So you got all your gear together, hurled it into your car, drove all those miles at that ungodly hour, put on your kit, pinned on that number, rolled up to the line, shivered in the cold waiting for the start, raced the race, questioned your sanity, packed your gear back up, got home, and pulled out your gear only to realize that what once was clean, beautiful gear is now something closer to mud, sand, grass, or blood. What do you do now? How do you cleanup after a Cyclocross race? What do you with all of that CX race legacy clinging to your kit? I can’t give you a cure-all solution for your dirty problems , but I can give you, a works for a few sloppy messes idea.
YA BIKE!
Once you have finished your last race, and if you have a bike rack, and if you will be headed home sometime that day, don’t wait in the line for the provided hose. Instead put your bike onto your rack, and clean it up when you get home. This will save you wasted time standing in line, and lets you do more important things, like drinking, and heckling the fools who are still racing.
YA BODY!
You have racked your bike for later, but your still covered in all of the grit and the grime from when you were out there railing turns, and crushing fools! What do you do? You can see what My go to move is in the photo above, but I understand if you don’t want a hobo shower. So what does a civilized person do? There’s the hose for you bike. You could turn it onto yourself, but you would have to wait in that line. Which is a no-go for me. The next best idea? Bucket, water, and rag. This seems like a cheap idea but remember the goal is not to get wedding night ready, but good enough to chill with friends, and then drive home. If a bucket is not available rock some sweet baby wipes. Now these won’t get dried on mud, and dirt off, but they will get your “dark parts” clean which is good enough for this situation. After you clean up, toss on some sweat pants, and a hoodie to hide all that dirt you missed, then go get that cowbell! Cause it’s time to spectate.
YA KIT!
Bike? Check!
Body? Check!
Now what do you do with that kit? First and most important don’t let that dirt dry. The moment you take it off, put it into some type of container and keep it wet. Once those stains set in you are in for some real pain. Toss that kit into a bag, a bucket, an ice chest, or a water bottle! Keep it wet. If you really want to be “pro” put some oxi-clean in that container to really get to work on that dirt. You can use any detergent, but honestly oxi-clean is the best there is. Once your home toss that kit into the washing machine with some more oxi-clean and your favorite detergent, and turn that sucker on! There is also the option of soaking longer in the oxi-clean solution if you are concerned about the dirt.
There ya go, a nearly useless guide on how to clean up after a Cyclocross race from a dude who knows nothing. To recap: don’t wash your bike with the race hose, wait till you get home. Bring a bucket with some water, and rags or bust out those baby wipes, and wipe yourself down. Finally for that kit, drop it into some water in order to keep it wet, then wash that mug when you get home. If you have better suggestions, and I don’t doubt that you will, hit me up in the comment section to let me know what’s what. Also please like, share, reblog, or follow this blog. If you do that it helps me produce a better product for you guys.
The Cycling Journell 