First XC Race - some improvement needed, what to do?

[tjdixon911]

I recently entered the first round of a local XC winter series, it was the first race I've entered for a few years and I was relatively pleased with my effort / improvement from previous.

What I noticed was that I was being passed on the open fire road sections but then catching and being held up in the single track / flowy sections where passing was difficult (I'm not saying this applied to everyone but the people I was fighting with at the middle/rear of the pack).

So I'm thinking that if I can improve my fire road speed I can be moving up the positions at the end of the race, how do I do this?

I've seen big improvements this year, I have actually done less cycling (2100miles so far) but concentrated on off bike work in the gym (weights etc) lost 2.5st (currently around 14st).

I have a gym membership and Turbo trainer at my disposal... I have used the TT more recently doing HIIT sessions for 30mins.

Next race is first weekend of December so 4 weeks to train...

[neenaw]

If you've got access to a turbo then it might be worth signing up for Trainer Road and looking at one of their XC Race training plans.

I don't use it anymore but I'm sure that someone on here who's a Trainer Road user could give you one of the free trials to see if you like it.

[anonymous-user]

Not everyone will agree with this but I think an element of it is psychological, you're familiar with the fire road sections being links to the twisty fun bits so you sit up and drop the pace. If you're a regular mountain biker, you'll appreciate it when I say the fire roads are pretty social and you chat. You're a good technical rider from the sound of it so I'd suggest some simple interval training would be a good start just so when you hit the fire road sections, you know that's the time to go deep and you've built up the speed to do it, a cyclocross training plan might also be worth a look?

[gazza285]

pablo said:

Not everyone will agree with this but I think an element of it is psychological, you're familiar with the fire road sections being links to the twisty fun bits so you sit up and drop the pace. If you're a regular mountain biker, you'll appreciate it when I say the fire roads are pretty social and you chat. You're a good technical rider from the sound of it so I'd suggest some simple interval training would be a good start just so when you hit the fire road sections, you know that's the time to go deep and you've built up the speed to do it, a cyclocross training plan might also be worth a look?

Sounds more like he's just not fit enough rather the psychological.

OP, don't try any offroad duathlons, there are far too many fast runners on slow bikes, it's hideous.

[s3fella]

What's your gearing like? are you flat out in top so to speak?

If you have been a big guy you may have big legs and need another gear? Weirdly my MTB has a much bigger top that my road bike and on the flat despite being heavier, no drops and wide rocket rons, I can ride quicker on the MTB than the road bike. If I train and get used to higher cadence I'm sure I should be faster on the roadie, but having legs like tree trunks mean I can turn much bigger gears than I should be able to!

[WestyCarl]

XC races are mainly about power and shortish bursts of it.

I'd do a couple of high intensity turbo sessions a week, if you want to be more structured join trainer road / zwift or one of the others.

[scz4]

tjdixon911 said:

What I noticed was that I was being passed on the open fire road sections but then catching and being held up in the single track / flowy sections where passing was difficult (I'm not saying this applied to everyone but the people I was fighting with at the middle/rear of the pack).

Sounds like your average XC race, full of roadies!! One of the main reasons the XC scene has died up here and Enduro's are so popular.

Sounds like it's just fitness, but don't lose the enjoyment of mountain biking to try and keep up with these guys.

Edited by scz4 on Saturday 5th November 08:37

[tjdixon911]

pablo said:

Not everyone will agree with this but I think an element of it is psychological, you're familiar with the fire road sections being links to the twisty fun bits so you sit up and drop the pace. If you're a regular mountain biker, you'll appreciate it when I say the fire roads are pretty social and you chat. You're a good technical rider from the sound of it so I'd suggest some simple interval training would be a good start just so when you hit the fire road sections, you know that's the time to go deep and you've built up the speed to do it, a cyclocross training plan might also be worth a look?

I can see your point, there probably is a bit of a phsycological element to seeing the trail open up and thinking it's rest time as would be the case riding with mates...

There was one rider I'd been yo yoing behind because of their pace on the open sections and then slowing on the technical bits, I got my mind set to pass them at the next opportunity which happened to be an open section, dug deep, passed them and then stayed in front for the rest of the race - to an extent that's what I need to do more of... but I'm not sure my fitness is quite there to do that each lap....

[tjdixon911]

gazza285 said:

Sounds more like he's just not fit enough rather the psychological.

OP, don't try any offroad duathlons, there are far too many fast runners on slow bikes, it's hideous.

Trust me, anything that involves running I avoid!

[tjdixon911]

s3fella said:

What's your gearing like? are you flat out in top so to speak?

If you have been a big guy you may have big legs and need another gear? Weirdly my MTB has a much bigger top that my road bike and on the flat despite being heavier, no drops and wide rocket rons, I can ride quicker on the MTB than the road bike. If I train and get used to higher cadence I'm sure I should be faster on the roadie, but having legs like tree trunks mean I can turn much bigger gears than I should be able to!

I'm running 1x11- an 11-42 cassette with a 34t oval chainring - I'm not running out of gears I don't think - i can usually spin it up to around 20mph give or take on flat sections / roads (just not under race conditions it seems!

[nacnac]

Increase your FTP, you go faster then everywhere.

If you don't know what FTP is just google "increase FTP".

And buy a power meter

[TSCfree]

Ah sounds like me but the other way round, not bad on the flat - terrible through anything technical. (just a roadie keeping fit)

[anonymous-user]

gazza285 said:

pablo said:

Not everyone will agree with this but I think an element of it is psychological, you're familiar with the fire road sections being links to the twisty fun bits so you sit up and drop the pace. If you're a regular mountain biker, you'll appreciate it when I say the fire roads are pretty social and you chat. You're a good technical rider from the sound of it so I'd suggest some simple interval training would be a good start just so when you hit the fire road sections, you know that's the time to go deep and you've built up the speed to do it, a cyclocross training plan might also be worth a look?

Sounds more like he's just not fit enough rather the psychological.

OP, don't try any offroad duathlons, there are far too many fast runners on slow bikes, it's hideous.

Ha ha, exactly my experience too! One guy rode an entire section of single track sat down because he said riding stood on the pedals was dangerous!

[yellowjack]

tjdixon911 said:

pablo said:

Not everyone will agree with this but I think an element of it is psychological, you're familiar with the fire road sections being links to the twisty fun bits so you sit up and drop the pace. If you're a regular mountain biker, you'll appreciate it when I say the fire roads are pretty social and you chat. You're a good technical rider from the sound of it so I'd suggest some simple interval training would be a good start just so when you hit the fire road sections, you know that's the time to go deep and you've built up the speed to do it, a cyclocross training plan might also be worth a look?

I can see your point, there probably is a bit of a phsycological element to seeing the trail open up and thinking it's rest time as would be the case riding with mates...

There was one rider I'd been yo yoing behind because of their pace on the open sections and then slowing on the technical bits, I got my mind set to pass them at the next opportunity which happened to be an open section, dug deep, passed them and then stayed in front for the rest of the race - to an extent that's what I need to do more of... but I'm not sure my fitness is quite there to do that each lap....

I think pablo is right. I know I do this, even riding alone (outside of races, I mean).

I had a nightmare at Battle on the Beach early this year - snapped chain starting lap 2 of 3. 12 minutes to fix (no spare links) and spent the rest of the race picking off the back-markers one by one. By the end of the race I (only just mind) passed the lady who I'd been stuck behind going into the very first single-track bottleneck.

I'd say let the race settle a little, then pick a rider ahead to try to catch. When you catch them make it stick. Not always easy, but by breaking it down and not worrying about how far ahead the leaders are, you can haul yourself up through the field. Winter 2014/2015 I did a three race winter XC series and improved at each race. By the last one I was just a few seconds from earning my first ever bike race point! Not sure how I'd fare now, to be honest, but I've regularly set new PRs on Strava on some segments used in these races in the interim so it's fair to say that I think I'm quicker now than when I raced. One thing I noticed when racing is that I'm quite good at 'sneaking' through gaps at the very start, gaining field position on where I started, but as soon as the race starts to get strung out and the bottlenecks disappear, faster riders have the space to exploit their extra pace and catch me with monotonous regularity until I find 'my level' with a surrounding group of riders of a similar standard. 'daddy cool' on here has some video of me getting away ahead of him at the start, only for him to come steaming past me half a lap or so later. But yes, I'm pretty sure I could wring a few more mph out of myself on the fire road links if only I took things a little more seriously and actually concentrated on the racing part of racing, if you see what I mean...