I’m on four days of rest and recovery. This is so hard for me right now! I feel like I just got started and really didn’t want to take any recovery days just yet. But looking ahead to the coming days and weeks of training, I’ve got lots of heavy days scheduled so I guess some rest and recovery makes sense. But it is still hard to do!

I had some really good training over the past weekend. Saturday was super busy with running, hot power yoga and a long ride on the ‘cross bike working on skills and thrills. By the end of this day of training I was pretty wiped out – amazing how quickly your legs can scream at you when running up a sand dune with a bike on your shoulder! Sunday I hooked up with the Stevens Bikes Canada men’s team for a ride out to Merrickville. This was a great road ride – lots of good conversations and laughs (okay – I did a lot of the talking) and I got in some good hard efforts at the front. It is really refreshing to ride with a group of guys who are so passionate about bikes and most importantly making the most of each day.

Assuming it isn’t raining tomorrow night, I’ll ride out to watch the local training crit. I really wish I was racing it, but there is a plan and I have to follow the plan. Speaking of plan – I had a great talk with my coach on Thursday and I know things are really going to come together well for the season.

I’m feeling super good. Confidence is high. Physically I’m doing really well. And everything away from the bike that has to happen off the bike to have a successful season is coming together as well.

Alright, the new clothing design is done and ready to go. Many many thanks to super patient and brilliant graphic designer Allison Goodall. Check out Allison’s site – she does great work and really has designed me a super racing kit.

So when I emailed Allison I told her I wanted a simple design and that my favorite color is purple. I pointed her to a few clothing designs that I like and literally told her to do what she wanted. Well, lets just say I’m stoked.

Check it out:

I’m also super happy to be working with the gang at Champion Systems Canada again this season. It is nice to know I’ll have a good-looking completely custom racing kit that fits well and can handle the Belgian mud, sand and rain!

Nyow, I don’t profess to be any sort of expert when it comes to training the physical body for cyclo-cross. If it was up to me I’d ride long and hard each and everyday with multiple double days thrown into the mix. Yep – not exactly the scientific approach – this is why I’ve got a fine coach keeping care of me.

But what I have learned a lot about over these years of cyclo-cross specific training is how the training progression works (at least for me). When I first started really getting into cyclo-cross I was racing at the local Ottawa level and was honestly still struggling with barrier dismounts. So number one – learn how to dismount and mount my bike properly. I spent an entire fall and early winter focusing on this technique – every lunchtime I would take my trusty barrier out to a nearby park and practice. By  the middle of that season, I had this technique down really well.

This gave me confidence to race harder and to relax when I came upon the barriers or stairs in a race. Of course I had neglected to practice cornering, cambers and loose terrain riding. So this is where the gradual progression came in. The following season I trained with Marc and another friend, working on cornering and bike handling skills. We would train in a local park and set up grids and courses using little flags. This worked really well, I learned how my bike handles and started to understand the concept of letting the bike do the work.

The last couple of seasons saw me change up my technical training even more. I still did work with the flags, still practiced my dismounting/mounting skills but I added in an additional element – actual cyclo-cross riding. That is I sought out trails and areas that provided challenging terrain and demanded similar skills to those required in cyclo-cross races. Progressing me to actual “race-like” training scenarios. This made a big difference and helped my technical skills improve greatly.

And now here I am this season, really only doing work in the woods and on the trails. I’ve learned that I still have trouble with cornering (I like to corner like a crit racer…) and I’ve really been working on pushing my limits on my bike. This means getting comfortable with taking lots of speed into elements and letting the terrain slow me down – rather than braking too much. I’ve also been working on subtle techniques such as using my upper body to help propel the bike through sand, up steep climbs and over tricky sections. Yes, I still do practice my dismounting/mounting skills but now I incorporate this into a small track that I’ve put together and really pay attention to carrying as much speed into the barrier, over the barrier and back onto the bike.

So what I’m trying to explain here is that there needs to be a real progression with your technical cyclo-cross training. If you’re new to the sport, there is no point on focusing on off-camber riding skills and descending techniques if you still aren’t comfortable with a bike dismount. As well once you reach a more competitive level or are racing in Europe, it is time to change up your training to better reflect the race scenarios you’ll see.

Anyway, just my two cent on technical training for cyclo-cross. I know there are lots of opinions on how to do this and what to do. But I think this really comes down to the individual skill of the rider. I’m pretty sure that Sven Nys and I do very different technical training sessions on the bike – but we’re both getting what we need. Make sure you’re getting what you need!

What does strength mean to you? Perhaps it refers to the numbers you see on your SRM or other power meter? Maybe it is all about spinning a 53 x 11 like Fabian? Or maybe it is all about doing a super long hard ride and winning every town sign sprint?

Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about strength these days. We all know that what makes bike racing so fascinating is that the strongest rider doesn’t necessarily win. Numbers on the SRM don’t necessarily translate to race success. Strength is in my mind these days now that I’m back on a regular training program and I’m once again training with purpose and focus. I look at the numbers on my SRM and at times I’m overjoyed and other times I’m crushed.

And this is where I start to wonder if strength really does just come from the legs? I like to think not. A strong mind can take you a long way in a bike race. Heck, just watch the Tour and watch the feats of survival that a rider like Hogerland has made lately. Surviving a race and requiring 44 stitches and earning the polka dot jersey as well – yep this is strength -but it goes beyond the legs.

It hits to the very heart and soul of a being. So as I pedal away and focus on my SRM, I’m also really working on my inner strength. The strength that has allowed me to get through some rough patches that for some would have seen the bike put away for another day. But, don’t get me wrong – I struggle with this strength as well. I’ve been known to think and even say “it is just too hard” “I can’t do it” “you don’t understand what it is like”. Now I like to believe that I’m beyond these thoughts and statements – my inner strength is improving just as the strength in my legs is improving.

There really is not much point in having one without the other.

When I started riding again in 2004 after a long break to play hockey and train in Taekwon-do, I decided the best way to get back on the bike would be through mountain biking. I had been doing a lot of trail running and realized how much I enjoyed being in the nature. So, with this as my main motivator, I bought a mountain bike.

Ottawa has some pretty good mountain biking and thanks to some friends, I was soon out on my mountain bike learning the basics. But I needed more hands-on skills training so I signed up for a mountain biking clinic with Dominique Larocque – the Wild Women on Wheels weekend. Wow – what an experience. This weekend of riding seriously pushed my limits and exposed me to an entirely new set of skills and accomplishments. Needless to say, I was hooked – back on the bike and loving it.

This weekend of riding flashed back to me as I rolled around the woods on my cyclo-cross bike. I was struggling with one section of a trail – a fairly innocent twisty piece of single track that forces you to skim by two trees while cornering – oh and the corners are a bit soft thanks to the sand. I had this section nailed a couple of weeks ago but with the recent rainstorms, the entrance and exits to this section has changed.

Today when I worked on this section I was hesitant, slow and braking. And  yes I was getting frustrated. And this is where that weekend of mountain biking lessons came to me. Back to basics is where I went. I took the trail slowly, and really slowed down the first time through the tricky section – as I rode through I focused on looking ahead and taking pictures.

Yes, taking pictures. This is something Dominique told us to do – as you ride down the trail – look ahead and take pictures of the trail – this helps you react instinctively to the changing terrain. So this is what I did today. I didn’t worry about the dips, the pine cones, the soft sand, the speed – instead I looked ahead and focused on what was coming up. Gradually things become faster and more smooth.

Yes – it worked. After a couple more run throughs like this I was off the rear braked and floating through this section of trail as I had been doing earlier. It might sound corny but even as I sit here now, I can clearly see that section of trail. I know exactly how to approach it and how much speed I can carry into and out of it.

It is interesting to realize how the small tips and lessons received over the years can pop up and really help in making a big step forward. I guess this is why so many Europeans seem to be much further ahead of us in cyclo-cross and road racing – they’ve been doing this longer and have this memory bank of tips, tricks and lessons to keep them moving forward.

The basics: looking ahead, steering with your knees, flowing with the bike, constantly pedaling, relaxing the upper body – really are more than basics. They are the keys – the fundamentals to putting together good rides. Slowly but surely all the pieces come together and the really good rides happen.

The small things really do make the biggest differences.