Pre Season Cross Topics

Cyclocross season 2022 is getting underway. My first event is a few days out. That event will be the initial test for my revised training plan and revolutionized equipment.

Training

Training in 2022 has been my most deliberate. Training workloads were chosen with purpose. Early year training for gravel racing, late year training for cyclocross. This was also the year where planned rest weeks were formally incorporated.

January to March was dominated by endurance paced base miles. A few high intensity Zwift events were sprinkled in to keep it zesty. Those Zwift events were later replaced with more structured intervals for a traditional 'build' phase.

Summer was a mixture of racing at Pacific Raceways and the mental reset of a few extra rest weeks.

July brought another transition. Volume was trimmed to accommodate two structured workouts per week. The intensity notched up with the dreaded 30/30's in late August to more closely match the demands of cyclocross.  

Unlike previous years the transition from Summer season to cyclocross season was well scripted. Having invested the time to create a concrete pre season training plan motivated me to execute every one of those interval sessions. Only time will tell if the story line concludes with an improvement in my fitness compared to previous years.

Equipment

Back in 2019 I purchased an Ibis Hakka MX frameset and built it into a gravel racing rig. In 2022 The Hakka will supplant my twelve year old Blue Norcross cyclocross race bike. After swapping a few parts and stripping off the gravel gear I spent a few hours riding my neighborhood cyclocross training grounds. The first ride was to verify mechanical fitness. Subsequent rides were spent evaluating the handling. While designed as a cyclocross race bike it feels substantially different from my familiar Norcross.

Ibis Hakka MX ungraveled and ready to race CX

I've raced just two cross bikes in the last ten years. Both were built by Blue and shared identical geometry. I would describe them as quick steering and having high bottom bracket heights. Initially I was intimidated but eventually learned to appreciate those handling characteristics.

The geometry numbers for the front end of the Hakka MX are pretty close to the Blue. Yet the steering feels less precise. Where I do see a difference in geometry is in the wheelbase and bottom bracket height. The Hakka is longer and lower. Those properties are appreciated when gravel racing. Those properties might also provide me a new learning opportunity this cyclocross season.

This is why we test. Last cross season this saddle probably saw over twenty hours of use. It came home in pieces less than twenty minutes into this year's first test ride.

 

 

 

Complicating the switch from old to new is tire selection. The Blue was shod with 33mm tubulars. They worked in the mud and I hated them everywhere else. It was time to move up to a larger volume tubeless tire. While not the perfect choice a large volume tire was already mounted. The Hakka will start the season with 40mm Rambler gravel tires. I know what to expect from these tires in the context of gravel racing. At low pressures and deep lean angles they might show a different face. It is my intention to swap them out for a more cross specific tire sooner than later. 

Each September I want to believe it will be 'my year'. Each December I hang up a thrashed bike with grand plans to make next Fall even better. This year I intend to write some pages to tell the story between those bookends.