All abilities are encouraged to participate in South West Cyclo-Cross events, the nature of the short courses makes the events very safe and spectator friendly.  At any time you are in easy reach of our event officials and marshalls who will be prepared to help.  The events are insured by British Cycling, the National Governing Body for cycle sport within the UK, and hence comply with their regulations.

 

A cyclo-cross bike differs from both a mountain bike and a road bike and is specific to the sport.  The basic frame is similar to a road bike but with additional strength built in and greater tyre clearance to accomodate knobbly tyres and mud!!  Cross bikes are fitted with cantilever brakes that also provide good mud clearance and powerful braking.  Cross bikes generally have drop handlebars, that are positioned higher than on a road bike.  The gearing also differs to road bike as lower gears are required to deal with the varied terrain that is characteristic of cyclo-cross.  However, all of the South West League events allow competitors to ride either mountain bikes or hybrids, but cross bikes do provide an advantage due to the nature of the courses.

All riders are required to attend the commissaires pre-race briefing.  This will involve them highlighting any particular hazards, first aid arrangements and confirming race duration.  Due to the short courses it is inevitable that riders are lapped by the leaders.  The leaders will generally give a shout out informing the lapped rider they are passing on either the right or left.

The League exists because of a small band of volunteers and any help at events is always appreciated.  Even a small contribution such as helping take the course marking tape down at the end of the day really makes a difference to the event organiser.  If you wish to become more involved then please make yourself known to one of the event officials or email the team via the contacts page.