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2013 World Cyclocross Championships

I was fortunate enough to make the travels to Louisville, KY this past weekend and experience the World Championships of Cyclocross. What an action-packed and memorable day it was with four races (Juniors, U23, Elite Women, and Elite Men) to take in!  More than anything I was proud to “bring the noise” and wave the American flag while racers ripped around a World Championship course for the first time ever on US soil.  In the photo above you can see the US flag that I was waiving just in front of the 25m to go sign.

Racing in your own country at an event of this caliber is something that only a few professional US racers will ever get to experience so it was fun to cheer them on course-side. You could feel the significance of this every time a US rider sped by and the  crowd noise levels would literally double.

The US did cyclocross proud on the World’s stage and it was incredible to experience it with so many friends and cyclocross enthusiasts who were there to make it all that it was.  If you missed it in person, you can still check out the recorded action here:  Juniors, U23, Elite Women, Elite Men via YouTube. Enjoy,


Thinking of 2013 yet?

Sunrise over the Tucson Mountains.

As the year winds down most of us find ourselves thinking of next season and plotting how might we might improve our performance at some of the bigger races. Even if you achieved stronger than ever fitness this year, was it well timed relative to your goal events? There are so many factors that can improve your performance it can be tough to prioritize them. We’ve organized a training camp that is designed to answer some of these questions for you and equip you for an excellent 2013 season.

Join us for our Tucson Training Camp, February 19th – 24th. This camp goes well beyond guided rides in the sunshine and you’ll have loads of one on one interaction with coaches who know know ‘what it takes’ to consistently improve and move up the ranks. You’ll have the opportunity to learn what types of rides or workouts are most appropriate at various stages of your season. Our goal is to equip you with knowledge so that you not only have a successful camp with us, but more importantly, you return home better prepared to make 2013 your best season ever.

Make plans to jump start your season with us in Tucson and reserve your spot with us! For more details you can check out our Tucson Training Camp page. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. We look forward to riding with you.


A question on weight training

This Q&A article recently appeared on MTBRaceNews.com. You can read it there with this link, or simply continue on below. As always, please feel free to contact Momentum Endurance if we can help you with a pressing question that you might have. Thanks,

Question: How can weight lifting and other gym cross training be beneficial to mountain bike racing, mainly endurance racers? (Submitted by: Cody Pratt -Visalia, California)

Hi Cody,

You’ve asked a great question and it’s likely one that many riders share. The benefit of resistance training and its application for endurance cyclists has long been hotly debated.  Unquestionably there are benefits to be gained from weight lifting or other ‘gym cross training’ (let’s use the term resistance training since it includes weight training and also strength exercises which only require body weight). What can be questioned, however, is the specificity of resistance training. Will it help you ride a mountain bike any faster? Also, might time spent doing resistance training be better spent by doing more work on the bike instead?

Outlining the benefits

With resistance training an improved ability to create higher forces and better fatigue resistance can be expected. Also with resistance training the rate of recovery will improve so that harder workouts can be done with greater frequency. If you’ve followed a resistance training program before you’ve likely noticed that you get stronger and that you’re able to recover faster after workouts. Resistance training can be a great full body workout and you can focus on muscle groups that might otherwise be under developed or neglected as the result of bike-only training. Maintaining a strong upper body and core with resistance training may benefit your posture too.  Another important consideration, especially so for women, is that resistance training can benefit bone health since it is weight bearing and typically includes eccentric muscle contractions. These are just a few of the numerous benefits that come with resistance training. Notice however that I didn’t mention that you’ll be able to pedal your bike at a higher power output for a longer duration – this is something that no resistance training study has been able to demonstrate.

Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands

While resistance training benefits are quite clear for overall health and wellness considerations, the competitive cyclist might say, “okay that’s all great, but is resistance training going to help me race faster?” The short answer is no and that’s where the concept of specificity comes in. There will bespecific adaptation to imposed demands that are placed upon the body. Any set of training adaptations may not transfer to other activities. This is the SAID principle. In a nutshell, you get good at doing what you do, and not necessarily so good at the things you’re not doing. Since resistance training differs considerably with racing a mountain bike, it is unlikely that any benefits will allow you to pedal harder or to ride faster.

How best to apply?

Perhaps the most important question to consider is this: how should resistance training be applied into your cycling specific program? It is safe to say that it’s the training that you do on the bike that will benefit your riding the most. If you’re already putting in adequate training time on the bike and have additional time and energy for resistance training it will make your program better-rounded. I encourage riders to approach the resistance training as something that is supplemental to their program this way rather than something that is imperative. Most cyclists should keep with a well-rounded program which includes some resistance training done once or twice per week, and the use of supplements such as mk2866 could really help the body perform better during training. Those who are racing at the highest level and pushing their training to the absolute limit may find that resistance training reduces the amount of training that they’d otherwise be able to do during critical training periods. For them, it’s all about maximizing the bike training and also their recovery, so resistance training isn’t the best option in this situation. So while you might not want to include resistance training when your bike training workload is at its highest, you’ll likely want to incorporate it during the bulk of the year otherwise. Don’t forget to shave after a good shower, the Best Disposable Razor For Men can help you out because theyre easy and convenient to use in the locker room.

Thanks for sending across your question Cody! Best of luck with your training.

-Travis


Now offering Quarq Powermeters

If you aren’t already training with power, perhaps this is the year to finally do so. Maybe you’ve been training with power for awhile now, but you’re growing tired of being limited to just one rear wheel with your current hub-based powermeter.

Either way, you should check out the wireless crank-based powermeters that are made by Quarq in Spearfish, SD. Quarq offers several versions so that you can choose the best option for your application. You can go with standard or compact chainrings on a SRAM, FSA, Rotor, Specialized, or Cannondale crankset. Also offered is a 2×10 SRAM MTB powermeter.

Quarq provides all of the performance and reliability of other crank-based powermeters, but at a fraction of the cost. All Quarq powermeters have a user replaceable battery too which means that with this system, you won’t have the expense/hassle of sending it away for service every year. This is the same powermeter that the pros use for road, cyclocross, and mtb racing.  Check it out and let Momentum Endurance set you up with the best!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have any Quarq-related questions or if you might be interested to purchase,  please feel free to contact us for pricing information. Thanks,