Pro Clinics
Jacob Fetty talked about picking a clinic or pre-season camp in our first installment of our clinic series, and we’ve covered a lot of them. Take a look and see if any are of interest, since most of them are held every summer.
In his article on Four Best Ways to Spend Money on Training, Fetty lists “a coach to work with and/or a camp or clinic” as a priority.
Base for ’cross starts soon. Do you have a plan of attack for the upcoming season?
Look for coaching packages that extend the value by attending a camp. At Cycle-Smart we offer great (inexpensive) plans to attendees of our annual ’cross camp. Look around your area and see what is available. Aside from Cycle-Smart, you may want to consider camps by FasCat or JVB Coaching, as they typically have various offerings in different locations, and keep an eye out on CXM’s calendar on the website. The new 2013 calendar will be ready for updating soon, so stay tuned!
Coaching, in a nutshell, allows you to have a sound plan that follows time-tested guidance and is technique-centered around objective and honest feedback.
Do you need a coach? A few of our newest National Champions weighed in on the ins-and-outs of working with someone.
We’ve covered a few clinics with the pros in the past, and here are some of the tips and tricks that we’ve picked up.
Kaitlin Antonneau Women’s Clinic Group Circle. © Joe Bellante
Cincinnati Cyclocross Kaitlin Antonneau Women’s Pro Clinic Recap & Tips
- When riding into a steep hill (long sand or mud) that’s going to force a dismount; Kaitlin advises to get off the bike before it looses momentum. Maintaining forward momentum is key.
- Kaitlin said not to follow someone else’s line into sand, saying it’s too unpredictable. While in some pro races competitors will work together to carve a clear and rideable line in the sand, the practice is rare in the lower categories. Kaitlin demonstrated to hit the sand fast, stay light on the front end, pedal, and hover.
- If you have to dismount and run a long distance up stairs, through mud or sand, Kaitlin says the shoulder carry allows you to run more effectively.
Cycle-Smart Cyclocross Camp Features Pro Racers Adam Myerson and Gabby Day
Myerson was joined by a host of Cycle-Smart coaches, and the weekend-long clinic had riders practicing everything from starts to corners to barriers, with a new addition of a sand dune section that showed riders the right (and wrong) way to take a sandy section in a race.
