The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Thursday, 12.8.16. “Almost spun out for the season”

•December 8, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Hey! Check out the stuff I’m selling, newly updated (again)!

 

Howdy folks,

Whoah, Thursday already!

This weekend is really, truly the last bit of racing up here in the Seattle area, so if you’re one of the local folks reading this – and you’re not headed off to Nationals in a bit – congrats! You’re just about done with another season!

It well and truly is the last weekend of racing, with races on both Saturday and Sunday this week. That’s not a bad way to close out the season, but it’s also a fair bit of racing to nurse your well-depleted resources through this late into December!

So, racing both days this weekend?

Take today off, or do a pretty darn light workout, ideally something that focuses on leg speed.

Something like…

Spin Ups –

– Get on your bike and warm up with a leisurely spin, 10-20 minutes minimum.

– After you’re warm, find a nice, long, flat or slightly downhill section of road with little to no traffic.

– Begin interval by rolling into it at a moderate speed, in a gear that’s smaller than you would typically use to sprint.

– Get out of the saddle and sprint.

– Spin the gear up out of the saddle. When your leg speed gets to the point where it’s hard to maintain, sit down and keep going until you are totally spun-out. We’re talking  fast, can’t turn ‘em over any faster…

Think Road-Runner fast…

wile-e-coyote-chasing-road-runner

The goal here isn’t to make the bike go fast, it’s to make your legs go fast.

There’s a difference, eh?

You should do these in a small enough gear that you want to shift up.

Don’t.

– Repeat 3-5 times, a minute or so recovery between reps.

That’s a set.

Recover for 5 minutes, rolling around at a leisurely pace between sets.

– Go again, same thing.

Recover, then repeat as time and fitness allow.

Shoot for 3-5 sets of  3-5, or keep going until your leg speed drops off.

When you’ve completed all your reps, roll on home at a leisurely, relaxed pace. Ideally, take 1/2 hour or so to do this.

 

 

 

Thanks for following along.

As you’ve probably noticed, there’s been a “begging for money” bit attached to the beginning of this page for a couple of weeks now.

I’d like to thank everyone who has chipped in this season – and the past couple of seasons – when I’ve asked you to. It’s made a difference.

How much of a difference?

Well, let’s put it this way; the small donations from you folks have kept the lights on on this page.

There’s a certain (small) amount of money that has to come out of my pocket to pay for this page, and there’s a certain (larger) amount of money that, as a self-employed person, I need to write off based on the time spent on writing, posting, and – yes – giving training advice away that other people charge for.

So, once again, thanks to those who have contributed.

As much as I hate to say it, though, the contributions this season are way down compared to the last two years, and I don’t know if I can keep this going unless more people contribute.

Yeah. That sucks. I hate to have to write it, but I just looked at my bank balance, and the bills sitting on my desk, and the paying work that I’m putting off while I sit here writing this, and… well… crap.

So, that’s where we’re at.

I don’t know what the future of the CXWOTD looks like. Maybe there’s a paywall, maybe I try to pursue some corporate sponsorship, maybe I just bag the whole thing, maybe I scale things down and post less often… heck, maybe I just decide that I don’t care what the numbers say, and keep going anyways.

I dunno.

Nothing is going to happen in the short term. At minimum, I’m going to play things out through the end of this season before making any decisions.

Just wanted to let ya’all know what was what.

So, hey… if you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this blog, and you’d like to see it continue, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.

How do you do that?

Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.

btn_donateCC_LG

Thanks for the consideration!

 

 

What’s that you say? You’d kinda’ like to have a cycling coach help figure this stuff out for you? Check out…

se

Posted in Cyclocross, speed work, The Workout Of The Day

he Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Wednesday, 12.7.16. “Fast Not Furious”

•December 7, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Hey! Check out the stuff I’m selling, newly updated (again)!

 

 

Howdy folks,

Well, it’s Wednesday, and that means it’s Skills day here on the ‘ole blog.

Did you happen to check out the post from last week?

There’s a bunch on there to wade through, but if you’re wrapping your season up and haven’t read it, give it a shot. Let me know what you think.

There’s a slight chance we’ll be doing some off-season skills building clinics in the Seattle area this year, just to put my money where my mouth is on this stuff. Interested? Drop me a line.

So, about today…

Skills work, but don’t overdo it. Polish what you’ve got, don’t work on anything new.

Keep it fast, keep it light. Don’t push through to a level of deep fatigue. Fast, but not furious…

 

 

Here we go…

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 5 minutes , just ’cause.

– 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? Click here.

4 – Starts.

Just like the beginning of a race. One foot on the ground, dead standstill, get-up-and-go.

Begin with a few medium effort starts, fast but not all-out.

When you start to get the feel for things, hit it hard a couple of times, then back off.

Feeling solid?

Good.

Get  yourself ready to go hard.

– Bang! Six full-gas starts.

– short effort, just go long enough that you are up to full speed, then back down, turn around, go again.

Spin easy for a couple of minutes, then…

– Bang! ~pause~ Bang!

– Six full-gas starts, but each start effort will look like this…

– Full effort start from a dead-stop, foot on ground.

– As soon as you get up to full speed, sit back in saddle, take one deep breath, go again, HARD!

– Ouch.

5 – Recover for a few minutes, then Finish the night with two short 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 2 minutes, then go again for another 5.

– Start each effort with, well… with a start. Like you were working on a couple of minutes ago…

Warm down, go home, relax.

Enjoy!

 

M

 

 

 

Thanks for following along.

As you’ve probably noticed, there’s been a “begging for money” bit attached to the beginning of this page for a couple of weeks now.

I’d like to thank everyone who has chipped in this season – and the past couple of seasons – when I’ve asked you to. It’s made a difference.

How much of a difference?

Well, let’s put it this way; the small donations from you folks have kept the lights on on this page.

There’s a certain (small) amount of money that has to come out of my pocket to pay for this page, and there’s a certain (larger) amount of money that, as a self-employed person, I need to write off based on the time spent on writing, posting, and – yes – giving training advice away that other people charge for.

So, once again, thanks to those who have contributed.

As much as I hate to say it, though, the contributions this season are way down compared to the last two years, and I don’t know if I can keep this going unless more people contribute.

Yeah. That sucks. I hate to have to write it, but I just looked at my bank balance, and the bills sitting on my desk, and the paying work that I’m putting off while I sit here writing this, and… well… crap.

So, that’s where we’re at.

I don’t know what the future of the CXWOTD looks like. Maybe there’s a paywall, maybe I try to pursue some corporate sponsorship, maybe I just bag the whole thing, maybe I scale things down and post less often… heck, maybe I just decide that I don’t care what the numbers say, and keep going anyways.

I dunno.

Nothing is going to happen in the short term. At minimum, I’m going to play things out through the end of this season before making any decisions.

Just wanted to let ya’all know what was what.

So, hey… if you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this blog, and you’d like to see it continue, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.

How do you do that?

Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.

btn_donateCC_LG

Thanks for the consideration!

 

 

What’s that you say? You’d kinda’ like to have a cycling coach help figure this stuff out for you? Check out…

se

Posted in Cyclocross, skills, speed work, The Workout Of The Day

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Tuesday, 12.6.16. “Judicious Application Of Speed”

•December 6, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Hey! Check out the stuff I’m selling, newly updated!

 

Howdy folks,

So, yikes. This is pretty much it, the last week of racing up here in the Seattle area.

If you’re finished after this weekend, here’s what you need to remember: You can’t get any stronger in a week.

Can’t do it.

So don’t try.

If this coming weekend is your last weekend, what you’ve got is what you’ve got.

Can’t build a new knife in a week.

You can make it a tiny bit sharper, though.

How?

Judicious application of speed work.

Speed work like…

Going Downhill Fast – 

 

So, ok… not like that.

Geezus! Not like that, either!

Like this…

Start by warming up well, a bit longer than usual – 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 downhill that’s about a block long that turns into  a flat section of road another block or so in length.

Extra bonus points if you can loop back to the start without having to turn around – that would be perfect.

You’re going to do 3-5 sets of 5 sprints, full gas. Here’s 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.

Sit back down as you get up to full speed, and try to go even faster.

Go until you are spun out.

Spun out means that your legs can’t go any faster, your form goes completely to hell, or you start bobbing up and down on the saddle a lot.

Ideally, a little bit of all of those things.

Remember, we’re working on leg speed today, so really focus on turning your legs over. The goal isn’t to make the bike go fast, the goal is to make your legs go fast.

There’s a difference, eh? Try to keep it in mind, ok?

That’s one rep. You’re doing sets of 5.

Each sprint should take just a few seconds. Recover for 30 seconds to a minute between them, and 5 minutes between sets.

Stop when you hit 5 sets or just aren’t getting the same leg speed you were on the first couple of reps.

When you’re done, spin out your legs 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 you’re going and how strong you are. You’re working on speed here, so don’t 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.

– Important, let me reiterate: stand up out of the saddle when you start to sprint, and gradually sit down as you begin to spin up into your sprint.

– Don’t forget to breathe. Seriously. Too many people hold their breath when they sprint. Don’t be one of them.

 

Still got some time left in the season? Playing with us all the way to Nationals?

No sweat. Some speed work this week will do you good.

Enjoy!

M

 

 

 

 

Thanks for following along.

As you’ve probably noticed, there’s been a “begging for money” bit attached to the beginning of this page for a couple of weeks now.

I’d like to thank everyone who has chipped in this season – and the past couple of seasons – when I’ve asked you to. It’s made a difference.

How much of a difference?

Well, let’s put it this way; the small donations from you folks have kept the lights on on this page.

There’s a certain (small) amount of money that has to come out of my pocket to pay for this page, and there’s a certain (larger) amount of money that, as a self-employed person, I need to write off based on the time spent on writing, posting, and – yes – giving training advice away that other people charge for.

So, once again, thanks to those who have contributed.

As much as I hate to say it, though, the contributions this season are way down compared to the last two years, and I don’t know if I can keep this going unless more people contribute.

Yeah. That sucks. I hate to have to write it, but I just looked at my bank balance, and the bills sitting on my desk, and the paying work that I’m putting off while I sit here writing this, and… well… crap.

So, that’s where we’re at.

I don’t know what the future of the CXWOTD looks like. Maybe there’s a paywall, maybe I try to pursue some corporate sponsorship, maybe I just bag the whole thing, maybe I scale things down and post less often… heck, maybe I just decide that I don’t care what the numbers say, and keep going anyways.

I dunno.

Nothing is going to happen in the short term. At minimum, I’m going to play things out through the end of this season before making any decisions.

Just wanted to let ya’all know what was what.

So, hey… if you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this blog, and you’d like to see it continue, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.

How do you do that?

Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.

btn_donateCC_LG

Thanks for the consideration!

 

 

What’s that you say? You’d kinda’ like to have a cycling coach help figure this stuff out for you? Check out…

se

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, speed work

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Monday, 12.5.16. “Mountains, Mol hills…”

•December 5, 2016 • Leave a Comment

 

 

Hey! Check out the stuff I’m selling, newly updated!

 

 

Howdy folks,

Happy Monday to you!

This past weekend was the Cyclocross World Championships for Masters in Mol, Belgium…

 

 

Site of the Zilvermeer Cross, that the top of the heap riders would contest on Sunday…

 

 

(no youtube vids available of Sunday’s race yet, so that’s from last season.)

I know that at least one of the folks who occasionally check in to the blog was out races, because one of my clients rode (and ran!) to a fantastic fourth place performance! Congrats, Nikki!

Was anyone else out there? Let us know if so!

Up here in Seattle, the racing this week was on Saturday, not on Sunday as is usually the case.

This is a nice change of pace, and if you didn’t race yesterday, I’m going to suggest you grab a wee bit of extra recovery today and take the whole darn day completely off the bike.

If you did race yesterday, or if you rode hard?

Today you’re going for a…

 

Recovery Spin! – 

– Get on your bike. Roll out into the street – or into your living room if you’re on the turbo watching the vid – and just spin around for an hour. Or more. Or less. Whatever it takes.

– 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.

– Just get out on the road and spin easily and aimlessly. At a certain point, your legs will start to loosen up.

– When that happens, turn around and go home.

–  If you’re doing these on the trainer, same deal. Just spin. No hard efforts, just make the legs go around in circles in a small gear.

– Follow up with as much relaxation as you can. Eat, stretch, and put your legs up. Get a massage if possible.

 

Enjoy!

M

 

 

 

Thanks for following along.

As you’ve probably noticed, there’s been a “begging for money” bit attached to the beginning of this page for a couple of weeks now.

I’d like to thank everyone who has chipped in this season – and the past couple of seasons – when I’ve asked you to. It’s made a difference.

How much of a difference?

Well, let’s put it this way; the small donations from you folks have kept the lights on on this page.

There’s a certain (small) amount of money that has to come out of my pocket to pay for this page, and there’s a certain (larger) amount of money that, as a self-employed person, I need to write off based on the time spent on writing, posting, and – yes – giving training advice away that other people charge for.

So, once again, thanks to those who have contributed.

As much as I hate to say it, though, the contributions this season are way down compared to the last two years, and I don’t know if I can keep this going unless more people contribute.

Yeah. That sucks. I hate to have to write it, but I just looked at my bank balance, and the bills sitting on my desk, and the paying work that I’m putting off while I sit here writing this, and… well… crap.

So, that’s where we’re at.

I don’t know what the future of the CXWOTD looks like. Maybe there’s a paywall, maybe I try to pursue some corporate sponsorship, maybe I just bag the whole thing, maybe I scale things down and post less often… heck, maybe I just decide that I don’t care what the numbers say, and keep going anyways.

I dunno.

Nothing is going to happen in the short term. At minimum, I’m going to play things out through the end of this season before making any decisions.

Just wanted to let ya’all know what was what.

So, hey… if you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this blog, and you’d like to see it continue, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.

How do you do that?

Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.

btn_donateCC_LG

Thanks for the consideration!

 

 

What’s that you say? You’d kinda’ like to have a cycling coach help figure this stuff out for you? Check out…

se

Posted in Cyclocross, recovery, The Workout Of The Day

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Sunday, 12.4.16. “Blathering”

•December 4, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Hey! Check out the stuff I’m selling, newly updated!

 

 

Howdy folks,

Hey did you happen to check out yesterday’s post?

Kinda says just about everything I have to say about today.

If you’re racing today, you’re either out at the races or already home. I hope you killed it!

 

 

Raced yesterday?

Easy recovery spin today, or get some miles in if you’re feeling super fit.

Not racing at all this weekend?

Either a day off or super light today, or long miles.

People are all over the damn place right now, so hard to be too targeted with this!

Starting tomorrow, we’ll be talking about the last stretch of the season as we head into Nationals. Stay tuned…

 

M

 

Thanks for following along.

As you’ve probably noticed, there’s been a “begging for money” bit attached to the beginning of this page for a couple of weeks now.

I’d like to thank everyone who has chipped in this season – and the past couple of seasons – when I’ve asked you to. It’s made a difference.

How much of a difference?

Well, let’s put it this way; the small donations from you folks have kept the lights on on this page.

There’s a certain (small) amount of money that has to come out of my pocket to pay for this page, and there’s a certain (larger) amount of money that, as a self-employed person, I need to write off based on the time spent on writing, posting, and – yes – giving training advice away that other people charge for.

So, once again, thanks to those who have contributed.

As much as I hate to say it, though, the contributions this season are way down compared to the last two years, and I don’t know if I can keep this going unless more people contribute.

Yeah. That sucks. I hate to have to write it, but I just looked at my bank balance, and the bills sitting on my desk, and the paying work that I’m putting off while I sit here writing this, and… well… crap.

So, that’s where we’re at.

I don’t know what the future of the CXWOTD looks like. Maybe there’s a paywall, maybe I try to pursue some corporate sponsorship, maybe I just bag the whole thing, maybe I scale things down and post less often… heck, maybe I just decide that I don’t care what the numbers say, and keep going anyways.

I dunno.

Nothing is going to happen in the short term. At minimum, I’m going to play things out through the end of this season before making any decisions.

Just wanted to let ya’all know what was what.

So, hey… if you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this blog, and you’d like to see it continue, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.

How do you do that?

Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.

btn_donateCC_LG

Thanks for the consideration!

Posted in Blather, Cyclocross, The Workout Of The Day, Uncategorized

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Saturday, 12.3.16. “Dead Rock Walking”

•December 3, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Hey! Check out the stuff I’m selling, newly updated!

 

Howdy folks,

Thanks to all the people that checked out the stuff for sale page. More stuff on there today, will keep adding to the list. Don’t be afraid to lowball me on this stuff, ok? Need to make it go away…

 

For the people that are still racing, most/many of them are racing today.

If that’s you, have fun, and remember to warm up smart, especially if you’re doing the double this weekend.

What do I mean by that?

This time of year, it can be really darn easy to overdo things, to drive yourself so hard that you wind up in a hole that you can’t get out of before the end of the season.

When I see people spending an hour-plus on the trainer before a late-season cross race, and I know that they’ve done course preview as well, I generally know that I’m looking at a dead man walking.

 

 

Unless you’re doing very little else besides racing and training – no job, no school, no kids – there’s simply a limit to the workload you can put in and still recover from. For most people, two one hour races in a weekend, complete with all the course previewing, running around, driving time, gear wrangling, and a couple of short warm-ups and cool downs is pushing that limit.

I see plenty of people leaving their best legs on the trainer before the race.

If you find yourself losing ground in the latter stages of the race, fading in a way that isn’t reflective of your overall fitness?

Maybe you’re one of them.

Tone down that warm-up.

Do just  enough.

For most people, it’s probably better to come into a race a little cold than it is to overdo it in the warm up and course preview.

Heck, I’ll admit it; at this stage of my old-guy racing career, I pretty much don’t do any structured warm-ups. I crank out as many preview laps of the course as I can, maybe do a couple of start efforts, then head back to the car, pin up, pound down a can of coke, and get my ass to the line.

Pushing 50, with a bad back, I’m lucky if I’ve got a full hour of hard efforts in me before things go sideways. Can’t afford to spend any more of those minutes on warming up than absolutely necessary.

I know I’m not alone in this.

So, think about your warm up a bit this weekend, ok?

If you are going to warm up on the trainer, try something like the…

The RSWO – 

 

 

Hey, if you’re racing tomorrow, this makes a great opener as well!

– Get on trainer. Spin for about 5 minutes.

– 2-3 minutes at your 20 minute output level

– 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 you’ve 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, for 30 seconds.

 – Back to big/big combo.

– Spin for two minutes.

Repeat The entire sequence, minus the 2nd “20 minute level” effort.

Go forth and conquer your race.

Not racing this weekend? Still got races upcoming?

Cool.

Go long, or take the day off/easy. One or the other.

 

Enjoy!

M

 

Thanks for following along.

As you’ve probably noticed, there’s been a “begging for money” bit attached to the beginning of this page for a couple of weeks now.

I’d like to thank everyone who has chipped in this season – and the past couple of seasons – when I’ve asked you to. It’s made a difference.

How much of a difference?

Well, let’s put it this way; the small donations from you folks have kept the lights on on this page.

There’s a certain (small) amount of money that has to come out of my pocket to pay for this page, and there’s a certain (larger) amount of money that, as a self-employed person, I need to write off based on the time spent on writing, posting, and – yes – giving training advice away that other people charge for.

So, once again, thanks to those who have contributed.

As much as I hate to say it, though, the contributions this season are way down compared to the last two years, and I don’t know if I can keep this going unless more people contribute.

Yeah. That sucks. I hate to have to write it, but I just looked at my bank balance, and the bills sitting on my desk, and the paying work that I’m putting off while I sit here writing this, and… well… crap.

So, that’s where we’re at.

I don’t know what the future of the CXWOTD looks like. Maybe there’s a paywall, maybe I try to pursue some corporate sponsorship, maybe I just bag the whole thing, maybe I scale things down and post less often… heck, maybe I just decide that I don’t care what the numbers say, and keep going anyways.

I dunno.

Nothing is going to happen in the short term. At minimum, I’m going to play things out through the end of this season before making any decisions.

Just wanted to let ya’all know what was what.

So, hey… if you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this blog, and you’d like to see it continue, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.

How do you do that?

Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.

btn_donateCC_LG

Thanks for the consideration!

 

 

What’s that you say? You’d kinda’ like to have a cycling coach help figure this stuff out for you? Check out…

se

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, openers, Race Day, The Workout Of The Day

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Friday, 12.2.16. “Wait, what? It’s Friday already? How the hell did that happen? Wait, it’s almost 1:00 on Friday?!?! Where the hell did my morning go?!?! I have completely lost track of time and date, here. Geezus.”

•December 2, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks,

Before we get started, big time congratulations to CrossSports training client Nikki Weiss on her fantastic ride at the Master’s World Championship in Mol, finishing fourth from last row on the grid. Woo-hoo!

 

Hey! Check out the stuff I’m selling, newly updated!

 

Holy cow, it’s Friday already! Seems like most folks are racing tomorrow, so openers of some sort are on the docket for today. How about…

 

Ignition!

 

You’re going to do a series of short, hard sprints midway through a 1 – 1 1/2 hour ride. Before you head out the door, give some thought to where you can do that effectively.

A flat, straight, low-traffic section of road is what you’re looking for.

It would be great if it’s about a :45 minute ride away; that would make things nice and simple.

Hop on your bike and roll out the door.

Ride steady, at a moderate pace for 1/2 hour – 45 minutes, eventually winding up at the aforementioned stretch of road.

You’re now going to do a series of Hard out of the saddle sprints.

How hard?

Well, hard to say. You’ll start to get the hang of it pretty quickly, but figure that you’re shooting for an output level that will allow you to crank out all the sprints in the set at about the same level, but not easily.

You aren’t sprinting to failure here, and you aren’t doing a max power test.

Don’t overdo it, you’re trying to open your legs, not destroy them.

Make sense?

10 sprints, 10 seconds each.

1 minute between each sprint.

After the last sprint, roll back home spinning easily to recover.

Budget at least 15 – 20 minutes for the spin/ride back home.

when you get home, put your feet up and relax.

For some folks, this isn’t quite enough to get their legs open and ready the day before the race – or at least it doesn’t feel like it’s enough – and the importance of “feeling” ready can’t really be overestimated.

If you’re part of this club (I am) add a 10-minute effort at right about your 2×20 output level before you start the sprint sets.

Warm up, 10 minute effort, 5 minutes spinning, sprint efforts, spin down, go home.

Not racing tomorrow?

Okey doke.

Just for you, a wee bit of work on your leg speed…

Spin Ups –

 

– Get on your bike and warm up with a leisurely spin, 10-20 minutes minimum.

– After you’re warm, find a nice, long, flat or slightly downhill section of road with little to no traffic.

– Begin interval by rolling into it at a moderate speed, in a gear that’s smaller than you would typically use to sprint.

– Get out of the saddle and sprint.

– Spin the gear up out of the saddle. When your leg speed gets to the point where it’s hard to maintain, sit down and keep going until you are totally spun-out. We’re talking  fast, can’t turn ‘em over any faster…

Think Road-Runner fast…

 The goal here isn’t to make the bike go fast, it’s to make your legs go fast.

There’s a difference, eh?

You should do these in a small enough gear that you want to shift up.

Don’t.

– Repeat 3-5 times, a minute or so recovery between reps.

That’s a set.

Recover for 5 minutes, rolling around at a leisurely pace between sets.

– Go again, same thing.

Recover, then repeat as time and fitness allow.

Shoot for 3-5 sets of  3-5, or keep going until your leg speed drops off.

When you’ve completed all your reps, roll on home at a leisurely, relaxed pace. Ideally, take 1/2 hour or so to do this.

Enjoy!

M

 

 

Thanks for following along.

As you’ve probably noticed, there’s been a “begging for money” bit attached to the beginning of this page for a couple of weeks now.

I’d like to thank everyone who has chipped in this season – and the past couple of seasons – when I’ve asked you to. It’s made a difference.

How much of a difference?

Well, let’s put it this way; the small donations from you folks have kept the lights on on this page.

There’s a certain (small) amount of money that has to come out of my pocket to pay for this page, and there’s a certain (larger) amount of money that, as a self-employed person, I need to write off based on the time spent on writing, posting, and – yes – giving training advice away that other people charge for.

So, once again, thanks to those who have contributed.

As much as I hate to say it, though, the contributions this season are way down compared to the last two years, and I don’t know if I can keep this going unless more people contribute.

Yeah. That sucks. I hate to have to write it, but I just looked at my bank balance, and the bills sitting on my desk, and the paying work that I’m putting off while I sit here writing this, and… well… crap.

So, that’s where we’re at.

I don’t know what the future of the CXWOTD looks like. Maybe there’s a paywall, maybe I try to pursue some corporate sponsorship, maybe I just bag the whole thing, maybe I scale things down and post less often… heck, maybe I just decide that I don’t care what the numbers say, and keep going anyways.

I dunno.

Nothing is going to happen in the short term. At minimum, I’m going to play things out through the end of this season before making any decisions.

Just wanted to let ya’all know what was what.

So, hey… if you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this blog, and you’d like to see it continue, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.

How do you do that?

Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.

btn_donateCC_LG

Thanks for the consideration!

 

 

What’s that you say? You’d kinda’ like to have a cycling coach help figure this stuff out for you? Check out…

se

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, openers, speed work, The Workout Of The Day

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Thursday, 12.1.16. “Rolling into December”

•December 1, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks,

Hey! Check out the stuff I’m selling, newly updated!

Did you happen to check out yesterday’s post? Lots of cool videos, if nothing else!

While I’m plugging stuff, I also wrote this thing on CX tire patterns for the folks at Source Endurance. Check it out.

Enough log rolling…

…how about a workout?

 

Big thing today? Don’t overdo it. We’re at that point in the season where things are either almost over for you, or you’re trying hard to keep plugging away, so that you can make it all the way to January. If you’re in the former class, there simply isn’t much you can do to bump up your fitness at this late date, but there are plenty of ways you can submarine yourself by pulling the dirt down with you in that hole you’ve been digging all season.

Latter case? Kinda the same thing. You do need to keep working, but recovery is the priority, especially on race weekends.

Small secret? Most of the riders I coach that are going all the way to Nationals are skipping race weekends right about now to get some long training miles in. They’re trying to be better at nationals then they are right now, and they aren’t going to get that way by doing the same thing this weekend as they’ve done every other weekend of the season.

Something to think about.

So, today?

Go for a…

One to Two Hour Moderate Ride –

Get on your bike.

Go ride for an hour or two.

No hard efforts, but do throw in a couple of moderate ones. By moderate, I mean just that. You can sprint for the town line, but you should be laughing while you do it.

You’re not doing a recovery spin, so you need to put a little bit of gas into the pedals… just don’t go out and kill yourself.

Check out the view, smell the flowers, just do it while you’re putting a little bit of effort into the pedals.

1 notch above a recovery ride.

Make sense?

Have fun!

M

 

 

Thanks for following along.

As you’ve probably noticed, there’s been a “begging for money” bit attached to the beginning of this page for a couple of weeks now.

I’d like to thank everyone who has chipped in this season – and the past couple of seasons – when I’ve asked you to. It’s made a difference.

How much of a difference?

Well, let’s put it this way; the small donations from you folks have kept the lights on on this page.

There’s a certain (small) amount of money that has to come out of my pocket to pay for this page, and there’s a certain (larger) amount of money that, as a self-employed person, I need to write off based on the time spent on writing, posting, and – yes – giving training advice away that other people charge for.

So, once again, thanks to those who have contributed.

As much as I hate to say it, though, the contributions this season are way down compared to the last two years, and I don’t know if I can keep this going unless more people contribute.

Yeah. That sucks. I hate to have to write it, but I just looked at my bank balance, and the bills sitting on my desk, and the paying work that I’m putting off while I sit here writing this, and… well… crap.

So, that’s where we’re at.

I don’t know what the future of the CXWOTD looks like. Maybe there’s a paywall, maybe I try to pursue some corporate sponsorship, maybe I just bag the whole thing, maybe I scale things down and post less often… heck, maybe I just decide that I don’t care what the numbers say, and keep going anyways.

I dunno.

Nothing is going to happen in the short term. At minimum, I’m going to play things out through the end of this season before making any decisions.

Just wanted to let ya’all know what was what.

So, hey… if you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this blog, and you’d like to see it continue, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.

How do you do that?

Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.

btn_donateCC_LG

Thanks for the consideration!

 

 

What’s that you say? You’d kinda’ like to have a cycling coach help figure this stuff out for you? Check out…

se

Posted in Blather, Cyclocross, The Workout Of The Day

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Wednesday, 11.30.16. “Fer chrissakes, hop that s**t, Wout!”

•November 30, 2016 • Leave a Comment

 

Howdy folks,

Hey! Check out the stuff I’m selling, newly updated!

You might have seen the post I wrote on Monday in which I linked to this vid of the Flandriencross…

 

 

 

…and wrote:

Hold on to your hat, Wout actually hops the barriers!

Did I mention that Wout hopped the barriers?

Thank god.

Frankly, this is one of the things he really needs to add to his skill set.

Stay tuned, we’re going to talk about this on Wednesday.

 

Well, it’s Wednesday, and we’re going to talk about it.

So, Wout. Barrier hopping, or lack thereof.

First, let’s get this out of the way; Wout is f***ing awesome.

 

 

Seriously, he’s amazing. Watching him ride away from the field at CXVegas after his fall was even more impressive in person. Some might even say “extraterrestrial.”

He ain’t perfect, though.

He lost a race this season because he was forced to run a barrier section that Michael Vanthournout could ride…

 

 

…and it’s one of his major disadvantages in straight-up competition with VdP, the only person who has proven to be consistently capable of beating him over the last couple of seasons.

 

 

 

So, why am I talking about this today?

Well, it’s Wednesday, and that’s Skills Day around these parts. Today we’re talking about the skill of hopping the barriers.

Let’s not beat around the bush. World Cup-level CX has changed. We’re no longer living in the days when Sven was the only one capable of hopping the planks. With where the sport is now, if you can’t get over a standard double on your bike, you’re at a disadvantage.

If you are a Junior rider, or the parent of a Junior rider, or you coach Junior riders, you damn well should be adding this skill to your repertoire.

If you’re in your 20’s, or early 30’s?

You damn well should be adding this skill to your repertoire.

If you’re older than that?

Well, what’s that they say about old dogs and new tricks?

Yeah.

Probably going to be an uphill battle. Still worth a try, but don’t kill yourself trying this stuff, ok?

Hey! Women aren’t excluded here!

 

superprestige-2014-diegem-women-race-e

 

Pauline Ferrand- Prevot has some damn good hops, and used them to great advantage as far back as her podium performance at Diegem in ’14.

So, ok. Hops-r-good, and all the smart kids should be working on them (more on this later) but…

Is there a larger point here?

I think there is.

You can be the World-freaking-Champion, one of the two best  CX riders on the planet, and still have obvious weak points and deficiencies in your technical game.

The fact that we’re suddenly seeing Wout display some hops probably isn’t a coincidence. Dollars to doughnuts he’s working on this weakness, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him rolling over full-height barriers with the rest of the front group next season. If he isn’t, you can bet it isn’t because he didn’t try to work on the skill in the off-season.

Ah-hah!

The offseason!

That time when most people lock their Cross bikes in the basement, and don’t even think about them until the early summer!

Want a tip?

Don’t do that.

Ride yer damn CX bike a couple of days a week in the off-season. Use that time to work on something that you aren’t good at.

Maybe something like your hops…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s that you say? You’re looking for something to do today?

How about…

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 5 minutes , just ’cause.

– 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? Click here.

4 – Starts.

Just like the beginning of a race. One foot on the ground, dead standstill, get-up-and-go.

Begin with a few medium effort starts, working on all the things we talked about above.

Remember…

– Start with your pedals at 3&9 o’clock, not 12 and six.

– Alternate butt-on-saddle and off

– Alternate hands in drops with hands on hoods.

When you start to get the feel for things, hit it hard a couple of times, then back off.

2 sets of all the variations above at a medium to slow pace.

Feeling solid, skills-wise?

Nice.

Get  yourself ready to go hard.

– Bang! Six full-gas starts.

– short effort, just go long enough that you are up to full speed, then back down, turn around, go again.

Spin easy for a couple of minutes, then…

– Bang! ~pause~ Bang!

– Six full-gas starts, but each start effort will look like this…

– Full effort start from a dead-stop, foot on ground.

– As soon as you get up to full speed, sit back in saddle, take one deep breath, go again, HARD!

– Ouch.

5 – Recover for a few minutes, then Finish the night with two short 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 2 minutes, then go again for another 5.

– Start each effort with, well… with a start. Like you were working on a couple of minutes ago…

Warm down, go home, relax.

Enjoy!

M

 

 

Thanks for following along.

As you’ve probably noticed, there’s been a “begging for money” bit attached to the beginning of this page for a couple of weeks now.

I’d like to thank everyone who has chipped in this season – and the past couple of seasons – when I’ve asked you to. It’s made a difference.

How much of a difference?

Well, let’s put it this way; the small donations from you folks have kept the lights on on this page.

There’s a certain (small) amount of money that has to come out of my pocket to pay for this page, and there’s a certain (larger) amount of money that, as a self-employed person, I need to write off based on the time spent on writing, posting, and – yes – giving training advice away that other people charge for.

So, once again, thanks to those who have contributed.

As much as I hate to say it, though, the contributions this season are way down compared to the last two years, and I don’t know if I can keep this going unless more people contribute.

Yeah. That sucks. I hate to have to write it, but I just looked at my bank balance, and the bills sitting on my desk, and the paying work that I’m putting off while I sit here writing this, and… well… crap.

So, that’s where we’re at.

I don’t know what the future of the CXWOTD looks like. Maybe there’s a paywall, maybe I try to pursue some corporate sponsorship, maybe I just bag the whole thing, maybe I scale things down and post less often… heck, maybe I just decide that I don’t care what the numbers say, and keep going anyways.

I dunno.

Nothing is going to happen in the short term. At minimum, I’m going to play things out through the end of this season before making any decisions.

Just wanted to let ya’all know what was what.

So, hey… if you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this blog, and you’d like to see it continue, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.

How do you do that?

Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.

btn_donateCC_LG

Thanks for the consideration!

 

 

What’s that you say? You’d kinda’ like to have a cycling coach help figure this stuff out for you? Check out…

se

 

Posted in Blather, Cyclocross, skills, speed work, The Workout Of The Day
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Tuesday, 11.29.16. “Still flying?”

•November 29, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks,

Hey! Check out the stuff I’m selling…

 

Guess what? If you’re local to me up in the Seattle area, and you’re still racing, playing out the string through the State Championship?

 

 

14517394_10209246521292784_4345074813110123503_n

 

You should take the day off.

If you’re local to me, not doing the championship race, but racing the double this weekend?

You should take the day off.

If you’re not local to me, but you’re getting near the end of things, or you’re starting to run on fumes?

You should take the day off.

Not any of those things? Still killin’ it, and flying into the back end of the season?

Well then, it’s…

 

Two By Twenty Tuesday! 

As we’ve talked about in previous posts, at it’s most basic the 2×20 looks like this:

– Warm up.

– Go as hard as you can for 20 minutes.

– Recover for 5 minutes.

– Go again for another 20 minutes.

The idea 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.

It’s all about doing two intervals.

Two intervals at as close to the same level of consistent, steady power output as you can manage.

If you’re doing this with a power meter, you want your wattage output to be as constant and unvaried as possible.

For both intervals.

Both.

How steady?

Can you keep it in a 10 watt range?

Probably not.

15 watts?

More likely

20 watts?

Try.

Keep it steady.

If you run out of gas before you finish the second interval, then you went too hard.

If your vision isn’t blurry at the end of the second interval, you went too easy. But guess what?
It’s way better to go too easy and finish both intervals than it is to go too hard and crater part way through the second 20.

That’s the basic version (and if you’re new to all this, it’s probably the version you should do.) Today, though?

Today we’re doing the get-up version, so…

Start your 20-minute 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 keep your level of output consistent.

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 next 20 minute interval.

Remember, 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’re doing this with a power meter, you want your wattage output to be as close to constant as possible, and the out of the saddle time we’re throwing in makes this even more challenging.

Keep it steady.

These take practice to do well, and the better you get, the harder they get, as your output level gets closer and closer to the absolute max you’re capable of doing for an interval of this duration.

Add in the constant standing and sitting component, and you’re going to know you did some work when you’re through.

I know I’m repeating myself, but do try to avoid the temptation to up the output level when you get out of the saddle, OK?

That’s an entirely different workout, and we’ll get there soon enough, I promise.

One of the things we’re learning with this workout is how to calibrate our out of the saddle efforts. We’re getting a better handle on what we’re actually doing when we stand up on the bike.

You need to know – really know – when you’re going harder and when you’re not.

What most people find when doing this workout is that every time they get out of the saddle their power output takes a big jump.

Which isn’t a huge surprise, because we largely train our bodies to correlate out of the saddle with “go time.”

The thing is, though?

Cyclocross ain’t road racing.

A lot of the time you’re getting out of the saddle not to accelerate, but due to a bike handling challenge.

Heck, in Cross if you get out of the saddle in a super sketchy tech section and really put the power down, pretty often that’s going to result in rear wheel slip and lack of traction, with the expected bad results.

Here’s a little secret:
One of the keys to good bike handling is having a really good understanding of how much power you’re producing, and the effect that has on your traction.

Step one to developing that understanding is getting a real feel for how your power output can change when you get out of the saddle.

Nothing will give you a better feel for that than this workout.

Make sense?

Especially since we’re trying to work on perception, not just output, this is a workout that works great on the trainer, and that’s how you should do ’em, if you can stand it. If not, really try to find the most vacant, flat, soulless terrain possible. The fewer the distractions the 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 exercise – instant home made ergometer.

Enjoy!

M

 

 

Thanks for following along.

As you’ve probably noticed, there’s been a “begging for money” bit attached to the beginning of this page for a couple of weeks now.

I’d like to thank everyone who has chipped in this season – and the past couple of seasons – when I’ve asked you to. It’s made a difference.

How much of a difference?

Well, let’s put it this way; the small donations from you folks have kept the lights on on this page.

There’s a certain (small) amount of money that has to come out of my pocket to pay for this page, and there’s a certain (larger) amount of money that, as a self-employed person, I need to write off based on the time spent on writing, posting, and – yes – giving training advice away that other people charge for.

So, once again, thanks to those who have contributed.

As much as I hate to say it, though, the contributions this season are way down compared to the last two years, and I don’t know if I can keep this going unless more people contribute.

Yeah. That sucks. I hate to have to write it, but I just looked at my bank balance, and the bills sitting on my desk, and the paying work that I’m putting off while I sit here writing this, and… well… crap.

So, that’s where we’re at.

I don’t know what the future of the CXWOTD looks like. Maybe there’s a paywall, maybe I try to pursue some corporate sponsorship, maybe I just bag the whole thing, maybe I scale things down and post less often… heck, maybe I just decide that I don’t care what the numbers say, and keep going anyways.

I dunno.

Nothing is going to happen in the short term. At minimum, I’m going to play things out through the end of this season before making any decisions.

Just wanted to let ya’all know what was what.

So, hey… if you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this blog, and you’d like to see it continue, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.

How do you do that?

Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.

btn_donateCC_LG

Thanks for the consideration!

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, recovery, The Workout Of The Day
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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