Planning your season for Sea Otter success
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Can you believe we are already talking about Sea Otter 2009? It’s only September but for some people it’s already time to start thinking about next season… As your cycling season winds down – especially for those of us living in Northern California you have two choices:
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| Andrews ride and RUNS with his Tri-cross |
1) Stop racing and get some rest
2) Start racing HARDER and do some cyclocross races
Many of the athletes we work with at Specialized choose the later – including Men’s 40-44 Expert Cross Country winner Alan Coats choose the later – and race cyclocross into the fall. For those new to cross Alan has the following tips:
- Practice, practice, practice – if there are skills that are new to you try to get out ahead of time to practice them. This includes running uphill with your bike, going over the barricades, jumping back onto your bike and shifting before going into corners
- Tires are important – there are many different tire options for cyclocross and different conditions warrant different tires.
- Don’t get carried away in the first 10 minutes of your race. If your race is an hour, make sure you are going at a pace you can last for the full hour.
I also asked Specialized SBCU Professor (and local legend) Andrew Hammond for his suggestions and he came back with a great bike set up tip:
When setting up a cross bike, your saddle position should be identical to your road bike in relation to the bottom bracket, but the bar should be closer to you and higher. Typically, a 1cm shorter stem with about half of your normal saddle to bar drop is a good place to start. This will give you more control on technical, steep and often slippery terrain.
At Specialized we ride either our Carbon S-Works Tri-cross or the Specialized E5 alloy tubed Tri-cross Expert.
Whatever you choose for the fall – October, November and December are the months that will help make your 2009 season a success. Don’t do anything and you’ll lose fitness and gain weight and have a long way back come January. Do too much and you’ll be fried in January and not very excited to start training for a new season.
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| Alan shows off his barrier technique |
The Fall is the perfect time to get back to the kind of riding we all love. Try cross racing for the first time. Go for long mountain bike rides on the weekend and leave your heart rate monitor at home. Or hit some coastal roads on your road bike that you haven’t been on in months. Take some friends out who don’t ride much and go somewhere new.
The best part of riding your bike in the Fall is getting re-energized for the coming training cycle. You’ll learn to enjoy riding without a destination or a heart rate zone in mind. In the coming months we’ll talk to a number of coaches and athletes about how they are preparing for their 2009 seasons. Make sure you are ready for the Sea Otter come April 16, 2009 because we will be!
For more information on Cross events check the Specialized Riders Club at www.specializedriders.com
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