Cyclocross pushes bicyclists to test their endurance

Ten bicycle racers have lined up on a stretch of pavement in NorthShore, a North Little Rock business park. It is unseasonably warm on this Sunday morning in November.

“Ready! Set! Go!”

And they’re off, pedaling furiously to where the pavement ends and the dirt begins. They disappear over a sandy hill and when they reappear, they’re pedaling through a grassy field.

And then a strange thing happens.

One by one the riders leap off their bikes, throw their machines over their shoulders and hurdle over first one upright wooden board and then another - barriers deliberately set up in the racecourse.

They then remount their bikes and pedal furiously away.

This is cyclocross, a form of bike racing ...