Sand in your pedals

Athlete Renee braved the snowstorm and went out and raced at the Boulder Reservoir. She and Coach Alison learned all about riding/running in the sand.

Both women's pedals got gunked up by the sand and they either couldn't clip out (Alison) or couldn't clip in (Renee). The solution? Loosen pedals and spray some lube in there. They may be too loose for other conditions, but with the sand/mud they will work perfectly. Just make sure to tighten the next time you ride.

Make your own!

Barriers...the roadies demise.
How to do you learn to like the barriers? By being good at them!
How do you get to "be good at them"?
Practice!

"But where do I practice barriers" you may be asking. The simple answer is... at home! Make your own barriers! Use what you have at home or what's close to home. That's the great thing about Cross riding; it can be done anywhere!

No excuses!

Cross skills...Learn them!!

Cross racing requires the rider to have skills. These skills include but are not limited to, bike handling, cornering, shouldering the bike, mounts, dismounts, etc.

However, if you don't know what you are doing wrong or how to improve how do you get better? You find someone who does know what their doing and have them teach you.

Athlete Renee joined the Sports Garage Cross practice and got more than she had hoped for.

She learned form the "Pros" how to ride 180's AND pass someone.


She also learned her bike fit wasn't ideal for Cross. The Pros helped her with that too.

She left the practice feeling more confident and excited for next week.


Do you want to learn too?
Join us at Sports Garage in Boulder Tuesday mornings at 7:30am.
See you there!

Skillz vs. Fitness

Question- What's more important in a cross race- good skills or good anaerobic fitness?

Answer- Both!

Reason- good, even great fitness will only get you so far in a cross race. If you are not good at cornering at high speed or riding through mud, roots and sand you will not reap the rewards of your hard training. In order to succeed at Cyclocross you have to be efficient at getting on and getting off your bike, and know how to ride through the technical sections without wasting a lot of energy.

However, it doesn't matter how smooth you are through the technical sections of the course if you can not sustain anaerobic power for 40+ minutes. You must train your body to be able to go hard, recover, go hard, go harder and sustain that power for the rest of the race. If not, after 25 minutes of racing you will explode and the rest of your race will be extremely painful due to your body not being able to clear the lactic acid.

Remedy- One to two days a week, work solely on your skills. Cornering, mounts, dismounts and being smooth and comfortable while doing it.
On another 1-2 days a week, work on your power at threshold WITH accelerations and recovery. Then come race day, you will reap the rewards of all aspects of cross "fitness".

Pay attention to the warning signs

Your body, just like anything else, has ways to communicate. Learn to listen to the warning signs before it gets too late.

For example-
Warning sign #1 - after a short ride a saddle sore shows up.
#2- start to feel crooked on bike.
#3- crash in CX race then sit in the car for 12 hours.
#4- power to the pedals just doesn't feel there. Still feel crooked on the bike.
#5- left knee starts to hurt.

I knew after warning sign #1, I should have gone to the Chiropractor, but I was/still am cheep. So, I ignored my body's signs that things were not right. It took until my left knee hurt to walk and still hurt while riding.

Today, I went to the Chiropractor and half of my lower body muscles were "shut off". I was crooked, weak, and sore. I have learned (again) my lesson. I will listen to my body and what it has to say.

To ride or not to ride...that is the question

October 1st. The weather outside is cold (30 degrees), and windy. Motivation to ride is only meager. Maybe one should ride the trainer and/or rollers?

Question- What to do? Ride or not ride?
Answer- It depends on your goals. Are you a roadie who's season just ended and your next race is March 2010? Are you full on in the Cyclecross season? Or are you just wanting exercise to burn off the margaritas and fajitas from last night you are feeling guilty about?

Reader Digest Answers-
Roadie- stay on the couch. October is the one month you can rest guilt free. You should NOT be riding. Training starts Nov. 1st.
CX racer- Get out and ride! Cross season is a fall winter sport. Suck it up, put on your hat, gloves, tights and get your workout done.
Guilty eater and drinker- if it makes you feel better then ride! There will be others out there riding to keep you company. The more you ride, the more you can eat and drink!! :)