Training

Coach's Corner - Off Season fitness

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From Coach Steve at Tri-ecoach.com

The goal for off-season is to stay fit but not work too hard at it! Your body and head need to recharge, and any physical problems you’ve dealt with in-season need to be resolved before you ramp up next spring. If you’re racing CX this fall you’ll really need a break! =)

Some of us who ‘can’t kick the habit’ still need to do some training every day even though race season is months away, and that’s OK. Skip most or all of your intensity work for a few months. Put in less time. Base fitness will not drop off much if you stay consistent. Attempting to maintain peak fitness through the off-season is not realistic and unwise. For those riders who need complete time off I recommend not going for more than 1-2 weeks with no training.

Reflect on your race season; what could have been better; what can you do to improve going forward? Perhaps your acceleration/sprint is a weakness and you need some time in the gym for core and weight work. Maybe your climbing is not great; you need to race lighter next season, so limiting the overdone holiday feeds is in order. Hit a scale every once in a while to keep it real.

Two Time Sensitive Cyclocross workouts

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by Ainslie MacEachran of Gemini Training Systems

One of the beauties of cyclo cross is that very rarely is a race longer than an hour. Because of this, the required training, while still having a little over-distance/time riding, can be somewhat shorter. In the fall day light becomes in short supply and temps may not always be as agreeable. With this is mind, cyclocross workouts can be condensed into short high intensity efforts.

Workout #1 - Hill runs.

To do this workout you need to find a short (10-15 seconds) steep climb that you could run up with the bike shouldered. Additionally, you need enough room to remount your bike and ride 30sec or so back to the start of the hill. For instance, a park works quite nicely as long as bicycles are allowed.

Ride a minimum of 20-30 minutes as a warmup. Maybe the ride to the park takes that long, or you ride the circuitous way to the park. When you arrive, you’re going to ride right around lactate threshold for 15-20 second and then, at the base of the hill, dismount, and shoulder your bike and run full gas up the hill. At the top remount and then roll easy back to the base of the hill.

Other great Cyclocross training articles to help improve your racing, your results and your fun.

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Overcoming Fear While Mountain Biking

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Sheri Boltz

by Sheri Boltz, Tough Girl Cycling

We've all experienced fear at one point in time or another; whether it be fear after a crash or fear riding obstacles such as drop offs, narrow trails along a ridge, down a steep descent, across loose gravel, or through rocky sections. Fear can come and go at any level, it is not just for beginners....and it can happen to both men and women.

Last August, I fractured one of the vertebrae in my neck riding an obstacle I had ridden many times. Several months later, I got back on the bike and when I did, there were a lot of scary obstacles out there. Because of being tentative and hesitant, I struggled with obstacles and trails that I routinely rode, and worked my way into a continuous pattern of crashing. Finally after a few weeks of crashing and being on the verge of changing sports, I realized I needed to acknowledge this new found fear because it wasn't going anywhere until I faced it head on. I went back to the basics by returning to the simplest of trails. After several successful rides (with no crashing), I started to work my way back into my usual network of trails. While this seemed like a huge setback to me at the time, I was able to quickly return to where I left off, get back into the racing scene, and have FUN.

What can you do to overcome your fears and move forward? When I am feeling the fear, I acknowledge it and then develop a game plan for conquering it. Fear should not be perceived as a negative, or something to beat yourself up about. It should be used as a building block in your quest to be a zen master of mountain biking. As for game plans, I like to keep mine simple. I will typically start off by asking myself a few questions like, do I need to find something smaller and less scary to work my way up or can I watch someone ride it or follow someone off/thru the obstacle?

Training for Cyclocross - Running and Technique

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by Ainslie MacEachran of Gemini Training Systems

Cyclocross, once considered the red headed stepchild of bike racing, has gained vast popularity in the U.S. in the past five years. It requires some varied talents and it favors hard men/women. While I would never advocate skimping on training, there two key areas that a cyclist should focus their attention to make building fitness for a successful cyclocross season go a little smoother.

The first area that a cyclocross athlete should focus on is running. One of the larger challenges for a cyclist taking up cyclocross is that, generally speaking, cyclists are not runners. Even if a cyclist comes from a running background the type of running encountered in cyclocross races is quite different than an aerobic pace most former runners will be used to. In cross races, the longest runs tend to only be in the neighborhood of 30 seconds to one minute. Towards this end, long sustained runs are not a huge necessity and instead a cross racer should focus more on short, high intensity running efforts.

My First Mountain Bike Race - Steps to being prepared

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My First Mountain Bike Race by Coreen Wright, Tough Girl Cycling


Coreen Wright

I think for me, my first mountain bike race was the most memorable. I had a positive experience that kept me coming back for more. Unlike running races, which I was more accustom to, mountain bike racing has some variety to the race, you get to go fast! Like faster than running. When I first arrived at the race, I was a little nervous. I
just didn’t want to be last. I signed up as beginner in the 40-49 year old group. Yeah, my first race was when I was 40. My concerns, as you can imagine were crashing, and of course hitting a tree or something crazy like that. I didn’t have the easiest time when I first started riding…I crashed a lot. Thankfully, with patience and perseverance, my husband didn’t give up on me and so I kept on riding.

I remember the announcer yelling “GOOOOOOO” in the loud speaker and racers taking off. That was kind of scary. I wasn’t sure what to expect after that but I was about to find out. So we were off and my heart was pounding out of my chest. I tried to relax and calm down but the rest of the start was a blur. I finally recovered on the downhill and from then on it was a blast. What was so fun about the race, were the other racers. We had conversations along the way and through the struggles together of pushing up a climb or going over a scary edge we encouraged each other along and I felt like we knew one another. Passing on the trails was easier than I expected and if you communicated well it made it safer for all. We were all in it together.

I liked the feeling of being in the forest and surrounded by trees and fresh air with single track beneath my tires. I had a hunch I would be doing this again. Mountain biking quickly became a lot more fun. Racing brought a whole new aspect to my riding. It’s the one thing that makes me feel like a kid again.

Walk and Roll making a difference with kids

Submitted by Kris Thompson on

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This video was created to send to the National Safe Routes to School Conference this year. The video is from Heatherwood Elementary's Walk and Roll Day this year and how they helped make riding more accessible. Thanks to Brandon at Boulder Cycle Sport, Bob at Assisted Cycling Tours, Brian Patrick at Insight Media and Bill at http://everydayracer.com/

Basic Riding and Race Nutrition guidelines for Women

Submitted by Kris Thompson on

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Talitha Vogt

by Talitha Vogt, Tough Girl Cycling

Generally speaking, in our society, women often have a lot of pressure on their shoulders in regards to body image and weight. This can have an impact on us in cycling
performance because we are often cutting calories in the wrong places to try to shave off those few extra pounds we always want to lose. For some of us, this is why we ride bikes in the first place. If you want to lose weight but still ride and/or train, it is imperative to eat “really well” before, during, and after your bike rides. You can, in turn, eat lighter meals at other times of the day. If you don’t give your body proper fuel surrounding your bike rides, you will end up losing lean muscle and sacrificing performance gains. Some basic guidelines are soon to follow.

When I remember back to some of my earliest bike rides, I snicker to myself and wonder how I ever had enough energy to get through any of them. Riding clothes went on, bike
went in the car, and bottle full of plain water was shoved into the bag. I might have taken a backpack with a water reservoir and sometimes even a granola bar. That being said, it is probably fine to do that occasionally, but if you’re looking for sustainable, consistent energy, especially on your longer rides, you have to plan your ride nutrition a little more carefully. Nutrition can really come into play if you are: trying to beat your previous finish time in an event, looking to hang on to the fast group in a training ride, going out for some hard intervals, and especially if you are looking to take a podium spot at a race!

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