Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty darn tired.
Check that; I do know about a fair number of you – I’ve seen you out at the races – and whether you admit it or not, some of ya’all are starting to look a bit ragged.
If you had a rough day at the races last week, and you’re feeling pretty spent today?
Maybe think about taking today off, or at most going for a short, easy spin.
Seriously.
Rest is important, folks.
As I said to a new client last night, “I think the only big thing we’re going to change in your training is more rest.”
Rest and recovery.
They’re important.
They’re at least important as what you do when you’re on the bike, but it’s hard for most people to reconcile “doing nothing” with “doing something proactive to get better.”
I’m here to tell ‘ya, folks; sometimes doing nothing is doing the best thing.
Give some thought to it, ok?
******
What’s that you say?
You don’t need no stinkin’ rest today?
Okey-dokey, today you get…
Spin Ups –
Get on your bike and warm your legs up, 10-20 minutes.
After you’re warm, find a nice, long, flat or slightly downhill section of road with little or no traffic.
Begin each 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.
Not a power sprint, though. The idea here is to move your legs quickly, not to make the bike go fast.
Still out of the saddle, spin that gear up until…
…your leg speed gets to the point where it’s hard to maintain.
Sit down and keep it going until you are totally spun-out.
We’re talking fast legs.Can’t turn ‘em over any faster fast.
Think Road-Runner fast…
Yeah, ok… that vid doesn’t really illustrate the point at all. I just love the song.
More like this –
– Repeat x3-5
Recover for 5 minutes, rolling around at a leisurely pace.
– Go again, same thing.
Recover, then repeat as time and fitness allow.
Shoot for 3-5 sets of 3-5, or go until your cadence and/or wattage output drop precipitously.
Recover on the bike for another 10-20 minutes, then go home, put your legs up & relax.
I hope you enjoyed your intervals yesterday! Those damn things never get any easier, do they?
The better you get, the harder you can go, the faster you can do ’em, but the pain?
It remains constant.
Maybe learn to like it?
Anyways, onwards!
It’s Wednesday, and as we usually do, today we’re talking about the skills part of the CX game.
If you’ve been at one of my clinics recently, you know that I’ve been talking a fair bit about Moto GP racing as a source of inspiration and knowledge in RE: bike handling on the Cross bike.
Stuff like this –
Can offer a ton of insight into what is possible when a mere mortal like you or I is driving a bike, even if it’s a puny 1-human power CX rig.
No, you can’t ever do everything these guys do.
64 degree lean angles? Yikes!
On a bike, you simply don’t have the horsepower and the down force that these bikes have, but the basic physics of the bike remain more or less the same –
But there’s more to it than just bike handling.
Want to work on your starts?
Check this out –
Overtaking?
Bam!
If you watch a whole race, I defy you to not come away with little bits and pieces that will help your racing!
So, homework.
Watch these guys – the best bike handlers in the world – and learn from them.
You won’t regret it.
***********
Today’s workout?
Skills Day! (of course)
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 (We’ve talked about stretching on here in the past, check out the search function if you want/need some more info.)
3 – Dismount/remount skills for 5-10-15 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.
Do just the most basic dismount/remount as per above until you have it down cold, smooth as silk.
When you’re perfect (hah!) throw some barriers into the mix.
4 – Figure eight drill.
Set up 2 cones or 2 rocks or two… somethings. Doesn’t much matter what it is.
Ride in a figure eight pattern around the cones…
– first pedaling the entire time.
No coasting.
Pedal all the way around the figure 8, including the turns.
Practice using the brakes while still pedaling. This is one of those secret techniques that – once you figure it out – makes a huge difference. When you stop pedaling you lose traction, so don’t stop pedaling!
Experiment with this, it’s a game-changer.
Mind blown?
Cool.
– Same drill, not pedaling through the turns.
– Same drill, alternate styles.
Now move the figure 8 to the side of a slight hill.
One cone up hill, one down, about 5-8 meters apart and staggered, IE: not directly below each other on the slope.
– Same drill(s) as before. Go.
Good?
Next, pilot around those corners – uphill and downhill – with the inside foot out.
Having trouble making the turn at the top of the figure 8? Put your foot down and push off with it to make the turn.
Don’t be afraid to use the foot that’s unclipped to push off or “paddle” around a turn, or to keep yourself driving forward on an off-camber section.
This can be another game changer, so work on it, eh?
– Alternate both of these styles around the figure-eight.
Experiment.
Try different speeds, different lines, different angles.
See when/how/why each style works, and figure out how they can work for you.
6 – Recover for a few minutes, then Finish the night with two interval efforts on relatively easy terrain, but make sure to include the figure – 8 in it.
– “Easy” as in a loop on grass with some tight-ish turns on it, or some pretty buffed double-track.
– Go hard, and work on accelerations, and your exits from turns & technical features.
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.
– 6-8 minutes full gas, rest for 2 minutes, then go again.
Spin down for a few minutes, then head home and finish up your day.
I hope you’re feeling well rested and recovered after your easy day yesterday.
If you aren’t? If you’re still pooped?
You probably shouldn’t do today’s workout.
Heck, it might not be a good idea to do any workout today.
When was the last time you took a day off?
Had to think about that for a second?
Yeah.
Maybe take today off, ok?
Not pooped?
Will be soon, because – yup – it’s…
2×20 Tuesday!
Get-up style, just ’cause I luvs’ ya…
Here’s how this 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 (and if you’re new to all this, it’s probably the version you should do. In fact, you should do this workout today, instead of what you’re currently reading.) This here is the get-up version, though, so…
Start the first interval out of the saddle, and stand for the first 30 seconds.
Don’t surge, don’t go harder when you get out of the saddle.
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 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, 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.
This is a 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 exercise – instant home made ergometer.
– No reason you can’t do these normal-style. Honestly, for many/most of you, that might be a better bet.
First of all, big thanks to everyone who came out to the Skills Clinic yesterday, and to the fine folks at Nemesis Racing who hosted it. Everybody made some solid progress on their skills, and given how fast some of the folk were coming in, that’s no small thing!
It’s Sunday, and you’re probably racing, so how about a warm up exercise today?
In particular, how about…
The R.S.W.O. – The Rock Stupid Warm-up and Opener –
First, get everything you need to do before the race done. Sign up, course preview, etc., etc. More questions you probably didn’t even have on the topic of race day routine answered here –
A quick reminder; I will be leading a Cyclocross Skills Clinic today, 1pm at St Edward Park just to the North East of Seattle, WA.
Big thanks and a shout-out to the fine folks at Nemesis Racing who are hosting the event!
.
We’ll be flogging our skills out on the grassy fields behind the large brick building in the center of the park, and we’ll be doing it for at least two hours.
It’s only $10, so please come on out, I hope to see you there!
If you aren’t local to Seattle, or you aren’t able to make it out, we’ve still got you covered.
The assumption today is that you’re racing tomorrow, and if that’s the case, get ready for…
Ignition –
You’re going to do a series of short, hard sprints midway through a 1 1/2 hour ride, so before you head out on your ride, give some thought to where you can do these effectively.
A flat, straight, low-traffic section of road is what you’re looking for.
Even better if it’s about a :45 minute ride away; that will 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, relax and get ready for the next day’s race.
What’s that you say?
You feel like you need a little bit more work than this to fully open your legs the day before a race?
Add in a single ten-minute effort at your 2×20 level of output just before your sprint efforts.
Warm up, do the 10 minute effort, recover for a minute or two, jump right into the 10-second intervals.
A quick reminder; I will be leading a Cyclocross Skills Clinic tomorrow, Saturday September 27th, 1pm at St Edward Park just to the North East of Seattle, WA.
Big thanks and a shout-out to the fine folks at Nemesis Racing who are hosting the event!
We’ll be flogging our skills out on the grassy fields behind the large brick building in the center of the park, and we’ll be doing it for at least two hours.
It’s only $10, so please come on out, I hope to see you there!
We went easy on Friday last week, we’re going hard today.
We’re trying it both ways and keeping track of the results.
Remember, this is a bit of an experiment.
For most folks, the default for a race weekend should be a pretty easy day two days before the event, but ‘ya gotta try it both ways and see what works for you.
If you do the following workout and bomb your race on Saturday, at least you’ll have learned something.
That’s a victory in and of itself.
So, with that in mind, today we’re doing…
The 3×10 with Happy Ending…
– Warm up.
– Go as hard as you can for 10 minutes.
– Recover for 2 minutes.
– Go again for another 10 minutes.
– Recover for 2 minutes.
– Go again for another 10 minutes.
That’s the basic version. Success on this is, however, all in the details.
The idea here is to go as hard as you can for the duration of all 3 intervals without being forced to go easier at the end of the subsequent interval(s).
If you run out of gas before you finish the second or third interval, you went too hard.
If your vision isn’t blurry at the end of the last 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 a workout that works great on the trainer, and that’s how I do ‘em.
But hey… that’s not all.
This is the Happy Ending version.
What does that mean?
After the third ten-minute interval,
-spin for 1 minute.
sprint for ten seconds, starting at the one minute mark on your watch.
-spin until you hit the 2 minute mark on your watch
sprint for ten seconds
-spin until you hit the 3 minute mark on your watch
sprint for ten seconds
Etc., etc., continuing until you hit the five minute mark (ten minute, if you’re really motivated, or a bit of an animal), and give the last little bit of your energy in one final 10 second sprint.
First of all, thanks to everyone who came out to the first night of the Marymoor Cyclocross Training Series! That was a good time, can’t wait to do it again next week.
If you enjoyed what we did in the clinic session last night, and you’d like to do some more of it, and a bit more intensively, please come on out to the clinic I’m leading for the Nemesis Racing folks this Saturday, 1pm at St Edwards Park just East of Seattle. It’s only 10 bucks, such a deal!
Hope to see you there, and now on with our regularly scheduled workout…
Today, we’re hitting it pretty hard and doing some…
Short Hill Repeats…
You want to do these on a climb that has you right on the edge of being over-geared.
There are a couple of ways to do this…
– big-ringable, but just at the edge of being a small ring climb.
– small ring, but steep or with variable terrain, or both.
Each effort should take 5 second or so, which tells you how long the climb needs to be, eh?
Warm up for approx. 1/2 hour, then roll on up to the base of the climb you have selected.
Begin your intervals with an out of the saddle, full race-pace ATTACK into the climb.
You’re looking to blast up the climb, full gas the whole way.
It’s perfectly OK to sit down 1/2 -3/4 of way through the effort – especially if you need to do so to maintain traction – but don’t let the intensity drop.
Try to maintain your intensity for the duration of interval, got it?
You’re going to recover for 30 seconds between each rep, and then 2-5 minutes between sets.
5 reps. per set.
Minimum of 5 sets.
If you can do more than that, great… but make sure you’re maintaining the level of output you had on your first set.
If you have a power meter, you’re done when the wattage you can maintain throughout the set drops off the edge of the table.
That’ll be pretty obvious when it happens, trust me.
Well, it’s finally time for the Wednesday Night Worlds of Cyclocross to start up!
Yup, the Marymoor Cyclocross clinics begin tonight, and this year they’re once again brought to you by the fine folks at Cyclocrossracing.com.
Looking for Cyclocross gear? Check ‘em out!
We go wheels up at 6:30, but it’s probably worth heading over a bit early to get registered.
Hope to see you there!
………
What’s that you say?
You don’t live in Seattle?
You can’t make it out to Marymoor?
Well, here at the Ole’ Blog, it’s still…
Skills Day!
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 (We’ve talked about stretching on here in the past, check out the search function if you want/need some more info.)
3 – Dismount/remount skills for 5-10-15 minutes (depends how rusty/crappy you are. Do more of these, less of everything else if you need to.)
– 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.
Do just the most basic dismount/remount as per above until you have it down cold, smooth as silk.
When you’re perfect (hah!) throw some barriers into the mix.
– Again, start at a super, super slow speed.
– Approach the barrier, dismount smooth as silk.
– Step over the barrier, paying attention to how you lift the bike, and how you place your feet.
– Remount.
Smoooooth….
– Start with a single barrier, move to a double, and keep going slow until you have things wired. Then, speed things up until you aren’t smooth, back it down 1 notch, and make keep it there.
Smooooooth.
(If you don’t have barriers, anything will do. Use a log, put a stick on the ground – whatever.)
4 – Figure eight drill.
Set up 2 cones or 2 rocks or two – somethings, whatever – on the side of a slightly sloping hill. One up hill, one down, about 5-8 meters apart.
Ride in a figure eight pattern around the cones…
– first pedaling the entire time.
No coasting.
Pedal the corners & the downhill.
Practice using the brakes while still pedaling. This is one of those secret techniques that – once you figure it out – makes a huge difference. When you stop pedaling you lose traction, so don’t stop. You can break and pedal at the same time, sometimes.
Experiment with this, it’s a game-changer.
– Mind blown? Cool. Now you go around those corners – uphill and downhill with the inside foot out.
Having trouble making the turn at the top of the figure 8? Put your foot down and push off with it to make the turn.
Don’t be afraid to use the foot that’s unclipped to push off or “paddle” around a turn, or to keep yourself driving forward on an off-camber section…
This can be another game changer, so work on it, eh?
somebody sent me this pic, but I can’t remember who, damnit. If it’s your’s let me know and I will add credit.
– Alternate both of these styles around the figure-eight.
Experiment.
Try different speeds, different lines, different angles.
See when/how/why each style works, and figure out how they can work for you.
6 – Recover for a few minutes, then Finish the night with two interval efforts on relatively easy terrain, but make sure to include the figure – 8 in it.
– “Easy” as in a loop on grass with some tight-ish turns on it, or some pretty buffed double-track.
– Go hard, and work on accelerations, and your exits from turns & technical features.
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.
– 6-8 minutes full gas, rest for 2 minutes, then go again.
– Start each effort with, well… with a start. Like you’re in a race.
Spin down for a few minutes, then head home and finish up your day.
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
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