Greetings ‘Cross racers and amused onlookers,
Our first ECCC cyclocross race is one month from today! In this month’s newsletter I’ll discuss October training, and then some tips on “indoor training.” Such techniques are useful when it’s thunderstorming or hurricaning outside, or when the lecture/lab meeting you’re attending is really boring . . .
TRAINING FOR OCTOBER
If you’ve been diligently training all summer and are currently in good shape, consider the following. You should try to do two really challenging, or “breakthrough” workouts per week for the next three weeks. One day should be just below race pace, either long intervals or an actual race. Consider the race in East Falmouth this weekend, MTB Easterns next weekend, and Canton the weekend after that. There’s also a Sunday morning training series at the velodrome in Londonderry, NH. Your second hard day should be several days away from your first, and might consist of short (3-5 minute) VO2max intervals or a long (45 – 120 minutes, depending on ability) steady tempo ride. The remaining days of the week should be fairly easy, perhaps two days aerobic, one active recovery, and two days off. Sleep lots! Take the final week or week and a half of October as a taper before the double-race weekend Nov 1-2.
If you haven’t been diligently training and fear that hard workouts could induce a stroke and/or torn Achilles, but you still want to do some races, consider the easier plan:
– Ride your bike 4 to 5 days per week, however you feel like, for the next three weeks. Take a recovery week at the end of the month.
– Get lots of sleep, eat well, etc
– Tune up your bike, make sure it’s in great shape, and then pray to the Gods of Pinch Flats and Dropped Chains to strike down upon your competitors with great vengeance and furious anger.
“INDOOR TRAINING”
Watching other people ride their bikes is a great way to learn how to ride yours. Some good cyclocross videos here:
http://www.cyclocrossvideos.com/
http://www.crosstube.net/
http://www.cyclofile.com/
http://www.youtube.com
For training advice from a pro, check out some of Adam Myerson’s articles:
http://cycle-smart.com/articles/index.html
For ‘cross related news, race coverage, etc:
http://cxmagazine.com/
To find out how you stack up against your favorite pros (or teammates!) play with the gizmo here. Extra credit if you can come up with a superior ranking algorithm and prove to me why it’s superior:
http://www.crossresults.com/
If you need to buy cyclocross parts, this is the place to go. They’re located in Massachusetts, so regular ground shipping is generally next day, and they’re super great folks too.
http://www.cyclocrossworld.com/
You *may* be able to learn a thing or two from the chat rooms. The first is full of propeller-heads debating things like which brake straddle cable is the most aerodynamic, while the latter seems to center around the quality of the cupcakes at last year’s Sucker Brook race. Mostly inside jokes, but occasionally a worthwhile post.
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=47
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/necyclocross/
Lastly, if you want to improve your Flemish before making the leap to the Benelux ‘cross circuit, read up here:
http://www.sport.be/nl/wielrennen/veldrijden/
That’s all for now. In a few weeks, our sixth and final (yay!) newsletter will discuss race-day preparation.
Bill