Workout Of The Day for Wednesday, 11/11…
It’s 11/11… which was an important day when I was in college. Lots of crazy behavior, and a great backstory that…
I’m not going to tell you.
😮
So, without further ado, today’s workout:
As promised it’s Cyclocross Skills day.
Today we’re going to focus on gear selection, and it goes a little something…
like…
this…
– warm up, 10-15 minutes.
– Brief run. 5 minutes.
– Stretch.
– Barrier skills, 10 minutes.
Pay special attention to your gear selection coming in and out of the barriers. Play around with this. Try gearing way too low. Try gearing way to high. Figure out what just right is, for you, for different situations.
– Technical skills, 15-20 minutes.
Again, pay special attention to your gear selection.
Find a hilly section, and take a run into it in a giant gear and with a little tiny gear.
Feel the difference.
Work on carrying momentum into small uphills using a big gear. See how far you can push this without bogging down.
Gear down, and spin your way up the same hill.
Pick a particularly bumpy/rough section of course, and experiment riding it in different gears. Do you feel a difference? Most folks find that riding a larger gear through the rough stuff will serve to soften the ride – see if this works for you.
Ride into a tricky off-camber section in a big gear…
…a small gear
…and at varying speeds.
Make note of what works, and when.
When should you gun into an off camber with a big gear, and when should you ease back and spin?
Figure it out!
– Starts, until you get 5 perfect starts in a row.
Start in a different gear each time.
Vary the terrain slightly for each start, and figure out how this changes your optimal gear selection.
Try starting on and into an uphill…
…and a downhill.
How does this change your gear choice?
– Race simulation. 3 x 10 minutes, 2 minute rest between efforts.
You guessed it; work on your gear selection in the race simulation.
Mix it up; legs getting tired from pushing the big gear? See what happens when you drop it down and spin.
Heart racing from all the leg speed? Shift over into the big ring, lug over the gear for a while, and see what happens.
Most important of all, try to figure out what’s fast.
Fast isn’t always what you find to be the most comfortable or natural. Heck, pretty often it’s not.
Remember, we’re talking about racing here; step outside your comfort zone, try some different approaches, and see what happens.
– Warm down.
– Go Home. Eat. Recover.
Have fun!
M
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