The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Thursday, 12.14.17. “Speedy Thursday”

Howdy folks,

Hey… are you racing both days this weekend?

If you are, take today off, or really easy.

Just racing on Sunday?

Sweet.

Today you’re getting some speed work in…

…with…

Form Sprints –

Warm up well.

Find a long, flat section of road with little to no traffic.

Get a rolling start; you aren’t going fast, just gently spinning.

Stand up and sprint.

You’re going to sprint hard, but in a slightly smaller than comfortable gear.

Go until you are spun out, then…

sit down.

Accelerate again, seated, spinning the same gear selection even faster.

Go until you are totally spun out.

Sit up, and roll back down to a conversational pace.

That’s one rep.

You’re doing sets of 5.

3 sets is probably enough for most all ya’all.

2-5 minutes rest between sets.

These are called Form Sprints for a reason. You’re doing them in a smaller gear than you would normally sprint in, and you are concentrating on your form.

Pay attention to all the little things your body does in a sprint, and work to maximize your efficiency and control.

Keep it smooth. Think fast, fluid, and supple throughout the pedal stroke.

Normally, I’m not a big fan of talking about pedaling circles and all that crap (yes, it’s crap) but for cyclocross, it’s worth talking about.

In CX, unlike road riding, there’s value to putting power down as smoothly as possible. If you just stomp really damn hard on the pedals, you might put out more power, but you’re also liable to spin your wheel out on that sketchy off-camber uphill climb that you need the power on.

So, when we’re working on our sprinting, I like to throw in something that makes us think a wee little bit about how we’re putting out that power.

Make sense?

Have fun,

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