RGNY

sent for info on entering my first CX race.

10/7 at Ommegang Brewery.

my daily commute is in a modified 105 drive Nashbar CX (with a Ridley frameswap if i win it) through broken pavement, gravel, mud and grass.

at 42 i figure there's worse ways to die and i'd have a the summer to practice shouldering and remounting.

just want to finish.....

Andy_K 

You're probably not going to die. It'll just feel like you are.

You've even got enough time to boost your fitness a bit. Hint: the workout you get from commuting isn't going to cut it. You can acquire passable shouldering and dismount/remount technique in a matter of days. Spend the summer building your aerobic fitness.

Or you could just go out and have fun, which is my plan for when the discipline to actually train fails to materialize again this year.

caloso

Yes, you will die!!!!





(Eventually someday, probably not at a CX race though. )

RGNY

promoters got back to me. they should have a "first timer" appropriate race that day. so, yeah...

time to hit the Google for training ideas to augment my boxing/fencing nights. i honestly only ride around 40mi/wk right now with another 20-40 on the weekends.

heh, now i've got the wife behind me going "you had no problem with the Dogbrothers Gathering. get to work you big girl's blouse".

20 years with the same redhead....what's left to fear?

midschool22

Get ready to visit the hurt locker. If you can see straight during the race, you are doing it WRONG!

david58

Tried my first CX at age 53. First race, terrified and just ran out of gas. Second race, there was some racing in there. Travel intervened, and I didn't get to roll again in the fall, but this year....

Just get ready for one heck of an intense 45 minutes.

RGW

Good thread! So, at 50 yars old, I'm a noob to CX too, and have aspirations to start "training" this summer or the few fall races I would consider. What do you veterans suggest as a meaninful way to train? I currently ride about ~150mi/week, but would want to start ading in some CX sessions at the local park. Other than trying to simulate a race experience, any other thoughts on effective use of time to train, as my time is unfortunatley very limited

nayr497

Oh wow, Cooperstown, eh? Wish I was still living near those parts!

My advice: ride bikes as much as you can between now and then. Cross training is great! I played other sports my entire life before taking up road cycling a few years back, then cross more recently. In my opinion, other sports are great for overall fitness, overall strength, but, most importantly, learn how to endure pain and suffering. BUT, that is only part of it - your engine better be in good shape or you'll get dusted.

Definitely build up slowly. You have tons of time. Try doing more and more distance each week. Do road, mtn., cross riding, just be on the bike. As you get closer I'd suggest some sort of intervals. Doesn't have to be too scheduled...but do some repeats of something! Go all out and do a set. You need to ride at your limit to up your limit.

With all that being said, you won't die! It might feel like it though. I never imagined 30 minutes of cycling could do that, since I can ride for hours and hours. But it can. And...ten minutes after the race, beer in hand, you'll be happy you gave it a shot.

Oh, and I wouldn't worry too much about mounting/shouldering. Mine both still need work. In a race though all things go haywire. For me, coming from the road, my fitness allows me to do much better than my handling/shouldering/mounting should.

Cross is boss, for sure! It opened up a whole new world of cycling for me. Oh, and initially getting used to mounting...I had a few beers then went and hit the trails. Definitely needed a bit o' courage to leap onto a tiny saddle!

Good luck!

nayr497

RGW - I'd say if you have a good cycling base of fitness, that is a great start. I'd also say to work on some intervals...do some repeats up hills, in tough gravel, etc. Something where you are putting yourself at your limit and doing it a few times in a row, with a short break. Hard to simulate a cross race, since you don't have the competitive fire offered by others on the course.

I'd say riding cross is key, especially if you don't have an off-road background. Just the bike handling and corner are HUGE in terms of where you finish. Then your engine. I'd say keep on doing all sorts of cycling, throw in some cross rides a few times a week, and do some intervals in the weeks ahead of the race.

But, most importantly, don't overthink it. Seriously. Cross is awesome because while dudes are super strong and motivated, it's still simply just fun to ride/race. If you finish dead last, SFW, just do better next time. No one is going to care or notice. Heck...they'll cheer you on more!

For me, aside from getting me off the road for some fun in the dirt, cross is awesome because it is the antithesis of a lot of the road scene. People ride whatever bike they can get their hands on, people are fast, slow, fat, people are doing it for all sorts of reasons. Man, even the skinsuited As/1s are still usually good dudes, just fast as hell & can take a serious beatdown.

RGNY - You'll definitely finish. That won't be too hard. But, I'll bet once the gun goes...you'll want to do better than that

nayr497

And seriously, channel your inner Andre Aggasi - "Attitude is everything." Don't fear the race, don't overthink training or the race date closing in...just ride and look forward to it thinking, "I got this."

*The only thing I would say to get sorted is your gearing, your tires, your psi. Those need to be given attention. Know what gear you can turn over on that course in those conditions and still remain seated for most of the ride. Tubeless or tubular is a nice option, if you can do it.

jfmckenna

That's not too bad mileage but you just have to make those miles count. Try and up your weekend miles from 20-40 to 40-60 and at least one night on the week days (Wednesday) do some intensity/intervals for one hour. When race season gets closer say mid August take one night of the week and do a mock race. Find a place you can ride on off road on grass etc... and practice. Find a local group would be best and set up mock races with home made barriers. Warm up for 30 minutes, race for 1 hour, and cool down another 15.

Then you will be ready to go with some level of confidence.

RGNY

very cool. thanks.

i'll be going w/ minimal tech, probably just a spare wheelset (clinchers on each). hoping to have fun and push/challenge myself.

my regual commute is an 8mi loop consisting of: 3mi badly paved county route (250' rise in elevation, with another 200' in the last .25mi as my building is on a hill. elev not exact, just what my Casio says), 4.5mi on a rolling gravel trail where the gravel goes from packed to 2" deep in spots. in there is about .5mi of mixed dirt/grass/mud depending on weather.

if i run it backwards, there's an extra very steep .25mi climb. will have to try that this weekend so i can adjust my arrival time at work accordingly.

i alternate with fixed gear around town, running 91 gear inches, so i will have to be more conscious about gearing/cadence. i tend to have a bad habit of just getting up and mashing from the drops...

this is going to be fun.....

midschool22

This. For sure.

eddubal

If you're going to die, you better race cross soon! It's definitely something you shouldn't miss out on!

At CX Magazine website, there's a good general training plan that worked well for my first season last year. They go through the whole periodization of prepping to race from base to race over a series of articles. It doesn't make racing easy, but it does get you going in the right direction and you may even surprise yourself.

https://www.cxmagazine.com/training-f...michael-birner

Use your commuting for endurance miles, but then start adding intervals which really mimic the flow of the races. Even if you can't follow the plan exactly, do what you can and it'll all help.

Yeah, it's hard, but it's a lot of fun to ride, and the atmosphere of the races are great! Have fun and enjoy!

RGNY

thanks very much!

Fat Boy

Challenging, rewarding, over-whelming...all of those. Fun...not really, at least not in a conventional sense. It's F'ing hard.

RGNY

huh, seems like fun. hanging out with a bunch of other people covered in mud and torturing themselves while playing bikes?

the competition aspect is meaningless to me (life long trend, regardless of the sport, even ones where i excelled), i go for the atmosphere and camaraderie.