This information is meant to be a supplement to the training principles and information provided in the introduction to my program. It's intended use is as a guide for transitioning your training from a program based mostly on summer road and mountain bike racing to one based mostly on cyclo-cross. Explanations about training zones and the like will not be provided, as it is expected that you will have already acquired that information from the training introduction. This supplement will be broken down into four segments: equipment, technique, training, and racing.

There are many different ways to build or set up a cyclo-cross bike. Most are related to personal preference. No matter how a bike is set up, though, the basic principles that should be adhered to are that the bike should be light, simple, and reliable. Of course, reliability is infinitely more important than light weight, because there's nothing slower than a broken bike.

The simplist way to discuss or envision a cyclo-cross frame is see it relative to a road frame. Imagine taking a road frame and raising the down tube by 1 centimeter, while leaving everything else in place. You've now raised the bottom bracket, and provided more clearance above the front tire, and behind the front wheel. That means more room between your pedals and the ground, room for your arm to go under the downtube while carrying, room for mud clearance above and behind the front wheel, and a more stable front end in general. Now, lengthen the chainstays a little to make room for the rear tire and lengthen the wheelbase, which provides a slightly more stable bike over all. Cantilever brake bosses on the front and rear allow for lighter, cleaner, simpler, and still powerful brakes, with plenty of clearance for mud. Lastly, a slightly wider bottom bracket allows for wider chainstays and more clearance for the rear wheel. That's it!

Generally, I believe in level top tubes. Slightly sloping bikes like the Independent Fabrication or Gunnar frame are about the limit, but severely sloping bikes like the Kona and Voodoo models should be avoided. It's important for there to be enough room in the frame of the bike to put your arm through easily, for starters. Additionally, if you get a bike with a sloping top tube, are you sizing the bike by the seat tube as it is actually measured, or by what the seat tube would be if the top tube was level? Or, to ask that another way, does the top tube slope down to the seat tube, or up to the head tube? Confused? Me, too. I believe the best way to size a bike with a sloping top tube is to get the proper sized seat tube, and assume the top tube slopes up, providing you with a larger head tube, and allowing less spacers under the stem. This may make the top tube longer, but hopefully not so long that a shorter stem won't still work.

This of course raised questions about how a 'cross frame should fit, which we'll get to later.

'Cross riders tend to be fanatical about their equipment, hoarding caches of dated components because they often work better than anything currently available. We'll go through each aspect of the bike piece by piece and talk about what works best and why.

Shifters

There're no two ways about it; integrated brake/shift levers like STI and Ergopower are by far the fastest, easiest way to shift your 'cross bike. You don't have to take your hands off the hoods, they shift with a small, precise movement, and the levers themselves are big and comfortable. But they are not without their drawbacks. For starters, they are expensive. And 'cross is hard on your equipment. If you're not paying for your parts, than this isn't really a concern. But since most of us are, it's a drag to have an STI lever fill up with mud and never work right again, or have a cable freeze, pop out of the STI slot inside the lever, and jam permanently when the derailleur does finally drop (both of which have happened to me). They are also considerably heavier than standard brake levers and bar-end shifters.

Like all equipment considerations, this one is also a matter of personal preference. Mine currently is standard brake levers and bar-end shifters. I prefer the light weight, simplicity, and reliability over integrated shifters. Bar-ends last forever, and if you're buying your equipment, that's important. One note when using bar-ends: you might want to cut down the ends of your handlebars a few centimeters to match the length of the base of the bar-end. That way, the bar-end serves as the end of the bar, and the shifters are much closer to your hand. It varies on the shape and length of the bar.

Brakes

Any kind of cantilever brake will work, but some will work better than others. Avoid V-brakes at all costs. They do not work well with road levers, even with the adapters that are currently available. Mountain bike levers are able to pull more cable than a road lever, which means when you use MTB specific brakes with road levers, you have to set the pads much closer to the rim. This becomes a problem if the race is muddy, or if your wheel comes slightly out of true.

The best brakes for 'cross are ones that have the most mechanical action. That is, the arms move the farthest with the least amount of cable pull. The old Wienmann cantilevers are the standard if you can still find them, but there are many new versions that emulate them while being much lighter. The SRP Mr. Grumpy's are my favorite, and the Paul's Components seem nice. Ritchey makes a nice, traditional cantilever that's easy to set up as well.

When setting up your brakes, the best way to do it is as follows: Make sure that when the brake is full on, you can essentially draw a straight line through the the outer point where the straddle cable anchors to the brake arm, the brake pad, and the rim. They should all be in the same plane, or with the outer point slightly lower, though you won't be able to do this with more low-profile styles. Also, with the brake full on, the straddle cable should make approximately a 90° angle at the straddle. Adjust the straddle up and down to get the angle right for the most powerful braking.

Gearing and Cranks

There are a number of gearing extremes, the most dramatic of which is the use of one or two front chainrings. With the speed variations in American races, the best way to cover your bases and be prepared for everything is to run two front chainrings. On the other hand, with the advent of 9-speed and 10--speed, it's possible to do that with a single front chainring and wide-gearing in the rear. Having a number of different front chainrings at your disposal allowing you to choose gearing based on the course is also helpful as well. And a single front chainring means no front derailleur, no front shifter, and no dropped chains. So, there are pros and cons to each. I currently use two front chainrings, but I've been seriously considering changing to one.

Setting up a single front chainring can be a laborious task. A single chainring requires a chainguard on either side, and since those are not available on the market, they must be selbemachen, as the Swiss say: homemade. The first step is to figure out what size chainring to use. The smallest you should go is a 42. A 42 is a good size because it probably the most versatile. A 42 X 26 or 28 will get you over most hills in 'cross race, and 42 X 12 or 11 should handle any sprint. A 42 is also good because between two equal gear inches, it's easier to accelerate the one with the smaller front chainring. The largest you should go is probably a 44. Richard Groenendaal uses a 45, so a 44 is likely enough for us mortals.

Once you've settled on a gear size or range, you've got to come up with a pair of chainrings 5 teeth bigger than the one you're using and grind the teeth off with a grinding wheel. Mount the inside guard on the little ring position, the gear you're riding on the big ring position, and the outer guard to the right of that. You do this by using longer MTB chainring bolts, and spacers between the chainring and the outer chainguard.

If you're using two chainrings, your little ring can be anywhere from 38-40, and your big ring should be 46-48. You're looking for about an 8-tooth difference. Of course, Frankie McCormack uses a 42/50, but we can't all be Frankie, can we?

In the back, I like to use a 13 X 26. I rarely use the 26, but I like to have it there as an emergency, and so I'm never crossed up using the 47 X 24. The smallest gear I would recommend in the back would be a 28. At the other end, I feel that a 13 is enough for most situations if you're using two chainrings. If you're using a single chainring, you need a wider range in back, and an 11 or 12 X 26 or 28 is a good call.

Cranks should ideally be road cranks, since you don't need the third chainring slot. Length should be the same as your road bike. The old trend of going 2.5 millimeters longer on your 'cross cranks vs. your road cranks has died as courses have gotten faster in the more modern races. The emphasis has switched from a slow grind to a fast, punchy race, and so the shorter crank length preference reflects that.

Wheels and Tires

There are many different wheel and tire options is 'cross these days: skinny or fat? File or tractor tread? Clincher or tubular? There is a different tire selection that, according to the folklore, will work best in each condition. But, unless you've got an infinite number of wheelsets, you can't really have a tire set up for each condition you might encounter. So, the best thing to do is have one set up that covers most of your bases.

The first choice is probably going to be clinchers or tubulars. For training, clinchers are great. There's an abundance of 'cross clinchers available now, and it's nice to only have to change a tube when you puncture. But clinchers are heavy, prone to flats and denting, and limit the amount of pressure you can run on the low end before you bottom out and pinch the tube. So, for racing, tubulars are far superior.

Tubular rims are light weight, stronger than clinchers, and don't dent as easily. The tires are better because they're lighter, they flat less, you can run very low pressure without puncturing, and you have more tire choices. The only drawback is that they can be expensive to replace. All things considered, though, it's a worthwhile investment.

In both cases, standard 32-spoke wheels are enough. You don't need to go overboard and use 36, and many riders push the limit and go with 28 or less. Your tires should act as the suspension, so normal road wheels will last. Pre-built and specialty wheels like Spinergys are also great for 'cross because they're light, and their aero 'cross section clears mud well.

The next thing to worry about is the width of the tires you run. In my opinion, the fatter the better, up to a point. The UCI limit on tire width is 35mm. The clinchers I ride are 35, and the tubulars are 34. Without a suspension fork, your tires act as shock absorbers. Using 28mm tires and pumping them up to 75lbs means you might be fast on the pavement, but you'll get knocked around anytime you're on the dirt. Using a wider 32-34mm tire at a lower pressure, anywhere from 30-60lbs, means you'll have traction in the turns, and you'll smooth out the bumps as you go. The only time skinny tires are good is if there's an exceptional amount of pavement (in which case you could just pump your larger tires up harder anyway), or it there's deep mud. In the mud, skinny tires can cut down to the hard ground beneath. But even then, the skinny tires can't be run at really low pressure, which would improve traction even more. The tubulars I prefer are the 32 or 34mm TUFOs for most conditions. Second choice would be the Clement Griffo Largos. With the Clements, make sure they're LARGOs and not just Griffos!

With tread patterns, there are some general rules. First, dots are for grass and loose dirt and mud. The wide space between the tread allows your tires to clear while still providing good traction. Square, chevron knobs are good for hard packed ground and fast courses. File treads are good for fast, packed courses, too, but are also great front tires in the mud, since they cut through without picking any dirt up. For all around use, the best tread is the arrow or tractor tread found on the TUFOs and Clement Griffos. The tread is at once aggressive, smooth, and open, so it works in a variety of conditions.

The last thing to consider is tire pressure. On the road, the logic is to pump your tires up as hard as you can get away with. In 'cross, the opposite is true. You should always run your tires as low as you can get away with. Lower pressure means a larger contact area, which means better tractions, better shock absorption, and more efficiency. I weigh 155ibs, and on a fast course, 60lbs is my max pressure. If it's slightly bumpy, I'll go to 40-50. If it's really bumpy, muddy or snowy, I'll go as low as I can without bottoming out, usually 25 in the front and 30 in the back. If you're getting bike changes every lap and the pit is close to the finish, a nice trick is to switch bikes before the sprint onto a bike with your tires pumped up to 75-100lbs.

Shoes and Pedals

In the past, my personal preference for shoes and pedals used to make most people laugh. I was still using ancient Look MP-90's. The MP stands for "mountain pedal," and the 90 is for the last year they actually made them. I'd continued to use them because I could get into them easily in any condition, and they provided me with a large surface area to pedal on even when I'm not clipped in. Unfortunately, I eventually got down to my last pair, and was forced to modernize.

So what then? It seems to me that the best pedal on the market for 'cross right now is the Time ATACs. Their open design clears mud really well, and the're very easy enough to get into and out of. In dry conditions, SPDs may be faster, but they work so poorly in the mud that it doesn't seem to be worth the trade off.

Shoes should simply be standard mountain bike shoes. The only requirements are that they be easy to run in, and have options for spikes in the toe, and engage with the pedal quickly.

Concerning toe spikes, soccer cleats work well and are widely available. I use the recommendations on the box for which spikes to use in which conditions. Sidi makes some great, narrow metal spikes that work well with hard, frozen ground. For most conditions, I use a normal, 10mm rubber/plastic soccer spike.

Your 'cross bike can be set up relative to your road bike, assuming your road bike fits (which is assuming a great deal). However, a cyclo-cross bike really should be set up independent of any other position. Aerodynamics is never a concern on a 'cross bike, but comfort and power is. An ideal 'crross position is one where you can reach your drops while still sitting up with your upper arms and legs at 90 degree angles to your torso, similar to what you might look like on your hoods of your road bike. Generally, here are some rules to go by:

-Frame size: Keep it the same as your road bike! Too many people think they should downsize their 'cross bikes because of the higher bottom bracket and lower saddle position. But what they end up with is a bike that they can't get their bars up high enough on because the head tube is too short.

-Saddle height: Anywhere from the same as your road bike to 1cm shorter. Some people keep the height the same and let the stack height of mountain bike shoes and pedals provide the lower height. The idea is that because you're riding on such bumpy ground, you'll spend a lot of time riding just a bit out of the saddle, so there's room for your bike to "dance beneath you."

-Saddle setback: The nose of your saddle should be the same distance behind your bottom bracket center as on your road or mountain bike, or in front if you sit far back. It should be set up so that the soft spot below your kneecap is immediately over the pedal spindle with your foot in the 3 o'clock position. On a road position you might be further back to emphasize a powerful, efficient stroke. In 'cross, you don't have time for ballet. You need to be able to explode with instantateous power and acceleration down on the pedals, and be balanced between the wheels.

-Reach: The distance from the nose of your saddle to the center of your bars should be 0-2cms shorter than on your road bike. This is so you can reach your hoods and drops without bending over to do so. You might also find it more comfortable to tilt your bars up slightly, or raise your brake levers position on the bars.

-Drop: Your bars should be 0-2cms higher relative to your seat than on your road bike. This is again so you can reach the drops without bending over.

First, depending on what phase of your buildup you're in, you may or may not even traing on Tuesday. If you're in your base period and are building up, then I would expect you to be recovered enough to train normally. If you're further along and into your intensity phase, and perhaps haven't fully recovered from back to back races on the weekend, then you may decide to take Tuesday as a second recovery day.

Assuming you're training on Tuesday and feel 100%, what's different now that you're into your 'cross-specific period? Well, the first thing to realize is that it's still a sprint workout, just like during the road or MTB season. So, that's still what we need to focus on. Think, then, about when you sprint in a 'cross race. You don't have many big group finishes, so field sprints aren't really a priority. But you do make a lot of short, maximal efforts throughout the race. Primarily accelerating out of turns or after hurdles, and during running sections. 'Cross is a sport of speed changes and accelerations, and that's what we're going to focus on in the workout.

You can do that in many different ways. Let's first assume that your road season is completely over, and it's OK to start doing some running-specific training. Our first option is to do a cyclo-cross workout. Ideally, if you ride your 'cross bike on Tuesday, you want to find a smooth, fast loop that's going to emphasize speed. But you also want to make sure there's one steep run up that will take you 8-15 seconds to do, because that's where you're going to do your sprints. So, just like a road workout, you can start your session with a set of Light. A workout might call for 123 total minutes, with 63 minutes of Light and 21 sprints. So, you might do one 30 minute set of Light to warm up, either on the road or on smooth 'cross trails. Recover for 15 minutes, and then go to the sprints, spaced just as the training guide says: 8-15 seconds on, 45 seconds recovery, and then 1-5 minutes rest in between. So, riding up to the run up, you can dismount, sprint full blast, and then remount at the top. The sprint ends once you've clicked in to your pedals and gotten back up to speed. It's important for the sprint to last until then, so you don't develop the bad habit of taking your time clipping back in. Make that part of the sprint, and you'll be that much faster in the race! Just make sure the whole sprint is no more than 15 seconds. Then, you can roll slowly back to the bottom of the run up, and do repeats until you've done them all 21, or until you feel yourself starting to get too fatigued to do a 100% effort. When you're body says it's done, you should listen!

Then, once the sprints are done, you can go back and finish the remaining Light. In this case, that will be another 30-minute session. That's it!

Now, the other thing you can do is incorporate "on the bike" sprints into this workout, too. Perhaps you feel like you need to focus on your acceleration as much as on your running. In that case, designate half the sprints to be done on the bike, and half running. Make every other sprint a sharp acceleration: start in a small gear, and from walking pace. As slow as you can go without falling! Then, all at once, accelerate that gear up to speed, while staying in the saddle the whole time. Do not stand up! In 'cross, most of your speed changes will also require good traction. That means sitting down. So, that's what we're working on here. Find a gear that takes you about 10 seconds to spin out. On the road, that's a 52 X 17 for me, but it will vary on the 'cross bike.

Now, let's say you don't need, want, or can't do a 'cross workout, and you plan to ride on the road. There's two ways for you to do the numbers. First, let's assume again that you don't have any road races left, and it's ok for you to start running. You can do your workout by taking 10 minutes to jog or walk quickly over to a place where you can do 8-15 second uphill running sprints. Do your sprint repeats, and then either jog or walk home. If you jog, try to stay in Light, and make sure you count the Light as part of your workout. If you only have 20 minutes of light to do, and you jog 10 minutes over and 10 minutes back, that's it! You've done your numbers. Then, either immediately following the running, or later in the day, you can finish the numbers on your road bike. That might mean an hour easy, or it might mean another hour of light. And if you're saving some sprints for on the bike efforts, you might have those to do, too. Tuesday can always be split into two workouts.

The second way to do it is to just do a normal road workout, and do all the sprints on the bike. If you've still got an important road event coming up that shouldn't be sacrificed by all that running, than stick to the road.

Wednesday is a straightforward day during the 'cross season, and is probably your most important training day of the week. It's the day you should do a pure cyclo-cross workout. It might be the only day during the week that you even ride your 'cross bike off-road. Ideally, you should have a short course set up somewhere nearby, where you can pull logs out of the woods for hurdles and things like that. It could be the local schoolyard, on cross country running trails, or in the woods. Ideally, a loop at least 4 minutes long (so you don't get bored), and with 4 dismounts per lap is ideal. Try to avoid really steep run ups on your Wednesday course, because you're going to be looking for a place where you can do a steady interval. A steep run up will disrupt that unless you purposely walk or run slowly, and the last thing we want to practice is going slow!

Once you've got your course set up, the workout is, as I said, very straightforward, and would be done the same way as it would be on the road. Let's use some numbers for Wednesday as an example again. You might have to do 166 total minutes, with 92 light ad 32 middle. So, you would break that up into 3, 30-minute sessions of light, and 3, 10-minute sessions of middle. Start with a session of light for a warm up, and then go to the middle. Once all the middle is completed, go back a finish the two remaining sets of light. In most cases, you'll start with light for a warm up and then go the highest intensity and work your way back down. The only time that's not the case is when your doing a race simulation/endurance type workout, which we'll get to tomorrow.

So, within that structure, ride easy over to the place where you're doing your workout. If it takes you a little while to ride there, you might want to take advantage of that and do a set of light on the way over. That will help limit the boredom/burnout factor of doing the same short course for a couple of hours. Take a lap easy to make sure all the hurdles are set up and there's no surprises out on the course, and then start your Light right away. Now, we know how easy it is to get the heart rate up when you're doing 'cross, so when you're doing Light you've got exercise some restraint, especially when your running. Try to use a smaller gear, and be careful not to get too bogged down. This zone is called Light for a reason!

With one set of light done, recover the specified time (50% of the interval for Light) and then start Middle. With Middle, you can ride a larger gear and focus on power a little bit more, but you should also focus on constant re-accelerations. When you start the interval, you don't have to sprint up to speed; just go hard and take a minute to ease into the zone. But once the interval is underway, you need to be relentless. After every turn or dismount you've got to punch it straight back up to your cruising speed, and then settle down at that speed. All within the context of the zone, however. There's a difference between relentless and overzealous. Still make sure you don't go over Middle.

In this case, since I we have 3, 10-minute intervals to do, simply do 10 minutes on and 10 minutes off until you've completed the numbers. That done, finish the ride with the remaining Light, perhaps doing one set in the woods and the final set out on the road, for variety's sake.

Wednesday is also a great day for a training race. It's an easy way to get your Middle done without as much mental energy, and it can help dramatically with your technique at race pace. The tricky part is getting your numbers done within the context of the race. Remember, they put the word "training" in there before the "race" for a reason. The training is the important part. The fact that it's a race is secondary. So, don't be afraid to let the group go once your Middle is done, or to do the whole thing in Light if that's what your program calls for. Sit out a lap here and there if you need to. If you bury yourself to win the local training series, you almost certainly end up doing more intensity in the wrong zones than your plan calls for, leading to tired legs on the weekend, an early peak, and an early burnout.

Lastly, clean your bike when you get home! You know you're not going to want to do it later, and you're going to have plenty to do the day before the race. So, before you even go in the house when you come home from your 'cross workout, at least hose the bike off and lube the chain before you put it away.

On top of all that, Wednesday can also be a day for a split running workout. Anywhere from 15-60 minutes, focusing on light and middle as a steady run in the morning can compliment or even substitute for your normal Wednesday workout.

Actually, of all the workouts, Thursday is the day that changes the least from the road season. In the base period, you'll still do the same long, steady distance workout that you did during the road season. In this case, it's nice to take the first 30-60 minutes easy before you start your numbers. The other difference is that where you normally do a little Light to warm up and then go to the highest intesity next, on Thursday, you want to save your Middle for the end of the ride. The idea is that you're doing race simulation training where you have to do a hard effort at the end of the ride. There are a few variables to consider, though.

If you're racing on Saturday, it can mean a few things. If it's in the base period and the race on Saturday isn't a priority, than you can do the workout normally. Sometimes you can drop the Middle from the workout if you know the weekend's race will be hard enough, or if you're not up for it at the end of the ride. Further, if you never really open up on Thursday, and especially if you're racing on Saturday, you can sometimes drop all the intensity altogether, and just do the duration. It never makes you happy when this happens, but you've got to recognize when your body is too tired to comply with what the program asks from you. If you're in the intensity phase, or if the race on Thursday is a top priority, just ride an hour to two easy on Thursday, and then do the numbers on Friday to open up.

Now, the assumption is that this will be a road ride. But, if it's early in the 'cross season and you feel like you need some more time in the woods, Thursday is a good day to go for a MTB-style ride on your 'cross bike. You can get your numbers in without thinking too much about it, and work on your handling skills at the same time. The one thing you do have to be careful about is not going too hard, since it's easy to overdo it when you're in the woods. Also, I'd avoid a long ride in the woods if you're racing on Saturday, since it sometimes takes a little longer to recover.

In most cases, Friday will be a recovery day just as it is during the road season, and you'll simply have and hour or two easy. However, if you're racing and important event on Saturday, and you've reversed the cycles within the week as talked about in the "Swapping the Cycles" supplement, then you may end up doing a modified version of Tuesday's workout to open up for the race. Usually 1-2 hours, and about half of the required light and sprints. In the intenstity period you might add 5-10 minutes of middle tot that. It can be done as a road ride or a fast 'cross ride, depending on your mood.

Saturday will either be a race day, a workout to open up for Sunday's race, or a normal workout day. If it's a workout to open up, you'll do a modified version of Saturday's numbers, with the same description as the opening up ride on Friday. If you're not racing on Sunday and it's a normal workout day, you would do a workout structure similar to Tuesday.

Sunday again will either be a race day or a normal training ride. If it's a race day, you may find that you need to add some hours to the day to complete your workout goals. If it's a training day, you would do a workout structure similar to Thursday.