Cyclocross Training Using Upper Midwest Events

As a coach and athlete, I believe the bulk of fall cyclocross intervals should be off-road.
Get off the road or the trainer and enjoy your efforts in the environment where you will race. It’s obviously key to practice one’s technical skills, but there are also subtleties to cyclocross that you might not have considered. Dirt, grass, and bumpy ground surfaces require you to distribute your weight and pedal such that you maximize traction. There are tactics to racing cyclocross beyond just “go really hard.”
I like to say that cross is a thinking person’s discipline. Off-road intervals allow you to practice tactical thinking.
What follows are descriptions of the workouts and skills sessions I use. To add interest and relevancy, I’ve designed each session around a popular race in one of our Silent Sports states. Join me on a whirlwind tour of cross events in the Upper Midwest as we train for cross!

Wisconsin

• Race: Trek Cup
• Workout: Cyclocross Pacing
Our region’s marquee event remains the Trek Cup at the Waterloo, Wisconsin, headquarters of Trek Bikes (trekbikes.com/us/en_US/trekcxcup). For seven years, Trek welcomed the world to Wisconsin as the event was a stop on the UCI Cyclocross World Cup. Regrettably, in 2024/2025, the World Cup will be contested entirely in Europe. Unfortunately, it’s not so much of a “World” Cup anymore.
Trek has rallied and put its money and brand name behind the Trek USCX Series. The USCX Series is a 4-weekend series with UCI and amateur racing in Roanoke, Rochester, Baltimore, and Waterloo. With eight events over four consecutive weekends, the hope is that more Europeans will make the journey over to race.
The Trek Cup course is deceptively difficult. One of my favorite parts is the long drag from pit one to the first flyover. The flyover hits you like a wall! The trouble is that one tends to attack the drag, leaving nothing for the flyover. The ideal way to ride this section is to hold back until just before the flyover. Then, attack, hitting the flyover at max speed so that momentum carries you part way up. Give it your all up the flyover, knowing you can recover on the backside.

This brings us to our workout: Cyclocross pacing.
While it’s tempting to pace cyclocross using “full gas” from the gun, that’s far from the most efficient way to pace a cyclocross course! For the session, go to your local park and create a loop that’s three to four minutes long. As you put together your loop, consider where to attack, maintain speed, or recover. You will do a series of efforts at race pace (the speed you can hold for the entirety of your normal race duration). A routine of two to three sets of ten to twelve minutes with five to six minutes of rest in between is ideal.
Your focus during these efforts is complying with your attack/maintain/recover plan. If after your first set you find your strategy isn’t optimal, revise the plan for subsequent sets. Take what you learn from this training session to upcoming races. On race day, use your pre-ride to determine your attack/maintain/recover.

Minnesota

• Race: Tuesday Night Cross

• Workout: 4-Up Hill Repeats
Since I live in Minnesota, I can attest that Minnesota cyclocross is in a bit of a rebuilding phase at the moment. We have very little in the way of weekend racing, but our Tuesday Night Cross series is thriving! The series is seven weeks long, starting in late August and ending in October.
Tuesday Night Cross rotates between two locations, Aquila Park and Valley View Park, each in inner-ring suburbs of the Twin Cities. Both parks are small but have a hill. While the hills are short, the parks’ small size means the courses wind up and down them repeatedly. Adding some early-season heat to the mix, I find these races some of the hardest of my season. Check out: endurancepromotions.com/Default.aspx.
This brings us to our workout: Cyclocross hill repeats.
I’ve devised a simple (and painful!) workout that prepares me for Tuesday Night Cross. Search out an off-road hill that is 20 to 30 seconds long. After a good warmup, you will do sets of four repeats. Climb the hill, ride down immediately, and repeat right away. Yes, your only rest is the descent, but you only climb four times to complete a set. Aim for three sets with eight to ten minutes of easy spinning rest in between.
I do these over my race pace — think 80% of a full-gas sprint. Adjust your pacing to make these manageable. They should hurt, but not so much that you cannot complete three good sets.

Iowa

• Race: Jingle Cross (RIP)
• Skills Session: Off-Camber Descending Turns
I hope you will excuse me for using a retired race, but Jingle Cross is one to remember!

Jingle Cross was a trendsetter: the location of the first U.S. World Cup and the first with equal payouts to men and women at a UCI race. The course at Iowa City’s Johnson County Fairgrounds was among the most challenging in the world. Just ask the Euros who came over and lauded the course.
The most memorable course feature was the S-turn descents down Mt. Krumpit. I’ll never forget a November evening when the grass tore off and the frost shone in the moonlight. Wisconsin native Kaitie Keough won the women’s race by shouldering her bike and sprinting downhill.
This brings us to our workout: Off-camber descending turns.
Line choice is key for off-camber descending turns. Most riders err by sticking close to the center turn post. This causes them to dive straight down the fall line, catching maximum speed. The grass tears away under their braking power. Instead, turn slightly uphill before the turn. This slows you down, puts you into the grass for traction, and creates more space to negotiate your turn without hitting the bottom tape. When turning, aim diagonally at the lower tape. This cuts you across the fall line, flattening your descent.
Last, keep your weight back and use your front brake when turning. You will find the front brake helps to bring the turn around.

Michigan

• Race: Vets Park
• Workout: Recovering on a Technical Descent
For Michigan, we bring you Vets Park CX in Ann Arbor, the fourth stop in the MICX series, held in 2024 on October 27. Vets Park can be summarized in two words: Vertical and Technical. The course’s major climb is steep and organizers bring you into it from a tight turn—momentum killer!
What goes up must come down and the descents at Vets Park are relentless turns and off-cambers. The course rewards riders who can recover while descending. Likewise, they need to be able to ride technically well when fatigued. Check out: bikereg.com/vets-park-cx.

This brings us to our workout: Recovering on a Technical descent.
We can bring together some of the above lessons to prepare for Vets Park. The pacing discussed for the Trek Cup is handy. Consider holding back on the descent to prepare for the climb. Likewise, the lines and techniques discussed for Jingle Cross apply here too.
For the workout, set up a course that has a technical descent followed by a very steep climb. Make sure there is a tight turn before the climb so you cannot carry speed in. Aim for sets of five to eight minutes repeated three times with four to five minutes rest in between.
Play around with intensity. How hard can you attack the climb without losing your technical proficiency on the descent?
I’m not going to sugarcoat it: up/down intervals are hard, but they will prepare you for race day!

Illinois

• Race: Montrose Beach CX
• Workout: Sand Riding
Since we have few sand races in the Midwest, I simply must include Montrose Beach CX, the final race of the Chicago CX Series and the Illinois State Championships (halfacrecycling.org/montrose-cx). Montrose Harbor is in the city of Chicago proper and on the shore of Lake Michigan. A section of the course meanders on and off the beach.
This brings us to our workout: It’s time to practice sand riding!
Most of us only get to race short stretches of sand: a volleyball court, children’s playground, or short beach. In those cases, you would select tire tread and pressure based on the rest of the course (the majority), not the sand. However, at a course like Montrose, with significant sand, you would lower your tire pressure and select a cross tire with minimal tread.
The most important sand skill is knowing when to ride and when to run. The logic is simple: anytime you’re slowing such that it’s almost faster to run, it’s time to get off.
For this session, find yourself a stretch of sand that’s difficult or impossible for you to ride. Play around with how far you can ride. Once you determine your failure point, practice dismounting before this point. The aim is to get off while you still have speed and can transition that speed to a run.
Should you push or carry your bike?
Rarely does it make sense to push a bike in sand because that means pushing against resistance. Only push if there is a well-developed rut in the sand.
To determine whether to suitcase or shoulder, assess the distance you will run. If it’s more than a few meters, it’s better to shoulder. It takes more time to get the bike on the shoulder, but once it’s there, you carry it on your bone structure. This is less fatiguing than suitcasing the bike, which is a muscular move.
It’s fitting to wrap up this article with Montrose Beach since it’s in the first week in December, nearly the bitter end of Midwest cross. The only race after Montrose Beach is the U.S. Nationals, December 9–15 in Louisville. Per USA Cycling’s geographic rotation policy, Nationals isn’t likely to be held in the Midwest again for several years. Accordingly, it might be worth making the trip!
Wherever you CX, take these workouts to heart, give them a try, make them suit you and enjoy them, and then — discover the positives they will bring to your CX racing experience!