Cyclocross training diary week 4

Week 4 was going to be an important week from the start. This week was going to be the big base mile week that would hopefully start the good form to kick start the cross season. The 3 peaks cross race only being 2 weeks away meant that many riders were needing some much needed miles in the hills. Even though I wasn't doing the 3 peaks I thought it would be a great opportunity to practice some much needed cross skills.

Around 40 riders turned up to complete the 3 towers training ride which would take in Rivington Pike Winter Hill and Peel Tower. Climbing from the lower barn next to RIvington res. was a pretty technical climb with the terrain being very rocky and a number of riders littering the route. My legs felt heavy from the start after some gym work the previous day, this lead to me struggling throughout the whole day but in the knowledge that I would benefit from any pain that I suffered then when in a race. Running with the bike was one of the most improtant part of the day as a lot of the route couldn't be ridden easily, which I proved when going through a puddle and going straight over the front wheel in to the water. Lesson learnt, don't go through a puddle that you can't see the bottom of.

A great day was had by all, much of the thanks was to my club team mates at Horwich cycling club who run the event year on year. Next week is start of the interval sessions.

Diary: Cyclocross Training Weeks 2/3

These last two training weeks seemed to have blended into one, mostly because these were always going to be the weeks where I needed to continue with the base mile training but also start with some sprint work. Week 2 consisted of some good weather which I used to its fullest by going on some longish base rides along the Leeds-Liverpool canal through from Chorley to Blackburn. The great thing about this route is that its really quiet, uneven, not too muddy and generally a good stretch of towpath to train on. There are many bridges over the canal along the way where you need to slow down in case other people were coming under the bridge at the same time. This was a great opportunity to start practicing sprinting out of corners which I did by doing about 10-12 kicks once I could see the coast was clear.

Week 3 started with a club ride on a Tuesday night where we decided to do some simple intervals chasing each other down through the woods of Rivington. Using this to quicken up reactions and bike handling ability, then I final climb to the top of Rivington Pike just to get the feel of going deep into energy stores.

I could feel the strength from riding different types of terrain starting to build, but I was still struggling with the endurance which could possibly be a major factor in two race weekends as recovery time is much shorter. So at the end of week 3 I decided to do two longish rides for base miles and I was looking to do over 4 hours over two day. The Saturday consisted of some of the worst weather we had seen here in the North West of England in a while but true to my word I went out for a ride, up Rivington Pike and back down along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal was the planned route to Wigan then home. Unfortunately the ride had to be cut slightly short as I crashed out after a bunnyhop over an open drain went wrong and my hands slipped of the bars, fortunately leading to me landing on a pile of mud with only cuts and bruises to show. I decided to cut my losses and go home in one piece and ride on Sunday for a couple of hours as well.

All in all the training has gone well, no problems with the tendonitis and no serious injury from the crash. Roll on week 4...running starts this week. I'll keep you all tuned in on how the trainings going.