Cyclocross practice, first ever [Video]

(Editors Note: Lauren Hall quit her job of five years to pursue a professional cycling career. She moved from Mississippi all the way to Colorado for the best training anywhere and has embarked on her first cyclocross season.)

Learning Cyclocross

(Editors Note:  Lauren Hall quit her job of five years to pursue a professional cycling career.  She moved from Mississippi all the way to Colorado for the best training anywhere and is about to embark on her first cyclocross season)

First off, cyclocross is a lot harder and ten times more fun than it looks. My first experience with the sport was this year at Cross Vegas; I was a spectator cheering on my teammates and just taking it all in, the fans, the barriers, the hurt. I couldn’t believe how much fun I’d been missing out on all these years. Coming from Mississippi there isn’t a prominent cyclocross series, group or anything too accessible so I didn’t even know about the sport until that event.

For those that don’t know, cyclocross is a form of bike racing.  Events consist of many laps of a short course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles requiring the rider to quickly dismount and carry the bike while navigating the obstruction and remounting in one motion. Many of the best cyclocross riders cross train in other cycling disciplines since the emphasis is on aerobic endurance and bike-handling skills.

So now, I have been given this beautiful opportunity from the Hudz-Subaru team to be a development rider for their women’s team which is full of awesome talent that I can learn from and be a part of. After Cross Vegas I received my Blue frames and two kits.  It was all falling into place and time to learn what it means to race cyclocross. Once the bike was all together, I took it on a couple of easy dirt road rides just to get a feel for the bike and the difference of road versus trail versus a mountain bike. Wow -  what a combination of bike.

Next up was learning how to mount and dismount and jump over barriers, so off to Durango I headed for some help. I met up with Chad Wells and a couple of girls from the Fort Lewis College.  He gave us a quick lesson on the mechanics of throwing the leg and where to grab the bike when jumping off; then we practiced on the grass and gradually made our way to the barriers. It wasn’t pretty but I managed to slowly dismount, make it over the barriers and then get back on, a small goal obtained!

After a couple of weeks and LOTS of practicing, lots of falls and more bruises than I can count, I wanted to go back to Durango to try my hand again – this time at the practice races. I was nervous, even if it was practice I like to see how far I can push myself and I didn’t want to embarrass myself or interfere with anyone else’s rhythm. I was slow, sloppy, choppy and wasted so much energy trying to make it all come together. But over the next three days, I became more fluid, more efficient, and more comfortable pushing myself to the limit while still managing to make it over the barriers.

It is a different hurt but like Rebecca Much said, it is so much fun hurting that bad when it is cyclocross.

So here goes, my first pro cyclocross season, my first race this weekend and I can’t wait. Come back in a week or so and check out the progress of the team and see if I survived my first race :)

Cyclists keep coming back for more

(Ed. Note: Cyclist Kim Geist is a member of the Pretty Tough Team)

I think cyclists are one of the most interesting types of athletes in the world.  This is because not only is skill very important to the cyclist’s success, but it is vital that he or she must be in the absolute best physical shape one can be at the time of the big event.  It is not like other sports where a good majority of the time is spent in “practice.”

I will admit I am prejudiced, but most of our American stick and ball sports have their athletes spend their time “practicing” how to dribble the ball more efficiently, how to scan the field for the open teammate, or how to implement the best new formation.  Cycling is not without its practice, but it rarely comes in a controlled environment.  A cyclist never says he or she is going to “practice.”  Cyclists go to “training.”

Cyclists definitely have to acquire skills like the ability to place a front wheel just inches away from another cyclist’s back wheel, the ability to change gears properly with varying terrain and speed, and the ability to make the best decision on during which part of the race it is smartest to spend energy.  It is just that these skills, unlike typical American sports, simply can’t make the whole game.

Unless the cyclist is fit enough to maintain the pace of the other cyclists whom he or she is racing with, skills acquired during “practice” will never help the cyclist to win the race.  So, right off the bat, being a good cyclist becomes almost all about training and the “practice” becomes all about covering up where training is lacking!  We cyclists ride in the draft behind another rider and shift gears at certain times – we use our skills – to make riding as easy as possible until the moment comes in a race when we can use the strong points of our fitness to make the right move at the right time and to win.

It did not take me long to figure out why many people call cycling the hardest sport in the world.  It is all about the question:  just how hard can you push yourself?  And, if a cyclist can answer that question in training, competing becomes just another day in the saddle.

Finding an answer to that question was the point of my latest venture.  I recently returned home from a national training camp held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.  There were six of us female cyclists invited.  We each had different goals we were working towards for the near future such as competing in the road world championships or the elite national track championships (that’s me), but our common goal was to push each other as hard as possible in training in order to bring out the best in each of us individually.  The group was perfect for the task; among the resumes of the riders were an Olympic gold medal and multiple world championship and world cup medals.  We obviously were a group of competitive women!

So, needless to say, I can describe our week together as training.  Was there practice of the nuances of team pursuit, an event that requires pure precision in exchanging in and out of the draft of other riders to cover a distance of three kilometers as fast as possible?  Sure there was.  But it was done at mock speed.  The quickest way to learn the finer points of the event is to make a mistake when you are already on the rivet physically.  Mess up and it is curtains.  You won’t make that mistake twice!

It helped to be at the training center where the athletic lifestyle is on center stage and all the external stresses of life are already taken care of.  Comfortable and convenient housing, tasty and healthy food (there are labeled nutrition facts for everything) and a great medical and recovery staff make concentrating on the training as easy as it can be.

Then after a week of training that would leave most people in bed for the week after, we cyclists ask, “When’s the next camp?”  We keep coming back for more.

You can follow me at my next major race, the elite national track championships at the ADT Event Center at the Home Depot Center in Carson (Los Angeles), CA September 30-October 4.  Then, yes, I will be back for more at the next national training camp in October.

www.kimgeist.com

Pretty Tough Basketball Training Tips

3A – Ladies Triple Axel

Who are the ladies who have actually landed a triple axel in competition? Many have tried, few have been successful.

Midori Ito, Tonya Harding, Kimmie Meisner, and Mao Asada jump to mind. Also Ludmila Nelidina (RUS) and Yukari Nakano (JPN) both at 2002 Skate America.

Skating greats like Michelle Kwan, Sasha Cohen, Tara Lipinski and others have attempted the triple axel in practice but none were able to successfully work it into their competitive programs. The real trick is landing the jump while maintaining artistic integrity. Check out the videos and try to guess who will be next?

Training Tips – Basketball free throws

Q: I love basketball but lose my nerve at the free throw line. How can I improve my free throws?

A: The reality of “practice makes perfect” pays off. In additon, here are three tips that may help:

• A player on the foul line needs a routine to help focus on the shot rather than the score or the crowd. This might involve shaking or loosening the wrists, dribbling or bouncing the ball several times, bending the knees, and/or taking several deep breaths.
• Drills can make you a good player and help increase your stamina as well as your energy. Work on shooting technique and speed. Develop your wrist flicks. Practicing with improper technique results in bad habits that will be hard to change.
• You can improve your free throw skills even when you are at home. Practicing at home makes official play feel easy during the season. Then you will feel confident doing a free throw in a real basketball game.