Cyclocross training questions..

[shinomaster]

Once again I plan on racing the pure joy that is cyclocross again this fall. Last year I did ok for a beginner pacing 10th ( with a technical) in a beginner race and then 45th in a group of 85 crazy C racers.
I hope to do a little bit better this year. I have been riding all year and am finally feeling fast and powerful up some climbs, but I am wondering what kind of specific traing I should be doing for the intense 45 minute races that wil start in Portland in mid October.
Should I just go ride as hard as I can for 45 minutes to simulate racing? Should I run? The muddy races involve lots of running, and I noticed I blew a few times running up hills.
Should do a certain kind of intervals?
I noticed that when you get really tired in a race that ever "A" racers have poor technique so I'm more worried about fitness and bike handeling than perfect bike holding grips ( even though I know I should learn to carry my Fuji properly on my shoulder).

THAnks!

:banana:

[Dr. Doofus]

more beer

the good cross racers doof knows drink a lot of beer

[shinomaster]

dude...all I drink is beer..and I'm getting the belly to prove it! :beer: :crap:

[zank]

Shino, check out Cycle-Smart's articles page. There is a ton of good cross info there. Adam coached me while I was at UMass, and I still use a lot of the techniques.

http://www.cycle-smart.com/Articles/index.html

I am doing interval training rather than just a hard 45 minute ride. I started with 3, 10 min intervals at or just below threshold with 3-4 minutes recovery in between. I am working up to 4, 15 min intervals. I do those on Wednesday. As the season starts, I will be racing Saturday and Sunday, so I usually recover on Monday and Tuesday, interval training on Wednesday, 2-3 hour easy road ride on Thursday, 1 hour easy ride with a couple of sprints on Friday to open up for Saturday.

If I feel up to it on Tuesday, I will do some start simulations or running sprints. If I do running sprints, I incorporate cross mounts into the sprint. So, I sprint pushing the bike for 8 or 10 seconds, then mount and accelerate up to speed. The whole sprint is about 15 seconds. Recover for 2-3 minutes and do it again. I do 8-12 of these and I am pretty much blown. You can do these up a short hill or on the flats. I also do this workout on Saturday if I am not racing.

If I do start simulations, I start with one foot on the ground as in a real start. I go as hard as I can for about 30 seconds. Recover for 2-3 minutes. 8-12 of these and I am cooked.

I hope this helps. This will be my first real season back after 5 or 6 years off. This routine helped me in the past. We'll see how it goes this year.

Good Luck!!! Remember that you will be getting in a lot of intensity on the weekends. Don't kill yourself during the week. Better to recover from the races than dig yourself into a hole.

[shinomaster]

Thanks for the tips and the link Zank!

[zank]

Enjoy the season, my friend. I hope to get out to PDX at some point to experiance the scene out there. Maybe next season.

[shinomaster]

Enjoy the season, my friend. I hope to get out to PDX at some point to experiance the scene out there. Maybe next season.


Too bad you missed the cross nationals out here the past two years. It would have been a good reason to make the trip..
It pretty much is muckfest out here. I just got eggbeater pedals because last year I used frogs and the don't work at all in the mud. I spent half of my races trying to clip back into my pedals. I could have done better with running shoes and bmx pedals!

Enjoy racing on frozen ground!! Ha ha..