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Howdy folks,

Rumor has it that some of my earlier posting on dismount technique has been making the rounds of the interwebs. I’ve been getting a lot of referral traffic from Facebook, but haven’t actually seen any of the discussion (if there is any.) If someone could link me to anything worth checking out, that would be great!

So, what the hell does this have to do with the workout of the day?

Well, it’s Wednesday, and that’s skills day, so I’m going to use this interest as an excuse to go into ridiculous depth on the cyclocross dismount.

Today’s workout, then is –

The Hokey-Pokey

(or, left foot in, left foot out, that is what it’s all about.)

Read all the nonsense below, if  you have the patience. Read Adam Myerson’s blog  –

http://www.cycle-smart.com/blog/2010/08/17/the-last-word

Then, go out and try this stuff. See what works for you.

Have fun!

————————————————-

On with the dweebishness…

First, lets look at the Pedal/Shoe interface –

All of the clipless pedals commonly used for cyclocross operate on the same basic principles.

A cleat –

Is held in place in a pedal…

…by a hook at the front of the pedal, and a gate at the rear. *

The gate is spring-loaded, in an orientation that provides for extremely high resistance to force in the vertical plane, and extremely low resistance in the horizontal.

The cleat/pedal interface is designed so that lateral or medial rotation of the foot overcomes the spring tension holding the gate portion of the pedal in place, releasing the cleat and allowing for vertical disengagement.

The factors that limit the proper functioning of the pedal in release mode are these –

– Force necessary to overcome spring tension of gate

Can the lateral/medial motion of the foot produce enough force to overcome the spring tension of the gate?

– Range Of Motion (ROM)

Can the foot produce a wide enough range of lateral/medial motion to overcome the spring tension of the gate?

– Resistance multipliers

The resistance of the pedal gate to lateral/medial motion is designed to be low, but several factors can cause substantial increases in the actual force necessary to release from the pedal. For EG –

– Contamination by foreign media

Mud, grit, crap of all sorts in pedals/shoes can jam spring mechanism

– Out of plane cleat motion in act of release

If the foot/cleat is pronated/supinated in the attempt to release from the pedal, it introduces a vertical force component to the cleat/pedal interface, causing potentially significant increases in overall force necessary to trigger disengagement.

OK?

Now, the body –

The rider triggers release from the pedal by rotating the foot medially or laterally –

(Generally speaking, we always try to release using  medial rotation. There are lots of sharp spinning parts providing a disincentive for release motions that lean in towards the bike.)

Medial rotation of the foot is a result of medial/internal rotation of the hip

knee,

…some combination of the two, or rotation of the entire body.

The range of these rotational joint moments is limited. Here are some observed norms, if you’re interested –

http://ovrt.nist.gov/projects/vrml/h-anim/jointInfo.html

OK?

Great!

What the hell does this have to do with cyclocross?

Bear with me.

When we dismount the bike,  We’re trying to get off  (the bike)

Quickly

smoothly

efficiently

without hitting the deck

Knowing how the mechanics of the pedal/shoe interface and the related body parts function, we can think logically about how best to do this.

Here’s how I described a super-basic “Cowboy” dismount in a previous post –

1. Unclip right foot.

2. swing right foot over saddle, behind left leg.

3. Left foot stays clipped in. Right side of leg/ass braces against saddle.

4. r hand leaves bar, braces on top tube.

5. Coast in this position.

6. left foot unclips.

7. DROP to ground. Do not step down, right foot is totally passive. Simply drop to ground as you unclip left foot.

1. Unclip right foot.

Gotta start somewhere, right?

2. swing right foot over saddle, behind left leg.

We’re doing this “cowboy” style. More on the “step through” style later…

3(a). Left foot stays clipped in.

…more on this later.

3(b). Right side of leg/ass braces against saddle.

Bracing the right side of the leg against the top tube stabilizes the body in a position that will allow for sufficient ROM to disengage from the pedal, and provides for an additional point of contact with the bike, increasing control of the bike during the dismount.

4. r hand leaves bar, braces on top tube.

bracing the hand on the top tube reinforces vertical stability of the body, helping to control the tendency of the foot to supinate

during medial rotation. Hand on top tube also helps to control bike, facilitates shouldering/portaging after dismount.

5. Coast in this position.

We use this coasting phase to sight the dismount and to prepare for…

6. left foot unclips.

The body is held stable, in alignment, and within the ROM necessary to release the cleat from the pedal. There should be no difficulty with release unless resistance multipliers are present…

7. DROP to ground. Do not step down, right foot is totally passive. Simply drop to ground as you unclip left foot.

The key is dropping to the ground after cleat disengagement.

By suspending the body in the correct position using the hands and hip (per 1-4 above,) we facilitate the conditions necessary for safe disengagement.

Attempting to step towards the ground, or dismount motions of the body disturbing the established equilibrium can and will result in an increased likelihood of a failure to disengage, and subsequent danger of crash/collision.

————————————————–

Whatever controversy there is regarding the method of dismount I describe here appears largely to append to my “don’t unclip the left foot first” recommendation.

Please allow me to emphasize that I do advocate releasing the foot prior to making any sort of “exiting the bike” motion. I do not, however, teach the method described (excellently) by Mr. Myerson in his blog entry above.

Here’s what Adam wrote in the comments section of an earlier post –

…I advocate clipping out of the left first when you have time to do so, and don’t need to be on the gas all the way to the dismount point. It’s much easier to step off a bike you’re not still attached to.

I advocate staying clipped in on the left when you have to pedal all the way up to the dismount point, and when you’re not stepping through.

I advocate stepping through ONLY when clipped out of the left already, and when you have ample speed and coasting time to take the extra time needed to step through.

Option 1 works every time, in every condition, and I consider it the default.

Respectfully.

I think -at the most basic level- we agree where it really counts.

Unclip before you begin any motion that leads to or constitutes “stepping off” of the bike.

I can understand why the “Unclip before stepping over” approach works, and is popular with many riders. It’s a good way to get off the bike.

I don’t use it myself, and therefore I don’t teach it.

Why don’t I use it?

As explained well in the Cycle-Sport Blog post, this dismount method -while very effective – is not universally applicable, and is not optimal under conditions such as “…uphill dismounts, deep mud, last minute dismounts….” (I would also add sand to the list.)

Believe it or not (and I know I’m straining credulity writing this after forcing you to wade through this ridiculous post,) I’m all about simplicity.

If I can teach one technique that works all the time, or two techniques, one of which only works most of the time,  I’m going with the one that works all the time.

Honestly, though?

I think this may largely be an East-Coast/West Coast thing. The main reason I don’t use the “unclip first” method is because I learned early on that on the rutty, crappy, chuckhole infested minefield disaster courses of Seattle in the 90’s, if you tried to ride into a barrier hanging off the side of the bike balanced on an unclipped pedal, you were pretty likely to get bounced off the pedal, and flat onto your ass.

It just wasn’t a good default position for the courses out here, and really… it still probably isn’t.

Above all else, figure out what works best for the the courses *you* ride on, practice it, wire it, and go fast.

Nothing wrong with either approach, just…

—————————————————————

*                    Yeah, yeah, I know… “what about crank bros, Speedplay, Time, etc.” The details are slightly different, but in all the commonly used “mountain bike” pedals, the function of the pedal still follows the same basic formula.

**                    “What about the “step through?” Another time. I’m going to sleep…

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Howdy folks,

How was the rest day?

Feeling recovered?

I hope so, because we’re dropping right back in to the swing of things.

Ready for some intensity?

it’s…

2×20 Tuesday!

If you’ve been following along, you probably saw this coming… and you may even be getting sick of these damn things.

Stick with it today, though. Next week, I’ll mix things up a bit just to keep you on your toes.

You can do the 2×20 one of two ways today –

– The Classic 2×20 –

https://crosssports.wordpress.com/2010/07/26/the-cyclocross-workout-of-the-day-for-7-26-10-testing-testing/

Or

– The 2×20 Get-Up Style-

https://crosssports.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/the-cyclocross-workout-of-the-day-for-tuesday-8-9-2x20s-get-up-style/

Whichever one you choose to do, the key is to hit it hard. Seriously – this workout should be pretty damn awful.

You should be gassed when you’re done.

Try to go harder than you can in a race.

Look, you’re trying to do two intervals here, right?

Ideally, when you finish the second interval, you’ve got absolutely nothing left.

Part of the reason we do these every week is that you need to learn what, exactly “nothing left” means.

You need to blow it a couple of times in order to learn where that line is.

If – every time out –  you finish both of the 20 minute intervals at the same level, you probably aren’t doing this right.

Let me clarify: you need to fail on the second interval occasionally.

Why?

– when you’re just starting out with these, you won’t know what your limits are until you exceed them.

– when you’re starting to get good at these, you won’t get better unless you steadily push your output level up.

– when you really have these nailed, and you’ve maxed out, you won’t be able to hold your max fitness forever. Blowing up on the 2×20 will be one of your indicators of that plateau.

Make sense?

Have fun!

M

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Howdy folks,

I hope you had an amazing weekend. The weather in my neck of the woods was too good to miss, and I was lucky enough to spend most of it on my bike getting in some long miles.

Nice.

So, today is a rest day for me.

It should be for you, too.

Yup.

The Workout of  The Day today is –

1 Hour Recovery Spin –

–

– Get on your bike. Roll out into the street, and just spin around for an hour.

Really small gear, no hard efforts – heck, no medium effort.

Spin.

You’re 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.

As soon as that happens, turn around, go home, eat, stretch, and put your legs up.

…or, you know, go to work.

Or School.

Or whatever real-world hassle you have to deal with. 

Don’t forget, Monday is also a great day to get some core work in.

Got questions about what to do? Start here –

https://crosssports.wordpress.com/2010/08/08/the-cyclocross-workout-of-the-day-for-monday-8-8-and-on-the-8th-day-we-rest/

Make sense?

Great!

Here’s some work for your brain:

If you haven’t done so yet, start putting together your schedule for the cross season.

When are you racing?

What (if any) are your goal races?

Are you going to be travelling? When? Where?

Are you going to Bend in December? Are you planning to be racing in December, or sitting on the couch recovering?

Pretty easy, right?

Good.

In a few days, we’ll talk about what to do with the schedule when you have it all together…

G’night,

M

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Howdy Folks,

Holy Cow… the weather is pretty freaking amazing in Seattle right now.

It’s so amazing that it forces a fella to come to terms with the fact that the end of the season is fast approaching.

That’s why you’re here, right? I mean, we’re talking about cyclocross… it’s a Fall sport fer chrissakes!

OK.

Here’s the thing.

We don’t have all that many weekends like this left.

We need to take advantage of them.

This whole cycling thing is supposed to be about having FUN, and if you somehow leave that aspect out of it, all this training we’re doing is kinda/sorta for naught.

So, the workout for today – and tomorrow, heck, for the whole weekend is –

Do What You Gotta Do –

Ride your bike.

Have fun.

Seriously. Have fun. That’s all.

That, and ride your bike.

Have fun on your bike.

Pretty simple, right?

G’night.

M

PS – if you’re really stumped for what to do today, look back over the workouts on the site, and do whatever looks good to you. Just, whatever you do, really try and enjoy the remnants of the summer. Please?

(sorry… couldn’t find the original NewGrass version of the song. It’s pretty great.)

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Howdy folks,

Man, I almost feel like I’m cheating .

For Today’s workout, we’re going to do the exact same thing we did last week.

I was going to put something else up, but in the middle of writing it, I said to myself –

“Self,

This just isn’t as good as what we did last week. Don’t mess with a good thing. Just re-post the damn workout.”

Well, as I was in a public place and the semi-internal dialogue was starting to draw stares, I gave up the fight.

Without any further inanities, then, I present the Workout Of The Day –

Instant Replay, or…

https://crosssports.wordpress.com/2010/08/05/the-cyclocross-workout-of-the-day-for-friday-8-05-getting-on-up-moderately/

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Hey folks, for some reason the formatting on this post is just F-ing terrible if you read it as part of the home page.

Please click on the header link and read this as a stand-alone page, or click through here –

https://crosssports.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/unclipping-the-left-foot/

To do the same.

Sorry for the hassle. It’s after midnight, and I just don’t have the energy to figure this out right now 🙂

M

I received the following great question about Wednesday’s workout:

“…it’s mostly about your description of shouldering.  You wrote:”

4- Shouldering the bike.

– Start with the basic dismount, as you’ve been working on.

– Back things up a bit, and dismount again, but really focus on the “drift” phase of the dismount, where you are still clipped in with one foot”

“… Does it matter if you’re still clipped in?  When I was taught this move (presuming the dismount is to the left side), I was told to clip out with the left foot first and rest the middle of the foot on the pedal. Then, swing the right leg over and ‘drift’.”

You can see how he executes exactly like above, notice the flick of the left foot just before he drops to the ground and lifts the bike!

Thanks for the question Chris!

M

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Howdy folks,

Well, it’s Thursday, and if you’ve been following this craziness, you probably know that that means we’re running today.

Yay!

It does help to work on this stuff…

Inspired?

Good.  It’ll help, ’cause Today’s Workout is  –

Run. Pause. Get High (Knees, that is…)

– get on your bike and warm up for 15 minutes or so.

(we’re going to warm up for any running efforts we do, all season, with some time on the bike. )

– Mosey on over to your stairs/knoll/whatever, and get set. Stretch, have a sip of water, turn up the volume on your Ipod.

– Jog up the stairs. Walk down.

– Repeat x3

– Sprint! up stairs, fast, using whatever stride is most comfortable. Walk down.

– Repeat x3

Rest for 1 minute, walking slowly up and down stairs.

– Sprint up stairs, this time using quick, tiny strides, 1 stairstep at a time. Jog down.

– Repeat x3

Rest again, same as before.

– Sprint up stairs, this time using long strides, several stairsteps at a time. Walk down.

– Repeat x 3

Rest again.

– Sprint up stairs, combining the previous two exercises; long step, followed by 2 short steps. Do 1x.

Walk down.

– Run up stairs, high knees –

Repeat x3

Rest again, 2-5 minutes.

Sprint up stairs, free form, just go as fast as you can. Go until spent.

– Repeat entire damn thing if you’re a freaking animal.

Get back on bike, spin out your legs, go home.

Notes –

– If you can, go really damn hard. If you do this right, it’s a brutal workout.

– Don’t go that hard if it’s your first (or nearly first) time running this season. In fact, don’t do this workout at all. Do this instead –

https://crosssports.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/the-cyclocross-workout-of-the-day-for-thurs-7-29-is-somebody-chasing-you/

– If you’re super fit, or crazy, do a 20 minute effort on the bike (1/2 a Classic 2×20) immediately before running. Be aware, this is a completely bonkers workout combo if you do it right, and if you do do it right, you should need to take it easy tomorrow. Or you’re really damn fit. One or the other…

G’night,

M

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Howdy folks,

Well, it’s Wednesday again, and that means it’s CycloCross Skills night, so get ready to feel just a little bit less rusty than you did last week!

1 – warm up for 10 minutes.

2 – Stretch out after you’re warm. . Pay special attention to all the muscles used in those movements you make hopping on and off the bike that are different from what you usually do.

3 – Dismount/remount  skills for 15 minutes.

– 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.

We worked on the super basics a couple of weeks ago. Need a refresher? Check out –

https://crosssports.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/cyclocross-workout-of-the-day-for-7-27-10-where-the-have-my-skills-gone/

Do just the most  basic dismount/remount as per above until you have it wired, smooth at all speeds. When you are feeling confident, add some barriers to the session…

– 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. Again, think 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 it smooth.

(If you don’t have barriers, anything will do. Use a log, put a stick on the ground – whatever.)

4- Shouldering the bike.

Start with the basic dismount, as you’ve been working on.

Back things up a bit, and dismount again, but really focus on the “drift” phase of the dismount, where you are still clipped in with one foot, your off-side foot has already swung over the saddle, and you are coasting with your left hand on the bars and your right hand on the top tube.

Concentrate on the moment where your left foot unclips, and you drop to the ground. Try to coast with both feet unclipped, weight transferred onto the bike through your hand on the top tube, and your right ass-cheek against the side of the saddle.

Drop to the ground, literally. No big step, nothing dramatic, just drop to the ground.

– I don’t care if you “cowboy” your dismount, or “step-through” (right foot passes between left leg and frame.) Ideally you will work on both, and be equally competent, but there are riders on the World Cup circuit who never do a step through dismount, so… whatever.

Repeat, trying to coast with your weight on the top tube for a longer and longer period of time.

Got it wired?

Good.

This time, drop to the ground and swing the bike up onto your shoulder using the hand on the top tube (next week, down tube grab shouldering. Don’t worry about it right now.)

– Use both a palm-up and a palm-down grip on the top tube. Figure out which one works best for you.

– as you shoulder the bike, think about how you are going to carry it. There are really only two good options…

1 – & 2 –

It doesn’t really matter which one you choose, they both have their advantages. Just pick one. If you don’t look like one of these two pictures when the bike is on your shoulder… well, you should.

So, the bike is on your shoulder.

Run.

It doesn’t have to be uphill (we’re working on the skill, not the fitness, and you’re doing stairs tomorrow…) but it helps.

Whatever. Just run a few steps.

Place the bike gently on the ground. Don’t drop it, slam it down. Just place it.

Remount.

Repeat the whole cycle until you’re sick of it, then on to…

5 – turning and handling skills for 10-15 minutes.

– work on tight, high speed turns as well as super tight low speed turns. Roll some off camber slopes, and learn to turn on them as well.

– Put two traffic cones about 10 feet apart from each other, and ride a figure eight around them, pedalling the entire time.

Make the turns tighter and tighter until you can’t hold the line and you fall down. Learn where the break point is between riding a tight line and falling on your ass, and push that line until you are definitively over it.

6 – Finish the night with two 5-minute efforts on relatively easy terrain.

– “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 out of the turns.

– Every time you slow down entering a turn, get on the gas on the way out of it, ass out of the saddle, working hard.

– 5 minutes full gas, rest for 5 minutes, then go for 5 again.

Warm down, go home, relax.

G’night,

M

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Howdy folks,

I’m going to be starting up my traditional weekly cyclocross training rides at Woodland Park, starting on Wednesdays and moving to Tuesday when the training sessions at Marymoor start up.

These rides are open to anyone who wants to take part, and are as structured as the group consensus dictates; want to work on something? Ask, and we will.

These workouts will start at 6pm, and usually go until we run out of daylight.

I don’t charge for these, but I ask folks to chip in a few bucks for the hassle of schlepping barriers and cones to the park, gas money, and so that I can replace barriers when we trash them.

I may start this Wednesday (8/11) if there is interest, if not we will for sure start up next week.

In addition to the Cyclocross workout, I am inviting folks out to my Thursday stairs/hill running workout. It appears likely that this will largely be populated by folks from the Jiu-jitsu world, but the workout will be suitable for Cyclocross athletes as well, and anyone who is interested is invited.

I’m going to do this on Thursdays on the stairs/grassy hillside at the Ballard Locks, and I’m open to starting anytime before I need to get to my day job (which starts at 1pm.) Consensus will dictate start time, so if you’re interested drop me a line.

If you’re interested in either or both of these, please send me your contact info via the comments section, on twitter, or email crosssports at gmail dot com.

Thanks,

M

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Well, it’s Tuesday, and if you’ve been playing along with us you probably know what’s on the docket for today.

I warned you that I would make you do this one pretty frequently, so here it is again – The 2×20.

Yup. Hurts sooooo good…

Slight twist this time – today we’re doing The 2×20 Get-up style.

Here’s how it goes…

– Warm up.

– Go as hard as you can for 20 minutes.

– Recover for 2 minutes.

– Go again for another 20 minutes.

That’s the basic version. This is the get-up version, though, so…

Start the first interval out of the saddle, and stand for the first 30 seconds.

After those 30 seconds are up, sit down. Keep the effort going, and consistent. Don’t surge, don’t go harder when you get out of the saddle.

Stay seated for the next 1:30, then stand for 30 seconds.

Repeat to the end of the interval, and follow this format for the successive interval.

The idea here is to go as hard as you can for the duration of both intervals without being forced to go easier at the end of the second interval.  If you run out of gas before you finish the second interval, you went too hard. If your vision isn’t blurry at the end of the second interval, you went too easy.

If you’re doing this with a powermeter, you want your wattage output to be as close to constant as possible. We’re talking 10 watt variance at the most. Keep it steady.

These take practice to do well, and the better you get, the harder they get. This is another workout that works great on the trainer, and that’s how I do ‘em, which is a good thing… because I always wind up flat on my back on the floor trying not to puke after the 2nd interval.

I’m really not kidding about the seeing spots thing. If you can learn to push through your limits when you do these, you will get better and well… you will get better.

Tips:

– I do these on the trainer, with a stopwatch on the bars and an Ipod blaring in my ears. Start the stopwatch at the beginning of the interval, and the format is really easy to follow; you stand up for :30 at the 2:oo, 4:00, 6:00, etc. mark(s). Get it? It’s easy!

– A power meter will help you to keep the level of intensity constant. You want the power output to be as steady as possible with these. If you don’t have a PM, do these on the trainer,  choose a gear ratio and a cadence, and stick to that for the duration of the excercise – instant home made ergometer.

– Have fun!

M

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