00:00Bobble hat on and I'm in a cold, muddy field. That means one thing, cyclocross.
00:06Cyclocross is a discipline that's well and truly on the rise. You see, cyclocross races last a
00:11maximum of just 60 minutes in duration, which means they tend to be one hour of adrenaline-fueled,
00:17fast-paced racing. That's why over the last few weeks, I've turned my hand to the mud to get
00:22ready for today, my first ever cyclocross race. Here we go, session number one. First place to
00:28start is by building the engine. My first session is Wout van Aert's VO2 max session,
00:34courtesy of Zwift. This is shown to build aerobic capacity, even though we're working in that zone
00:39five. It allows you to get a really efficient workout in just 56 minutes. This being my first
00:45session, I have had to allow a little bit more time just to get the Zwift Hub One set up,
00:50but that's all been pretty easy. The Zwift Hub One's only got a single sprocket at the back,
00:54and that means it's compatible with almost any bike. We're starting pretty easy just building
00:58the engine. Over the next few weeks, we're going to be looking to touch on all the different
01:02physical attributes I'm going to need in the cross race. First of all, we're going to look
01:06at building the engine. We'll then move on to some top end. Then in the final run-up to the
01:10cross race itself, we'll look at really sharpening both the mind and the legs ready for race day.
01:16Hello again. You join me in my second week of training. First week done, and it's all gone
01:22pretty well. I've actually found that Zwift bringing a level of gamification to my training
01:27has really allowed me to escape after work, get on the trainer. Actually, it's been a really nice
01:31way to unwind and do something positive as well for my body. First of all, this session has quite
01:36a lot of randomized efforts, which is really similar to a cyclocross race. Then the second
01:41reason is I'm a racer at heart. I train to race, so any level of competition into my training,
01:47even if it's not a live race, which you obviously can do on Zwift, just really helps me push myself
01:52that little bit more. That's a wrap for the Crit City Downtown Dolphin. Easily the most intense
01:57session I've done so far. Hopefully, we'll see some gains rolling into next week. Hi, everyone.
02:02I've come into the office on my own for what is going to be my last hard session on Zwift before
02:07my race. It's Monday currently, so this is my last chance to really get everything out. Then over the
02:13next few days, I'm going to be relaxing more and letting the gains absorb. Hopefully, fingers
02:18crossed for good legs on Sunday. I'm halfway into the warm-up for my last hard session.
02:23As you guys can see, plenty of red and orange simulating anaerobic efforts. The nice thing,
02:29though, is that once I get to the end of this session, I really can relax.
02:36I feel like I've smashed that Tom Pidcock session out of the park.
02:40Time to reap the benefits now. Roll on the weekend. It's race day. There's about 45 minutes
02:46now until the start. I think it's safe to say I'm going for a pretty unorthodox warm-up. I'm
02:51actually warming up on Zwift. Now, the reason for that is because it allows me to use the same
02:57session that I've been using pretty much for the last four weeks for some of my warm-ups. I've
03:02tried it, tested it. I know it works. I'm going to get on the course, go for a little practice,
03:06check out the conditions, and then get to the grid.
03:20Well, as expected, that was bloody hard. I think it was really nice. I managed to
03:26get into quite a rhythm. Having done the hard training sessions I've done
03:29previously, mentally, I was ready to suffer, if that makes sense, which was really good.
03:35It was really interesting actually out on the course. You could really see where the different
03:38components of training aligned. In terms of that build in the engine, there's quite a long climb
03:43just down there. You probably guys will have seen. Probably a good two, three minutes every lap.
03:49Having just the ability to go again is really helpful. It's been great fun to get back into
03:53some form of competition again and amazing to try something new that I haven't tried before.
03:57All that remains to do is say a big thanks to Zwift for helping get me in some form of
04:03competitive shape. Thanks to Nick Craig for making sure I didn't crash too many times,
04:07and a big thanks to Wessex League as well for putting on such a brilliant event.
04:10If you did enjoy the video, drop a like down below,
04:13subscribe to the channel for more content, and I will see you again very soon.
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