Chris Brandt

As long as your cx bike has a good granny gear, sure. It's some steep and unrelenting stuff. Because the upper road sections are so rolly/flattish w/ a lot of steady efforts, I'd say the benefits of a cx bike don't outweigh their disadvantages on the descents. You would gain some extra benefit w/ having a lower rotating mass w/ cx wheels.. but, I know that for me, 3lbs. of extra "frame mass" on the old 40 minute climb only costs 35-40 seconds. That is why I ride full susp. Say your cx bike is maybe 5-6 lbs lighter than MTB, that only saves 1-1.5 minutes on the climbs. Maybe a little extra savings due to lower weight of the wheels while applying the same wattage output. But, you'll easily lose that advantage and then some when the trails turn downhill. It really depends on your own individual strengths and weaknesses. Traditionally, the group that gets to the top first and can work together can make a big gap. But the stragglers can also join up and work just as well. Choose y
our own tool carefully, and above all, HAVE FUN!

If you wanna do your own calculations and play with the math, try www.analyticcycling.com and it will show you how insignificant the extra weight is.

Chris