Rest and evaluate, making the most of your winter
It’s the end of another awesome mountain bike season for most of us. You had a killer season, saw lots of old friends and made a bunch of new ones. You visited new places and returned to ones you loved. It other words, it was totally fantastic. But maybe your race results didn’t go as you wanted them to. Now is the time to look ahead and start thinking about next year and what you want to achieve. But we can’t do that without looking back and evaluating ourselves against our goals for this past summer.
But before even that, take some time off. Yep, relax. Get off the bike. Completely. Take a vacation somewhere that does not involve the bike (I know, that’s unheard of.) It will make you appreciate your bike and all the wonderful things it brings to you and incredible places it takes you. Pros at the top of the game take off from 2-4 weeks. Totally off the bike. They let their minds and bodies wander. You cannot be 100% focused all of the time. So go to the beach, go play golf, go drink beer (more than normal), go see all the relatives you ignore through the bike season. Just get off the bike and relax. Because you’re going to get focused again really soon.
The off season is time for different kinds of training. Depending on where you live, you can, or must, incorporate other methods of getting outside and getting your heart rate up. I happen to live in Breckenridge, CO and do not have easy access to trail riding for many months of the winter. I take up Nordic and downhill skiing in big ways. Some people will run, others play basketball in the gym, or hit the pool. You can get back on the motorcycle and brag it up. Whatever your cross training might be, it’s ok, and even a good thing to work muscles in a different way than using those muscles involved in cycling.
Evaluation
But, let’s take a step back. Look at this past season. Did you achieve your goals? Did you set goals before the season started? How did you do in races? What’s holding you back? Is it downhill skills, overall fitness, time to train, crazy work schedule, money, equipment? All of these things? By looking at this past summer, and evaluating how you did, and especially how you did on goals you had set, is a great way to begin the process of looking forward.
Maybe you like to race, but could really care less about how you do. You show up to drink beer, meet other riders, and maybe look at girls. That’s all great. Awesome even. And your off season consists of eating more than you should and watching too the tube. Again, that’s great. But for a lot of us, we actually do want to improve. Somewhere there’s a little voice inside of us that pushes us ahead. Most of us have a touch of competitiveness inside us. I really don’t care about “beating” other people, and winning the race. But I love to push myself, gain new skills, get faster, stay fit and thin as I enter middle age, and elevate my game all around. I’m in in for the long haul and want to continue mountain biking for a long time. Training is part of that.
So evaluating goals is a good thing. Did set any at the beginning of the season? No big deal. Maybe you did a couple races this summer, enjoyed it, and now want to step it up? That’s awesome, and that’s why you’re here.
Many, many things can happen over the winter. But this is the time, when a lot of coaches and trainers believe the most, or biggest differences can be made with any competitive athlete. There are a lot of things we can do to greatly enhance our performance next season. We here at Enduro Mountainbike Magazine will be addressing a lot of these topics over the winter. But here are some of the basics on things you should be doing. You don’t have to do, or think about all of them, but there’s no doubt that some specific off season training should be happening by you, if you want to improve.
Points To Plan For
Strength- Weight training. You’re not doing this to win Mr. Universe. You’re doing it to gain usable strength and help with injury prevention.
Yoga- Improve your strength, especially in the all important core, flexibility, balance and mental focus. Yoga, along with weight training, are primary reasons I’ve stayed injury free during 20 years of mountain biking and over 30 years of downhill skiing.
Food- What you put into your body. Yes, it makes a difference. Especially as you get older. Good food in means great energy to burn during exercise. Or, as the old saying goes, “Garbage in, garbage out.”
Rest- Getting enough sleep every day and on a monthly and annual basis is something crucial to performing at your highest.
Skills- Yes, you’ve been hard core mountain biking for 10 years (or whatever it is), and you’re fast and you know it all. Chances are, there’s someone out there that’s faster than you, or can at least help you be faster. There are more and more skills clinics and camps popping up all the time. They’re a lot of fun, you learn how to be faster, ride smoother, and chances are you’ll meet some cool people. Definitely women’s camps are increasing left and right.
Other training camps- Similar to skills clinics, but maybe addressing more or other types of training in addition. Maybe you just need an excuse to go somewhere warm, and a “training camp” is how you can rationalize it to yourself and your spouse. Go to Phoenix or San Diego in the doldrums of January can kick start your training, and you get a vacation at the same time.
Season planning- This is something a lot of athletes don’t do, but desperately should. They just go for it all the time. But depending on your schedule and a lot of other things, you should prioritize certain races or events. Maybe you’re doing Trans-Provence next year. That’s a huge change from your local one day, four stage enduro race with nothing bigger than 800 vertical drop and total riding time of 3.5 hours. You need to think about that. Or you have a big trip planned out to Whistler to race in the EWS round. Well, again, things are a big different, and now is the time to plan your season so you can have fun and have a race you’re proud of instead of killing yourself. Maybe you’re going for an overall title from a 5 race series instead of individual wins. Things to think about.
Using a coach- Definitely, it’s an expense. But there are so many options now for online check ins, or purchasing a proven system, that it’s definitely something you should think about. Take a bit of the guesswork out of training and go with something that has worked for other competitive athletes.
Baseline Test numbers- Might be a good idea to get some basic numbers to go off of, such as V02 max, wattage produced, resting and max heart rates, and other. Then you know where you are, and can improve those numbers. Testing every six months gives you an idea of how things are paying off. It also makes you feel good when you get better numbers.
Massage- Whether it’s self applied or going to a good practitioner, it’s something you should be doing. A monthly massage not only feels great, but works wonders for those hard worked muscles, flushing out lactic acid and helping with break down adhesions to help with the kind of blood flow you want. A weekly massage is better and sometimes, in the US, now they’re covered by insurance. Winning! So many ways to do this to yourself and tools to help can be found extremely cheaply. If you want to do it to yourself, it’s probably great to learn from someone more experienced. Another great reason to talk to a coach or trainer.
There is so much information available online these days, it’s no longer a problem of finding the information, it’s the other way, there is too much information. But that’s a good thing. Look, read, research, educate yourself. It’s always a great idea to check in with a coach or trainer, or at the very least, talk to other competitive cyclists who have done well and stayed injury free. They’re probably anxious to tell their story and you might just meet a new training partner.
Next week we will be starting an exclusive new series, hitting it hard with awesome training articles to help you get into shape over the winter. Offering tips on everything mentioned above, and also giving you some great recipes and the dish on the latest equipment. What’s good and helpful and what isn’t.
We’ll probably also report back to you on certain items that aren’t helpful to your training plans, like our favorite beers, but hey, it can’t all be hard work, right? Here’s to your next steps towards some season planning. We’re wishing you the best.
Dee Tidwell, of Enduro MTB Training, was not only really helpful with advice on information presented here, but has an awesome downloadable “End of Season” assessment and questionnaire available for free over on his site. Dee works with athletes around the world, providing Enduro athletes with many high performance training options that suit all budgets, and would be a great place to start if you want to step up your game next season.
Words, Photos: Daniel Dunn