Posts in category training & skills

By now, you’ve probably read about our newest noob columnist, Josh. Why cyclocross and why now? Well, don’t ask us, just check out his first …

by Kate Lansell The first Dirty Deeds (the cyclocross series that’s growing the sport in Australia) women’s skills session was held last Saturday at Darebin …

by Molly Hurford The off-season isn’t really much of an off season for any of our serious women racers, as we found out in our …

Over the year, and especially in the months leading up to the start of ’cross season, here at Cyclocross Magazine, we get a lot of questions from novice racers and people who are excited to be trying their first race in the fall. The main question we hear: “how do I get started?”

In this new bi-weekly feature, Newbie News, we’ll be talking about how to get started racing cyclocross, regardless of skill level, budget or fitness. We wanted to start this column with a bang, and give you a preview of what’s to come as the weeks progress and the season gets closer and closer.

It’s the debate of the ages: should you be incorporating running into your cyclocross training program? We run during our races constantly: over the barriers, through the mud, across the beach, up the hill. For a pure cyclist with no running experience, that can be an overwhelming addition to a race.

by Molly Hurford Our Women’s Wednesday column is back, and this time we’ve asked around to find out what it is that female racers are …

by Molly Hurford Ever wonder how to fuel during a long ride without getting bored, or worse, getting the dreaded “gut-rot” (cyclocrossers might know it …

by Molly Hurford It’s the off-season for most, the beginning of road season for some, and for a good chunk (pun intended) of racers, now …

Seth Hosmer, a racer, cycling coach and chiropractor based in Portland, Oregon, contributed an excellent and very well received article in CXM’s Issue 14, “Foam …

by Molly Hurford With Nationals rapidly approaching, it can’t hurt to brush up on some basic techniques: after all, no matter what the course conditions, …

by Molly Hurford We recently interviewed Graeme Street, the creator of the Cyclo90 H.I.T. Program, and now that we’ve had time to check out the …

Cyclocross Magazine got a rare look at a top-’crosser’s power file: Ryan Trebon’s (LTS-Felt) race winning effort at the 2011 Planet Bike USGP. Power specialist …

Before you can go out and preview a course at any given race, you should be “previewing” your bike for the weekend, making sure everything …

by Molly Hurford If you’re part of the New England cyclocross scene, you’ve probably come across a Keough or two while racing. As the managers …

In the just-released Issue 14, our regular contributors all chipped in with advice for a piece on 25 Things to Do on Raceday (and Robbie …

This week: cheap eats. When reading up for this article, I came across two schools of thought: those who ride to eat and those who eat to ride. I can’t pretend to be too partisan, I have sympathy for both camps.

The Wall Street Journal reported that a new altitude simulator called the CVAC Pod, may boost athletic performance. The pod works by suctioning out air from the pod to simulate being at a high altitude…

Today, we caught up with Simon Burney, the author of the seminal how to book on cyclocross, Cyclocross Training and Technique, now in its 3rd edition. He is a former professional cyclocross racer and has spent more than twenty years managing professional cyclocross and mountain bike teams, working with some of the top cyclocross racers in the world. Simon served as the Performance Manager for mountain bike at British Cycling and has raced, wrenched, or managed the national team at the Cyclocross World Championships for 28 years. He’s spoken with us before, but since the season is about to stat, we wanted to pick his brain for some tips for our new-to-cyclocross readers and get an idea of what he’s been up to lately.

Here at Cyclocross Magazine, we’re excited to launch our first of many how-to videos. In this series, we’ll be asking elite riders to show us how they perfected skills like remounts, dismounts, cornering, barriers, sand and quite a few other tricks.

You already know that cyclocross is good for you — you are informed reader of Cyclocross Magazine, after all — and you certainly know ‘cross is good for your body. It strengthens your legs, and it strengthens your arms and core. It’s good for the heart, and for the lungs, and for the waistline. It’s good for pretty much everything — except the skin of your calves and ankles that your pedals always tear up.

We started each day with early morning strength conditioning—running bleachers, doing plyometric stations with power skips, lateral hops, ab work. Late morning entailed specific cyclocross training on a cyclocross circuit and, in the afternoon, we did some big training rides in the mountains.

For as long as there’s been cyclocross, there has been a separation of the men’s and women’s fields. And while women’s payouts may not rival those of the men in most races, it is doubtful that women would ever complain about not being mixed into the men’s races. There are obvious performance differences between the sexes, and today’s column looks at some of the most recent research on those differences.

Collegiate athletics is an interesting arena: there are both ups and downs to being extremely athletic in college, though anyone reading this is sure to point out that the good surely outweighs the bad. However, sometimes collegiate athletic programs can cause high levels of stress in students, and sometimes the demands can hurt the students more than helping them. On the flip side, according to one study, students tend to have “perceived barriers” when it comes to physical activity, that is to say, they find excuses for not getting involved in sports. Today, we’re taking a look at three different studies about collegiate athletes, and how they can relate to various collegiate cycling programs.

It’s that time of year when cyclocross racers are pulling their bikes out of basements and garages, getting ready to do some drills. However, before you jump into the season and hit your saddle the wrong way, you might want to consider starting a stretching regimen before practicing remounts and dismounts. Contributing author David Perez has got some easy stretches to make sure you don’t suffer any setbacks before the racing has even begun. (This article was originally published in our premier Issue 1.)

One of the best cyclocross skills to learn as a new racer is learning how to take “transitions.” (Not just barriers: transitions can mean a …

It takes about a week to get Santiago Lorenzo on the phone, and when I do he doesn’t want to extrapolate about heat training. Lorenzo is a research scientist who, until recently, studied at the University of Oregon before picking up his PhD and moving to sunnier climes. He’s also an NCAA champion and 2004 Olympian in the decathlon, which means he’s a serious athlete (do you know the 10 events in the decathlon? I didn’t and went to look them up — anyone who can excel at all of them, and over two days, knows a thing or two about getting the most out of one’s body). He’s also published a study about heat training that may change the way we prepare for hot and cold events.

The idea of going to a cyclocross clinic can be daunting for some. It’s nerve-wracking to be confronted with trying new techniques, learning completely new skills or even just practicing old ones in front of a crowd. And for me, lining up and taking an off-camber taped-off turn with everyone else watching sounds sort of like the fourth or fifth circle of hell. However, it’s not that bad. Really. In fact, it can be pretty darn fun, not to mention extremely helpful.

Creatine is one of those supplements that you hear about with relative frequency, but what exactly is it supposed to be doing? Studies about the supplement have been cropping up for the last couple of years, and they all seem to have slightly differing opinions on the usefulness of creatine. It’s been suggested that creatine supplements help to reduce fatigue on muscles, improve recovery, and increase muscle strength. That’s a tall order for a nitrogenous organic acid. Today, we’re looking at a round-up of studies done on the topic to see what the experts have to say.

June is here in just a week, and September and racing season are not too far behind. If you haven’t started coming up with a plan for the season, now is the time to start. We have a great article here by USAC Level 2 coach Mike Birner about how to start the season strong by building a good base over the summer. Birner believes that, “Base period should be about building the ‘engine,'” and following his advice will get you one high-horsepower motor!

With the 2010 Cyclocross National Championships registration now open, it’s the perfect time to think about training specifically for the big event or another goal …