The Workout Of The Day for Wednesday, 10.10.12. “Paddled”
Howdy folks,
It’s Wednesday, and yup. You know what that means, right?
It’s…
Skills Day!
I saw some pretty darn fast people making some really basic mistakes at the races this weekend, so don’t forget; no matter how fast you are, it pays to nail down the basics.
…and that includes not catching your bars on posts at top speed.
That’s a pretty basic mistake, and I made it, and made a total hash out of my race as a result.
Still learning…
Anyways, onwards…
1 – warm up for 10 minutes on the bike, then run for 5-10 minutes easy.
2 – Stretch out.
3 – Dismount/remount skills for 5-10-15 minutes (depends how much work you need on these. Do ’em until you nail ’em.)
– Start at literally a walking pace, and slowly increase speed until you can mount and dismount the bike smoothly and perfectly at full speed. Do not jump on and off the bike, you are looking to smoothly slide yourself on and off.
Need a refresher on the basics? Check out –
Do just the most basic dismount/remount as per above until you have it down cold, smooth as silk.
When you’re perfect (hah!) throw some barriers into the mix.
– Again, start at a super, super slow speed.
– Approach the barrier, dismount smooth as silk.
– Step over the barrier, paying attention to how you lift the bike, and how you place your feet.
– Remount. Smoooooth….
– Start with a single barrier, move to a double, and keep going slow until you have things wired. Then, speed things up until you aren’t smooth, back it down 1 notch, and make keep it there.
Smooooooth.
(If you don’t have barriers, anything will do. Use a log, put a stick on the ground – whatever.)
4 – Foot-down drill
Pretty simple in theory, not so much in execution.
While riding, unclip one foot.
Lower that foot to the ground.
Push off.
Clip back in.
Do it again.
Switch sides.
Same thing.
Alternate sides.
Do this until you’re good at it.
Why the heck are you doing this?
Check out 29:11 and 49:44
Pretty darn useful, eh?
Don’t be afraid to unclip a foot and use it to push off or “paddle” around a turn.
This can be a game changer, so work on it, eh?
6 – Recover for a few minutes, then Finish the night with two interval efforts on relatively easy terrain. Try to include a feature that will force you to use the “unclip & paddle technique.”
– “Easy” as in a loop on grass with some tight-ish turns on it, or some pretty buffed double-track.
– Go hard, and work on accelerations, and your ability to jump.
Every time you come out of a turn or terrain feature, get on the gas on the way out of it. Out of the saddle, full-throttle.
– 6-8 minutes full gas, rest for 2 minutes, then go again.
– Start each effort from a dead stop, on foot down, just like a race.
Spin to recover until your legs loosen up & your heart rate comes down, then go home and call it a day.
Have fun!
M
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