|
Note from the coach
We are in the middle of Cyclo-Cross
season, but not every one races cross. Some people just race road races, mountain
bike, multi-sports or running events. The season ended in late September or
is just about to end for some. What should your goal be now? It is probably
almost 5-6 months until you will pin a number on again.
Should you be resting and taking time out from your sport? Gym
workouts? Cross training? Or just keep doing what you did all summer? Well
I think all of the above is the answer for most of us.
The key thing is to break things up
and find a routine that fits the fall weather conditions, your normal life
schedule and family schedule with small breaks and greater flexibility. I
encourage all my athletes to join a gym if possible and do strength
specific workouts that are beneficial to your sport and over all fitness.
That is a great change in scenery and great benefits are the result later
down the road.
Introduce some different activities from the sport you race
in. For example, if you are a cyclist do some running (short and if
possible on grass or trail), hiking, mountain biking, rowing machine in the
gym, stair climber, and versa climber, take some boot camp classes or core
classes, swimming and later once we are in the winter go cross country
skiing and even yoga to gain some flexibility that you have lost or
neglected over the summer months.
Do not overwhelm yourself with too much either, during the
week pick a day as your alternative exercises day, 2 days in the gym and
then 2 days as your quality sport specific days (you still have to ride
your bike if you are a cyclist) One day on Power Cranks (if you have a
pair, if not get them!!) and one day a solid bike workout (outdoors or
trainer)
The weekends should be your endurance and base structure
building days of the week, no need to do 5-6 hour rides (then you will need
to recover on Mon and Tues and almost be too tired to do any of the mid
week workouts) 2-3 hours is enough to build a nice base and structure in
Nov and Dec. Missing a day or taking a day off is not the end of the world
either. Rather than taking 3 months off all together, just take mini breaks
here and there around holidays or family events. It is not about how much
you do the next couple of months, it is that you do something frequently,
everyday one hour, is better than one 5 hour ride once a week.
My point here is to get you a routine with flexibility to life
and weather that you can handle every week and everyday for the dark months
of you season. Before you know it is February and FinKraft
Camp time and the races will be in full swing again shortly thereafter.
Make this time count as well, it will help you later and could be the
difference in between winning or losing in June.
Westwood Velo
Cross Race
report
Sunday October
25th
The 4th edition
of the Westwood Velo Cross Race was held on
Sunday, October 25th at Campgaw Ski Area in
Mahwah, NJ with a record 265 racers participating in the event.
The event
attracted various levels of racers ranging from first time beginner racers
to well-experienced elite racers. The Campgaw
ski area was also holding a Ski-Swap at the same time the race was being
held. The Ski-Swap drew people that had never seen the spectacle we
call Cyclocross and it was inspiring to see the
looks on their faces and field the questions they had about what the racers
were doing with their cross bikes.
The course
Westwood Velo setup at Campgaw
offered some unique challenges which got great reviews from all racers
including the hard-core seasoned cross veterans. The course was setup
on Saturday in the pouring rain, but the weather on Sunday turned out to be
spectacular with conditions being sunny and around 60F. The rain on
Saturday left the course a bit damp, but it dried out nicely on Sunday as
the day went on. A big "thanks for a job well done" goes
out to the many Westwood Velo volunteers who came
out both Saturday and Sunday to help the club put on an awesome
event. Giant and Fuji
both donated bike frames to be raffled off at the race.
The raffle
generated around $800 for the Chance Cosgrove Memorial Fund that supports
various charities. In addition, Giant had a huge presence at the
event by sponsoring the event and setting up a large trailers and tent full
of road, mountain, cyclocross, bicycles etc. for
attendees to try out. Westwood Velo is
looking forward to putting on an even great cyclocross
event in 2010!
Troy Kimball
Westwood
Velo Race Team Director
Motor-Pacing
 
then now
We are happy to announce that FinKraft now offers motor-paced coaching sessions for
clients and other bike racers.
I have
recently become an approved motor pace trainer by the USA Cycling coaching
program and can now offer this aid towards speed to all of you. Motor
-pacing helps build speed and high-end endurance needed for racing and
training. It is also a great way for small groups to learn sprinting,
drafting, echelons and other techniques required for training and racing.
In
fact, velonews.com just published an article about the benefits.
These sessions will be held up here
in Bethel, CT on low traffic or industrial park
roads to maintain the highest level of safety. Each workout could be
up to 2 hours including warm-ups and recovery and small groups are
welcome. There is a charge of $ 40.00/hour ($ 30.00/hour for FinKraft clients) mainly to cover expenses and
insurances. Once a week during a season is a great idea and every few
weeks during the off-season are very helpful.
I am
available during the week or on non-race weekends and it would be best if
the weather were not rainy. I'll even make lunch.
Email
or call to make an appointment. I hope everyone takes advantage of
this coaching service! Thanks!
Kyle J. Wolfe 203.353.1776
Roger; flyingfin@verizon.net
201 925 3643
Ralf’s experience at the USGP in
Louisville, KY
This past weekend one of our elite
masters cyclo-cross racers; Ralf Warmuth drove 12 hours to our beloved Louisville, KY
to participate in the round 2 of the USGP cyclocross
series. Ralf is one of the fastest master cross racers in the country and
was 8th in the last years National
Champion ships and now 8th as well in this series.
Ralf finished 10th on
day 1. Got the call up for a front row start on day 2. Ralf gets a great
start and is about to have a great race and score some more points. Ralf is
in 5th place by the pit area where he takes an outside line in a
sharp turn, a local racer tries to pass him on the inside in the turn and
hits Ralf and crashes. Ralf stays upright and the German keeps going. Next
time around an official stops Ralf by the Pit area where he was stationed
and DQ’s Ralf for causing the crash and knocking
the Midwestern down. In addition the official accused Ralf of elbowing the
other rider. Ralf has raced bikes for over 25 years and knows the rules and
has skills of a pro; that is NOT what happened!
First of all if someone tries to pass on the inside and
crashes in cross, it is their fault!
Second, the official has probably never even raced a cross
race or even been on a cross bike. He just did his local buddy a favor DQ’ing Ralf and like so many times before in a lot of
races (not to mention any) made an incompetent decision to feel important
and look good in the locals eyes. These people do
not realize how much effort, time and money is spent for a racer like Ralf
doing this series.
And you wonder why there are not that many guys showing up for
these events to race for a goodie bag of couple
energy bars and a hat!!
I won the USGP in 2006 and the overall price was an Nano ipod.(worth
$ 50,.00) .
Cyclo-cross is the fastest growing cycling sport here in the US right now and the amateur categories are
way bigger than in Belgium
or anywhere in Europe. I just wish it
would not become a Circus due to having people involved that do not know
what Cyclo-cross is!
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
TUCSON
Arizona Training Camp
NOVEMBER
1ST IS WHEN THE 10% DISCOUNT FOR THE CAMP EXPIRES
SO
BOOK NOW TO SAVE!!
this
opportunity will be posted on bikereg.com next week and fill up quickly
Photo shows actual house for next year's stay
ARIZONA TRAINING CAMP 2010 FEBRUARY 21 TO MARCH 14
TUCSON, ARIZONA
for more info go to web site link /
services-training camps
WWW.FINKRAFTCOACHING.COM
|
