Cyclocross is unique from most other cycling disciplines in that the field sprint comes at the start of the race rather than at the finish; you get your desert before dinner, as it were. Where you're staged on the line, the time it takes you to get into the pedals, the gear you choose, and in what position you make it to the first corner, transition, or obstacle can impact your entire race. You may find yourself in the lead group with no extra effort, or you may spend the day stuck behind traffic or crashes, battling to get up to the group you belong based on fitness. A good start can also backfire and put you with riders you're not strong enough to stay with, causing you to over race, ...
Preparing for the Cyclocross Season
I know it's the middle of summer, and many of you might be struggling just to get through the rest of your road or mountain bike season. The thought of starting another season and racing through the fall and winter might be more than you can bear right now. But for many others, cyclocross has become the focus of their racing, or at least as important as the racing they do the rest of the year. Since July tends to be the time that many riders are feeling run down and over trained, as we've discussed in other articles, it's a good time for a break and a restart. For 'cross-specific riders, this is the time to plan and periodize your 'cross season.First, of course, you have to identify ...
Intervals for Cyclocross
Cyclocross is hard, plain and simple. There are very few sports that require the same level of intensity from start to finish over the course of an hour as a cyclocross event, where you're trying to perfom at maximum output for the entire duration, combined with technique that requries a high level of skill and responding to unpredictiable scenarios, while still also thinking critically and making tactical decisions, too.Some might argue that like cyclocross, a 40K time trial also lasts about an hour, and requires the maximum effort possible over that time. This is true, in terms of generally defining the effort as "as hard as you can go for an hour." What's different about cyclocross, ...
In Position to Win: TT Bike Fit
In the article Get Fit! I outlined my four crucial parameters for bike fit: saddle height, saddle set back, handlebar reach, and handlebar drop. In this article I want to take that one step further and talk about how to use those same guidelines to dial in your time trial position, either on your road bike or on a dedicated time trial bike.When Boone Lennon first pioneered clip-on or "tri-bars" in the late '80's, his initial model and inspiration was downhill ski racers: head low, back flat, arms together and pointed up in front. He almost had it right; it was certainly an improvement, and evidenced most convincingly by Greg Lemond's barnstorming win in the final time trial of the ...