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Preparing for the Cyclo-Cross Season
I know it's the middle of summer, and many of you might be struggling
just to get through the rest of the road or mountain bike season. The
thought of racing through the fall and winter might be more than you can
bear right now. But for some riders, cyclo-cross has become the focus
of their racing, or at least as important as the racing they do the rest
of the year. And since July tends to be the time that many riders are
feeling run down and over trained, it's a good time for a break. A one-
to two-week vacation from riding and racing followed be a build up that
starts from square one again can leave you racing strong on the road or
mountain bike in the late summer and fall, and peaking in October, November
and December when the real action is on.
The first thing you have to pin down are your goals for the 'cross season.
Do you want to be going well right out of the blocks in October? Is there
a regional or national race series in which you want to do well over all?
Is there one big race locally you want to target, or are all your eggs
in the basket for Nationals in December? You might even be planning to
venture to Europe in January, or perhaps you live in the Southeast or
Texas where they're lucky enough to keep racing 'cross until February.
All these concerns factor in to what level you start your 'cross program
from. If you've taken the summer off and are really just getting things
rolling now, then you'll have to start from a low level and build up slowly,
with perhaps as much as three months of aerobic base training taking you
into the heart of the season in November. At the other extreme, if you
need to be raging in October for the start of your local series or maybe
the string of Northeast UCI races, you'll need a different approach. You
might only do one four- to six-week cycle of aerobic work, and have to
rely on your fitness from the road or mountain bike season to get back
into top shape quickly.
Since your training for 'cross will most likely overlap with some important
late-season road or mountain bike races, there are certain 'cross-specific
workouts you might have to avoid until as late as September. Running and
road racing mix like oil and water, so if you've got a big event late
you might decide to put off your uphill running sprints or tempo on the
trails until after that point. Even then, you've got to introduce running
into your workouts slowly. Ten to fifteen minutes per session to start
is enough to let your body begin to adapt to what's to come. If 'cross
is your priority, then you can start your running adaptation right from
the get-go, leaving you in a good position to be turning the screws on
the pure roadies when you hit the run-ups in October.
Your general routine for 'cross shouldn't be that different from what
you might do in the road or mountain bike season, with the exception of
your workouts on foot:
Monday: Recovery, easy one- to two-hour road ride, or day off.
Tuesday: Recovery if needed, or sprint workout, either running or riding.
Ideally you want your running sprints to recreate what you'd do in a race.
Find a short, steep hill that takes you about fifteen seconds to sprint
over. Give yourself two to five minutes between efforts for recovery.
For your riding sprints, simulate the kind of accelerations you'll need
to make in 'cross. Hard explosions from low speeds, with an emphasis on
both speed and strength. This can be done on the road or one the 'cross
bike, depending on what you need to work on.
Wednesday: Normally a 'cross workout, and perhaps the only day of the
week you'll ride your 'cross bike unless you need to work specifically
on skills. Here is where you can work on your fifteen- to twenty-minute
efforts at threshold, again emphasizing both speed and strength to be
prepared for all courses. You should be aiming to finish as many minutes
at LT as the length of the 'cross races in which you'll be competing.
Later in the season when your base is complete, you might add a training
race or as many three-minute long anaerobic intervals to the workout as
you can handle.
Thursday: Recovery day if you're racing on Saturday, or a two- to five-hour
road ride depending on your fitness level.
Friday: Recovery day, or a short sprint workout on the road or 'cross
bike if you're racing on Saturday.
Saturday: Race, or repeat Tuesday's workout.
Sunday: Race, or combine a road ride with the length of Thursday's ride
and the intervals of Wednesday. This is also a good day to go for a longer,
fun ride in the woods on your 'cross bike. "Mountain biking"
on your 'cross bike is one of the best ways to develop good 'cross instincts
in an unstructured way.
If you're serious about cyclo-cross, then these suggestions and time-line
will help get you on track for a good start to the season. If you've never
raced 'cross before and are thinking about giving it a go, now's the time
to start looking for a bike and making sure you're ready when the September
training races begin.
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