Cyclocross: The Perfect Winter Sport

The annual changing of the seasons for road cyclists is often looked at as the down season, a time to relax and recuperate before the training for next year begins. But nothing will serve your road cycling more in the year ahead than a stint of cross racing this winter.

Cyclocross (CX) has become all the rage over the past few years. The fun and camaraderie of the sport attracts cyclists from all disciplines, encouraging participants to challenge themselves on courses filled with mud, crud and barriers. And within all of this fun and mayhem, cyclocross can help you to become a faster, more-skilled cyclist.

As the season begins in earnest, let's consider what it is that makes CX a nearly perfect winter sport.

Short on Duration, Long on Intensity

"Sixty minutes of suffering" is a term you'll often hear to describe a cyclocross race. But at most race sites, only the elite men and women are doing a full 60 minutes of racing. For the rest, it'll range between 30 and 45 minutes—a reasonable duration for head-to-toe suffering. Most courses are set so that participants complete laps. Once the winner finishes, everyone else is done too.

More: Cyclocross 101

But because the distance is short, the race starts hard and fast. For first timers and those questioning their fitness, start at the back and see how many people you can pass. A similar strategy is to take the first lap at a reasonable pace and push yourself harder in the laps that follow.

This strategy is a good way to start because it's easy to start too fast and spend the rest of the race suffering. If you aren't carrying some decent road fitness, or haven't trained specifically for the CX season, you should avoid those nine and 10 level efforts in the beginning of the race. It's too difficult to dig a huge aerobic hole in the first lap and expect to recover and get back into a rhythm, because you'll be riding at the frayed edge of composure. Just try to negotiate the obstacles and retain some semblance of your pacing during the first lap. You can always increase your pace in the laps that follow.

Embrace the Technical

A season of cyclocross will improve bike-handling skills dramatically. You'll learn how to maneuver your bike out of problems, how to anticipate obstacles and how to navigate varied terrain surfaces, ranging from pavement to grass, gravel to mud, and everywhere in between.

More: 8 Tips to Get You Ready for Cyclocross Season

It's the skills component, in the end, where you will receive your most notable gains from a season of cyclocross. You will be amazed how much your balance and cornering has improved after a season spent sliding around on dirt, grass and mud.

Equipment Lovers Rejoice

The common refrain is that cyclocross requires a big equipment investment, and it's true, but not to the extent you might think. While two bikes are often deemed a necessity, the truth is that you can race a full and complete season on just one bike.

Should you opt to have a second bike, most people will tell you to set them up exactly the same, but it isn't necessary. Some cyclists use a single speed as a second bike and find that it works great on 90 percent of the courses. In addition, different bikes open up a whole new kind of racing that will keep things interesting.

More: Crossing Over: Transitioning to Cyclocross Season

Wheel and Tire Choices

While you may not need to buy a whole new bike, a set of cyclocross specific tires are necessary. When considering which tire to use, you have three options: tubes, tubeless or tubular. Tubeless tires have come a long way in the past few years, but tubulars are still the best option for most. They provide superior durability, reliability and performance to the other two tire options. Tubulars also have the distinct advantage of permitting much lower tire pressures and allow more movement of the casing, which result in better grip and traction.

Generally tires are broken into three different styles:

• All condition: Brands like the Challenge Grifo, Clement PDX and the Dugast Typhoon are a good choice if you plan to race on different types of terrain or if you can only afford one set of tires.
• Mud tires: Dugast Rhino or the Challenge Limus offer spectacular performance in muddy conditions. If you plan to race in mud regularly, get a set or two.
• File treads: File treads resemble road tires more than the other two options. They have a very fast tread pattern and use a thin set of knobs on the edge of the tire to help with cornering. File treads are fast but can be hard to control in certain conditions.

More: 9 Reasons Why You Should Try Cyclocross

You Have to Stop Sometimes

The type of brakes that you choose can make a significant difference in your CX experience. Disc brakes are the option of choice for most serious CX racers and have been UCI legal in cyclocross for a few years. At the moment they aren't legal on road bikes, but that could change soon. When Shimano and SRAM get behind a technology, it's a sure bet that they will be race legal soon.

V-brakes (or linear pull as they are called) and cantilevers are the other two brake options. Cantilevers are classic "old school" brakes and generally perform well enough to slow you down, but are a step or two below road brake calipers. Linear pull brakes were introduced a few years back and are a good in between choice. They offer impressive stopping power in an easy to use system. Once you've ridden linear pull brakes it is difficult to go back to cantilevers.

Plan it Out

If you decide to give cyclocross a try and plan to do well, consider a couple of training adjustments before you begin. If cross is merely a weekend distraction, then there isn't much need to train for it. The racing will act as your weekly intensity in the offseason.

More: How to Try Cyclocross on a Budget

If you find a gnawing desire to be competitive, or if you want your weekend distraction to be a lot smoother and more fun, then you'll want to practice some of the skills specific to cyclocross. And because cyclocross consists of short, hard efforts, make sure to include interval workouts. Cyclocross is like a time trial except that it has 10, 20 or 30 little sprints every lap.

If you're doing intervals, focus on neuromuscular efforts mixed with some VO2 max intervals. Do a 3- to 10-minute block of 15 seconds on/off on a course with a lot of corners. The corners will act as a starting point for the "on" portions. You can alternate this workout with a VO2 max effort of 3 to 5 minutes in duration. These efforts are time efficient and only need to be done a few times to boost your fitness.

Whatever your level of fanaticism and focus, cross can make the winter fly by and you'll be pleasantly surprised at the retention of top-end acceleration and snap as your road season commences. Give it a try this "off" season and you'll be better prepared for the road-cycling season ahead.

More: Why Road Cyclists Should Try Cyclocross in the Offseason

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