This blog
post comes out of a series of conversations Rachel and I had with friends over
the weekend of the Ally Pally supercross. Given that all these friends are in
their own right very into ‘cross, maybe the whole pretext of what i am going to
write is dubious, but nevertheless i found it an interesting take on things.
So the
question i want to ask is, as a mountain biker do you benefit more from
cyclocross than a ‘cross rider would benefit from racing mountain bikes. As you
might have guess from the title, my thesis is that ‘cross teaches mtbers more
than mtb teaches cyclocross racers.
Historically,
the bible of mountain bike training (“The Mountain Bikers Training Bible” – Joe
Friel) dispenses with the idea that “serious” mountain bike racers can also
race cross through the winter as anything
other than an occasional break from “long, steady distance” (LSD). The
fundamental tenet of this book is that to reach a good racing peak in the
summer time, you must do many many hours of long, slow rides in winter to
accustom your body to stress of training you face later in the season. I would
argue that this viewpoint is both outmoded (the book itself was published first
in 1998, so nearly 15 years of development have occurred since then, and many
coaches and sports scientists were already questioning the LSD model even back
then), and that it is entirely possible for even elite level athletes to
perform well in both the winter ‘cross season and the summer mtb season. This
is all the more true with the (re-)appearance of “reverse periodisation” as a training
method, whereby one adds intensity to training loads before then building
duration – an approach used very successfully by the Sky pro cycling team over
the last 12 months.
Practicing what i preach at the Ally Pally round of the Rapha Supercross (thanks to D P B Harrison for the picture - http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbpharrison/sets/72157631920306878/with/8152932938/ )
The question
i want to address is who benefits more – do summer xc races help you to ride a
good cyclocross season, or is a good winter spent mud-plugging more useful to a
mountain bike racer?
So, let’s
examine the evidence. The first and most tricky problem we face is where we
should look to see a good reflection of the true capabilities of both groups. This summer we saw a definite cyclocross
specialist in Nicki Harris crowned as national MTB champion, whilst men’s
national ‘cross champ Ian Field finished just out of the medals at the national
XC champs. So it’s looking good for the skinny-tyred brigade crossing over. In
the past, we have seen multi-national XC champs Liam Killeen & Oli
Beckingsale duking it out at the front of national trophy cross races, so maybe
that evens the score somewhat. The reality is, we shouldn’t look to these
people as a first approach – they are gifted athletes, they have ridden both
disciplines many times, and they would do well in any arena of cyclesport they
turned their attention to.
So where do
we look? Well, perhaps the natural place to look is to watch people who are new
to the crossover. If we look to racers who have stuck with one discipline for several
years, and then switched we see a more interesting phenomenon. Without
mentioning names and embarrassing friends, it certainly seems to be true that
cross racers switch over to XC much more naturally than the other way around. With
a pattern in mind, it is now interesting to try to examine why!
So why would
it be easier to move from skinny tyres, crap brakes and drop handlebars to fat
tyres, good brakes and flat bars? Surely the answer is in the question – to be
good at cross, you have to be smooth as well as fit – the bikes are very
unforgiving, and if you don’t treat them well, they buck and throw you off. Put
someone with those skills on a more forgiving, more appropriate bike, and they
will quickly adapt – all it takes is braking a little later, and a little less,
cornering a little harder. As cyclists we are used to pushing limits, and
learning to push them a little further as we develop skills. Faced with the
opposite predicament, the XC racer is forced to back off, to brake sooner than
they want, to be more gentle and more accommodating of the bike when they cross
over (excuse the pun). It’s a more
difficult transition to make, because it requires you first go slower to go
faster.
It’s for
these reasons that i would encourage you, if your interests lie in racing well
in summer, you spend some time getting muddy in the winter – it’ll make you a
more rounded, more complete, and smoother rider. And whatever people might tell
you, it’s a lot of fun too!
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