Seriously? It's 'cross season?

Since this Saturday is the first UCI 'cross race of the year, I thought maybe it was time I actually did a workout on my 'cross bike. Other than camp, I haven't been on my 'cross bikes at all, and I had so many important road events left, I just couldn't find the window to start doing any specific off-road work.

Last weekend I raced the Tour de la France in Anderson, SC, on Saturday, and then the Atlanta 10K Classic (named for the running portion; our race is 100K) on Monday. We smashed both races, and then I flew home Tuesday. Not exactly recovery, but that gave me today, Wednesday, as my only day to ride hard on my 'cross bikes before I raced on them Saturday.

So I did an easy 30 minutes on the road, before heading over to Franklin Park for 20 minutes of tempo, followed by 20 minutes of threshold, and 3 sprints done as uphill runs. And what did I learn from my little 'cross workout?

Well, I learned (or was reminded) that driving bikes is fun as shit, and I was more recovered than I expected to be. It felt good to go hard. But I also was reminded that it only takes about 20 minutes for me to only be pedaling with one leg, and have my back totally locked up. Going from a long, low, stretched out road position and a sharp hip angle to the short, upright, open, and explosive position on my 'cross bike just makes my ass hurt.

I wonder how many back extensions I can do on my physioball between now and when I leave on Friday?