(New to cyclocross? Check out my top 5 tips for racing CX!)

OK, here’s what I would always have in my race bag:

Neoprene Gloves

Surfers use neoprene for a reason: It moves well and it stays warm even when soaked and freezing. Get a pair of neoprene gloves to wear for warmup / pre-ride, and even to race in when things get really bad, and you will not regret it.

Full Finger Gloves

I’ve had these Giro ones for years, and while I prefer to race with no gloves, when it gets super cold, that’s not always an option—a light full-finger glove is a good weapon in your arsenal. (If you’re really into CX, you’ll end up with 10 pairs of gloves for all temp ranges, but I think these and the neoprene are the most critical).

Cap

When it’s raining, a cycling cap under your helmet can make a big difference in terms of visibility/rain in your face. It also is shockingly warm for cold races. Plus, it avoids a post-race helmet hair situation. You can go fancy, support your favorite team, or grab one on the cheap. (I like this one for a cheap option!)

Helmet

Duh. We like anything Bontrager and often use more ‘aero’ styled helmets for a racier and perhaps warmer option come fall/winter.

Buff

For $14, you get a neck warmer/headband/hat/balaclava—a buff is your best friend for cyclocross.

Glasses

Even if it’s gray out, clear glasses will keep mud out of your eyes. Don’t skip them.

Rain coat

I’m a huge fan of 7mesh when it comes to jackets to ride in. They’re pricey, but they last. I’ve had one now for 5+ years and it still looks brand-new. If you invest in one thing this season, a raincoat is the way to go, since it can be warmed up into a winter jacket by adding a couple layers underneath. To me, this is your most important piece of kit second only to your bib shorts.

Rain pants

You’re going to want to wear these hanging out pre-race or even pre-riding on really cold, wet days. The name of the game is staying warm and dry as long as possible. Get Showers Pass Women’s Club Convertible 2 Pant here

Jacket

Whether it’s a cycling specific one or just a plain puffy coat, some kind of cold-weather jacket is a must. (If you want a cycling winter jacket, this really solid one from Velocio )

Jersey and Bib Shorts

You can see my favorites here—you’re going to want to wear a separate set of cycling kit for pre-ride and then change into race gear. Jerseys are nice here so you can bring a pump or your phone/keys/whatever on course with you!

Skinsuit

Most cyclocross racers use skinsuits. And it is absolutely ridiculous that no brand that I could find is currently making a plain women’s skinsuit ( Molly tried a cheap one in this article … yikes!) With the amount of jumping on and off your bike in a race, it’s really nice to not have to stress about catching your jersey on the seat. Skinsuits are sleek and really nice for CX.

Let us know if you have found a plain skinsuit that is great!

Wool socks

For cold, crappy days, you can’t beat merino wool socks.

Base layer

I don’t often race in a base layer but I like it for warming up. I’m a fan of Rapha’s long sleeve and sleeveless baselayers for enough warmth without adding a ton of bulk.

Leg warmers

Preferably ones with a zip, because you do not want to race in legwarmers. They will sag. So you want to be able to unzip so you can pull them off over your shoes when you’re a couple minutes out from your race start. (These Louis Garneau ones are decent and a solid price!)

Mountain bike shoes

I really love this inexpensive pair of Shimano MTB shoes. For anyone with a wider toe box or wide feet in general, they’re awesome, and they’ve been really great for running!

Shoe Covers

You want to look for MTB shoe covers that are waterproof, like these. Warm is nice, but waterproof is your main concern here.

Sweatpants

Think heavy, warm and with elastic cuffs so you don’t get the bottoms muddy.

Sweatshirt

I saw a woman rocking the Ride Bikes Get Rad sweatshirt at the World Cup last weekend and let me tell you, it looked SO perfect for post race.

Warm socks

I just got Alpaca wool socks and I’m obsessed. SO COZY. After years of actually crying as my cold feet warmed up post-race, I can safely say nothing is more important than being able to very quickly warm your feet up.

Rain boots

I LOVE my Vivo Barefoot Galoshes because a) they’re super comfy and b) they travel really well because they are extremely packable compared to most super burly galoshes. They don’t make them anymore, sadly, but this pair is really similar (and black, so I love them!). I’m a big fan of finding a pair that does fold/bend because otherwise, you will end up leaving them behind right when you need them.

Warm hat

Ahem, Shred Girls beanie, anyone? Very useful for when you’re damn cold post-race.

Don’t forget Specificity

Our first best advice is to use the actual sport to help you prepare for the demands!

With all our Cyclocross Training Plans and with the athletes we coach for cyclocross we emphasize time on the cyclocross bike and specific rides where skills are executed repeatedly on a short course. The Short cyclocross course forces many (100+) skill repetitions in the ride.

I remember riding around my parent’s house for an hour twice a week as cross season came so that I could get a huge number of repeats of dismounts/mounts, carries, shoulders and corners (and yes ruin the grass around my parent’s home! This really biases the skill/agility/mobility/strength required for cyclocross and helps prepare your body for the loads of a race. If you are used to dismounting 50-100x in training then 8 laps with 2 dismounts is not a big deal for your body.

Get a Cyclocross Training Plan that includes strength!

Strength Training to Further Build your Cyclocross Capacity

We believe that strength training is an effective and often convenient way to build your body up to resist and produce force. You could ‘just ride’ but the reality is that most adult/masters cyclists can’t put in huge hours and a quick routine can expose you to more range of motion and loads then most things you will do on a bike.

1) Alternating Bent Over Dumbbell Row 

-> I love this exercise because it challenges the back/torso to remain stable against the alternating rotational forces of the dumbbell row and the hanging weight . These forces are not unlike the challenge of maintaining your posture on the bike while pedaling hard and while pulling on the handlebars to sprint.

*This could be done as a ‘renegade row’ in the top of a pushup position if you find this awkward or painful.

2) Farmer’s Carry and Suitcase Carry 

-> Nothing makes a 16 pound Cyclocross bike seem extra-light after carrying 1/2 bodyweight (or more) dumbbells around. Start with a Dumbbells in each hand and walk out and back 10-50m. The point is more the weight being moved and less about the distance  traveled. Keep your shoulders back and torso upright. Try and make it look like the weights aren’t heavy. These carries also make airport travel much less stressful and easy to recover from. Make sure you challenge the weight you use once you are comfortable lifting the weight up to carry. Learning to handle heavier weights before you need them for other exercises makes progressing in your other lifts quicker.

3) Overhead Press

-> A classic upper body movement that will help you in shouldering and also for your remount. While not quite as specific as some of the other movements I think working on basic pushing mechanics and challenging your shoulder range of motion have many benefits beyond pushing your bike up a hill or off your shoulder.Watch that your belly stays tight and your back doesn’t compensate for limited shoulder range of motion. This can be done alternating as well for additional challenge to that stable torso.

4) Split Squat

Barrier hopping is often limited by hip flexion and extension (e.g. we can’t do the splits). The better you can get into a split stance, the better you can hurdle step over the barriers, which means a more athletic, efficient and consistent run over the barriers. (this is a great hurdle step in a classic picture of Jeremy Powers). A great way to improve hip range of motion is with split squat or lunges. Many athletes who haven’t done much strength can start this unweighted and progress range of motion or load or reps each week.

5) Hurdles / High Steps / Step-ups of some kind 

Strength training generally will help with coordination and speed but it is well supported to work on some form of jumping and eventually plyometrics (repeated jumping). We like skipping (jump rope) or just pogo hops (ankle focused hopping without the jump rope). This could look like stair sets running, or box jumps or other types of jumps but the key here is to keep the total dose reasonable. Usually around 50 impacts is a good place to work. 5 sets of 10 jumps done every minute on the minute for 5 minutes is a great way to finish off off the workout or work the jumps into a circuit with the exercises above! It is amazing how some practice jumping makes the cyclocross barriers look tiny and very familar!

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Consummate Athlete offers a variety of services that can support your cyclocross campaign this year, whether you are looking to use cross to springboard into a great season next season, to just enjoy the season this year or have your best cyclocross season.

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Check out the 12 week Cyclocross Build Plan here (best for Aug/Sept/Oct or Sept/Oct/Nov) 

Check out the Longer 17 week Cyclocross Build + Race Plan that allows for more racing and a longer season 

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Coaching with Consummate Athlete is for longer term goals. If you want to do well this cyclocross season AND you want to keep progressing over the next few years in cyclocross or other disciplines then coaching is a great option for you. Coaching gets you your own training plan, someone to discuss your goals/fears with and to celebrate your successes with.  Our coaching includes monthly AMA calls with clients, periodic online and in person.   Learn More about Cyclocross Coaching with Consummate Athlete

Phone Consultation about Cyclocross Training

Our phone or Video consultation allows you to discuss your past and future plans and goals while asking questions you have. Athlete’s will come away with more confidence in what they are doing and the motivation to make changes or tweaks that will help them overcome injury, plateaus or to break through to the next level in their training and racing.
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SHOW NOTES / LINKS MENTIONED

• Subscribe to our newsletter before Sunday, October 3rd, 2022 to get a free cyclocross E-Book with all the information you need to ride and race cyclocross
•   ** If  you prefer you can leave a rating/review and send a screenshot to [email protected] or via a DM on Instagram 
• Bill Schieken from CX Hairs discussing Cyclocross and running for cyclocross
• post on running for cyclocross
• Details on WED Oct 6 Shredders weekly cx Peter and Molly will be at in Uxbridge Ontario (northeast of GTA) 
• Ryan Leech Cyclocross Course that Peter designed for Mount/Dismount 
• All of our posts on Cyclocross
• The Joey Video for Cyclocross barrier fails

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• You started as a pretty serious consummate athlete as a kid: let’s go through the list of sports you used to play?
• Finding Your Discipline – What made cycling special?
• Why CX?
• Process vs. Process Goals and How Overcome a Bad Race and maintain focus on long-term goals
• IF you only could do 2 x 30 min workouts each week for Cyclocross, what would you do?
• Learning the BunnyHop – how and how long?
• Nutrition – Over the last couple years, you struggled to find a good balance in nutrition
• Nationals coming up — excited?

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Don’t forget to refine your Dismount and Mount Skills as those skills are still imperative for Cyclocross = Check out previous free videos here or take the intensive Cyclocross Mounts & Dismounts Course from RLC HERE

Let me know what you think and if you are having trouble feel free to reach out via the contact form -OR- check out the Bike Skills Sessions page 

© Jody Wilson

Should you run? or do you want to run? Or do you need to run?

• If you struggle to get enough workouts in or to maintain your training discipline/routine with travel, weather and other challenges then running can be a very effective and something I personally use and believe has greatly enhanced my performance as a cyclist. Uphill running especially I think offers a potent stimulus for trained cyclists who may struggle to push hard enough on the bike.
• If you are travelling I think it makes sense that some of the short-term causes of detraining (e.g. plasma volume) can be mitigated if you can do something.
• Past injuries may inform if you should run (and perhaps if you should ride cyclocross) I believe many people can get to some form of running but it takes time and focused work ( run: walks, mobility, skipping and eccentric-strength work, mixed-soft surfaces, walking and hiking and footwear are among considerations) 
• Do you live in a wintery or less-than-ideal cycling location? I grew up and live in Canada. If you don’t have other activities to do you can not train without going crazy on the trainer, yes even with ‘smart’ trainers. Running is very flexible to weather and terrain but pole-running, hiking, Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, fat-biking and other options do help, albeit generally require more specific conditions, terrain or equipment than running.

Specific considerations for the ‘should I run for cyclocross’ question

• are you losing time in running during cyclocross, and are you sure it isn’t a mount/dismount skill deficiency? (see the Online Mounts and Dismounts Course if so!)
• Does it make sense to run without your bike if you only will have to run with your bike?
• Does it make sense to jog vs. sprint uphill?
• To start why not go for more walks during your day with your family? (is walking as similar to uphill, offroad cyclocross running as JOGGING on flat pavement for 20min?)
• Why not do more running in your cyclocross-specific workouts and incorporate hike-a-bike into more rides in summer/fall?
• Bill Shieken of CxHairs was also on the podcast and I was really happy to talk about this and other issues since he has watched so much cyclocross (and has a book about it). He felt that the one thing that running might do is help with confidence in that if you do run periodically then you may not be able to list that as a, “I can’t run” limiter.

In the episode I linked above, Molly and I broke down our thoughts, experiences and a few of the pros/cons to starting to run for Cyclocross. We also looked at the broader, and I believe more relevant and long-term question of whether you should consider adding running to your training routine year-round.

I would love to know if this question is one you struggle with. Do you run for cyclocross specifically? Do you run to boost your training frequency/volume?

Thanks for reading!

Peter