In case you didn't know, Cross is awesome!
In case you didn't know, Cross is awesome. Why you ask? Well, there are clearly too many ways for me to detail so I will share the one that comes to mind this time of year. If Cross is the only real racing that you do then you do not have to worry about riding this time of year. You can just enjoy winter for winter and ride your bike to get to work, to the store or to dinner but not worry about how much or how little you are riding. You can go skiing, go snowboarding, go running and not worry that you haven't even unpacked your bike yet from Providence.
I keep talking to people who are trying to get in miles and training for their season which starts in March or April or even May. They rode in the cold, the wind, the ice, the trainer, the rollers . . . and I am blissfully unconcerned about riding and just thinking about what ski races I might want to try this year and whether I will ever learn to V2 (doubtful) and when I'm going to get the snowboard out.
One year (and I really mean one year) I thought that I would be a serious mountain bike racer instead of the lackadaisical racer that I normally am. That year I did 3+ hour rides in the cold and even remember having to stop mid-ride and take my shoes off to warm up my toes and then proceeding to ride for another almost two hours. I did insane long rides on the trainer and never cut any of the rides short. What was the outcome? I guess I was probably fitter than normal but I fractured my finger at the first mountain bike race of the season and finished poorly, raced for crap at my second race of the season and got last, and never even got out of bed to do the third race of the season. I basically stopped any serious training for the rest of the season and even considered not going to do the Chequamegon 40 (crazy, I know).
Good thing I finally gave Cross racing a try. It just seems like a better fit for my personality than mountain bike or road racing ever was . . . and it is so sweet to have the winter to nordic ski and snowboard with no thoughts that I should get out on the bike. Bike until Christmas and transition immediately to snow sports and then taper off the snow sports in March and transition to biking and start biking seriously in April. That is some good living!
I keep talking to people who are trying to get in miles and training for their season which starts in March or April or even May. They rode in the cold, the wind, the ice, the trainer, the rollers . . . and I am blissfully unconcerned about riding and just thinking about what ski races I might want to try this year and whether I will ever learn to V2 (doubtful) and when I'm going to get the snowboard out.
One year (and I really mean one year) I thought that I would be a serious mountain bike racer instead of the lackadaisical racer that I normally am. That year I did 3+ hour rides in the cold and even remember having to stop mid-ride and take my shoes off to warm up my toes and then proceeding to ride for another almost two hours. I did insane long rides on the trainer and never cut any of the rides short. What was the outcome? I guess I was probably fitter than normal but I fractured my finger at the first mountain bike race of the season and finished poorly, raced for crap at my second race of the season and got last, and never even got out of bed to do the third race of the season. I basically stopped any serious training for the rest of the season and even considered not going to do the Chequamegon 40 (crazy, I know).
Good thing I finally gave Cross racing a try. It just seems like a better fit for my personality than mountain bike or road racing ever was . . . and it is so sweet to have the winter to nordic ski and snowboard with no thoughts that I should get out on the bike. Bike until Christmas and transition immediately to snow sports and then taper off the snow sports in March and transition to biking and start biking seriously in April. That is some good living!
posted by MadCross at 1:14 PM
1 Comments:
Right on! But just think of the smell when you do finally crack open that bike box around March 1 ... Happy New Year!
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