Most of my riding is either DH or trail along with some DH/DS racing but after watching a few cyclocross races i think i want to give it a shot. Although I work on my cardio to increase my DH times it's nothing like a strong roadie or XC racer. So if i'm going to race at cat 5 (which is like a 30min race) I was wondering how to gauge how far i need to push myself to train for cyclocross. Some way to know if my cardio is on the level of the rest of the beginer racers. (ex.being able to sustain 80-90% MHR for X amount of time?????) I don't have a CX bike yet or something I can ride to train with other CXer's just my enduro SX with a single ring but regardless I'm only concerned about my cardio for right now. Any ideas?
CX Conditioning
- Thread starter ricebowls
- Start date
I don't know about CX specifically but you are going to need to maintain your hr at near max for the majority of any race. 85-95% is where you need to train. During the race you'll want to be at 95% plus.
This will be my first year racing CX so I have little actual knowledge to give you. I do know that there doesn't seem to be as much "recovery" during a a CX race as there is in XC. Obviously there aren't long downhills to recover a bit on, and the race is MUCH shorter so you have to go near 100% the whole time. I'd suggest some high intensity workouts where you are pushing near your max.
Yep, Heidi's got it. High intensity for the whole race. You can work on it, but most of these guys racing cross are road and mtb racers. HIGH fitness levels from racing all season. 
Hmmmm..... why would you want to *increase* your DH times if you're racing?ricebowls said:
-S.S.-
Because I'm trying to work my way back down to the beginner class.
It's June now, CX training races likely start in Early September in the Bay Area. That gives you three months to develop better base fitness. The hardest aspect of cross for most mtb riders is the changes of pace involved. Road riders (even cat 5's) have been doing crits all summer and will have a much better turn of speed than you. The most effective way to improve your response time in situations like that is Motorpacing on a road bike. Since that is probally not an option I'd reccomend getting your cx bike as soon as possible, and mixing in training crits or race simulation type road rides at least once a week starting in lat July. Up until that time I'd reccomend just getting out and getting in some faster-paced solo or small group rides on the road, a few mtb rides too.
Heart-rate is a meaningless measure to gauge fitness level, and focusing on the abilities of other racers in your class will be somewhat limiting,as you don't want to be Cat 5 forever, right?
Heart-rate is a meaningless measure to gauge fitness level, and focusing on the abilities of other racers in your class will be somewhat limiting,as you don't want to be Cat 5 forever, right?