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3 KEY CYCLOCROSS SESSIONS FOR YOU THIS SEASON

8:10·26 November 2021

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Front-load your threshold efforts: ride the first minute full gas, then hold zone 4 for nine minutes to train lactate clearance under load.
Bartali efforts bridge terrain shifts — four minutes low-cadence zone 3 into three minutes high-cadence zone 4 replicates slogging through mud then accelerating clear.
Your training running should match race running: short sprint repeats of roughly 400 metres, not steady jogs, because that's what cross actually demands.
Reverse-engineer your target event — identify the key demands and build each training block around one of those demands, not generic intervals.
If your training never hits the intensities your race does, the race will feel like a shock every single time — close that gap deliberately.

TOPICS

CYCLING TRAINING PLANS

Here are 3 key cyclocross sessions that you should be adding into your weekly routine this season

For coaching inquiries email admin@roadmancycling.com

Support the podcast by buying me a beer www.patreon.com/anthony_walsh

KEY QUOTES

“In a 60-minute session, you're going to do three 10-minute efforts, and they're going to be broken up as one minute full gas, nine minutes zone four. So you're going to find a climb and you're going to ride the first minute full stick and then you're going to ride nine minutes at threshold up the climb. So what this does is it loads the legs full of lactate and it forces the body that lactate clearance system to figure out how to clear the lactate while also at a level where lactate threshold is where clearance and production are equal to each other.”
Anthony Walsh — Cyclocross coach and Roadman Cycling podcast host

“A Bartelei effort are, and I'd recommend you go out for a session, start off with maybe three days and work up to five days. So it's a seven minute effort. The first four minutes of a Bartelei effort are a low cadence zone tree effort. So low cadence is 50 to 60 RPM for four minutes in zone tree, and you finish off with three minutes zone four above 110 RPM.”
Anthony Walsh — Cyclocross coach and Roadman Cycling podcast host

“You're not getting off your bike in Jug and 7k in the race. You're getting off your bike, shoulder and sprinting for 400 meters. So make your run similar to that. Instead of going out and going for AK steady, you want to go out 5k but build in, you know, six steps, sets of steps, full gas like you're going to do in the race.”
Anthony Walsh — Cyclocross coach and Roadman Cycling podcast host

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT3 SECTIONS

Reverse engineering race demands

Rowman today I want to talk to you about three training sessions that you need to be incorporating into your cyclo cross training. Let's cue that intro! The big question is this. How do we use cycling as a tool to improve our health, our happiness and our longevity? That is the question and this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Anthony Welch and welcome to the Rowman Podcast. Well man, let's talk cyclocross. We haven't talked cyclocross all too often on this podcast. And believe it or not, I've coached a couple of lads on to National Championship podiums in the cyclocross. So I said, you know what, I would give you the benefit of my cyclocross wisdom. No, in all seriousness, there is some cyclocross sessions that I want to talk to you about, but the reason I want to talk to you about them is to showcase the idea of how we create sessions and the importance of breaking down and reverse engineering the demands of racing and then building that into our training and cyclocross because everyone's racing at the moment is a very apt way to do this. I've never been good at learning in the abstract, so it's easier for me to take something like cyclo across and then break down a training session and apply it and then it's easier for me to explain it to you guys. So if you think about training, the demands of our training as we get closer to a race should mimic the demands of that race closer and closer. So by that I mean training nearly needs to become like a race or a specific element of the race as you get closer to the race. So today I want to talk about three specific sessions that you can use for cyclocross. And as I'm talking about these sessions, think to yourself, what is the demand in my event? And how can I reverse engineer and break that down for next year? So I start working more on the demands of my event. It does not in fun here than seeing a rider who rides around training, you know, two by 20 minute threshold efforts in 10 bucks to a foliar round and 15, 20 hours a week in and then they go into the local criteria and they're like, blown out their ass. Why are they blown out their ass? Because their training hasn't mimicked the demands of that event. They go into the fourth corner at 1200 watts, they're heavy on the brakes, back to zero watts and then they sprinting out the corner at 1200 watts again. They haven't done this once in training, they've been riding steady state, steady state. That's not what racing is, you need to mimic the demands. So with Cyclocross, the first one I want to talk about is a front loaded effort. So by front load, what I mean is, and this is something that I will practice a lot in season as well, specifically if I'm targeting races with hills in them.

Front-loaded and Bartali efforts

Because if you think about you're racing up at 10 minute climb, you're not racing up at 10 minute climb. You're racing the first minute of that climb, almost full gas for a position and then you're racing a threshold up the climb or above threshold up the climb. But the Guelain-Troy mimicked that by riding, you know, 3x10 a threshold isn't going to work. It's the exact same in Soil Cross. It's a threshold effort to race, but it's juxtaposed with four-minute guard efforts, which the effect these have on the body is, loading the legs of lactate, and then the body has to figure out how to clear this lactate and then work at threshold. So a session I love to prepare riders for cross-season, it's called front-loaded efforts. So in a 60-minute session, you're going to do three 10-minute efforts, and they're going to be broken up as one minute full gas, nine minutes zone four. So you're going to find a climb and you're going to ride the first minute full stick and then you're going to ride nine minutes at threshold up the climb. So what this does is it loads the legs full of lactate and it forces the body that lactate clearance system to figure out how to clear the lactate while also at a level where lactate threshold is where clearance and production are equal to each other. So it's figuring out how to clear excess lactate while right on the brink of its capacity as well. It's an absolutely brilliant session. The second session I'd recommend is Bartle Efforts. And this is after an iconic famous legend of the sport, Gino Bartle, who's an amazing book called the Road to Valor. If anyone hasn't read it, one of my favorite cycling books where he's talking about smuggling World War II forged documents for the Jews, true enemy lions, just so the Jews won't be executed and you smuggle them through on his top tube, it's absolutely brilliant book. So Bartelei efforts are, and I'd recommend you go out for a session, start off with maybe three days and work up to five days. So it's a seven minute effort. The first four minutes of a Bartelei effort are a low cadence zone tree effort. So low cadence is 50 to 60 RPM for four minutes in zone tree, and you finish off with three minutes zone four above 110 RPM. So what you're doing is you're getting going from hard to very hard with that change of intensity. And this is gonna mimic a lot of the changes in terrain that we get in cross race. It's going from muck where we're really bogged down and we're just doing our best to get true up. But also we're working very, very hard to getting out into the softer stuff and accelerating to get that gap, to get that separation from the group we've been slogging through the muck with. And the toward one which I recommend or cyclo cross, it's actually running because it's race replication.

Race-specific running and blueprint

So many riders go into cross and they have never ran with great bike riders, but they haven't ran. So start practicing and running needs to again mimic this type of running you're doing the race. You're not getting off your bike in Jug and 7k in the race. You're getting off your bike, shoulder and sprinting for 400 meters. So make your run similar to that. Instead of going out and going for AK steady, you want to go out 5k but build in, you know, six steps, sets of steps, full gas like you're going to do in the race. So the whole goal of this podcast is start thinking about race replication. So start reverse engineering demands your event. Are you hoping to target a New Yorka tree one to next year? If you're hoping to target a New Yorka tree one to next year, as you get real close to that event, your demands your training need to mimic the demands of that event. But when we build that back, and that's why I was hosting webinars this week on the Roman Blueprint, and what the Roman Blueprint is, it deconstructs your events. So in each macro block leading up to a target event, you're working on a KPI. So that key performance indicator that we define as valuable for your event. So it could be a four-week sprint block, followed by a four-week VO2 block, followed by a four-week threshold block, followed by race-specific block, building in and deconstructing your event. So when you get there it's not a shock to the system and the body is like yeah I know what's going on. I've been doing this all winter. I'm ready. Instead of riding around like I talked about earlier in the week like a headless chicken. Roadman, there are three sessions that you need to be incorporating into your training this cyclocross season. Thanks for listening and a relief of Tharchy from Gerona. Hey Roadman, it's Anthony again just before you head off real quick I just want to mention the Roadman blueprint. It's the ultimate coaching package. It's four months long. It's four months of one-on-one coaching sessions, which are professional roadman cycling coach. It's four months of strength and conditioning plans, so you never need to worry about, is this strength and conditioning plan aligned with my cycling goals. It's four months of nutrition plans to fuel all that. It's four months of biohacks, which you know I love so much, and I'm getting to pick the brain of all these experts. It's four months of motivation to make sure you never miss a session and every single session you hit it with commitment and with purpose. The whole package is 997 euro. I have a limited number of places on the Roadman Blueprint. If you're interested in getting started, pop me an email and add me in at roadmancycling.com. This is the ultimate coaching package for those looking to take their cycling and their performance to the next level.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What are the best training sessions for cyclocross season?+

Coach Anthony Walsh recommends three cyclocross-specific sessions: front-loaded efforts, Bartali efforts, and race-replicative running intervals. Each session is built by reverse-engineering the actual demands of a cyclocross race rather than applying generic training templates.

How do you train lactate clearance for cyclocross?+

Use front-loaded intervals consisting of three ten-minute blocks where the first minute is ridden full gas before settling into nine minutes at threshold. This forces the body to clear lactate while continuing to work at a high intensity, which closely mirrors the repeated hard accelerations in a cyclocross race.

What are Bartali efforts in cycling training?+

Bartali efforts are seven-minute intervals that pair four minutes of low-cadence zone three work with three minutes of high-cadence zone four work. Coach Anthony Walsh uses them in cyclocross preparation to replicate the constant terrain shifts between climbs and fast, open sections riders encounter in races.

How should I train running for cyclocross?+

Replace steady-state jogging with short sprint repeats and step efforts that match the 400-metre run-ups found in actual cyclocross races. Coach Anthony Walsh recommends this race-replicative approach because the neuromuscular demands of cyclocross running are far more explosive than a standard jog would prepare you for.

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3 KEY CYCLOCROSS SESSIONS FOR YOU THIS SEASON

KEY QUOTES

Reverse engineering race demands

Front-loaded and Bartali efforts

Race-specific running and blueprint

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

3 TIPS TO GET OFF TO A FLYER THIS SEASON

HOW TO SUCCEED THIS SEASON - A FRAMEWORK

LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL SEASON

RELATED CONTENT

3 TIPS TO GET OFF TO A FLYER THIS SEASON

LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL SEASON

HOW TO SUCCEED THIS SEASON - A FRAMEWORK

3 KEY CYCLOCROSS SESSIONS FOR YOU THIS SEASON

KEY QUOTES

Reverse engineering race demands

Front-loaded and Bartali efforts

Race-specific running and blueprint

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

3 TIPS TO GET OFF TO A FLYER THIS SEASON

HOW TO SUCCEED THIS SEASON - A FRAMEWORK

LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL SEASON

RELATED CONTENT

3 TIPS TO GET OFF TO A FLYER THIS SEASON

LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL SEASON

HOW TO SUCCEED THIS SEASON - A FRAMEWORK

3 KEY CYCLOCROSS SESSIONS FOR YOU THIS SEASON

KEY QUOTES

1.Reverse engineering race demands

2.Front-loaded and Bartali efforts

3.Race-specific running and blueprint

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

3 TIPS TO GET OFF TO A FLYER THIS SEASON

HOW TO SUCCEED THIS SEASON - A FRAMEWORK

LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL SEASON

RELATED CONTENT

3 TIPS TO GET OFF TO A FLYER THIS SEASON

LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL SEASON

HOW TO SUCCEED THIS SEASON - A FRAMEWORK

3 KEY CYCLOCROSS SESSIONS FOR YOU THIS SEASON

KEY QUOTES

1.Reverse engineering race demands

2.Front-loaded and Bartali efforts

3.Race-specific running and blueprint

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

3 TIPS TO GET OFF TO A FLYER THIS SEASON

HOW TO SUCCEED THIS SEASON - A FRAMEWORK

LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL SEASON

RELATED CONTENT

3 TIPS TO GET OFF TO A FLYER THIS SEASON

LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL SEASON

HOW TO SUCCEED THIS SEASON - A FRAMEWORK

Reverse engineering race demands

Front-loaded and Bartali efforts

Race-specific running and blueprint

Reverse engineering race demands

Front-loaded and Bartali efforts

Race-specific running and blueprint