Jingle Cross UCI...All of the eggs in one basket...
Well any doubts I have had during the suffering this season went away at Jingle Cross. I had stellar legs. I was able to track down some valuable UCI pts(14) and put together 2 great rides. 6th and 7th........ 2 KILLER days for me..
All the hard work paid off. This is the best I will ride all season. The courses were perfect for me. Lots of slow grass and climbs.
There have been more workouts lately that I have suffered through than earlier in the season. With tons of travel and driving across the country..a short ski trip with Hunter..family.. snow.. we all seem to find reasons to not train or to miss a ride or 2. I have done my best to remain true to the plan with a few tweaks to fit in LIFE. I felt like it was all falling apart until a 350 watt 20 minute yesterday on the trainer ........Now I am back mentally at least... Nationals are in 12 days!!!!!!!!!!!! I can hardly believe it. I am on a ski vacation at the moment and taking 2 days off. Friday I will train and Saturday RACE and Sunday or maybe I will get in some TEMPO.... Then I have to cross my fingers I can repeat the effort I had in IOWA. If you are doing the plan I am sure you have had some days that you wanted to quit or couldn't hit the wattage's.... I have had plenty of those.... WE made it. I just hope Kansas is a fitness course. I have the legs to ride a great hour.
WEEK 7 5 weeks left
Yep that is it
5 weeks left.
Training is going well. This past weekend I raced in Salt Lake and had an epic race. I hate making excuses .......but here is mine. I rolled my tubular on the first lap. Rolled it back on with some mad skills and managed to LIMP 1/2 a lap to the pit. Now here is where it gets a bit funny. I grabbed my pit bike..... jumped on and rode about 30 meters. My feet wouldn't clip in. I noticed that "my bike" had different pedals..."Yeah silly I know" It was the "same bike" just not mine. So I rode back...... got my rig and was off. I was in LAST... I mean I was in the cheap seats. I wanted to drop out but I knew I would have to go train hard if I did....... so I made the best of it. Just tried to KILL it!!!!! I didn't really feel like I was moving up, but as the laps turned I found myself in the top 10 and I finished 6th. Not to far back of 2nd. Maybe 50 seconds??? or so. I was proud of myself for stayin with it when I wanted to quit. Super bummned that things didn't roll my way but that is what CX is all about. WE all flat and wreck!!!!!! it is part of the sport. What is cool is I know I must have some fitness to have ridden back into the race. I feel good and the watts are still rad. I have had a few days I havn't wanted to train but I have kept my promise to do the work!!!!!! This past weekend I did 2 hours on sunday on the trainer and 1 hour of running. I have been doing 1 hour tempo rides with stomps every 3 minutes for 20'seconds!! Last week my Micro Bursts ROCKED. I felt like I could have done 3 more sets. This is really that last hard week!! WEEK 7!!
5 weeks left.
Training is going well. This past weekend I raced in Salt Lake and had an epic race. I hate making excuses .......but here is mine. I rolled my tubular on the first lap. Rolled it back on with some mad skills and managed to LIMP 1/2 a lap to the pit. Now here is where it gets a bit funny. I grabbed my pit bike..... jumped on and rode about 30 meters. My feet wouldn't clip in. I noticed that "my bike" had different pedals..."Yeah silly I know" It was the "same bike" just not mine. So I rode back...... got my rig and was off. I was in LAST... I mean I was in the cheap seats. I wanted to drop out but I knew I would have to go train hard if I did....... so I made the best of it. Just tried to KILL it!!!!! I didn't really feel like I was moving up, but as the laps turned I found myself in the top 10 and I finished 6th. Not to far back of 2nd. Maybe 50 seconds??? or so. I was proud of myself for stayin with it when I wanted to quit. Super bummned that things didn't roll my way but that is what CX is all about. WE all flat and wreck!!!!!! it is part of the sport. What is cool is I know I must have some fitness to have ridden back into the race. I feel good and the watts are still rad. I have had a few days I havn't wanted to train but I have kept my promise to do the work!!!!!! This past weekend I did 2 hours on sunday on the trainer and 1 hour of running. I have been doing 1 hour tempo rides with stomps every 3 minutes for 20'seconds!! Last week my Micro Bursts ROCKED. I felt like I could have done 3 more sets. This is really that last hard week!! WEEK 7!!
Week 6 here we go
Ok Week 5 was a bit hard. I hope anyone that is following the plan would agree. Legs are burning a bit. I did get in a fun Mtn Bike ride sunday with tons of MUD.
I did the work but felt a bit slow all week. I didn't race this weekend so I did get in a solid 20 minute effort. Watts were good/great but I could tell I was tired. Week 6 here we come. I still feel on track and am riding strong even with some tired legs. Still riding at 5.2 for 20 minutes and 6.3 for 5 minute. I have yet to really try and nail one of these efforts for all I am worth. But to have these numbers repeatable ..............week to week............. I am pretty excited about that.
The goal this week is to get some SOLID work in. I want to get some great core and running done. I need to keep the head down and just do the homework. Only 2 more hard weeks left. Then it is downhill till masters natz.
I did the work but felt a bit slow all week. I didn't race this weekend so I did get in a solid 20 minute effort. Watts were good/great but I could tell I was tired. Week 6 here we come. I still feel on track and am riding strong even with some tired legs. Still riding at 5.2 for 20 minutes and 6.3 for 5 minute. I have yet to really try and nail one of these efforts for all I am worth. But to have these numbers repeatable ..............week to week............. I am pretty excited about that.
The goal this week is to get some SOLID work in. I want to get some great core and running done. I need to keep the head down and just do the homework. Only 2 more hard weeks left. Then it is downhill till masters natz.
Week 5
Ok Week 5 has been hard so far. I think the travel and gettting a bit ill didn't help. I survived the 4x15 minute and then the Micro Burst 4x10 min. Watts are a bit down. I did hit a solid Blowout so I know all is not lost. The rest week threw me for a loop. It is hard to take a break from the work and then go back to it. This next 3 weeks are super important so I need to get the work in. I really want to crack a 90 CTL. I need a bit more load than the last 2 cycles to pull that off. I don't want to end up in Iowa fried but I need more horsepower than I had in Louisville..... This is the last solid 3 weeks before we start to back down a bit for natz. I need to make them count. So I am going to load up a bit this weekend and not race and them try to make next week a bit harder. That should help. I feel like I have great fitness but am lackind the extra punch to just RIP on the cranks.
Gran Prix Louisville
OK it was party time. With no UCI pts. I took a back row start on Saturday. #77 out of 95 or so. I think I was almost the last guy through the first corner. It was SLICK as snot on the course. I felt good on the course but the first 2 laps were NUTZ. I went over the bars at least 3 times. I would come around a corner to see 3-4 guys on the ground and just plow into them. It was a junk show. I moved up steadily the whole race till I ended in 42nd. I am pretty darn happy with the ride. I had good fitness and even though we race for 72 minutes I felt great. Our lap times were as fast as the winner for the 35+ and those guys are fast.
DAY 2
Much better start 42nd bib# Horner and Craig were right next to me so no excuses here. Huge wreck in the first corner!! A bunny hop and I made it through. I would say I was in the 60's at this point. I slowly moved up to 43rd and that was all I had. 42 guys were faster for sure today. I stayed upright the hole race.
The course was RAD...... Fast and Flat...... A big run-up or hill would have been nice but it was a stellar course. The field of riders was stronger than any other I have raced in. I hope to better my fitness a bit before IOWA in 4 weeks.
DAY 2
Much better start 42nd bib# Horner and Craig were right next to me so no excuses here. Huge wreck in the first corner!! A bunny hop and I made it through. I would say I was in the 60's at this point. I slowly moved up to 43rd and that was all I had. 42 guys were faster for sure today. I stayed upright the hole race.
The course was RAD...... Fast and Flat...... A big run-up or hill would have been nice but it was a stellar course. The field of riders was stronger than any other I have raced in. I hope to better my fitness a bit before IOWA in 4 weeks.
END of week 3 REST
Well I had high hope of an epic CX battle this weekend but a nice head cold Kicked my butt and snow came by the inches. The mix of the shotty weather(perfect for CX) but not when your sick. And just feeling like Crud messed with the racing plans. I was able to recover and do the 20 minute, 15 minute, 10 minute and 5 minute on SUNDAY on the trainer. Felt solid but tired for sure. I did have a great 20 minute effort but the legs felt pretty week. I survived the rest of the workout. Since I didn't race and took Friday/Saturday virtually off I did race simulation today on the CX bike. I did 4x11 minute race efforts. They were hard but I didn't nail it the full on. Now I rest to this weekend and the Gran Prix of CX in Louisville. With NO UCI points I might be starting pretty far back. I hope to get a decent start position and make up for it the last half of the race. Now I get to rest,, rest and rest. I feel like I have been ON for about 8 weeks so this will be nice.
week 3 ...2nd time
After a rest Monday and Tuesday I was back on Wednesday. The 2 days felt like 2 weeks. I was twitching and nervous to do hard work again. I felt like I lost a bit of the rhythm. I called a friend to do the Micro Bursts with me. 4 x10 min... Ouch... But they felt good in away. They were hard but I felt I had more gas after they were done. I did 30 more minutes of tempo on the CX bike. I also had a BRUTAL RUN "BIG HILL" I will post a pic soon...
Thursday I was scared to do the blowout ...knowing I had almost cracked 400 a few times warming up. I hit 397indoor seated.... BUT it was work this time. I held on for life. The 3 weeks of training this block is hurting the legs a bit. The 5x8min were a bit nasty and low watts. About 20 off normal. I couldn't get the Hrate up so...the legs are certainly tired. I just have to make it to the weekend and I get to rest next week for LOUISVILLE! should be rad. I am going to race one day this weekend..not sure which yet. CTL is still UNDER 90. I will have to reach a bit next cycle to get it to 95 of so before I rest for IOWA. Nervous if I don't get the workload up a bit I won't see any progress for the end of the season. I really want to see some Peak watts heading to Natz. In the past the closer I get to 100 CTL the better my 20 minute and hour of power. I also have had all my best 5 minutes near 90+ so I will have to be sure to ramp the 3 weeks after KY. I am sure I am in for some big HURT.
Thursday I was scared to do the blowout ...knowing I had almost cracked 400 a few times warming up. I hit 397indoor seated.... BUT it was work this time. I held on for life. The 3 weeks of training this block is hurting the legs a bit. The 5x8min were a bit nasty and low watts. About 20 off normal. I couldn't get the Hrate up so...the legs are certainly tired. I just have to make it to the weekend and I get to rest next week for LOUISVILLE! should be rad. I am going to race one day this weekend..not sure which yet. CTL is still UNDER 90. I will have to reach a bit next cycle to get it to 95 of so before I rest for IOWA. Nervous if I don't get the workload up a bit I won't see any progress for the end of the season. I really want to see some Peak watts heading to Natz. In the past the closer I get to 100 CTL the better my 20 minute and hour of power. I also have had all my best 5 minutes near 90+ so I will have to be sure to ramp the 3 weeks after KY. I am sure I am in for some big HURT.
Weekend Double MT CX races
Ok the week was hard. 2 races over the weekend were LOOMING.
Vo2 on Wednesday and 3x20's Thursday and try to race Saturday & Sunday. Well I had stellar legs even though I thought I would be BLOWN. The first few LAPS of the race...HURT..burned..but after 15 minutes I found I recovered from the MEGA dig on the first lap and I was just cruising. I could just turn the gear. I was faster the last half of the race. I certainly didn't have 100% but I still felt solid for the HOUR. I was able to race each lap hard.. Even on Sunday I was able to stay on top of the gear for most of the race. I have never won CX races so it was pretty cool to win both days. The field had about 15 A racers each day so it was a bit small.. But it was great to be able to get out and race. We raced at 6500ft on Saturday and snow covered Mtns. were the back drop... Pretty COOL.
The next few weekends will be HUGE tests. Racing in Salt Lake next week will no doubt be humbling. The top guys there are FAST. The following week at the Gran Prix I hope to crack into the TOP 20.. That will take a MEGA day and some real fitness.
Now back to training. I have one more solid week and then I get to rest for Louisville.
The big goal is IOWA "Jingle CX" & Masters Natz so I need to keep the head down and keep killing it.
Vo2 on Wednesday and 3x20's Thursday and try to race Saturday & Sunday. Well I had stellar legs even though I thought I would be BLOWN. The first few LAPS of the race...HURT..burned..but after 15 minutes I found I recovered from the MEGA dig on the first lap and I was just cruising. I could just turn the gear. I was faster the last half of the race. I certainly didn't have 100% but I still felt solid for the HOUR. I was able to race each lap hard.. Even on Sunday I was able to stay on top of the gear for most of the race. I have never won CX races so it was pretty cool to win both days. The field had about 15 A racers each day so it was a bit small.. But it was great to be able to get out and race. We raced at 6500ft on Saturday and snow covered Mtns. were the back drop... Pretty COOL.
The next few weekends will be HUGE tests. Racing in Salt Lake next week will no doubt be humbling. The top guys there are FAST. The following week at the Gran Prix I hope to crack into the TOP 20.. That will take a MEGA day and some real fitness.
Now back to training. I have one more solid week and then I get to rest for Louisville.
The big goal is IOWA "Jingle CX" & Masters Natz so I need to keep the head down and keep killing it.
Doing the HomeWork
I have been in school(CX) now for almost 8 weeks. I have repeated 8 weeks or so of the plan and I am currently putting out watts that I have never had during CX season. My legs are tired...But I continue to have great numbers. I suffer through most of the workouts and want to quit but I made a promise to myself to get all the work done. Today was 3x20's After the 8x5's yesterday on the CX bike and pretty low watts I wanted to bail on todays ride. I jumped on the trainer this morning and did the 4x1 high cadence to warm up. They felt awful at first. By the last 1 I starting to feel pretty good. So i started the 20 minute a bit Low and ramped. I hit 5.25 watts to KILO indoor with pretty tired legs. I barely cracked 170 Hrate so I had a bit more in the tank but I had 2 more efforts and didn't want to sell the farm today. I think i could have hit 5.4-5.5 if I was outdoor or really got after it today. The other 2 efforts were lower but I still had a few moments of sunshine. The last effort I started well below 300( I was BLOWN) and ramped to 350 for the last 5 minutes. I was done before that effort started, but made myself get it done. I race a double this weekend in MT. Curious to see how I feel. I think Saturday is at 7000 ft. I am sure that will make for some BIG hurt. So basically I have completed the first 2 cycles and am hitting the best numbers I have ever had for CX. For those of you out there suffering I promise you are going to see some results. I am SHOCKED at what I am seeing. My goal was 5.5 for 20 minutes before Natz.. I now want a 20 minute PR in MID November and a 5 MINUTE-PR also. Next week I am going to throw down on a 20 minute to see where I am at.
Finish of week 1 for the 2nd time SNOW
SNOW!!!4+inchesToday went well for wanting to take the day off
Sunday2x25 on the trainer. 75 Minutes of CX Practice.. and a Solid 30+ minute RUN with 10 hard Hills.
My peak 25 minute was 5 watt to kilo and didn't feel epic. So after a hard week and this my 3rd day on I thought I wouldn't have any gas. Ctl is 88 so after this week it will crack 90- for sure. Just the slight increase in load and I have seen MEGA improvement in watts. I am guessing if I had to test my 20 minute I could pop out close to 5.3-4 to kilo and over 6.2 for 5 minute. That is reasonably high for me during CX. I still have tons of time to train so I am starting to feel pretty good about the work I have in...and the work still to be done. No doubt I couldn't have done close to this amount of work 5 weeks ago and still be hitting stellar numbers.
So here is a QUICK review JUST keeping myself honest
8/20/2007-9/9 started 1st draft of plan & DID basically weeks 1-3 Best 20 minute 4.5 and 5 minute 5.6
9/10/2007-9/23 Started with Week 1& 2 again Best 20 minute 5.2 and 5 minute 6
vegas cx 32nd place..Great ride for me
9/24-10/7 Rest week in vegas and start of Week one again. 20 minute 5.1 and 5 minute was 6.1 Just of note( I did one hour of tempo at 4.7 so better than my 20 minute Sept. 1st)
Week 5 back to WEEK 1
Like all things......... life happens. OK here is the plan. Re-Start the plan Week 1-12( Nats). I completed Week (1-3) did VEGAS CX during my rest week and now Back at it from the start. I need the VOLUME of week 1-3 during the Month of October to get my CTL over 90 and hopefully to 100. I completed 3 weeks straight before I started the Plan so I had almost 6 weeks ON before Vegas. For those of you good at Math you will find it is only 11 weeks till natz. My goal is to shorten the taper a bit after thanksgiving. The other thought is that LIFE will happen in the next 12 weeks and force a week off for injury or illness. So I should be able to do 12 weeks in 11 weeks. In total I will have 15 weeks of training in for CX this year.
So How did WEEK one the 2nd TIME go. WELL I made it hard. Things went pretty stellar. I felt like I had bad legs all week but each time I trained I had great NUMBERS. Saturday took the CAKE.. It snowed so I was INDOOR. I got in 30+ minutes of threshold(2x5 and 2x10) and a BLOW out of 375 on the trainer seated. Not Bad. I was able to do a STRAIGHT Hour of tempo at 305.....with Bursts to 420-450 for 20 seconds every 2 minutes.
So How did WEEK one the 2nd TIME go. WELL I made it hard. Things went pretty stellar. I felt like I had bad legs all week but each time I trained I had great NUMBERS. Saturday took the CAKE.. It snowed so I was INDOOR. I got in 30+ minutes of threshold(2x5 and 2x10) and a BLOW out of 375 on the trainer seated. Not Bad. I was able to do a STRAIGHT Hour of tempo at 305.....with Bursts to 420-450 for 20 seconds every 2 minutes.
After a WEEK off
Week off for interbike
didn't feel like rest. NO sleep!! Hunter and I played craps till 4am. Probably stood for 12-14 hours most days. Craps, Work, Craps. I think I left with 1k in my pocket. I did get to gamble for 2hours before the CX race and 6 hours AFTER.
I won about $600 that night so I took home more than Trebon and I was 3-4 minute back. After the EPIC drive home I got in 3x20's on the trainer SUNDAY. Watts were pretty darn good. I did one at threshold, the next with stomps every 2 minutes and the last at LOW cadence. All 3 were SOLID but not 100% CTL has dropped to 83. So I have some work to do to get it back up for October and November. I am really going to kill it till T-day in IOWA. I will rest a bit for LOUISVILLE but not to much. I am certain the plan is already working. I have one of the highest 5 minutes and a solid 20 minute already. Much higher than any other year for CX. My peak CTL most years is like 70 for CX I really want to get over 100 and see if it translates in to a few good races. I hope nats is SLOW and hard.
didn't feel like rest. NO sleep!! Hunter and I played craps till 4am. Probably stood for 12-14 hours most days. Craps, Work, Craps. I think I left with 1k in my pocket. I did get to gamble for 2hours before the CX race and 6 hours AFTER.
I won about $600 that night so I took home more than Trebon and I was 3-4 minute back. After the EPIC drive home I got in 3x20's on the trainer SUNDAY. Watts were pretty darn good. I did one at threshold, the next with stomps every 2 minutes and the last at LOW cadence. All 3 were SOLID but not 100% CTL has dropped to 83. So I have some work to do to get it back up for October and November. I am really going to kill it till T-day in IOWA. I will rest a bit for LOUISVILLE but not to much. I am certain the plan is already working. I have one of the highest 5 minutes and a solid 20 minute already. Much higher than any other year for CX. My peak CTL most years is like 70 for CX I really want to get over 100 and see if it translates in to a few good races. I hope nats is SLOW and hard.Crossvegas Results Cross Vegas Results
Interbike was great..Cross Vegas was probably the most stacked field in US history. With Page, Trebon, Kabush, Heule, Powers, Frattini, Johnson, Craig, McCormack, Wells x2, and about everyone else that rocks. THE TOP 15 heck the TOP 30 was full of the Super stars of American cross........... 4 rows back I started 32nd. RESULTS CAN BE FOUND HERE
http://www.cyclocrossworld.com/Results4Event.cfm?Action=Edit&theKey=688&EventKey=937&C=1&Season=2007&Sortby=datedown&ShowDisabled=0
Not a bad place to start and about as good as it gets if you were not a REAL pro. I managed to finish 32nd about 4 minutes in the rear of Trebon. One of my best days on the CX bike. I was probably in the MID 50's after the first lap. and moved up from there. I got off the line great but it was a wall of riders and really no where to move up considerably. I chilled and waited till the 2nd lap when things calmed a bit and started to move up from there. I passed about 20 riders before it was all said and done. I felt strong on the slow grass. It was very similar to what I have been training on. After a full day standing and working at interbike I was amazed that the legs felt stellar. I had enough caffine in the system that I am not sure I even nocticed the pain. It was great to race in such a powerful field this early in the season. Still tons of work to be done but I rode one of my best efforts ever on the CX bike.
I pretty much took the PAST week off with work. So Sunday will be the only day I get to train. I will do a few hours on the trainer and try to get in 60 minutes of threshold work and a short RUN. Monday I will restart the PLAN and follow it till Nationals. I will probably ad a few more efforts here and there. No doubt this is the fittest I have been for CX. To pass some of the riders mid race who finished in the TOP 15 at natonals was a cool feeling. Till Louisville and the first Gran Prix race it is time to train. Back to work......
http://www.cyclocrossworld.com/Results4Event.cfm?Action=Edit&theKey=688&EventKey=937&C=1&Season=2007&Sortby=datedown&ShowDisabled=0
Not a bad place to start and about as good as it gets if you were not a REAL pro. I managed to finish 32nd about 4 minutes in the rear of Trebon. One of my best days on the CX bike. I was probably in the MID 50's after the first lap. and moved up from there. I got off the line great but it was a wall of riders and really no where to move up considerably. I chilled and waited till the 2nd lap when things calmed a bit and started to move up from there. I passed about 20 riders before it was all said and done. I felt strong on the slow grass. It was very similar to what I have been training on. After a full day standing and working at interbike I was amazed that the legs felt stellar. I had enough caffine in the system that I am not sure I even nocticed the pain. It was great to race in such a powerful field this early in the season. Still tons of work to be done but I rode one of my best efforts ever on the CX bike.
I pretty much took the PAST week off with work. So Sunday will be the only day I get to train. I will do a few hours on the trainer and try to get in 60 minutes of threshold work and a short RUN. Monday I will restart the PLAN and follow it till Nationals. I will probably ad a few more efforts here and there. No doubt this is the fittest I have been for CX. To pass some of the riders mid race who finished in the TOP 15 at natonals was a cool feeling. Till Louisville and the first Gran Prix race it is time to train. Back to work......
End of week 2(or week 5)
Vegas or Bust
Ok the week was hard. I did 2 by Mock race efforts saturday and the legs were pretty good. 15 watts higher this week than last. I had run almost every day this week. The legs felt dead on the run-up. Sunday I backed it down a bit with vegas in 3 days. I did 15 minute of tempo into 2x8 min of threshold and 3 by 3 minutes of threshold with 30sec hard after each. I did 2 hours including a run. So I am off to interbike. I guess I will ride easy Monday and Tuesday the race is at 9PM WED night. Ouch. After a day working the show lets hope I have some killer legs. Bummer I have to rest this week. But I just looked back and this is really WEEK 5 for me. I didn't rest starting the plan and had done week 1 Twice!. So Legs need a break. I had a solid 3 weeks coming into the Plan. Several sets of 2-3x20s and Micro work already.
Ok the week was hard. I did 2 by Mock race efforts saturday and the legs were pretty good. 15 watts higher this week than last. I had run almost every day this week. The legs felt dead on the run-up. Sunday I backed it down a bit with vegas in 3 days. I did 15 minute of tempo into 2x8 min of threshold and 3 by 3 minutes of threshold with 30sec hard after each. I did 2 hours including a run. So I am off to interbike. I guess I will ride easy Monday and Tuesday the race is at 9PM WED night. Ouch. After a day working the show lets hope I have some killer legs. Bummer I have to rest this week. But I just looked back and this is really WEEK 5 for me. I didn't rest starting the plan and had done week 1 Twice!. So Legs need a break. I had a solid 3 weeks coming into the Plan. Several sets of 2-3x20s and Micro work already.
WEEK 2 3X20's thursday
Ok, I have Vegas CX next WED!! The week started pretty lame with LIFE happening and JUST getting runs in MON/Tuesday. I ran hard Tuesday and just couldn't get to the bike. WED I did 8 by 5's
Ok the blow out was sick 397! ON the trainer! ( will check SRM tomorrow)
I was going hard but backed it off a bit knowing i had 7 more to GO. I did the others over 350 so that was pretty rad for me. I did 4 inside and then 4 outside on the CX bike on CX course. I just jumped off the trainer and headed outside for the 2ND half. Legs feel great. they felt incredible running on Tuesday also. I can only get in a few more days before I back off a bit for Vegas. 3 by20's Thursday that should be interesting
Thursday !!! CHECKED SRM all is GOOD
3 BY 20's.. I ran for 30 minutes easy this morning with the PUPS....
Ok, if you read the plan it sounds hard...IT is. BUT I am surviving and still gaining some watts. I had 3 hard weeks before I started the plan and still am drilling it.
It was on. I nailed the first one at almost 340. I kind of ramped and held on for life. I figured if I was going to do it...I might as well get a solid 20 minute out of the deal. I backed way down for the other 2, but kept it in my threshold range. So this is SOLID for me. 4 weeks ago I did all 3 efforts barely over 300 with the same Hrate as today. GOOD sign the legs are headed the right direction. I did each effort 30 watts HIGHER than last time. I had to change my Performance Manager Chart to adjust for the higher threshold. It dropped my TSS by a bit. So Still in the MID 80's for CTL. Not very high ....and with Interbike I will have a hard time getting in rides next week.
Ok the blow out was sick 397! ON the trainer! ( will check SRM tomorrow)
I was going hard but backed it off a bit knowing i had 7 more to GO. I did the others over 350 so that was pretty rad for me. I did 4 inside and then 4 outside on the CX bike on CX course. I just jumped off the trainer and headed outside for the 2ND half. Legs feel great. they felt incredible running on Tuesday also. I can only get in a few more days before I back off a bit for Vegas. 3 by20's Thursday that should be interesting
Thursday !!! CHECKED SRM all is GOOD
3 BY 20's.. I ran for 30 minutes easy this morning with the PUPS....
Ok, if you read the plan it sounds hard...IT is. BUT I am surviving and still gaining some watts. I had 3 hard weeks before I started the plan and still am drilling it.
It was on. I nailed the first one at almost 340. I kind of ramped and held on for life. I figured if I was going to do it...I might as well get a solid 20 minute out of the deal. I backed way down for the other 2, but kept it in my threshold range. So this is SOLID for me. 4 weeks ago I did all 3 efforts barely over 300 with the same Hrate as today. GOOD sign the legs are headed the right direction. I did each effort 30 watts HIGHER than last time. I had to change my Performance Manager Chart to adjust for the higher threshold. It dropped my TSS by a bit. So Still in the MID 80's for CTL. Not very high ....and with Interbike I will have a hard time getting in rides next week.
Week 1 DOWN 11 to GO
Ok week one is over. I will be repeating it with some tweaks after Vegas CX. Ok the body adapts. I pretty much drug through the week. saturday I did 2x23 minute mock race efforts and 5 by 2 minute. Hard ride but watts were LOW............But by Sunday I felt strong again. I opted for a trainer workout because time was short. I did a 30+ minute run and 2 hours on the trainer. Got in some great threshold and a BLOW out of 375watts indoor. not bad. It felt good not epic. 170 tss for the day. At weeks end I feel good again. Legs really did come around and I feel the best I have all week. MEGA. Got in 2x10 minute efforts today at 332 with a super low Hrate . So I still have tons of work to do but a decent sign that I am headed in the right direction.
CX and TSS and Under-reaching
This is why I think I needed a solid training plan:
I really want to get a bit faster this year. I would love to race as well in CX as I feel on the road.
So I started to wonder if this would be to much load to have a good/GREAT CX season. All of us seem to worry to much about over training or blowing up. For the past 3 CX seasons I have trained less and raced more. I found that I could only handle a few workouts during the week if I wanted to race. I also found out that as the season went on my 5 minute and 20 minute wattage would start to drop and not rise. Unlike the road season where I had a huge WINTER base that was 16 weeks of PRE-training I found that rolling into Cross I would drop my workload so much that I was actually getting out of shape relative to the road season. (It didn't feel like I was training less, but looking back now wow!)(!!!!also CX load in CHART is MISSING some races and some Mtn.Training so I would say TSS would be a chunk higher!!!)
Now that I have 3 seasons of files I can look back and see that I was virtually dropping my LOAD by 50% during CX...Compared to the road season. I also found that I have NEVER achieved a decent wattage for 5 minute or 20 Minute during CX season. Even though I had several workouts that had 5 and 20 minute elements to them I was testing at wattage's LOWER than I could do intervals at during road season. Even with the HIGHER workload of road I had better wattage's. I could ride near a peak wattage a few days after a stage race and I could barely ride a reasonable 5 minute with tons of rest during CX. After looking BACK I have found that my PEAK 20 minute files have all FOLLOWED 42-63 days of LOAD. That is at least 6-9 weeks of pretty hard training(CTL of 90-110) and racing. Even with that load I still seem to ride/race my best. Often DURING OR for 1-3 weeks after this load I can find PEAK 5 minute, 20 minute, and HOUR files. Most CX seasons I ride near (40-60CTL) but if you asked me I would say I trained just as hard as road, but now looking at the files it is obvious that what I felt and what was going on are totally different.
I really want to get a bit faster this year. I would love to race as well in CX as I feel on the road.
So I started to wonder if this would be to much load to have a good/GREAT CX season. All of us seem to worry to much about over training or blowing up. For the past 3 CX seasons I have trained less and raced more. I found that I could only handle a few workouts during the week if I wanted to race. I also found out that as the season went on my 5 minute and 20 minute wattage would start to drop and not rise. Unlike the road season where I had a huge WINTER base that was 16 weeks of PRE-training I found that rolling into Cross I would drop my workload so much that I was actually getting out of shape relative to the road season. (It didn't feel like I was training less, but looking back now wow!)(!!!!also CX load in CHART is MISSING some races and some Mtn.Training so I would say TSS would be a chunk higher!!!)
Now that I have 3 seasons of files I can look back and see that I was virtually dropping my LOAD by 50% during CX...Compared to the road season. I also found that I have NEVER achieved a decent wattage for 5 minute or 20 Minute during CX season. Even though I had several workouts that had 5 and 20 minute elements to them I was testing at wattage's LOWER than I could do intervals at during road season. Even with the HIGHER workload of road I had better wattage's. I could ride near a peak wattage a few days after a stage race and I could barely ride a reasonable 5 minute with tons of rest during CX. After looking BACK I have found that my PEAK 20 minute files have all FOLLOWED 42-63 days of LOAD. That is at least 6-9 weeks of pretty hard training(CTL of 90-110) and racing. Even with that load I still seem to ride/race my best. Often DURING OR for 1-3 weeks after this load I can find PEAK 5 minute, 20 minute, and HOUR files. Most CX seasons I ride near (40-60CTL) but if you asked me I would say I trained just as hard as road, but now looking at the files it is obvious that what I felt and what was going on are totally different.
WEEK 1 "Not a rest week"
No joke.. You better have some goals or I don't think you will/can do the work. This is not for those who want to rest during the Fall
OK I STARTED THE Advanced Plan today. I have 3 weeks of CX workouts in so far(CTL of 84 and an ATL of 110) so I am ready to roll into this. My first big Race is VEGAS CX uci 2 www.crossvegas.com/ in 2 weeks. The goal is repeat the first 2 weeks so I can roll with this plan all the way to nationals. I will probably modify the workload a bit to have a mini taper for Vegas. Then I should be able to follow it dead on from the end of September to nationals in Kansas(restart the plan October 1st). Who would of thought I would/could race CX this year after destroying L1 last winter.
DAY 1: NOT A REST DAY..... OUCH! I didn't think this would be that bad, but it hurt. I did half on the trainer and 1/2 outside on the CX bike. That was a pain, but it got my DOGS
out running. The 3 x 10 minute HURT with the 20 Second bursts every 2min(start with a stomp) it makes it easier mentally. I couldn't hit 200% of threshold, but I guess that is something to work towards. I had a rad BLOW-OUT of 375avg. on the trainer. One of the more solid 5 minute efforts I have done indoor seated. The 3 by 1's hurt something FIERCE. I got them done and rode around tempo for awhile on the CX bike. 2 HOURS and 128TSS for the day!
Day 2: Woke up sore... RUN with the pups. I have been running for a few weeks so I did 5 Hills hard and 3 by 1 minute in the deep grass. 35 Minutes total Lifted the bike and CORE.
-tonight I will do 60-90 minutes on the CX bike working on 180's
Day 3: This was hard 5 x8 min+blowout CX bike on gravel/trails. I couldn't keep the watts up but still solid 90%. Broke this into 2 rides morning/night. 6 x1min on cx tonight. This will be 3.5 hours and 161 TSS easy.
DID 4x2 minute mini-race laps and 4x40 sec practice starts (replacing the 6x1) These were brutal with tired legs from this morning.
Day 4: OK legs HURT this morning before the run. I jogged slow ....After 5 x 1 minute hills they actually felt better. I did 10 more short hills. Nothing Epic but a solid 30-40 of moving. GOAL IS TO MAKE SOME GOALS TODAY.
DAY 5: FEEL great today...Yep MICRO burst my fav!! Damn I made it through 3 of them then Half of the last one. More like 135% and AVG watts were threshold. ON CX bike/grass ..... I could have done them all but I have a burely weekend planned an decided this was enough. 10 by 12 second starts were rad. I hope by Dec I can do a better job hitting the pedal faster. 103 TSS
OK I STARTED THE Advanced Plan today. I have 3 weeks of CX workouts in so far(CTL of 84 and an ATL of 110) so I am ready to roll into this. My first big Race is VEGAS CX uci 2 www.crossvegas.com/ in 2 weeks. The goal is repeat the first 2 weeks so I can roll with this plan all the way to nationals. I will probably modify the workload a bit to have a mini taper for Vegas. Then I should be able to follow it dead on from the end of September to nationals in Kansas(restart the plan October 1st). Who would of thought I would/could race CX this year after destroying L1 last winter.
DAY 1: NOT A REST DAY..... OUCH! I didn't think this would be that bad, but it hurt. I did half on the trainer and 1/2 outside on the CX bike. That was a pain, but it got my DOGS
out running. The 3 x 10 minute HURT with the 20 Second bursts every 2min(start with a stomp) it makes it easier mentally. I couldn't hit 200% of threshold, but I guess that is something to work towards. I had a rad BLOW-OUT of 375avg. on the trainer. One of the more solid 5 minute efforts I have done indoor seated. The 3 by 1's hurt something FIERCE. I got them done and rode around tempo for awhile on the CX bike. 2 HOURS and 128TSS for the day!Day 2: Woke up sore... RUN with the pups. I have been running for a few weeks so I did 5 Hills hard and 3 by 1 minute in the deep grass. 35 Minutes total Lifted the bike and CORE.
-tonight I will do 60-90 minutes on the CX bike working on 180's
Day 3: This was hard 5 x8 min+blowout CX bike on gravel/trails. I couldn't keep the watts up but still solid 90%. Broke this into 2 rides morning/night. 6 x1min on cx tonight. This will be 3.5 hours and 161 TSS easy.
DID 4x2 minute mini-race laps and 4x40 sec practice starts (replacing the 6x1) These were brutal with tired legs from this morning.
Day 4: OK legs HURT this morning before the run. I jogged slow ....After 5 x 1 minute hills they actually felt better. I did 10 more short hills. Nothing Epic but a solid 30-40 of moving. GOAL IS TO MAKE SOME GOALS TODAY.
DAY 5: FEEL great today...Yep MICRO burst my fav!! Damn I made it through 3 of them then Half of the last one. More like 135% and AVG watts were threshold. ON CX bike/grass ..... I could have done them all but I have a burely weekend planned an decided this was enough. 10 by 12 second starts were rad. I hope by Dec I can do a better job hitting the pedal faster. 103 TSS
Lets get ready to ROLL
After several seasons of racing cycloCX (CX), I have come to view CX not just as a way to spend the fall having fun, but more as a racing season of its own that involves key races and specific training. For the first few seasons I pretty much trained like a burned out road biker and didn’t take my CX results very seriously. It didn’t take long before CX took on a life of its own and now is my favorite 120 days of the year.
After some thought I have decided to write several training plans. Each slightly different than the other. I wanted to create a plan that would basically help you train to “lap your previous CX self.” The goals of the program are to help you develop fitness you have never had, to help you start building a solid foundation to race from both now and in the future, and to see some remarkable growth in your strength as a CX racer.
If you have raced CX before, I don’t need to explain that it is the most brutal 60 minutes on 2 wheels. It is a full body sufferfest with the need for 2 gears: Full gas and .Full Brake… For some it races like a 60 minute time trial but if you look through a power file you will quickly observe that a competitive CX race has very little tempo. It is pedal to the floor in between short bits of rest. If you train for this type of effort effectively, you can race the full hour not just the first 15 minutes.
After racing my 3rd season of CX I found a constant theme of running out of gas 30 minutes into the race and holding on for dear life the remaining 30. I would dread the last 5-6 laps. I often could hold my position but I was no longer racing I was just in survival mode. I decided last season, with the help of my coach “Hunter Allen from Peaks,” to try to gain the needed fitness to turn CX from a season of CX training for the road to a season of racing entirely devoted to itself; to take it seriously and try to be competitive at a higher level than before. So, Hunter and I put together a plan to help me gain the fitness I would need for this very different type of racing.
I raced 12 CX races during the fall of 2006. Not once did I feel like I had the death grip just wanting the race to end. Sure there were plenty of races I wished I was stronger and got passed in the last few laps. But for the first time ever I could race the full hour and the next day get up and do it again. I have yet to see the wheels of Ryan Trebon in a CX race, but to be honest I might just not have the genetics for that.
After some thought I have decided to write several training plans. Each slightly different than the other. I wanted to create a plan that would basically help you train to “lap your previous CX self.” The goals of the program are to help you develop fitness you have never had, to help you start building a solid foundation to race from both now and in the future, and to see some remarkable growth in your strength as a CX racer.If you have raced CX before, I don’t need to explain that it is the most brutal 60 minutes on 2 wheels. It is a full body sufferfest with the need for 2 gears: Full gas and .Full Brake… For some it races like a 60 minute time trial but if you look through a power file you will quickly observe that a competitive CX race has very little tempo. It is pedal to the floor in between short bits of rest. If you train for this type of effort effectively, you can race the full hour not just the first 15 minutes.
After racing my 3rd season of CX I found a constant theme of running out of gas 30 minutes into the race and holding on for dear life the remaining 30. I would dread the last 5-6 laps. I often could hold my position but I was no longer racing I was just in survival mode. I decided last season, with the help of my coach “Hunter Allen from Peaks,” to try to gain the needed fitness to turn CX from a season of CX training for the road to a season of racing entirely devoted to itself; to take it seriously and try to be competitive at a higher level than before. So, Hunter and I put together a plan to help me gain the fitness I would need for this very different type of racing.I raced 12 CX races during the fall of 2006. Not once did I feel like I had the death grip just wanting the race to end. Sure there were plenty of races I wished I was stronger and got passed in the last few laps. But for the first time ever I could race the full hour and the next day get up and do it again. I have yet to see the wheels of Ryan Trebon in a CX race, but to be honest I might just not have the genetics for that.
What I feel like when I am racing CX…A narrative with myself at nationals…
2006 Elite CycloCX nationals.
“Dude this is nuts..120 studs all around me ….5 rows back from Johnathon Page and Ryan Trebon…7 rows of guys behind me. I wish I had some UCI points to get me a bit further up at the start…Ah it doesn’t matter..5th row is about where you belong. 58 guys in front of you lets just see if I can finish 59th like my race number..The gun fires my mind is blank but totally on task. Stay upright and out of trouble. Push your elbows out…Stay up and move up. I am grabbing at every little pocket before another rider fills it. 70 are behind me and all believe they should have started on the front row. 50 guys in front of me trying to get to the first corner at the front….Don’t wreck dude it will be over before this thing gets started. Elbows and wheels are everywhere...As we fly through the first corner I almost close my eyes. It looks like a blender of legs, gears, mud, and a rainbow of jerseys. Mid-way into the first lap we are already 45 seconds back from the leaders. Guys are grabbing the inside line on every corner just trying to move up and get into the action. I keep telling myself to pedal hard and rest. Each chance I get I move up a few spots. We hit the run-up. It is so loud!!!!!! I can barely see with all the people and noise. It is like being in a tunnel. Everything was so cloudy. The Noise powered my legs all the way up the hill…. I can’t tell if I am breathing. They are screaming Chris Horner’s name. We are shoulder to shoulder. I remount my bike at the top right behind Chris Horner…well, maybe he was only there because he had a technical earlier…but still…it’s CHRIS HORNER on a bike and I’m with him!
That was one of the coolest moments I have ever had on the bike. I can’t believe I am here. For the next 9 laps I was in awe. Lap after the lap the crowd and the racers didn’t back down. I raced for 60 minutes into 29th place. There wasn’t a racer in front of me that didn’t deserve to be there. I was able to race from Gun to bell-lap. One year ago I would have lapped myself. One year ago I would have been 100th in this field.
At this moment CycloCX had gone from a way to CX train and stay in shape to a full personal obsession. I finished on the same lap as the leaders in a race just the year before I would have been lapped twice. CycloCX has gone from a way to CX-train to the sport I now CX-train to do.
CYCLO CX 120 DAYS
So the prep for CX is pretty simple. Race a full road or mountain season so your legs are prepared for the beating they will take in CX. It is easier to arrive in September in shape to train for CX than to survive a long winter and race the road bike. But the hurdle most riders run into is that they are so burned coming into the CX season that training is the last thing they want to do. Well this might not be the training plan for you. For the best results I would say end your road racing in July and take a bit of a mental break before so you are amped when you get the CX bike out and still reasonably fit that you are not starting from scratch. CX usually starts the first week of October and ends a few weeks before Christmas. If you are lucky enough to live or race in Europe you would get to race CX for 2 more months.
So training for a successful CX season really gets started in August. If you are racing a local or national series you will be expected to have reasonable form by early October. When I say reasonable form I mean ready to hammer for 60 non-stop minutes. That is a ton of hard pedaling and if you expect results you better be ready to hammer. Every season it seems like more and more racers are racing CX. It is no longer the sport that the un-trained summer cyclist can race off the couch and place on a podium.
Our season in Utah starts early and plenty of the local talent races some of the national events so the big-guns come swinging early. I have found that racing into shape in CX isn’t that much fun so the purpose of this plan is to be fit early and get stronger as the season progresses. The wear and tear of CX is mega on the body. I find that if you start behind the 8-ball it makes for an impossible task of getting ahead during the CX season. Think of it as a Road Bike season that starts in April and ends in May. You have just 8-10 weeks of key races. Most CX races are a series so the Points in October are as important as the points November. If the goal isn’t a race series you can obviously back off a hair early and come on strong at the end. But if the goal is collecting points whether UCI for nationals or local points to be the big fish. You better not be to far off you’re A game in October and expect to see a miracle by late November. I don’t want to be misunderstood here. I am not saying you need to have 100% form in October. But if you come in too rested or to out of shape the season is just too short to see a huge improvement in just 8 weeks. You will certainly get stronger but that is all relative. Do you want to be faster than the year before? If so, let’s do some things differently…and see if we get some results. 
“Dude this is nuts..120 studs all around me ….5 rows back from Johnathon Page and Ryan Trebon…7 rows of guys behind me. I wish I had some UCI points to get me a bit further up at the start…Ah it doesn’t matter..5th row is about where you belong. 58 guys in front of you lets just see if I can finish 59th like my race number..The gun fires my mind is blank but totally on task. Stay upright and out of trouble. Push your elbows out…Stay up and move up. I am grabbing at every little pocket before another rider fills it. 70 are behind me and all believe they should have started on the front row. 50 guys in front of me trying to get to the first corner at the front….Don’t wreck dude it will be over before this thing gets started. Elbows and wheels are everywhere...As we fly through the first corner I almost close my eyes. It looks like a blender of legs, gears, mud, and a rainbow of jerseys. Mid-way into the first lap we are already 45 seconds back from the leaders. Guys are grabbing the inside line on every corner just trying to move up and get into the action. I keep telling myself to pedal hard and rest. Each chance I get I move up a few spots. We hit the run-up. It is so loud!!!!!! I can barely see with all the people and noise. It is like being in a tunnel. Everything was so cloudy. The Noise powered my legs all the way up the hill…. I can’t tell if I am breathing. They are screaming Chris Horner’s name. We are shoulder to shoulder. I remount my bike at the top right behind Chris Horner…well, maybe he was only there because he had a technical earlier…but still…it’s CHRIS HORNER on a bike and I’m with him!
That was one of the coolest moments I have ever had on the bike. I can’t believe I am here. For the next 9 laps I was in awe. Lap after the lap the crowd and the racers didn’t back down. I raced for 60 minutes into 29th place. There wasn’t a racer in front of me that didn’t deserve to be there. I was able to race from Gun to bell-lap. One year ago I would have lapped myself. One year ago I would have been 100th in this field.At this moment CycloCX had gone from a way to CX train and stay in shape to a full personal obsession. I finished on the same lap as the leaders in a race just the year before I would have been lapped twice. CycloCX has gone from a way to CX-train to the sport I now CX-train to do.
CYCLO CX 120 DAYSSo the prep for CX is pretty simple. Race a full road or mountain season so your legs are prepared for the beating they will take in CX. It is easier to arrive in September in shape to train for CX than to survive a long winter and race the road bike. But the hurdle most riders run into is that they are so burned coming into the CX season that training is the last thing they want to do. Well this might not be the training plan for you. For the best results I would say end your road racing in July and take a bit of a mental break before so you are amped when you get the CX bike out and still reasonably fit that you are not starting from scratch. CX usually starts the first week of October and ends a few weeks before Christmas. If you are lucky enough to live or race in Europe you would get to race CX for 2 more months.
So training for a successful CX season really gets started in August. If you are racing a local or national series you will be expected to have reasonable form by early October. When I say reasonable form I mean ready to hammer for 60 non-stop minutes. That is a ton of hard pedaling and if you expect results you better be ready to hammer. Every season it seems like more and more racers are racing CX. It is no longer the sport that the un-trained summer cyclist can race off the couch and place on a podium.
Our season in Utah starts early and plenty of the local talent races some of the national events so the big-guns come swinging early. I have found that racing into shape in CX isn’t that much fun so the purpose of this plan is to be fit early and get stronger as the season progresses. The wear and tear of CX is mega on the body. I find that if you start behind the 8-ball it makes for an impossible task of getting ahead during the CX season. Think of it as a Road Bike season that starts in April and ends in May. You have just 8-10 weeks of key races. Most CX races are a series so the Points in October are as important as the points November. If the goal isn’t a race series you can obviously back off a hair early and come on strong at the end. But if the goal is collecting points whether UCI for nationals or local points to be the big fish. You better not be to far off you’re A game in October and expect to see a miracle by late November. I don’t want to be misunderstood here. I am not saying you need to have 100% form in October. But if you come in too rested or to out of shape the season is just too short to see a huge improvement in just 8 weeks. You will certainly get stronger but that is all relative. Do you want to be faster than the year before? If so, let’s do some things differently…and see if we get some results. 
CYCLO WHAT?
Cyclocross
“the only time I have taken money out of a man’s front zipper in his pants in front of several hundred cheering people including my family”
sam..........describing the mad house scene at the top of the infamous 50 METER run-up at Jinglecross rock in Iowa City, IA.
I have found that most of the things in life I absolutely love, a large portion of the world doesn’t even know they exist. I will lump Cyclocross in with the “What Sports” The sports you say the name and you get “What?” “Cyclo what??” After a lengthy explanation and a blank stair you go about your day knowing you just confused or entertained someone with huge gestures of you throwing the bike over you shoulder and running up a hill.
How can so much pleasure come in disguise with so much pain. I have stopped trying to explore why I am so motivated and excited about activities that have brought me little if any monetary reward and so much discomfort. Cyclocross was a sport I had never heard of and didn’t understand until I randomly found myself at the start line of a local CX race in Knoxville, TN. I had heard rumors of a small gathering of bike racers in a small park that involved a bit of running and jumping of obstacles. It was mid-winter which made the decision even sillier. I really can’t explain why I would be so excited about such an odd sounding sport but here I was Saturday morning 4o’ degrees with a 7 speed road bike ready to take on all comers. From the start it was painfully obvious I had no idea what I was in for. These guys were fast. I really hadn’t wrapped my head around full speed dismounts over railroad ties and throwing my clunky Trek over my shoulder and sprinting up a hill. When the dust settled I had totally destroyed my relatively fit body in just 60 minutes. I was completely covered with bruises and had pulled muscles in my groin I didn’t know I had. I have taken many beatings in life attempting new sports, but none had been this brutal or so quick. It took days to walk normally but, for some reason, all I hoped is that I would heal quickly enough to race the following weekend. To say I was hooked is an understatement. I had fallen in love on the first date—painful beating and all. After several seasons of Cyclocross I have found I am not the only racer with this affliction. Cyclocross passion is simple…. You either love it or you hate it. There is no middle ground. I was now the guy when someone said Cyclo….I finished their sentence with a grin “cross”. If you are looking at this blog and wonder why the guy is running a muddy hill carrying his bike many thoughts might be going through your mind. Is this some sort of joke? Does he have a flat tire? Does he owe money to the guys chasing him? Five years ago I would have been asking the same question. I owned a road bike and a mountain bike. Heck, I even tried to ride a unicycle with no luck in college. I had an older brother who raced a ton on the dirt and road and I had watched the Tour de France as an avid fan for years. I had no idea that cyclocross even existed. Times have changed a ton in those five years and cross has grown leaps and bounds here in the US. For the most part it has moved from the freakshow opening act to the main stage. All of the major bike brands have all come to the party with some pretty impressive off the shelf cyclocross bikes. What was once a non-uscf licensed event is now the fastest growing segment of racing on two wheels. Cyclocross is here to stay and, for some of the very same reasons I love this sport, so do many of you. I hope this blog serves as a big welcome to many of you who are just getting started. You are about to start a journey into a sport that will make you wish Fall never ends. For those of you who are already hooked I hope this blog serves as a resource for the sport and propaganda to support our cause so we don't have to hear.......
“the only time I have taken money out of a man’s front zipper in his pants in front of several hundred cheering people including my family”
sam..........describing the mad house scene at the top of the infamous 50 METER run-up at Jinglecross rock in Iowa City, IA.
I have found that most of the things in life I absolutely love, a large portion of the world doesn’t even know they exist. I will lump Cyclocross in with the “What Sports” The sports you say the name and you get “What?” “Cyclo what??” After a lengthy explanation and a blank stair you go about your day knowing you just confused or entertained someone with huge gestures of you throwing the bike over you shoulder and running up a hill.How can so much pleasure come in disguise with so much pain. I have stopped trying to explore why I am so motivated and excited about activities that have brought me little if any monetary reward and so much discomfort. Cyclocross was a sport I had never heard of and didn’t understand until I randomly found myself at the start line of a local CX race in Knoxville, TN. I had heard rumors of a small gathering of bike racers in a small park that involved a bit of running and jumping of obstacles. It was mid-winter which made the decision even sillier. I really can’t explain why I would be so excited about such an odd sounding sport but here I was Saturday morning 4o’ degrees with a 7 speed road bike ready to take on all comers. From the start it was painfully obvious I had no idea what I was in for. These guys were fast. I really hadn’t wrapped my head around full speed dismounts over railroad ties and throwing my clunky Trek over my shoulder and sprinting up a hill. When the dust settled I had totally destroyed my relatively fit body in just 60 minutes. I was completely covered with bruises and had pulled muscles in my groin I didn’t know I had. I have taken many beatings in life attempting new sports, but none had been this brutal or so quick. It took days to walk normally but, for some reason, all I hoped is that I would heal quickly enough to race the following weekend. To say I was hooked is an understatement. I had fallen in love on the first date—painful beating and all. After several seasons of Cyclocross I have found I am not the only racer with this affliction. Cyclocross passion is simple…. You either love it or you hate it. There is no middle ground. I was now the guy when someone said Cyclo….I finished their sentence with a grin “cross”. If you are looking at this blog and wonder why the guy is running a muddy hill carrying his bike many thoughts might be going through your mind. Is this some sort of joke? Does he have a flat tire? Does he owe money to the guys chasing him? Five years ago I would have been asking the same question. I owned a road bike and a mountain bike. Heck, I even tried to ride a unicycle with no luck in college. I had an older brother who raced a ton on the dirt and road and I had watched the Tour de France as an avid fan for years. I had no idea that cyclocross even existed. Times have changed a ton in those five years and cross has grown leaps and bounds here in the US. For the most part it has moved from the freakshow opening act to the main stage. All of the major bike brands have all come to the party with some pretty impressive off the shelf cyclocross bikes. What was once a non-uscf licensed event is now the fastest growing segment of racing on two wheels. Cyclocross is here to stay and, for some of the very same reasons I love this sport, so do many of you. I hope this blog serves as a big welcome to many of you who are just getting started. You are about to start a journey into a sport that will make you wish Fall never ends. For those of you who are already hooked I hope this blog serves as a resource for the sport and propaganda to support our cause so we don't have to hear.......
“Cyclo what.”
BIO
I love CX !! I put on a local series trying to spread the word. I just got done helping the "MAN" Hunter Allen put together a power based training plan. I think it will help CX racers stay on track through the fall. It is easy to get lost.
I wish I was better at CX, but I just love it anyway. JUST....like a few old girlfriends that I loved, and they just didn't seem to love me..... Well I am not giving up on this one.
I am working hard to improve my weaknesses at CX. This season I am going to try and ad a bit more serious training and see if I can find a few results this season. My goal is pretty simple and that is to race the strongest HOUR I can. Each time I hit the line I like to know I left it all out there. I love it when I am fit enough to race the full hour...FULL ON...
For CX I ride a Specialized S-works 56cm, 9spd with Dura Ace/XTR. Bontrager x-lite tubies with fat tires to help me corner. About 17 pounds.
On the road a SEVEN Elium Race(decked out with all Reynolds carbon) it is sweet.
For power I run a SRM PRO Compact, Ergomo on the TT bike, and train with a wireless PT sl for CX. I have been a power dork for about 4 years.
2007 CROSS KICK OFF BACK TO SCHOOL
AUGUST CROSS??????
BACK TO SCHOOL (CX SCHOOL)
OK I am not a student....But if I was.... I would have on some new Shoes, and a "Rad"Trapper Keeper, and would be headed off to class with my IPOD blaring and my cell phone attached to my ear. I live on campus and my wife is a Professor...BUT my first class this year was a RUDE WELCOME back into CX season. I went to HEBER, UTAH to "WORLDS COLLIDE" the first Cross Race of the season. There wasn't a syllabus and the first day of class was EPIC. The classroom was packed with enthusiastic CX racers excited about the early season race.It was a chance to blow the dust out of the engine. Only the truly weird CX'rs showed up. WHO WOULD RACE CX in 90 degree heat. Well I guess there are plenty of crazy people in the world. I drove 6 hours round trip just to go to school."FIRST DAY OF CLASS" DR. Gillespie handed out a TEST on the first day. Fresh off his Top 10 at Norba Nationals he could have ridden a Unicycle and still almost lapped me. He started 2nd ROW and was in the lead before the 2nd corner. After a few laps I wish I had left a pair of training wheels on my bike. I could barely keep it upright. Gravel...Gravel..and more Gravel...
It was 50 minutes of pure suffering. I got a great start and was sitting in 3rd after the 1st lap. Ali Goulet broke his chain and I moved into 2nd. I didn't plan on Ali breaking his chain to move up...but in the back of my mind I figured the kamikaze "all or nothing" style he races would eventually get him today. After that I quickly began to fade. By minute 20 I was in 4th behind Peterson(u23 World team MTN) and Gallagher(REALLY OLD GUY that is fast). Still great company to be racing with.....BUT after a few minutes they told me I couldn't eat lunch at their table. Soon I was alone racing for 4h. Before I knew it I was in 5h and barely holding on. Sagar and other racers were charging. I held onto 5th by a tire at the line.So CX for 2007 is in session. Obviously I have some homework to do. For those of you who missed the first day of class you have a ton of work to make up. Part of me wishes this semester was going to be an easy one...but if it was.... I would be in Medical school, and not racing CX.
BACK TO SCHOOL (CX SCHOOL)
OK I am not a student....But if I was.... I would have on some new Shoes, and a "Rad"Trapper Keeper, and would be headed off to class with my IPOD blaring and my cell phone attached to my ear. I live on campus and my wife is a Professor...BUT my first class this year was a RUDE WELCOME back into CX season. I went to HEBER, UTAH to "WORLDS COLLIDE" the first Cross Race of the season. There wasn't a syllabus and the first day of class was EPIC. The classroom was packed with enthusiastic CX racers excited about the early season race.It was a chance to blow the dust out of the engine. Only the truly weird CX'rs showed up. WHO WOULD RACE CX in 90 degree heat. Well I guess there are plenty of crazy people in the world. I drove 6 hours round trip just to go to school."FIRST DAY OF CLASS" DR. Gillespie handed out a TEST on the first day. Fresh off his Top 10 at Norba Nationals he could have ridden a Unicycle and still almost lapped me. He started 2nd ROW and was in the lead before the 2nd corner. After a few laps I wish I had left a pair of training wheels on my bike. I could barely keep it upright. Gravel...Gravel..and more Gravel...
It was 50 minutes of pure suffering. I got a great start and was sitting in 3rd after the 1st lap. Ali Goulet broke his chain and I moved into 2nd. I didn't plan on Ali breaking his chain to move up...but in the back of my mind I figured the kamikaze "all or nothing" style he races would eventually get him today. After that I quickly began to fade. By minute 20 I was in 4th behind Peterson(u23 World team MTN) and Gallagher(REALLY OLD GUY that is fast). Still great company to be racing with.....BUT after a few minutes they told me I couldn't eat lunch at their table. Soon I was alone racing for 4h. Before I knew it I was in 5h and barely holding on. Sagar and other racers were charging. I held onto 5th by a tire at the line.So CX for 2007 is in session. Obviously I have some homework to do. For those of you who missed the first day of class you have a ton of work to make up. Part of me wishes this semester was going to be an easy one...but if it was.... I would be in Medical school, and not racing CX. 
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