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Tucson Cyclocross Practice – Thursdays

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Tucson Cyclocross

Tucson Cyclocross!

what: Cyclocross Practice
who: ‘cross veterans and beginners
when: 7:00 am – 8:00 am, Thursdays
where: Himmel Park (google directions)
why: improve your ‘cross skill and fitness while having fun

Our first practice of 2010 will be Thursday, November 4th and we’ll continue to meet each week until the AZCross.com season comes to a close.

This informal practice is a chance for experienced riders and beginners alike to refine their cyclocross-specific skills and fitness.  Cross is a unique blend of road bike speed and mountain bike handling so no matter what your background you’ll enjoy the unique challenge.  Whether cyclocross is something brand new to you, or if you’re a veteran of the discipline, feel free to join us.  Ride your cross bike or your MTB (minus bar-ends).
We use PVC barriers to practice our transitions on/off the bike. We’ll setup a mock course that integrates several of the parks features for a variety of challenges.  If you want to give ‘cross a try, or if there’s a specific aspect of your ‘cross riding that you’d like to improve upon, this will be a great opportunity to learn and improve.  Have questions or need further details?  Simply show up for practice or email info@momentumendurance.com with your question.  See you there!

This weekly practice is a chance for experienced riders and beginners alike to refine their cyclocross skills and fitness.  Cross is a unique blend of road bike speed and mountain bike handling so no matter what your background you’ll enjoy the unique challenge.  Feel free to join us whether cyclocross is something brand new to you, or if you’re a veteran of the discipline.  Ride your cross bike or your MTB (minus bar-ends).

We use PVC barriers to practice our transitions on/off the bike.  We’ll setup a mock course that integrates several of the parks features for a variety of challenges.  If you want to give ‘cross a try, or if there’s a specific aspect of your ‘cross riding that you’d like to improve upon, this will be a great opportunity to learn and improve.  Have questions or need further details?  Simply show up for a practice or email: info@momentumendurance.com with your question.  See you there.

Post Season Review

This entry was posted in Training on by

Download your 2010 Post Season Review spreadsheet here:  postseasonreview2010

postseasonreviewexample

2010 example

Article also published on MTBRaceNews.com: here

At the close of a long race season it is important to take a break that offers you a chance to decompress.   A transition phase lasting a couple weeks will allow your body and mind a break from the demands of an intense season of training and racing.  With the reduced workload and extra down time during this transition phase it’s a natural opportunity to reflect upon the season in attempt to better understand why things went the way they did.   Fall singletrack rides are a great opportunity for such reflection, but I suggest taking your post season review one step further by putting pen to the paper (or fingers to the keyboard).  There is certainly value in producing a tangible record of the year, something that you can use for future review.   Making an honest assessment of what went well and what could have gone better is an excellent way to close out your season.

Completing a post season review will help you figure out more precisely ‘what it takes’ to achieve your goals.   Considering the following factors in your post season review will help you to better make sense of how your season played out over the long term.   Keep in mind that your performance on the bike is the chronic, cumulative effect of a myriad of factors – all of which affect your race results, training quality, and motivation.

Race Results

Considering your race results is perhaps the most obvious way to recap how well you were performing throughout the season.  When during the year were you achieving your strongest results?   Was there a period where your results seemed to exceed or perhaps fall short of your expectations?  After taking note of your results, see if any trends might exist for early season, mid season, or late season.   A strong result doesn’t necessarily mean a high placing alone, so be sure to consider the competition and greater context of your finishes.  Reviewing your training log can help remind you of how well you were placing at various phases during the season.

Training Quality

It’s also important to consider the quality of your training throughout the year.   Athletes will naturally have phases with high and low quality training.   To a large degree it’s the consistency of your riding that affects its overall effectiveness.  Training quality is high when you’re consistently doing strong rides, recovering well from them, and not skipping workouts on a regular basis.  Trends here do not necessarily need to correlate with those found in your racing results; however high training quality will generally correlate with stronger race results.  This can be especially true when you’re building towards a specific goal event.  High quality training done over the long term ought to lead to steadily improving results in a positive feedback loop of sorts.

Motivation

Noting the extent of your motivation across the season will add a higher degree of value to your post season review.  Prerequisite to mountain bike racing is a willingness to suffer and at various phases during the season our motivation will be varied.  Considering when and why motivation was high or low will help you to better understand the trends found in your racing results and training quality.   It is completely normal to have phases of low motivation during the season and recalling when those phases were will help you to identify the potential causes.   Considering your degree of motivation can help you better understand why your race results or training quality was what it was, when it was.  When were you highly motivated to train and really pumped up to race?  Likewise, when was it tough to get through your workouts and what races could you have done without?  Sometimes low motivation can help to explain lackluster results following periods of high training quality.

Making Sense of it All

Considering your race results, training quality and level of motivation over the timeline of a race season is an excellent way to complete a post season review.  Chances are good that you’ll pick up on some new clues in regards to ‘what it takes’ while being reminded of several old clues too.  Whenever you make plans for next season, referring to your post-season review will be a very helpful part of the process.  Taking the time now will help next season’s plan to be smarter than any previous.  Consider what got you the results, what had you training the most consistently, and what kept you motivated and willing to go for it.  Riders who have ‘what it takes’ on race day are those who can best correlate their motivation, training quality, and ultimately their results with the races that mean the most to them.  Every season of training and racing experience stands to be valuable, but only to the degree in which we apply what we’ve learned.

Brian Ellis Wins AZ State TT Championship

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Congratulations to Brian Ellis, winner of the category III Arizona State Time Trial Championship race held on September 12, 2010.   Brian clocked a time of 56:05 over the 40km race distance.  After following a specific build up to race day Brian was ready and motivated to ride his fastest when it counted the most.   A lot of hard work and preparation goes into a single result such as this so it’s rewarding to have everything come together as it did.   Keep at it and enjoy the training,

Mike Birch on LOTOJA Podium

This entry was posted in Event Recaps on by
LOTOJA Podium

LOTOJA Podium

Congrats to Mike Birch for finishing 5th in the 35+ citizen’s 206 mile LOTOJA race on September 11, 2010.  The LOTAJA course goes through three states, starting in Logan, UT and finishing at Jackson Hole, WY. With three major passes along the way Mike averaged a fast 20.3 mph with a finishing time of 10:09:43.  Certainly a big test of endurance and he came through strong!

Coach’s Column: How to Incorporate Road Racing into MTB Plan.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized on by

MTBRaceNews.com originally posted this Q&A article.

Question: Can road racing improve my abilities as a mountain bike racer and should I work it into my training plan?

Answer: Even with all of their inherent differences, mountain bike racing and road racing share a core group of physiological requirements that greatly affect one’s performance in either discipline. Of course this doesn’t guarantee that a racer can go seamlessly from one discipline to the other since there are also specific challenges that are unique to each.  By no means does road racing need to be included in a mountain biker’s preparation, but in some circumstances it can be a suitable option and something fun to try.  Keep in mind that there are always tradeoffs and alternatives when it comes to training, and for some mountain bikers it might make sense to include some road racing. Let’s consider when and where road racing might work well for the mountain biker racer who is interested and/or has the option to include it into their season.

Prior to the mountain bike season when a rider is ready to begin incorporating race specific intensity can be an opportune time to for some road racing.  Such races can provide the necessary training workload so that rider has a racing option rather than the intense solo ride alternative.  For most, the race environment makes the intensity a more positive stress when compared to the option of doing the same amount of high intensity riding on a training ride.  Since road racing is primarily serving a training purpose, tactics can be set accordingly.  If long steady efforts are the goal for the current training cycle, then pulling and/or chasing frequently will certainly be a beneficial means to that end.   Race courses with long climbs are great for working on sustainable power. If seeking to train anaerobic capacity, then making repeated hard efforts in attempt for a breakaway could be appropriate, or look to do some criterium racing perhaps. Depending on the course profile and the desired training effect it’s important to always have a game plan and do your best to execute it. Being tactically active in the race will keep it exciting and you’re more apt to improve your tactical know-how as a result.

During a long mountain bike season it can be helpful to interject road racing as a means to change up the routine.  Most riders will benefit from the change in pace and upon return to the mountain bike scene; motivation and also fitness will have improved.  Racing off-road more weekends than not for a four to six month-long season without a break is unrealistic for most. A two to four week-long block with a focus on training and/or road racing can be a way to break up an otherwise overly long season. Getting away from the mountain bike races for some training and perhaps some road racing will allow for better performances in the second half of the mountain bike season.

Road racing can be an excellent means of training for the mountain biker who is interested in improving their overall versatility as a cyclist. It can be a great supplement to the training, but it’s not necessarily the best option for everyone every time.  Road racing usually requires some travel and it can be more of a ‘production’ than a training ride would otherwise be.  This additional stress of racing can take a negative toll and it’s important to recover adequately from it all.  Depending on the details of the road race, it might not provide an adequate training stress (too short of distance) and a training ride could be a better option if the workload needs to be particularly high.  It’s important to always consider the many alternatives that exist to further improve your racing abilities.  For many of us mountain bike racers, spending some time racing on the road can further our fitness, tactical know-how, and provide us with a healthy break in routine.  Just be sure that the training stress you’ll accumulate in road races meets or exceeds that which you might be otherwise be perfectly willing to do on your own and you’ll come out ahead.  When road racing is interjected at opportune times your fitness and therefore mountain bike results stand to improve.  Have fun with it, learn from the experience, and see if it might be a good option for you.