Cross started here in the Portland area about a week and half ago. Currently I’m in the short power build and will transition to cross specialty in a few weeks.
Right now I’m racing a weeknight 40 min race (Tuesdays) and 2 weekend 40 min races (single speed, 2/3). Once October hits it will just be a weekend race day (likely still racing 2 categories per race day). Should I just skip my long weekend workouts and say that the 2 races (about 2.5 hrs apart) suffice? Or should I try to do them on Mondays (in the case of a saturday race, or the preceding Friday in the case of a Sunday race?)
Also been following the thread of when to ‘peak’. Since these are series, there aren’t really A races. I was thinking of just targeting 3/4 of the way through the big series.
I definitely think that the races should take the place of basically everything on the weekend. A set of openers on Friday or Saturday and then the big race day. It’s not quite as much volume, but it’s way harder, and harder on your body than the final NP/TSS/etc will suggest.
In in the same boat up here in the Seattle area with regards to peaking: I like all the races and they’re all ‘big’, so it’s hard to choose. I’m just hoping (planning) on being in good form all season and hope that I have something left for nationals. Hope you and the rest of the Portland crew are coming up for that!
You all have probably already seen this, but it looks like Donnelly is coming out with tubless tires that will conform to the UCI tire width restrictions. I really like how the ‘normal’ Donnelly tires sit on my 23mm wide rims (they often measure 37+mm on the rim), but I’ll probably be using these new tires for nationals (probably the only time in my life I’ll have to worry about tire width).
That’s exactly what I do with mine in-race. Going by rpe, it feels awful hard, but a look down at 200w in a straight says I’m slacking and need to go harder, Having the number in the moment gives me the confidence to push harder.
From reviewing my races, the easy wins are going harder in straight sections. I consistently underperform my capabilities there. There’s only a few of these sections per lap, and they’re fairly short (30s maybe) so a low power reading there is immediately actionable. HR is going to lag, and in my experience, stays in a fairly narrow range Reading the tea-leaves of 1 or 2bpm is not something I have much confidence in.
I’m on an old canti bike and about to start my 2nd year at trying cross. I’m mainly a triathlete but did a few cross races last year and had fun, even though I sucked, so want to try again this year. Cantis suck though. I mean, really suck… I tried a few different pads and even replaced my brakeset but the braking is still really bad. It takes a lot of the fun out of it. I’m not in a position to get a new bike but have heard of swapping out the front fork for a disc fork and having disc (mechanical) braking up front, canti in the rear. Would appreciate people’s opinions on this, especially for cross? Wouldn’t be too hard or expensive to do getting parts from eBay or CL, but would the “upgrade” be worth it, or not really? This coming from someone with zero experience with discs, neither mechanical or hydraulic. Thanks
I’d honestly just buy a cheap disc brake frame. Or even better, a complete bike, because for the cost of the frame and the brakes, you’re nearly at a full bike (minus wheels). Go second hand, if you can’t afford a new one. Obviously, then end of cross season is usually better for that!
That said, I still see plenty of people on cantis and some swear they are better than discs…
Cantis don’t “suck”. They’re not as great as discs, for sure, but cantis are fine for cx. One of my bikes is canti with carbon wheels and it stops fine. My disc bike brakes better, but i still race both of them.
Cantis are ALL about the setup. It’s a bit tricky, and most people just aren’t very good at it. Do some research on the geometry/angles and give a fresh set-up a shot, or find the local wizard in your community and ask for some help. I prefer the Avid Shorty Ultimates, for their ability to be set up for either power or modulation.
I probably shouldn’t have been so extreme in saying they suck and know you’re right. I have been researching the setup and working on it, and have definitely improved the braking, but it still seems underwhelming compared to what I see of guys on discs, and especially in poor conditions. I also know there’s still a lot of room for me to improve as a rider, regardless of the brakes.
I’m not going all in on cx, just looking to do it off and on through the fall and winter using the bike I have. The principle of my question is more acknowledging cantis are inferior to discs and wondering if changing the front would be a worthwhile change to improve braking in the context of cx, or not really worth the effort. Based on your comments, I guess you’d say “no”.
A few weeks ago I was listening to the podcast talking about how some riders will tighten shoes, attack, and do so out of the saddle. The podcast spent a considerable amount of time talking about when to not get out of the saddle. Any thoughts on when that crosses over to CX? When is getting up a necessity or more efficient than staying seated?
Just my opinion here, but I really don’t like that plan of swapping the front to mechanical discs. Mechanical discs just aren’t that good when compared to hydraulic discs. Wait until you can go to full hydraulic discs to switch to disc brakes.
I’d try to get your current brakes set up as best possible. Look at setting up the front for pure stopping power, and the rear for finesse-braking (modulation).
The poorest canti setup will feel like the bike has no brakes at all, and with the best canti setup you couldn’t imagine needing any more stopping power. It’s finicky and does require adjustments as pads wear and/or for muddy events.
I’m playing the long game. Did alright last season with some top 10 finishes in the Virginia Cyclocross Series. But I suffered a nasty concussion in a crit in 2017, where I crashed in a pile-up at 26 MPH and my head was one of the first things to hit the ground. After dealing with concussion symptoms for 17 weeks; such as nausea, dizziness, vertigo, “brain fog”, aphasia, and a lot of trouble concentrating, my 2017 race season was down the drain. I managed to race myself into shape that fall. Raced 2018 cross without doing ANY racing prior to cyclocross season (mainly due to fear of getting into another crash), but used Trainer Road and self-coached myself to some top 10 finishes. This year, I’ve been dealing with patella-femoral pain in my right knee since January, but it’s gotten better. Goal is to race myself into shape this fall, maybe improve my crossresults.com ranking, and then continue to build next year with an eye on upgrading to Cat 3 in 2020. Assuming I can stay healthy and uninjured, this should be a realistic goal.
I did my first race of 2019 on Wednesday night and finished 35th out of 52. It was a bad race. It will be interesting to see if I can manage to build enough fitness between now and December to snag some top 10’s before the season ends.
So the only cx tires I own are 33c Tracer Pros that came with my Crux. I was thinking of buying some burlier tires for later this season if the conditions are poor, wet, muddy, etc. Any thoughts on getting a 38c tire like the Terra Pro? Or does everyone typically race with 33s? I’m still having some issues burping my rear tire at less than 30psi and wondering if some larger volume would help.
More volume would definitely help with that. In my opinion, there isn’t much downside to a wider tire in any category below international pro. Just make sure that your rims can handle a 38-40c tire. You don’t want to stick on of those beasts on a 17mm internal width rim, that might be no fun.
Regarding the choice of canti’s against discs , the essence of CX is carrying speed through bends. Therefore in 99% of cases the brakes are for scrubbing speed not stopping dead and cantis perform this function, as do mechanical discs.
I should start this by saying that I have never ridden a canti equipped bike. I bought my first CX bike in 2011 right after the UCI lifted the disc ban. There was a lot of controversy about it then, but I went with a hunch that discs were the way forward (turns out I was right).
So, having said that, I think cantis just sound stupid. Every description I have ever read is similar to one of the posts above: ‘Get a wizard to help you set them up in the dead on night under the watchful eye of a wise owl and with the blessing of a mischievous badger.’ I’m sorry, it’s 2019, useable tech should be better than that.
If I were in your position I would save up and search for a used disc bike. There have to be some good deals around for aluminum bikes with mechanical or first generation hydro discs. I don’t love the idea of just upgrading the fork just from a cost point of view: you have to buy a fork, a wheel, a lever, and a rotor. It will probably be tough to find a rotor and a single lever second hand, possibly a wheel too. Once you get all that and get it installed, you’re probably most of the way to a solid used bike. I mean, you can get a nice new ride for under $2000 with a 1x drive train and hydro brakes, so there has to be a used market for well under half that, right?
Just my two cents. Whatever you have, go race, get muddy, and come home tired!!