Cyclo-Cross

Referred to as the winter racing discipline, this off road cycling takes place on courses very similar to what you would find on a cross country mountain biking course. However, they are  less technical which means a modified road bike, referred to as a gravel or cyclo-cross bike is all that’s required.

Races last no longer than 1 hour and are run on a course that takes a rider 10 minutes to ride round. It’s the perfect riding during those winter months when the road calendar is empty. The club has many cyclo-cross riders who regularly take part in the local cyclo-cross league (London & Sussex Cyclo-Cross League), the club also hosts the first round in Stanmer Park (Brighton) each year.

Cyclo-Cross Training

Please book your training slot by clicking on the calendar, picking the relevant night and then selecting the ticket type. Sessions are limited to 32 riders. They are free for members but you still need to book.

About the Training

Our popular sessions, run by qualified British Cycling Cyclocross coaches, develop your understanding of the skills required for cyclocross racing. They include physical training so they are tiring. Anyone with a mountain bike or CX bike is welcome to come. Riders normally need to be 12+ to ride but we do make exceptions, see below. We have a mix of first-time cyclo-cross riders to regional champions taking part.

Each session is run to a theme focusing on a single aspect of cyclo-cross. These include mounting, dismounting, carrying the bike, braking, cornering or gear selection. We get riders of all different abilities and ages practising these core techniques. Each skill is built from the ground up at each rider’s individual ability. So, the sessions work whether you are learning a new skill or improving.

The second half of the session is high intensity. A course is set up to focus on the skills being practised and we expect you to put in a maximum effort. We do this so you can practise the skill under race conditions with other riders.

We try to run each session with everyone riding at the same time but depending on the number of coaches we have available we may have to split the riders and ask riders to wait and relax so we don’t go over our maximum coached rider numbers.

Cyclo-cross training is run slightly differently to a normal Saturday session or club ride. Due to the popularity we expect you to turn up on time and ready to ride, if you are not ready or prepared we will ask you to sit it out. The riders expect a full hard work out which is why we run the session this way.

We will only cancel if the weather is really bad when weather warnings are issued, we won’t cancel simply because its raining. Please check social media for any updates. Training is on unless otherwise stated so don’t ask the question, it will be posted online if cancelled!!!

If you are under 12 please email volunteer@vcjubilee.co.uk and tell us how much riding you do, you may still be able to come along.

The training is run on Adur Recreation Ground (Shoreham-By-Sea) in the northern end. Please park in the car park by the playground. The session are free if you are a member of the club, if not it is £2 per night, we do ask all riders book in advanced.