Suffer Faces

CX Worlds Louisville 13: Most Cowbell Ever on Flickr.

Most Cowbell Ever from @cowbellcrusade

Ja, Gelukt!

That face says Ja, gelukt! Or translated to “Yes, job done!,” after Mike Teunissen wins the World Championship in Louisville.

In control, in the snow, @miketeunissen.

Photo: Cyclephotos UK

In Cross, the better you are at the skills, the harder you can go, and the more you’ll suffer. That makes for better racing and photographs for us! We want to help you get better. As the old saying goes, it never gets easier, just faster.

A couple weeks ago, we attend one of Matt Hill’s clinics. Matt bounds over the barriers like Baryshnikov. In the PNW, no one is smoother or faster. In these photos and videos, Matt teaches us how he does it.

The key to the dismount is to pivot with your hip and drop off the bike when your left foot releases and land with both feet. For the remount, plant the leading foot, drop your shoulders, lean the bike toward you, and slide on. Do NOT jump. The remount is not an acrobatic leap, but a smooth hip swing back onto the bike. If you’re foot is planted ahead of the bottom bracket, you’ll also stop skipping.

In this set of stills from the video, note how Matt’s front foot is planted. He pushes the bike forward, drops his shoulders, and then swings up, and onto the bike.

Foot planted

Shoulders drop, bike pushed forward

Swing up and on

Dismount/Remount over and over again, like you’ve got Cross OCD, until you don’t even think about it.

Then try running. Want to get better in person? Contact Matt for some one-on-one time. He makes it look easy.

Also see our still-populars videos with Tim Rutledge and Redline Bicycles.

Your face would look like that too, if Tyler Farrar was behind you, about to steal your series points in the MFG Cyclocross Season Finale! Tyler is in Garmin kit, on the right.

That’s not confetti either. The Hodala crew had a snow machine pointed at that corner, you can see it just under the Raleigh tent on the left.

(Source: bikehugger.com)

Lick it up Plzen.

Screenshots from super slomo video, at 240 FPS, with faces suffering.

Tech note: Taken with a Sony FS700 with Zeiss CP Cine lens and Ninja 4:2:2 data recorder by Kent Johnson.

(Source: bikehugger.com)

While not technically a sufferface, a blech look with underwear on your helmet wins some style point. Pumpkin orange jersey too.

OMFG not LFMAO, seriously WTF. Why is this so hard.