Keeping Your Endurance when Cyclocross Racing

Video Transcript

"MICKEY DENONCOURT: Oftentimes, what you'll find on a race course or generally probably you're out riding is that you'll have some really steep hard climbs and stuff like that, that plateau up on the top and there's a long flat section after you get through them or a technical section then a long, fast, open section. And if you're spending all of your effort to get through this hard section as quickly as possible, when you get to the easier stuff and you're spent and you're not going to be able to make up time, so you have to think about the total percentage of time, something hard is versus the easier stuff is on the trail and it's like sort of--the core layer to that concept, if there's a hill that's really steep but short, if you sprint before you get to it so you can coast most of the way up of it, it's going to--that's probably going to be worthwhile to do versus having to slowly slog your way up there and really strain your legs and your muscles trying to get up. So as I ride through these sections right here, it will be like there are long, open sections where I can just sit there and easily go fast in tight little corners, so you really need to analyze everything that you're doing to figure out what's really the most worthwhile because you can't be out going full speed all the time. So, you know, harder corner, a straight section, a series of hard corners, you know, it's going to be way more worthwhile to save my energy so that I can accelerate going out of these hard corners going into the straight sections than trying to get to the hard corners and steep hills or the run-ups or whatever. You know, you just going to keep your speed up overall and just--the best way to prepare for that is by practicing accelerating all the time."