There are so many acronyms in cycling, XC, CX, MTB, UCI, xXx – aye aye aye, que quieren decir?! To throw one more out there at ya, there is XXC. This acronym is for ‘Endurance Cross Country Racing’. Despite acronym craziness in our beloved sport – going long on the dirt, translates very well into the Bonebell zeitgeist. How and why the hell anyone would punish themselves for more than 3 hours on singletrack, in a race no less, is a question that lingers on the minds of loved ones who watch their friends, husbands, and wives pedal off into the trees not to be seen for hours at a time until they come back spewing craziness such as: “Where’s my effing gel!”, “No I need the ‘OTHER’ gloves”, or “I think I broke my back – but I can do another lap!”.

When the ordeal is over – rest assured, the battle will go on in another forest preserve, in another state, in about 30 days. Endurance Cross Country Racing is most definitely the hippie tree-hugging realm of MTBing (<-- acronym for Mountain Biking!) if regular XC (<-- acronym from Cross Country!) is the 80s metal realm of MTBing, and CX (<-- acronym for Cyclocross) is the punk rock love child of MTB. It takes a hippie, or an outright lunatic, to believe that cycling in laps through technical terrain for 6, 12, or say, 24 hours is anything but fun. Until you have tasted this laid back vibe - you won't ever know. We definitely recommend you try it - and don't sip this kool aid, drink it like a PBR (<-- acronym for Pabst Blue Ribbon!) and slam it down and smile accordingly, because you might think you hate it, but you really love it deep down inside, hence you slam a few more. Burp.

XXC Mag – an online e-magazine – has been highlighting the virtues of this crazed sport and in the process converting people worldwide to accept that endurance is a culmination of everything around you. It’s immersing yourself in the surroundings sometimes so remote – that pedaling your way through the trails for hours on end, is ultimately the greatest reward. We were very fortunate recently to have ‘Nevada Dave’ and ‘El Maya’ interviewed by Chris Strout, a venerable 24 hour endurance racer from World Bicycle Relief, to get our viewpoints on how we even conceive of training for this XXC endeavor, coming from such a flat and mountainless city. It ain’t easy – but the desire to get off-road is deeply ingrained in us, and we spoke to those points.

We want people to experience the challenge of off-road cycling in ‘every’ form.

XXC Article – ‘My Kind of Town’ by Chris Strout.
XXC Mag Online Extra ‘Windy City Training’ by Chris Strout.