Well, for many of you, this is it. The last race of the season.
Go out there and try to put it all together today.
Everything we’ve worked on all year… this is your last chance to use it (until, well… next year…)
So, go for it. Give it all you’ve got.
Enjoy that last race of the year.
Still racing for a couple of more weeks?
Cool.
You should still go out there and give it your all today.
Much more for ya’all in the next couple of weeks, though đ
…actually, even if this is your last race, be sure to come back and visit the blog over the next couple of weeks. We’ll be talking about how to transition out of your cross season and into the road/Mtb. season, and how to set yourself up for success next cross season.
Itâs the weekend again, and â of course â that means most of you are off to the races.
So, if youâre racing today, you know what youâre doing.
Go Race!
Racing on Sunday?
Yup. Today youâre doing –
Can Openers –
Warm up for 1/2 hour or so.
Follow with several short attacking efforts, IE 30 seconds at 80% of your max, or pretty damn hard.
Back off and spin for 5 minutes.
Follow with 10-15 minute effort at AT level, or CP30, or âI could talk to you if I had to, but I donât want toâ level.
Spin for several minutes.
Follow with 5-6 full gas start efforts on a straight section of paved road, level or slightly uphill.  You want to begin these from a dead stop, with one foot unclipped. Do not stop until you get at least 3 perfect starts in a row, and I mean perfect; this is the cross equivalent of practicing free throws. make âem count.
⌠spin out legs, go home and rest. Get ready to race tomorrow.
If the weather where you’re at is like the weather we had in Seattle earlier this week, you might just find it hard to get outside tomorrow. Heck, if it’s as crappy out as it was here, it might not be smart to ride outside!
For me â when Iâm not hurt, and actually riding the damn bike â crazy cold snowy weather generally triggers a dramatic decrease in my desire to ride outside. If itâs dumping out, or freakinâ cold, Iâm opening my can inside, on the trainer.
I’m replacing the usual Openers workout with –
The RSWO â TheRock Stupid Warmup & Opener:
– Get on trainer. Spin for about 5 minutes.
– Shift into big ring/largest cog combination.
– Ride 30 seconds in this gear, then shift up one cog.
– Ride 30 seconds in this gear, then shift up one cog.
– Repeat until you hit the hardest gear youâve got, or can handle.
– Ride 30 seconds in that gear, and then shift all the way back down to the Big/big combo.
– Ride 30 seconds in that gear, then immediately shift to hardest gear you can handle.
– Full gas sprint, out of the saddle, Â for 30 seconds.
Back to big/big combo.
– Spin for two minutes.
– 5-10 minute effort at your 2Ă20 output level.
Repeat The entire sequence (Usually minus the 2nd 5-10 minute effort.)
I will keep this pretty brief, as I am sure you’re all busy as can be today, either catching up on work after the day off, exercising your constitutional right to gratuitous expenditure on Black Friday, or as is the case with many of my friends, you are kinda/sorta working both sides by facilitating commerce at a break-neck pace today.
Whatever it is you are doing, you should also try to get on the bike.
Your workout today is –
AfterMath –
As you are no doubt aware, it’s Friday. That usually means that you’re either taking it pretty easy today and going for a Moderate Ride, or you’re doing Can Openers if you have a race tomorrow.
No change at all if you’re racing tomorrow. Get on out there and do those Can Openers –
What you do today is entirely dependent on what you did yesterday. If you’re feeling pretty normal today, and/or if you got out and did some riding yesterday, the usual 1-2 Hour Moderate Ride is a pretty safe bet –
If you took the holiday completely off, or if you’re feeling like you need to burn off a few calories to get your head back in the game, you can go a little bit harder today.
Here’s a couple of options for you…
– Go for that Moderate Ride, but…
– in the middle of it do one 20 minute effort, as if you were doing 1/2 of a Classic 2×20.
– D0 three 5-minute efforts evenly spaced throughout the ride.
I hope you have a wonderful day, whatever you do today.
Whatever that is, what it shouldn’t be is a structured bike workout.
Spend some time with your family, or if you’re on your own (like me!) it’s a great day to go see a movie or something.
Relax.
Have some fun off the bike.
If you absolutely, positively feel like riding your bike today – do whatever the heck feels good. If you happen to live in the Seattle area, I recommend Mick Walsh’s annual thanksgiving charity ride –
Lets be thankful that we are fortunate enough to have the time and money to enjoy a great activity like cycling and give to those less fortunate who are
more concerened about where their next meal is coming from, rather than what carbon wheels they are going to ride next year.
Well, it’s Wednesday, and for some of you this is the last Wednesday Cyclocross Skills Workout of the season.
Congratulations! You made it. I hope you had fun, and got something useful out of all my rambling lo these many Wednesdays.
If you recall, last week we worked on fine-tuning one or two things that you were really good at.
The idea was to hone some of your best skills into a weapon, so that you could use them when most needed, to make the race or at least make a difference in the race.
This week, we’re kinda/sorta doing the opposite.
I want you to pick one or two things that are your very weakest links and drill the crap out of them tonight.
Whatever it is that gives you the most trouble, work on it.
Don’t make this an onerous task, have fun with it.
Laugh at yourself a bit.
Push your comfort envelope, especially if you are working on your handling skills (and lets face it – this is a weak spot for almost everyone.)
So, if youâre lacking a bit in the handling skills department? Go out and shred some turns.
Push it.
Go harder and faster, to the point where youâre hitting the deck.
Get back up, do it again.
Have a weak start?
Yup.
Do a bunch of âem. Get yourself a bit fasteroff the line.
Not the greatest endurance rider in your field?
Do extended efforts on semi-technical terrain. Try to hang on just a little bit longer to the meat grinder pushing the pace at the front of the field.
Making sense?
Whatever youâre not so good at, tonight youâre going to work on it.
You can make it better.
Stronger.
Faster.
Not quite at the stage in the Cyclocross game where youâre really concerned about all this honing and buffing business? More interested in simply going out and getting better at the basics? Looking for a little bit more structure tonight?
If you’re in Seattle, and you’re going to Nationals, forget everything you just read.
You should be out riding in the SnowPocalypse!
Get out in the snow and ice and work on your ability to ride in the frozen stuff. This is a great opportunity to get better at handling the kind of conditions we’re likely to see down in Bend, so take advantage of it.
Go out there and push your limits on the white stuff. Take some chances, push your limits a bit. Figure out what you can and can’t do in the corners when they’re frozen.
If you have the time, pull out whatever tires you’ve got lying around, and figure out what works best in these kind of conditions.
Ditto clothing, embrocation, whatever.
This is an opportunity folks, make the most of it!
If you’re going down to Nationals in Bend, and you live in Seattle, drop any plans you had for riding today, and get out there and play in the snow.
We never get a chance to ride in these conditions, and since there is an excellent chance we’ll be seeing snow down at Nat’s, you’d be crazy to miss this chance to ride in the white stuff.
So don’t.
The Workout Of The Day today is –
Play In The Snow!
Pretty simple, right?
Get out there and work on all your ‘cross skills, just do it in the snow.
Pay particular attention to your cornering, dismounts, remounts…. aw heck; everything is different in the snow.
Just get out there and ride ‘yer bike and figure it out.
Not living in Seattle?
Well, if you’re going to Nationals, and you still have a couple of weeks left in the season, it’s Tuesday.
Today you’re going to do a little bit of leg speed work, as we try to prime the pump for the racing this weekend.
You’re doing –
Downhill Sprints-
Start by warming up well, a bit longer than usual â 30 minutes or so.
Find a gradual downhill that lets out on a flat section of road or trail.
The ideal setup for this workout is a hill thatâs about a block long, and lets out on a flat section of road that’s also about a block long.
Extra bonus points if you can loop back to the start without having to turn around â that would be perfect.
Youâre going to do 3-5 sets of 5 sprints, full gas.
Hereâs how the sprints go:
Roll down the gradual descent in a comfortable gear. You want to hit the bottom of the hill going fast, but not yet in a sprint.
As soon as you hit the flat section at the bottom of the hill, get out of the saddle and give it full gas.
Go until you are spun out.
Thatâs one rep. Youâre doing sets of 5.
Each sprint should take just a few seconds. Recover for 30 seconds to a minute between reps, and 5 minutes between sets.
Stop when you hit 5 sets or just arenât getting the same leg speed you were on the first couple of reps.
When youâre done, spin out and go home.
Tips –
– You should start the sprint in a pretty big gear, and spin it out. How big? It depends on how fast youâre going and how strong you are. Youâre working on speed here, so donât try to lug a giant gear, but the gear needs to be big enough that you accelerate when you hit it at the end of the downhill.
– Stand up out of the saddle when you start to sprint, and gradually sit down as you begin to spin out.
– Donât forget to breathe. Seriously â too many people hold their breath when they sprint. Donât be one of them.
Stuck on the trainer today?
You can do the 2×20, or if you need some light speed work, try doing some Spin-Ups –
I hope the racing went well for you yesterday, and that you didn’t freeze your a** off!
With Nationals right around the corner, and taking place down in frigid Bend, OR, racing this weekend was a good opportunity  to make sure that all systems are “go” for your winter racing wardrobe.
So, how did everything work for you?
Got your base layer(s) figured out?
Socks?
Leg warmers/knee warmers/ embrocation?
Gloves?
You get the idea. Make a list. Make sure everything is dialed.
Remember, if you were cold this weekend, odds are you’re going to be really hurting down in Bend – it’s gonna be cold, folks! (and, yeah – next year is going to be completely ridiculous. Good grief, what were they thinking?)
So, what are we doing today?
It’s Monday. Chill out
(yeah, sorry – ouch… terrible pun. Here’s a cat on a motorcycle to make amends.)
Take it easy today, and go for a –
Recovery Spin –
Get on your bike. Roll out into the street, and just spin around for an hour.
Really small gear, no hard efforts â heck, no medium effort.
Spin.
Youâre looking to move your legs around in circles, almost like there is no chain on the bike.
The idea is to get your body moving, flush the systems out, and speed your recovery.
When you do your recovery ride -if you have the time- just get out and spin aimlessly.
At a certain point, your legs suddenly feel better. Sometimes this takes 1/2 an hour, sometimes it takes 2 hours.
After a while, when you get used to having the recovery ride as part of your routine, you know it when you feel it.
As soon as that happens, turn around, go home, eat, stretch, and put your legs up.
After you’ve spun out your legs – and while you’re chilling out – spend some extra time on your post-race journal.
Go back over your weekend’s racing efforts, and really put some detail into your post-race analysis.
It’s crunch time, and everything you do in practice through the end of the season is going to revolve around your racing efforts.
From here on out, you’re either refining things you’re already good at, or trouble shooting the problem spots in your game.
To do this effectively, you need to analyze your performances. Objectively.
Be honest with yourself, and go into detail.
If you’ve already been doing this, double down on it today.
Yeah, yeah… It’s Saturday, and you’re either racing today, or getting ready to race tomorrow… so today’s Workout is pretty obvious, right?
Racing?
Go Race (Damnit!) –
Not much more to be said about it at this point in the season. Go hard, race yer A** off.
Racing on Sunday?
Yup. You’re doing –
Can Openers –
Warm up for 1/2 hour or so.
Follow with several short attacking efforts, IE 30 seconds at 80% of your max, or pretty damn hard.
Back off and spin for 5 minutes.
Follow with 10-15 minute effort at AT level, or CP30, or âI could talk to you if I had to, but I donât want toâ level.
Spin for several minutes.
Follow with 5-6 full gas start efforts on a straight section of paved road, level or slightly uphill.  You want to begin these from a dead stop, with one foot unclipped. Do not stop until you get at least 3 perfect starts in a row, and I mean perfect; this is the cross equivalent of practicing free throws. make âem count.
⌠spin out legs, go home and rest. Get ready to race tomorrow.
Even when I can’t race, I still get amped for the weekend.
How about you?
Psyched?
Cool… but do yourself a favor. Save some of that energy for the races, OK?
Whether you’re finishing up the season this weekend, next weekend, or going all the way through to Nationals, this is the point in the season where you need to hold on to your fitness.
Don’t waste it in useless warm-up heroics.
If you’re racing on Saturday, today you’re doing –
Don’t over-do it on these, folks! You want to do just enough to get the engine primed for the race the next day, while stopping short of burning candles you’re going to need out on the course. If you feel like you just did a race after your opener session, you did it wrong… and you dug yourself a hole that’s going to be a challenge to dig out of the next day.
Racing on Sunday?
Nice.
Take it Slow and Easy today –
Go for a 1-2 Hour Moderate Ride –
This isnât a recovery ride. We want you to relax a bit today, but it’s important that you don’t get your body thinking it’s time to shut things down.
Youâre going to go just a bit harder than that.
Put a little bit of muscle into the pedals, but not so much that you ever feel like youâre going hard. Or hard-ish.
Moderate means just that.
Not hard, not easy⌠right in the middle. Easy enough that you could hold a conversation with the guy on the bike next to you, but hard enough that the conversation better be damn interesting if you’re going to.
Have some fun.
I mean, you’re listening to Whitesnake – How could you not?
You betcha. I do the personal coaching/trainer thing. Clients have included multiple National and even World Champions, and 2/3 of My Cyclocross athletes made the podium at Nationals in 2009, with one taking home the Stars and Stripes. Interested? Drop me a line at: crosssports@gmail.com
Yeah, that's right... if you have completely lost control of all sense of fiscal responsibility, you can now purchase silly articles of clothing with my blog address on them.
How cool is that?
Just go to - http://crosssports.spreadshirt.com/
and think "conspicuous consumption... mmm... feels so good..."
Crosssports's Weblog 