Cyclocross Training Mega Thread

@christinaprobert-tur - head over to the subscription portion of this forum for a training plan revision. Have your races entered into TP so we know what to revise around and for, thanks!

So the training plan revision is 39.00?

Hi @christinaprobert-tur - the general rule of thumb for double race is two fold:

  1. sometimes for us masters racers its better to race only once per week (race Saturday, train Sunday)

  2. if you do race twice you need two days off after - Mon/Tuesday. Openers Friday, Off Thursday.

  • that leaves one workout per week on a Wednesday

thus the revision gets complicated and we do not recommend racing a double weekend two weekends in a row.

If you’d like help with that revision, that’s what I was referring two - get a coaching subscription and we can help/advise/revise.

Good luck with your cx racing!

@christinaprobert-tur I second what @FRANK states. If you can race one day weekend and train the other, that is better. Especially if your goal is Nationals.

1 Like

Many of us are probably on the 2nd week of the CX Nationals plan now. Two topics/questions:

  1. NON-Race Weekend - When there is no CX race on the weekend, should we do a workout on Friday instead of openers? Maybe 1.5 hrs with some 3 sets of 1 minuters plus skills and running? I can do a small, local race this Saturday, but I don’t need to come in super fresh if I would make more gains with a Friday workout.

  2. TREAD for Nationals - What are everyones thoughts on this? I have 2 tubular wheelsets, and several tubeless. I’m thinking 2 sets mid tread, 2 sets mud tread, plus a maybe another tubeless? I would have to pull off a pair of file tread tubulars and glue up mud tires, but I don’t think I will need the files for the rest of the year. I haven’t seen mud all year in CA, but it should be that time of year…

@marka_severy 1.) It certainly depends, but Friday could be an opener to get you ready for hard intervals on Sat. At this point in the season, if the race is not important to you I would train instead. 2) I would only bring mud tread to nationals. Even if it’s dry, you will want some tread on this one. Take the brain damage out of this decision and just bring mud tires.

1 Like

MUD. I did a race that was 100% peanut butter mud, the entire circuit. My average speed was 8mph… grinding at my FTHR the whole way. Mud seems to sap all my energy with minimal external reward for all that effort (i.e. I go SLOW) while it seems some people can glide over it.

I feel very confident in my bike handling. I have disc brakes. I have a set of mud tires. I FTFP all year! So i suspect my issue is not equipment, handling or fitness. Maybe a type of training i am missing… such as more MTIs.

What are your tips for mud?

Sounds like a ‘tractor pull’ type of race! Slow speeds, lotta resistance - just remember the conditions are the same for everybody.

The best way to prepare to race in the mud is to train in the mud and do other muddy races. Good news: you just got that. Now to do more!

When it pours rain and you have some intervals to #FtFP, guess what? You go out and do them in the mud - that’s how you train for the mud :sunglasses:

1 Like

@traxxtar Thick peanut butter mud is a different beast for sure. My question to you is, was you result much worse than you normally would have placed. Meaning, lets say you normally get around 5th on dry, fast days…did you get much worse than 5th in the tractor pull mud race?

1 Like

Thanks @Brandon for all the CXNATS insight. Only bringing one wheelset, but two tire treads. I’m anticipating running the PDX WC tubeless tires (which have [near] tubular ride quality), and I’ll throw a set of Vittoria Terreno MIX tires in my bike bag. Not expecting any grass on the course, so even if it’s dry, we’ll definitely need grip!

@Brandon Yes, yes! Exactly!! Worse placing than normal… relative to my common competitors, I do worse in thick peanut butter mud. I want to improve that area of my game!

Get strong in the weight room and also on the bike with some seated, high tension intervals!

1 Like

If I was a betting man I would say the PDX WC tires are not coming off! :wink:

2 Likes

This is probably late to need by now, but for future reference, Cody Kaiser made a great video on YouTube on how to avoid the dab / stutter step during remounts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPIoBYTRBbw

The key for me is that as you’re just about to hop off your left foot, subtlely turn your left foot clockwise (pointing toward the bike) and your hips to face the bike. Your hips should be almost parallel with the bike as you’re getting airborne. Cody explains this in his video. This makes the distance that your right leg has to extend over the saddle much less. Last tip: although most people (Cody, @FRANK and co. included) recommend starting this at a walking pace, I have always found that a gentle trot makes it slightly easier as your body doesn’t just plop down on a barely moving bike. Focus on technique before speed, but also let momentum help you!

Not too late! I spent the entire season with a hop so keen to eliminate this next season. Although I did question this as it doesn’t lose me any time and I’m getting back on the bike smoothly and consistently. It just doesn’t look as smooth.

Good! Keep practicing, the closer to the front of the race you are the more that being smooth and quick matters. I practice remounts year round, especially since I’m riding my CX bike exclusively now. With practice you can even get your dirty side dismount/remount to be smooth. That has some tactical advantages in racing; it’s a nice trick to keep in your pocket and pull out during those last lap 1 v 1 situations!

The dirty side dismount is a great way to step on your derailleur and crash :poop: