Ultracross

Words by Mark Tearle, April 2013

 

My friends and I have inadvertently created a brand; we call it White Chalk Hills UCX. White Chalk Hills is in reference to the South Downs which we are blessed with down here on the south coast and UCX, well UCX is a moniker for the word Ultracross…

You’ve heard of Cyclocross, right? Ultracross is Cyclocross’ vainglorious and utterly futile cousin. As a bunch of friends we grabbed at and sucked in all that we could this winter for Cyclocross – we found unsuitable bikes which we botched into racing machines. Some of us even had the real thing and went on adventures; Happy Valley and Stanmer Park in Brighton and a jaunt up to Herne Hill to have a laugh at the Knog Muddy Hell.

 

As training and as a social event we started to take our ‘cross bikes out on the Downs and into the woods at night – Cyclocross nocturne riding is the most frightening and spectacular thing – bright high lumens lighting the way, with an inevitable beer stop somewhere.

 

It was on these Thursday night Nocturne rides where we conceived the idea of riding just that little bit further and climbing just that little bit more than you would usually want to on a Cyclocross bike and then my friend Kris sent me a link to a blog – the blog was The Endurance Experience and the particular item Kris linked to was this thing called Boulder Ultracross that was being arranged via the blog in Boulder, Colorado. … (continued on page 2)>