Training for cyclocross is not like training for road, track, or mountain bike racing. All training can be thought of as preparing the body to handle the specific demands of the event. In the same way that a kilo rider on the track spends time concentrating on shorter duration efforts than an audax rider, the cyclocross rider has to target the areas that are specific to their event.
As i touched on before; Not all Minutes are Created Equal. The demands of cross with its mixture of high power sprints, technical low cadence turns, ,coasting sections and high intensity running leads to a different manner of training being adopted. In order to maximse the training time that we have availible, as well as daylight hours, it stands to reason that the shift should go from longer aerobic work to shorter duration higher intensity work. In order to maximise this we need to do a little digging to see what are the important physiological and technical aspects of cyclocross.
Physiological:
With my background in exercise physiology i find cyclocross a very interesting sport to look into. Over the last while I’ve been thinking more and more about what limits performance in cyclocross from a physiological level and have come up with the following ideas;
- Peak power: Cross can be very stop start depending on the course. The ability to generate a maximal burst of power and speed over a short duration is important for starts, attacks, and gettign out of dead corners.
- %max HR: The ability to work at a high percentage of your maximum heart rate for an hour is paramount. Cross racing is intense, all races are above threshold, and as they only last for an hour not the end of the world. The ability to sit at 95-98% of your max HR for the whole event and still kick at the end is what wins races.
- Intra-race recovery: The first lap wins a race. By the end of the first lap the top 10 have already been selected and the rest are also rans. The ability to ride as hard as you can for a lap, then maintain this AND step up again in response to attacks is needed. If you are unable to recover at 95% of maxHR you will not be able to respond. You need to learn to recover, and you need to be able to do it fast.
- Transitioning: The transition from run to bike inflicts a massive stress on the rider. Many cyclists don’t run and even 10 seconds off the bike can cause heart rate to rocket and then effect cycling performance once on the bike. Training this sensation is an aspect unique to cyclocross
Technical:
Although still a relative newcomer to cross (4th season this year!) there are a few things I’ve gleamed over the seasons that have always stuck;
- Preparation: Ride the course, ride it again, then ride it fast, then ride it again. A good course reccy and understanding of how the ground holds up under the support race or other riders is a huge benefit. It wont come fast, but you’ll keep learning.
- H-B-H/E-B-E: Something that always stuck me as a mantra during races: Ride the Hard Bits Hard/Easy Bits Easy. Only waste energy where it will gain you time. If you are a strong runner, hit the runs fast; strong climber, attack on the hills. Ride to your strengths.
- Smoothness: Watch the top end athlete in any sport and they appear to make every movement easy. Cross is the same un-surprisingly. Not only will being smooth on corners allow you to maintain a higher speed, it also costs less energy and has less of an effect on performance in the latter stage of a race. Practice maintaining speed at all costs.
- Commit to Sparkle Motion: Cyclocross is cyclocross. Corner like you are on the road or descend like on a MTB and you will be on the ground or through a barrier. Learn your bikes habbits, ride it over all surfaces, get out on the trails, commit to cyclocross.
Hopefully this will give a few ideas to people on what they need to work on. Rather than give training sessions, or dedicated power targets, lets think about what are our limiters and work on them Its nice to ride our bike in a group, but its better if that group is in the top 10 of a race.