Cyclocross is in full swing around the country. This fast-growing sport is turning the heads of both mountain bike racers and road racers alike. It’s interesting, it’s fun, and it’s a great way to spend winter months on the bike.
Cyclocross is known for being an extremely intense and largely skill-based sport. It can be an excellent tool for building fitness and speed in the off-season, but it can also take a toll on riders who compete throughout the spring, summer, and in the case of many Texans, the fall. No matter what your reasons for racing cyclocross, going into these events prepared will help you derive the most benefits without exhausting yourself before the spring race season begins.
The very best way to think about training for cyclocross is to deconstruct the race into its components:
-sprint start
-large number of entrants in a small space—passing skills are a must
-high rolling resistance, short climbs
-barrier runs
-run-ups (short, steep hill runs, bike shouldered)
-mud, sand, and gravel pits
-tight turns
-sprint finishes
Of course, there are a multitude of other components that are possible in a cross race and the combination and layout of each course presents unique challenges to the rider.
Power files from cross races are strikingly similar to power files from technical mountain bike courses. The power “spikes” are frequent and large. In training, it is necessary to optimize power over short durations—less than 2-3 minute time frames. Often times, this is where riders coming out of other competitive seasons (road or mountain) get into trouble: the additional highly intense racing can cause a lot of fatigue very quickly, particularly when sprint power is repeatedly trained throughout the season. Managing CX intensity is critical to staying away from diminishing returns. What follows is a simple way to break down and manage your cx season.
The key to managing the intensity is to structure the cx season is to make sure you recover between races. Do not make the mistake of believing that because these are off-season races that you can increase your training volume at the same time. Keep the focus where it belongs: intense training builds power, and intense training requires recovery.
Intense training and racing also requires preparation. Start by eliminating the most obvious cause of fatigue: something new. Do some very specific practice: barrier runs, run-ups, mounts and dismounts, and riding through gravel and sand pits. This specific practice will help you begin to adapt to the demands of racing simply by having engaged your muscular system in the appropriate activity beforehand. In other words, you are “teaching” your neuromuscular system the activity. Start with slow, deliberate movements, then increase the speed as you feel comfortable. This can cause a lot of soreness initially; recover completely, and you should adapt in a workout or two.
Then, move towards more intensity in your training rides. Do this from short bouts (even as short as 30s) to increasing durations of 1-2 minutes. By doing this, you can comfortably prepare yourself to spend time at VO2max and above in your races. As the season wears on, increase the intensity and vary the duration of the intervals to best simulate race conditions.
As your higher priority races approach, start adding in some fun sprints on your rides: start by giving yourself different sprint durations 15-25s each, with full recoveries. After 2 short sprint sessions, you will have a notable “snap” in your acceleration. Then, all you need is one or two training bouts a week with a mix of sprinting, short hill attacks, and flat road attacks to maintain enough neuromuscular power to finish out your season.
At the same time, you should still be spending time practicing basic CX skills as described above. If you are pretty proficient skills-wise, you can try some “overspeed” training where you do barrier runs or run ups faster than you would in a given race.
When the final race has come and gone, give yourself some time to recover, but capitalize on the benefits of the race season: objectively evaluate your gains, and set a new training standard based on those gains.
Sara Krause, M.Ed. is an exercise physiologist and the owner of Krause Sports Performance, based in Austin, Texas. Krause has trained multiple athletes to wins in road, mountain, cyclocross, and triathlon racing.
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