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rainbows in the mud. inside the intoxicating world of cyclocross. paul maunder. bloomsbury publishing. 276pp £14.99

rainbows in the mud - paul maunder

now that the small matter of the world road race championships are over and done with for another year, we can move on to more important matters. one-day classics and grand tours are one thing (well, two things, if we're being really picky), but the pinnacle of everyone's velocipedinal year is surely the excitement that is piqued when the hashtag #crossiscoming begins to pepper your twitter or instagram feeds. those of you who are wont to disagree with this empirical truth are either simply wrong or you've not yet realised just how wrong you are.

if i might offer yesterday's world championship road race as evidence in the case for the prosecution, the on-screen clock at the finish showed substantially over six hours. and despite the fact that peter sagan was demonstrably anonymous for more than six of those hours, the czech rider nipped out from the bunch at precisely the right moment to nab a third consecutive victory by a matter of millimetres. exciting? yes, indeed it was, but we'd to wait quite a long time not only for those few moments of excitement (not exactly ameliorated by the loss of bike cameras from 3km to go) but to learn who'd wear those rainbow bands until this time next year.

cyclocross isn't at all like that. well, apart from the excitement factor. at the serious end of cyclocross racing, a senior event lasts an hour plus one lap, a far more manageable chunk of cycling, running, bunnyhopping and mud. aside from those factors, many a cyclocross parcours can be viewed in its entirety from a single spot. add all those features and advantages together and the question is not why the sport is so popular, but more why it isn't more popular?

author paul maunder wasn't kidding when he subtitled his excellent 'rainbows in the mud' as 'inside the intoxicating world of cyclocross', for inside the sport he truly was/is. to watch riders such as sven nys, wout van aert or even american jeremy powers switch bikes in the pits made this year's world time trial extravaganza seem something of a parody. there are bike handling skills on show throughout the average cyclocross race that possibly only peter sagan is capable of equalling.

maunder gives a firsthand enthusiastic insight into the two distinctly different flavours of 'cross to be experienced; in its belgian/dutch heartlands as well as the more participatory version on show across the pond. but before investigating either, in a chapter aptly entitled cross is coming, he accurately places the sport in its autumnal setting.

"In the the first days of September, the weather, not suprisingly, isn't very different from the last days of August. [...] The air is sharper, cleaner. The summer colours are in abeyance. There is more knitwear to be seen on the streets of the capital. I like knitwear."

the history of cyclocross is mired in an inaccurate past "Cyclocross ... began life as a form of steeplechase. There is no definitive version of how cyclocross started..." there is, however, no disputing that cyclocross as a sport, albeit a disorganised one, began in advance of henri legrange's tour de france. in fact, legend has it that 'cross gained much of its ascendancy as a means of road riders keeping themselves fit during the off-season, a situation that is rarely the case nowadays.

though i have been known to post on twitter the rather arbitrary number of days until the next edition of paris-roubaix (194, since you asked) and fervently look forward to dwar doors vlaanderen and liege-bastogne-liege, maunder is keen to point out that cyclocrossers are "...much more connected to their courses than roadies, so when a course is no longer used it becomes 'lost' [...] But they can also have a personality ... even a sense of humour." in all my years of being obsessed with cycling, i have never heard any rider describe paris-roubaix as having a sense of humour. surely that factor alone should be convincing enough for the cyclocross naysayers?

but prior to heading off into the depths of central europe or the more far flung 'cross regions of north america, the author is keen to place the sport in some sort of british context, however, parochial that might seem to the avid 'cross fan "The edgelands are the spiritual home of cyclocross. It is not a wilderness sport. [...] There is very little wilderness left in England." though mr maunder does not specifically make the point at this juncture, he has surreptitiously managed to point out the difference between cyclocross as was and the more contemporary sport taking place over designer courses. thus, this lack of true wilderness can scarcely be seen as a disadvantage.

despite having visited portland, oregon, (where the 'hup united' team had their jerseys made by vermarc for true belgian credibility) on two separate occasions, neither were even remotely close to 'cross season. however, i did meet up with the original progenitors of pdx cross, a team of photographers who covered every race, subsequently encapsulated in a book entitled 'dirty pictures'. the portland (american) approach, as underlined by the author's visits across the pond, is far more participatory than that found in holland or belgium, where fans congregate in adoration of their (mostly male) heroes, accompanied by strong beer, friets and mayo. thoughts of participation are nowhere to be found.

america sports a slightly less reverential tone, as evinced by a commentator at an asheville, north carolina race (described as both 'rad' and 'awesome'). "The fat lady might not be singing but the big girl is at the piano."

paul maunder actively digs into the minutiae of transatlantic cyclocross as well as that closer to home, meeting with richard sachs team member brittlee bowman on both sides of the pond as well as katie compton, gage hecht, nikki brammier (née harris) and helen wyman. he dwells briefly on the motor-doping case that blighted ( courtesy of the colourfully named 19 year-old, femke van den driessche) the under 23 women's race at the 2016 world championships.

it's a strategically planned book, drawing the reader deeper and deeper into the world of cyclocross before they've even realised. he does this programmatically via britain, europe, america and finally, the 2016 world championships at zolder. my only disappointment was a total lack of illustration or imagery to accompany the author's fine words.

now is the time to get hold of a copy; the european season is on the shores of the 2017/2018 season, so there's plenty of time to acquire the obsession that is buried deeper in some than in others. there's great satisfaction to be had from riding a road bike-shaped frame with wide tyre clearance and a set of 33mm knobblies over grass, through mud and across rock strewn pathways. this book explains why.

"It's not just fun - it's our passion."

monday 25 september 2017

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................