Ultimately it’ll mean a lot of time afterwards hosing everything off and maintaining the bike. But if get home and want nothing more than to get inside, cleaned up and warmed up? Uggghh. Down here in deep south of US of A our season is kicked off with hot and dry. Even needed a little sunscreen yesterday! Perfect for enjoying the day and the beer afterwards. Hotsauce earned himself a lifetime of experience. Good story/link. Thx.

The Rules apply only to the road. The other end of the spectrum is mountain biking where many/most of them do not apply for various reasons. CX lays in the middle, it’s where the lines are blurred. Road bike, dirt action and as such (there’s an article in there). I am confused as to the acceptability of the beard in CX

White bar tape…

Hot Sauce

Terrifically well written account of a mangy Canadian trying to make the grade in Belgian Cyclocross.  Mark McConnell should be an inspiration for us all.

I once could not remember the keypad code to unlock my car door. Needed rides home and back for spare keys.

Very good.  Still chuckling to myself.  Paints the perfect image of being completely fucked from cycling – addled by activity.

We then descended, planning to enjoy our lunch in the valley. At the foot of the mountain I realized I had left the wallet on a bench outside the shop, so I had to do the climb again – in the opposite direction. As I reached the top for the second time, I had just about forgotten what I came for – but the proprietor came running out of that shop, beaming, holding the wallet out in front of him. (All the money was still there, needless to say…)

I once could not remember the keypad code to unlock my car door. Needed rides home and back for spare keys.

This. Started and ended a ride after work yesterday for an hour ride from the top of a steep two-mile descent (77kph. Sweet!) into a river valley in southern Missouri. (35C at 4:00pm? On my feet all day. No problem, I live in south Texas! Pfffffff!). By the time I got back up the ascent, my legs were on fire and it felt like my head was going to explode. Leaned bike against a pole and made no less than 15 trips back and forth to car.

Helmet, bike computer, bidens, lights. Throw into bag in hatchback. One item per trip. Walk around car. Look at bike. Change shoes, put in bag. Sit down in driver seat. Get back up and empty jersey pockets and gels into bag. Walk around car again. Turn on radio. Go back to bag for a gel. Go back again for half-full biden. Bicycle brain indeed. My brain was baked.

@piwakawaka

I love how long the descent seems when one has just climbed the same route. It drives home the point how long the f’ing climb was. If you haven’t climbed it first you don’t recognize all the subtle landmarks at 55kph as they go by in a flash. I love that.

Conversely, I hate it when the descent is much shorter than expected (when one has . . .).  It forces you to realize what an out of shape pig you are at the moment.

This is good.

Did a proper steep climb with Mrs Sandy today, a budding Velominata. The road down was steep, narrow and twisty, and she commented at the bottom was that it was a waste of a climb not to be able to go flat out on the way down. Class.

I love how long the descent seems when one has just climbed the same route. It drives home the point how long the f’ing climb was. If you haven’t climbed it first you don’t recognize all the subtle landmarks at 55kph as they go by in a flash. I love that.

I don,t fully get this article ,could it be caused by bicycle brain ?

Your punctuation might be caused by bicycle brain. Understanding the article, well, I wrote it with a bike brain so that is my fault. Overheating on a climb, which is what happens on every climb in summer, is what brings on this condition. Actually, I think just riding my bike does. Luckily, I’m a moron so no one notices.

I once could not remember the keypad code to unlock my car door. Needed rides home and back for spare keys.

That’s what I’m talking about!

Crows Nest climb near my home, from my direction one must first go up it 4km before the descent.  Thats the correct formula