In lots of ways, a cyclocross bike makes the perfect bike-to-work purchase.  Comfortable and stable, with clearance for mudguards, sensible gearing, high volume tyres and drop handlebars, it will serve you well on the daily commute and the odd blast on a local bridleway. If you are one of the many riders who have taken advantage of the scheme and plumped for a ‘crosser, have you considered unlocking its true potential? Have you thought of entering a race? After doing just that with mixed results, Cycling Plus doctor Andy Ward

I love my cyclocross bike. After making my acquaintance on tarmac, I couldn’t wait to get it on the rough stuff – throwing myself down some local bridleways with a massive grin and a muddy arse. It was only a matter of time before I started browsing the British Cycling website to find an event I could compete in. My first attempt was a floodlit race on the local Beaumont Leys course. Made up partly of an old BMX track, it was a blast, but I soon discovered that there was more to cyclocross than riding fast down ridiculously steep banks. There were hurdles, off camber descents and bits where you had to carry your bike. It was clear that I was losing a massive amount of time on those sections – I had work to do. Fortunately Rapha came to the rescue. Their Super Cross series gives riders of all abilities the chance to race cyclocross over three dates at the end of October. Having entered the Misterton Hall event I was grateful for the chance to learn some skills from the 2011 National Champion and Team Hope rider Paul Oldham.

The training session took part at Broughton Hall in Yorkshire, venue for the Super Cross meet on 20^th October. It’s a lovely old house set in beautiful, peaceful parkland. Paul turned out to be a modest and down to earth Lancastrian, blessed with awesome bike handling skills. He told us that there were four main techniques that we would have to master if we were to get better at ‘cross: the dismount, the remount, shouldering the bike and cornering on mud.

Skill One – The Dismount

Every cyclocross race will include the odd hurdle. Whilst some top riders will bunny hop these, mere mortals like me need to get off the bike and lug it over them. In a nutshell, this involves riding up to the hurdle whilst unclipping your right leg, swinging it behind the bike, threading it inside your left leg, grabbing the top tube with your right hand, stepping off the bike – lifting it up and jumping the hurdle. Sounds simple eh? Certainly Paul made it appear so. I had a bit of previous at this, so felt reasonably confident, although neglecting to unclip my left foot did lead to an ungraceful sprawl during one attempt.

Paul’s top tips – get unclipped and ready well in advance of the hurdle and practice balancing on your bike with your right foot in the dismount position.

Colin Jackson, yesterday © ckingimages/Rapha

Skill Two – The Remount

Having cleared the hurdle, unless you want to carry your bike for the rest of the race, it is necessary to jump back on it. Experienced cyclocross riders will do this without breaking stride and with virtually no loss of pace. French junior cyclocross champion Quentin Jauregui demonstrated that the benefits of this skill can be carried into road racing with a remarkable fast change in the junior World Road Race. After watching Paul easily showing us how it was done, it was our turn. In my recent race this was my downfall and it wasn’t much better today, although with practice I did get a bit slicker. I’m blotting out the time I missed the saddle and landed on the back wheel.

Paul’s top tip – get the pace up before remounting and slide onto the saddle, putting the top of the inner thigh on first, not jumping too high.

Skill Three – Shouldering the Bike

Occasionally in a cyclocross race the conditions justify carrying the bike for a longer distance. A steep slope or thick heavy mud can be unrideable. At these times Paul explained the need to shoulder the bike, making it easier to carry and run at the same time. After performing the dismount, with the right hand on the top tube, swing the bike onto your shoulder, wrap your right arm under the down tube and grab the left handlebar. As usual, Paul made it look easy. Whilst lifting the bike onto my shoulder was not too bad, coordinating this with grabbing the handlebar proved more difficult.

Paul’s top tip – use the momentum of your first step off the bike to help spring the bike upwards.

The pick up artist ©ckingimages/Rapha

Skill Four – Cornering on Mud

If there’s one thing ‘cross is really known for, it’s mud. Taking the tight corners of a cyclocross course can be difficult enough at the start of a race. After dozens of riders have been round them several times, cutting up the racing line, they can become a nightmare. Paul showed us how to “square up” the corner, keeping to the firmer ground. Although slower in the corner itself, the better traction reaps dividends on the exit.

Paul’s top tip – keep your tyre pressures low to improve grip on slippery ground – as low as 25 psi on tubulars, 30 on clinchers

Round the bend © ckingimages/Rapha

After putting our new skills to the test we finished with some cake and a cuppa and had a chance to chat with Super Cross organiser Ian Cleverly about the forthcoming series. Whilst the events will feature elite riders like Paul and some fiercely competitive racing, that shouldn’t deter ordinary cyclists from signing up and giving cyclocross a go. True, the skills might sound a bit intimidating, but the fun race allows riders to miss out the most technical sections by taking the tequila shortcut (with its obvious forfeit) or by riding through the “foam tunnel”. The beauty of cyclocross racing is that races run for a set period of time, not distance, allowing you to go at your own pace – provided you don’t mind being lapped by the faster riders. The Super Cross promises to provide a fantastic atmosphere to race in, with the crowd fuelled by Belgian beer, waffles and frites, fired up by a DJ and frantically jangling cowbells to keep you going. You don’t even need a proper cyclocross bike – a mountain bike or hybrid would do. Why not put that commuting bike through its paces? The ride to work may never be the same again.

Andy has opened a new box of skills! © ckingimages/Rapha

Entries to the Rapha Supercross Series are still open at http://www.rapha.cc/super-cross

Andy Ward http://twitter.com/awkwardcyclist

That means every bit of kit is used thoroughly for the purpose it was intended and, occasionally, for a few things it wasn’t. As well as the Cycling Plus staffers, we have a trusted team of testers including mile munchers, tech heads and speed freaks like Lowenna Smith, Pete Giddings and Dan Joyce.

How we test

We test every bike and product in the UK on one of our test routes in Bristol and Bath, the Mendips, the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales over real-world terrain and conditions that you’ll encounter day in, day out.

Each bike and product tested is ridden as many times as it takes for us to feel 100% at ease with our final judgement by a variety of expert testers and trusted real-world riders.

We combine ride testing with empirical testing and analysis wherever necessary to give you the true picture of how products perform.

We check all claimed facts and measurements after our initial ride tests so that no preconceptions cloud our judgement, and we test the bike as a whole – not merely the sum of its constituent parts.

Our verdicts are the results of hours of debate among C+ testers – not just one journalist’s view – to give the most accurate and considered judgements possible.

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Carbon Forks

We’ve known for a while that chocolate milk’s combination of antioxidants, protein and carbohydrate makes for a great recovery

drink. But now it seems that chocolate – or rather cocoa ?avanols, a speci?c group of ?avonoids – consumed pre-exercise can improve performance too.

Researchers from Australia have found that consumption of a cocoa ?avonol-rich drink may help to lower blood pressure, boost blood ?ow to the muscles and lessen the demands placed on the heart during exercise.

In the study carried out at the University of South Australia and published in the British Journal of Nutrition, researchers recruited 21 overweight, middle-aged people and split them into two groups. The ?rst consumed a cocoa ?avanol-rich beverage containing 701mg ?avanols, while the second drank a low-cocoa ?avanol beverage.

Two hours later, the participants cycled for 10 minutes at 75 percent of their maximum heart rate. Results showed that while there were no differences in blood pressure before exercise, there was a signi?cant difference afterwards. In fact, increases in diastolic blood pressure were 68 percent lower in the high-?avanol group, while mean blood pressure was 14 percent lower.

(© Monika Adamczyk - Fotolia.com)

The researchers said that the ?ndings suggest the consumption of cocoa ?avanol-rich drinks could allow for safer and more ef?cient exercise performance, placing less stress on the cardiovascular system.

A recent analysis of 10 studies, published in the American Journal of Hypertension, con?rmed the blood pressure-reducing properties of cocoa – and you don’t need to eat loads either. Eating less than half an ounce of dark chocolate a day – only about 30 calories – was associated with a lowering of blood pressure without weight gain or other adverse effects, according to a study undertaken in 2007 and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

But cocoa contains a range of nutrients that may bene?t your performance, including B vitamins, calcium and magnesium, amino acids and a number of other antioxidants. Cocoa also contains caffeine, which is known to improve cycling performance – in part due to a stimulation of fatty acid mobilisation and sparing the body’s limited carbohydrate stores.

Research has shown that caffeine lowers the perception of effort and fatigue too, both for endurance efforts and sprints. Typically, a hot chocolate drink contains around 10mg caffeine, while a milk chocolate bar (50g) holds about 40mg. While this is nowhere near as much as the 100mg in your morning espresso, cocoa also contains appreciable amounts of the related compound theobromine. Although this is less pharmacologically active, the high content gives it an equivalent effect to that of caffeine.

For the most noticeable bene?ts, choose chocolate with high levels of cocoa – look for darker chocolate that contains at least 70 percent cocoa solids. The new kid on the block, though, is raw chocolate. This is the bean, or nib, of the cocoa bean in its natural state – not cooked, over-processed or mixed with cheap ?ller ingredients.

Also known as cacao, it’s available in the form of bars, nibs, powder, raw cookies and brownies. Often fused with coconut butter or agave syrup with dried fruit and nuts, it creates an amazingly healthy bar that’s perfect for before and after exercise. Importantly, as it isn’t heated above 42°C, it tends to be richer in health-promoting antioxidants too.

The benefits of cocoa

If you eat the right kind of cocoa in carefully measured quantities there are a wealth of health and recovery benefits to its ingestion. So what are the ways in that gnawing on the tasty brown stuff can do your body some real good?

Enhanced energy production: Cocoa is rich in B vitamins, which are needed for a variety of metabolic processes, including energy production.

Bone and joint health: It’s also a great source of the minerals copper, calcium, magnesium and zinc, all of which play a role in supporting bone health, cartilage and collagen production.

Muscle recovery and soreness: In addition to the ?avonoids, cocoa contains the potent antioxidant vitamins C and E to combat free radical damage, which can contribute to both in?ammation and muscle soreness.

Immune support: During endurance exercise or heavy ongoing training, your immune system can be suppressed, making you more vulnerable to infections. Flavonoids, vitamins C, E and zinc help support healthy immune function.

Muscle growth and repair: Cocoa contains several amino acids (including leucine), which are known to be essential for the physical demands of athletic activities. Amino acids are necessary for muscle growth and repair.

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On the inside it’s a different story. Your body is stretched to extremes, dozens of physiological processes pushed further than at any other time as your bike strains underneath you. Whether you hate hills or crave cols, understanding what your body and bike endure can only make you a better climber.

Body language

As the road heads up, a whole chain of physiological responses will follow as your body works harder to counter the forces of gravity. Your muscles have to burn more energy using oxygen from your blood, your heart rate and breathing rate have to increase to deliver the extra oxygen needed, and you’ll get hot, sweaty and ?ushed as your body temperature increases and blood is diverted closer to the skin to radiate away heat.

Push really hard and the work in your muscles will produce more of the by-product lactic acid than your body can process. Your body can’t keep up with the workload anymore, and you’ll soon be crashing into your anaerobic threshold. The speed at which you can climb before these processes reach their limit is down to how ?t you are, and your power-to-weight ratio.

Weight for it

“Power-to-weight ratio is the ?rst and probably the most important determinant of being a good climber,” says Dr Garry Palmer of Sportstest. Heavier, less ?t riders have to do much more work and meet physiological limits much sooner. You need more power and less weight, and that’s for the bike and rider combined.

“In terms of body composition, lean is the goal,” says Dr Palmer, “you don’t want to drop muscle mass unless you’re bulky up top.” In terms of healthy weight loss targets, you shouldn’t aim to lose more than a pound a week. As long as you achieve weight loss via a combination of healthy, low-fat food choices and the right kind of training, this is the best way to extend your ability before hitting your thresholds.

Know your limits

Your anaerobic threshold is the point at which the exhaled volume of carbon dioxide (VCO2) is greater than the inhaled volume of oxygen (VO2). The maximum amount of oxygen the body can consume during exercise is your VO2 max. They both happen at a similar intensity, but they’re not the same thing. A high threshold and VO2 max make up the second of Palmer’s three factors for climbing: “They dictate your sustainable climbing ability, the rate you can hold up a long climb and, theoretically at least, until you run out of energy reserves,” he says.

“Thresholds vary massively between individuals,” says Dr Palmer,“ but testing reveals your true metabolic threshold. A lab test uses continuous gas composition analysis to monitor the balance of carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) in exhaled breath. Once analysed, lab test results will tell you how to train better, by helping you set training intensity zones. This way you can target the duration and intensity of riding in training in order to achieve your goals, and it will give you valuable pacing information,” he explains.

Don’t pull, pedal

Turning the pedals round from in the saddle uses the same muscles whether you’re plummeting towards the Earth’s core or climbing into the stratosphere. When climbing, it can be particularly tempting to try to pull on the return stroke, but this is a mistake according to cycling coach Dr Auriel Forrester of Scienti?c Coaching: “Pulling up on the pedals decreases power output as it interferes with the all-important downstroke on the other side – speci?cally, you can’t pull up against gravity at the same rate or same force as you can push down with gravity!”

As you push down on the pedal – the power stroke – you engage your glutes, quads and calves. The upward – or return stroke – switches the stress to the hamstrings, ankle dorsi?exor and the hip ?exors. Since your quads are a lot stronger than your hamstrings, try to concentrate on not doing anything that could detract from the downward power stroke.

Spin and win

The big ring is not for climbing. It’s one thing to grunt and strain your way to the top of a short local climb in a massive gear for a challenge against a riding mate, but spinning is far more effective. Dr Forrester explains: “It depends on the rider and the terrain, but a pedalling cadence of around 72-82rpm is optimum – lower on steeper or longer climbs, higher on shorter climbs. You need to choose gearing that allows you to maintain this cadence.”

Selecting the smaller ring sooner saves you making the change on a steep section when you risk dropping the chain. It also enables you to use the more closely packed sprockets, letting you ?ne-tune your ratio to suit the gradient and maintain a good cadence.

Experiment with lower gears and a higher cadence on a familiar climb to feel the bene?t, then apply that technique everywhere. Using a heart- rate monitor with a cadence sensor – or in conjunction with a manual count of your pedal strokes from one foot in a minute – will help you be more precise. A power meter is the ultimate tool for this job, since it can show your cadence and output together for any point of your ride, and you will quickly discover the speed at which your engine performs best on any particular climb.

Pace yourself

“Too many riders go off too hard at the bottom of a climb because they feel fresh and their heart rate is low,” says Dr Forrester. ”Then they dip too far into their metabolic red zone, start to produce lactic acid faster than the muscles can clear it, and then they fatigue and fade before the top of the climb. Furthermore, climbing in the red uses energy nearly 10 times faster than climbing aerobically, which has clear implications on a longer route.”

Discipline yourself when you feel strong. Save some power for later in the ride and blow away your mates on the last climb of the day. A heart rate monitor with an alarm is a good watchdog.

“An ascent of 20-45mins should be climbed at around a rider’s threshold,” says Dr Forrester, “or the level of effort at which conversation becomes dif?cult.”

The need for good core stability increases when out of the saddle, so a strong lower back and abs are important. You need to anchor your power, so a core like a soggy noodle just won’t cut it.

“You use the core muscles to maintain a solid platform for the legs to work against,” says Dr Forrester. That doesn’t mean you have to be able to do 100 sit-ups. The important thing is that you can ride and climb as long and hard as you want to without your back ever feeling tired.

Give extra thought to this before taking on a signi?cantly harder challenge than you have previously ridden, such as a sportive, or if you’re training seriously for the ?rst time. Do core stability exercises using a ball to stretch and work your lower back through its full range. Add abdominal crunches to give your central pillar of strength a good workout.

Brain training

There’s a vast range of ideas on how to think yourself faster, such as goal visualisation and breaking down the task. But for climbing it all boils down to one thing – handling the suffering.

“The ability to suffer is mental,” says Dr Palmer. “With no data, you can only listen to the signals from your body. But with heart rate and power output information you can put efforts in the context of previous climbs and know for certain that, even if it hurts like crazy, you can sustain your pace.”

At the very least invest in a heart rate monitor so that you can arm yourself with comparative data. You’ll soon ?nd the heart rates at which you can sustain a climb, even if your body is telling you to stop and have a sit down. Armed with that data-driven con?dence, you can employ the one-hairpin-at-a-time techniques to just keep going!

Upright citizen

Excessive side-to-side swinging of the bike when you’re out of the saddle is a waste of energy, and it disrupts ef?cient pedalling. You only need to counter the leverage created by your bike’s Q-factor – the distance between your pedals. Stay smooth and focus on getting all your energy into the back wheel.

Instead of muscling the bike around, think about providing just enough resistance through the bar to counter the pedalling leverage so that the bike stays nearly upright.

Maxing out

You can brie?y push past your VO2 max and anaerobic threshold until you reach one of the real limits of physical endurance – maximum heart rate or anaerobic tolerance. If you’re already working hard when you hit the throttle, you’re likely to reach your maximum heart rate and then have nothing more to give. If you launch a sprint from a steady pace then your muscles are more likely to be swamped in lactic acid and your tolerance exhausted before your heart rate gets near its maximum.

Nearly all these processes are automatic, but there are some things you can do to assist them. You can help control your temperature by removing a gilet for instance, so that valuable oxygen-carrying blood ?ow isn’t diverted to your skin. Even more critically, you can control your breathing, as it’s vital to remember to take full breaths and not just short gasps. You can also control your pedalling to get the most for your effort.

“Pedalling in ?uid circles with a fast cadence is the third critical factor to better climbing,” says Dr Garry Palmer. “You might combine the power of a train and the weight of a paper napkin, but all this means nothing if you stamp on the pedals like children jumping in puddles.”

It’s also about the bike

What does the bike go through when climbing, and what makes one bike climb better than another? Who better to ask than Trek? This is a manufacturer with 11 Grand Tour wins – ridden by climbers like Contador and Armstrong – and a company with a huge R&D budget.

If you think you suffer up a steep climb, spare a thought for your bike. “Our testing shows that high loads in low gears and at low RPMs place the highest loads on a frame. It’s the hardest thing a bike has to endure,” says Chris Pomering, composite road chief engineer at Trek.

Stuff all-out stiffness

Doug Cusack, senior R&D engineer at Trek, says that correctly tuned stiffness is the key. “Producing a frame that has the right amount of stiffness allows the frame to ?ex in a bene?cial way that can help a rider to develop a smooth rhythm.”

Conventional thinking says that lighter and stiffer is better, but this isn’t so says Pomering: “Rider feedback has driven us to maintain a speci?c bottom bracket stiffness rather than maximising it.”

The strain on the bike

“The rear triangle has a larger effect during a seated climb, but ultimately the entire frame contributes,” says Pomering. “During a standing climb, the down-tube undergoes lateral bending at the front near the head-tube and at the rear by the BB, as well as, to a lesser degree, torsion (twist) through the length of the tube.”

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