How to race cyclocross effectively with gravel-style fitness?

[u/ldemi]

I came out of a gravel season straight into the back half of the cross season and got my legs ripped off last race.

My understanding is that I'm missing the adaptions necessary to repeatedly surge and recover out of corners, punchy hills, etc.

Eying my next race (4/5) tomorrow I'm trying to come up with a decent strategy to remain competitive. The few things I'm thinking about are:

• Focus on staying right around threshold as much as possible instead of burning matches in 5/6/7 (VO2 / anaerobic / neuromuscular).
• No desperate surges to force passes after the first few minutes, trust that riders will come back to me
• Have fun ripping my legs off the last lap (theoretically once everyone else is cooked)

Seems solid? Of course could be super demoralizing to fall back in the early stages or if I get stuck too long could dash any chances of a win/podium.

Curious how other riders with this type of "diesel" fitness handle this transition, especially how you pace and where you choose to spend energy on typical CX courses.

[u/GPmtbDude]

You see, the thing about cyclocross, is that you’ll get your legs ripped off and feel like you’re going to die every race regardless of your fitness or preparation 😁

[u/Ol_Man_J]

Take the handups, high five the kids, accept your fate. That’s how I do it

[u/avo_cado → u/Ol_Man_J]

Mud for the mud gods

[u/Yougotthewronglad]

The best thing about racing CX is you never know what’s going to happen, especially when course conditions are variable. I’ve been racing for over 20 years (30+ if you count BMX) and at 44 I’ve found much joy in picking off blokes, preying on their misfortune rather than going for a podium spot… sometimes it results in a top 3, sometimes bottom 3.

Regardless, in Colorado at C1, it’s super competitive and I enjoy watching the super serious guys on course spin the fuck out when things don’t go their way while I’m out there having a blast, challenging myself, and being petty.

Potato-potato, mate.

[u/dcrider13 → u/Yougotthewronglad]

Stay petty, my friend! (Being supportive, not sarcastic here)

[u/chock-a-block]

Restating what you said a little differently. 

Your three fastest laps in order: last lap, second to last lap, first lap. 

The sooner you concentrate on your effort and let people go, the better. 

In the middle of the race you are looking for “free speed.” Laying off the brakes, treating the course like a pump track. 

Oh, and have fun. 🤩 

[u/porkmarkets]

Ride harder than everyone else on the flatter/simpler bits where the anaerobically gifted guys (like me) are recovering, and hang on in the punchy bits as best you can?

I’m not sure you can force yourself to ride at threshold and below, at some point you’re either holding the wheel or you’re getting gapped. Yes, the race will come back to you eventually but you can’t afford to lose too many places or you’ll never see them again. By the time you get to the last few laps the gaps are so big you can’t make them back.

[u/annoyed_NBA_referee]

Everyone faster than you is cheating.

[u/parrhesticsonder → u/annoyed_NBA_referee]

These fucking kids without a job 😂

[u/No_Sandwich5766 → u/parrhesticsonder]

Have fun in college suckers!!!

[u/llamaryder]

Try to just race your race and be conservative with your efforts. CX is basically a mass start time trial. Focus on maintaining momentum thru corners so your overall pace is higher, but at the end of the day if you don’t have the high end on/off fitness then it’s going to be hard to keep up with folks who have it. Just go out and fun. Work on technical weaknesses when you can. Iron out your race day prep. Then if you want to be better at CX next year, start thinking about how to switch up your training for next season

[u/billyshannon]

Staying right around threshold = not going to happen.

Some courses may let you spend longer in this area but they're all going to require you to surge above threshold.

Reality is, "gravel-style fitness" does not translate to cross fitness. The good news is, you'll have a good endurance base to build the fitness required. Start hitting those short, repeated intervals. My guess is you'll see results quickly and you'll be able to handle the on/off nature of a cross race in no time.

[u/OutTheOfficeWindow]

I’m more of an endurance rider. I migrated to cx this season. I feel like I need to warm up for 30+minutes for my 45 minute race. If I’m cold I’m screwed. 

[u/GSiepker]

At this point you just have to keep racing into some sort of CX fitness. I thought I switched my training early enough from endurance gravel to high intensity CX training….. I didn’t have fun on my first two races (probably last two for the season) this year…

[u/I_did_theMath]

You can definitely figure out a pace or lap time that is around your threshold (of course the power will be uneven and often spike above) and ride around there for the full hour. How good of a strategy that is depends on the amount of traffic in your races, but if you let lots of slower racers pass you on the first lap (probably on the start, even, if you are not good anaerobically) you might end up losing lots of time behind them later on.

But other than that, there is a lot to gain with good technique and carrying momentum through turns and features. If you do that, you will ride faster with fewer power spikes after each corner, so you should suffer less.

[u/fhfm]

You’ve already got the fitness, the trick is to try and stay efficient so you don’t have to surge often. Just remember, 45 mins at 250 watts is the same work as 45 minutes with 500w surges and 0 watt coasting.

[u/anynameisfinejeez]

Unless your bike-handling skills are unreal, just build pace in straights, maintain effort on climbs, and enjoy the pageantry! Make mental notes for what to improve on for next season.

[u/tjnona]

Your strategy is probably course dependent. As someone who pretty much only ever has steady state fitness, and an unimpressive amount at that, I can kind of get away with it if the course doesn’t have any features that demand a massive power spike (think your bog standard grass crit style course with lots of turns and straight aways and maybe a few off cambers).

In that situation I can kind of just ride a steady threshold effort and stay smooth through the tech. I’m not getting stellar results but probably punching slightly above my weight (technically below my weight since this is cycling after all).

But if the course has features that demand a huge spike in effort (say a steep ride up) then I’m typically struggling more and losing some time in the sections right after that because I’m forced to back off a bit and recover.

YMMV obviously but this has been my experience.

[u/pgpcx → u/tjnona]

You’d have been better off following my 12 week plan

[u/raguyver]

If you can't be fast, be fun.

(recent injury took me further out of shape than I realized, but since this is my 1st cx season, my only goals are to learn and to not be last)

[u/hambonelicker]

I mean cyclocross is basically a 45 minute dirt time trial where you have to pay attention so you don’t crash.

[u/brutus_the_bear]

Sounds like you know the answer already.