#crossiscoming — 2021 CX thread

P.S I love racing in rain and mud. The worse the conditions the better I do. Have a singlespeed bike for the really heavy days.

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Another approach would be to hold back my ego and train through all the races until about November then switch to race - recover strategy for the remainder of the season. Might help me keep my health through the colder conditions and the tough riding sheds some of the roadie/Zwift heroes :smile:

Sorry for monopolising this thread but I really appreciate the opportunity to brainstorm with you.

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Re short power build - no, I did it about two? years ago with the old plans. I think doing the low volume plan was a factor too, there was just no sst or ftp stuff at all for at least the first block.

Yeah, I would never ever do a specialty plan during the season. CX specialty is something I’d start 6-8 weeks prior to the first race, even then I’d be leery. IMO it’s too much and would make me burnt out come race season. Maaaaaybe low vol.

This seems good. Or you could do a big sweet spot day once every 10-14 days as a maintenance workout. What’s your current FTP?

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About 295w 4.2w/kg

I’m fairly good technically and like a sketchy course. Run tubs as well which helps.
Main weakness is powering out of hotdog turns and similar. I’ve not got a big kick but I’m an efficient rider.
Main attribute is that I’ll go very deep in a race. Real death or glory attitude.

Here’s how I have my next 8-weeks planned (I have run training in there, but it’s not showing up)


I have subbed in some standardized and repeated workouts that I can adjust once I’m actually in the season. I find that any sort of progression or ramp rate stalls once September hits and my primary goal is to race once per weekend, do a HIT ride or Tuesday night CX race early in the week, and then work in some FTP work occasionally.

My biggest enemy is my willingness to do too much intensity. I’ve never been guilty of doing too little intensity.

Ok, I’m around 310w and can hold FTP for 50-55min. I don’t know what your TTE is, I know I don’t need to do too much FTP maintenance in-season. I like one big SS or FTP workout once ever other week. For me that’s 3x20, 2x30, 6x12, etc.

That’s cracking man! Thank you.

I could definitely work on my ftp. I’ve been a lazy bum for a couple of years and just roamed the countryside. I’m capable of 320w if I put some effort in.
I like your combination of threshold and SS workouts. Look scary hard though!:laughing:

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Well, I just did 307 avg /322 normalized for 47 min and it was tough, but if I back that down to ~295-300w I think 60-75 min of work is totally accomplishable.

Inspired by this, how about SSBHV 2 for 6 weeks prior to the season? Seems like HV gives true sweetspot and I could make 2 of the workouts key sessions with one optional or swapped for an LSD.

From Sept I could sub in a threshold workout and keep a SS. Those two plus a race and a cx group session would be plenty to continue building.

Hold on! I’m going down a rabbit hole here! I mustn’t forget that I train by how I’m feeling day to day these days. Need to listen to my body.
However there are key points raised:

Do we all generally agree that working on aerobic conditioning prior to and during the season is the smartest thing to do? Making the assumption that we’ll be doing at least one race or hard cx session each week.

Would we think that SS, Threshold or a combination of the two is the safest way to achieve this?

3 sessions a week prior to the season, 2 during, 1 on important race weeks? Nice and simple.

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Very true


Bit of bike porn for you: Team bike from 2013/14 season. Ridley x night SL. Has Tom M stickered onto the frame.
It’s my dry grass bike with file treads then I’ll switch over to Baby Limus later in the season.

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Haha I did a swig of fireball at the start line of a gravel race, and it was either the smartest or dumbest decision I’ve made in a while. A little liquid courage had me cornering on sketchy bits at speeds a bit outside my usual comfort zone.

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I deffo have to work on sweetspot/FTP, it’s my weakness more than short power. However, before the season, three sessions like that will be too much for me, and I’d also like to do at least one with cross-specific effort (starts, banks).

If I’d manage one 2x20 etc sessions, one cx workout, and then probably one club ride and one chaingang ride (which is basically over unders for me) , then I’d be happy. Need to actually do that though!

Doing the work is definitely the key. It’s so easy to make a beautiful plan. Much harder to actually do it.

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Inspired by last night’s conversation, I got up at 4am and did a 1hr SS workout on the turbo. Nice to get it done before breakfast whilst it is cool and my energy levels are good.

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Got me second guessing myself now, is there any reason not to just work through SS Base / Short Power Build / Cyclocross speciality per the standard TR progression? Are people finding this to not be the best approach or am I misunderstanding?

I’m taking this approach, think I posted above I’m in week 6 of short power HV and today I did a good workout of 45sec on at 123%, 45sec off in recovery, repeated 14 times per set. Definitely feel like i’m getting the right type of training. I think some folks felt burned out by prior iterations of plans. I’m doing AT so I’m getting good workouts that are a good balance of work and not beyond my current capabilities. I don’t plan on doing specialty throughout the whole season, mainly through Sept, because I think you don’t want to overwork during the week and underperform at the races. But I think short power and CX specialty will prepare us for the demands of a race.

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Ah cool, I’m on a second SS Base phase now. Kind of similar workout today though: 30s at 125% / 15s recovery in 6 sets of 6.