Cross Clinic

On Monday afternoon I headed up to Boulder for a cyclocross clinic put on by Boulder Cyclesport with Brandon Dwight and Joachim Parbo. Brandon's a co-owner of BCS and is a 2x U.S. National Cyclocross Champion for Masters 35-39 (2007 & 2008) and Joachim is a 3x Danish National Cyclocross Champion (2006, 2007, 2009) so needless to say, we were under good instruction. The clinic was supposed to go over some technique while riding through sand, as well as dismounts and re-mounts for about an hour and a half on the bike, followed by 2 hours of discussion over some food (and beer). Since it snowed over the weekend, there wasn't much exposed sand but the snow was a good substitute since the mechanics we were going over were basically how to center your weight and just trust the bike. Kind of tough to do at times, especially when you're riding off camber on a descent while having to turn and go back uphill. And oh yeah, they're telling you to pedal harder into the corner.



Without going into everything that we did, it turns out they knew what they were talking about. Once I started drilling it into some of the corners, I had a lot better control even though I almost bailed a couple times. That was probably the biggest take away for me - just going for it. But if that was the biggest, coming in a close second was when we were talking about managing the race. Since the race within the race always comes down to a matter of seconds, being able to pay attention to your competitors, to the course, and to how when/where you apply the effort saves energy, keeps the heart rate down a little bit more when needed, and leaves you in a better position for when it counts at the end of the race. If any of that makes the clinic sound easy, it wasn't. It wasn't super hard, but doing a bunch of repeats of sprints on the bike up a snowy hill, mashing through it after you've lost your momentum, etc. and getting some quick recovery turned out to be more of a workout than I was expecting. It didn't help that I did a quick 30 minute run earlier followed by 30 minutes of core work. At the same time, it was a good reminder (which they pointed out afterwards as well) that once winter is here full on, and I'm tired of hitting up sessions on the trainer, hop on the 'cross bike, pedal over to the park and figure out a loop to do. Good intervals and some added bike handling skills to go with it.



Once it got too dark and cold to see and feel, we headed back over to BCS to change and then went to 4580 Restaurant to grab some food and get to the discussion part of the clinic. I think we talked about everything from tire pressure, wheel choice, start and race strategy, training, nutrition, etc. One of Joachim's best points was about just enjoying it. Whether it's nutrition or training or racing, trying to program everything down to perfection will eventually end up ruining the experience. Instead, loosen up a little bit and have fun. Pick training routes that have good scenery, eat things that are good/good for you but don't be afraid to have a beer too, and remember that the world won't end if you miss a workout to go do something else you enjoy. Train hard, have fun, and go race. Then do it all again the next week. Sounds pretty easy.