Pro CX Tips from Kaitlin Antonneau Clinic

“Who does the stutter step?”  Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld.com pro Kaitlin Antonneau asked the group of 30 women attending the Sunday, August 26^th clinic at Cincinnati’s Kings CX venue.  A few raised their hands.  A stutter step is a momentum sapping quick foot shuffle just before remounting the bike.  Kaitlin demonstrated how to remount the bike without doing the stutter step.  As a learning tool, “I tell people to keep the left foot planted on the ground” until the right leg is over the saddle, she added.  As the group practiced on a small loop, you could see the attendees become more fluid each time around.

“Kaitlin is very relatable,” organizer Corey Green of Cincinnati Cyclocross said as he gathered the lunch orders, “especially for the juniors.”  Some pros can be intimidating, not Kaitlin.  She’s not super tall.  She’s petite with a matching young squeak to her voice.  Even behind her pro kit and dark matching glasses she’s very approachable.  The girls opened up with Kaitlin, unafraid to ask questions.  When Kaitlin demonstrated a shoulder carry, one attendee asked, “Wait a minute.  Where did you grab the bike?”  She did it in slo-mo, twice.  Standing in place, about half the group grabbed their bikes from the down tube, set it on their shoulders and snaked their arm under to grab their handlebars. 

Most importantly, Kaitlin gave them confidence.   Most will race at the same venue in the OVCX series this fall.  As the women practiced hill carries, riding through sand and dismounts/remounts, Kaitlin scanned the group and gave individual guidance where needed.  After each break-out practice session she gathered the group for a discussion. 

Here are a few tips I gleaned from the clinic:

1: When riding into a steep hill (long sand or mud) that’s going to force a dismount, Kaitlin advises to get off the bike before it looses momentum.  Maintaining forward momentum is key.

2: Kaitlin said not to follow someone else’s line into sand, saying it’s too unpredictable.  While in some pro races competitors will work together to carve a clear and rideable line in the sand, the practice is rare in the lower categories.  Kaitlin demonstrated to hit the sand fast, stay light on the front end, pedal and hover. 

3: If you have to dismount and run a long distance up stairs, through mud or sand, Kaitlin says the shoulder carry allows you to run more effectively.

Next up, National Champion Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) visits Cincinnati September 1^st and 2^nd for a free cross talk on Saturday and a clinic presented by JBV and Fulcrum Coaching on Sunday.  Spots are still available.  Details and registration at BikeReg.com.

Lose Yourself in 2012-13 Cyclocross

I’m guessing this is the point in his training where Michael Phelps fired up the bong, aka The Rest Week.  While I don’t condone pulling a Phelps, with the sun of this year’s World Championship cyclocross season rising on the horizon, I clearly see why he needed the break.  In order to be the most decorated Olympian in history, he needed to be Mike for a while.  Go to Vegas.  Play video games.  Blow off practice.  Walk around with a case serial killer bed head hair.  On July 23^rd, my coach, Chris Mayhew at JBV Coaching, assigned me a two week break from riding.  He knows this season is special, a once in a lifetime perhaps.  Yesterday was the last day of slacking before a season that’ll end with the World Championships. 

Breathe in.  Breathe out.

I’m trying to balance levity with the magnitude of the opportunity.  Maybe you’re holding back your excitement too, and that’s why I sort of feel alone in the pursuit.  Even with the flame burning in London, I’m not getting the feeling that many grasp what a gift the 2012-13 cyclocross season calendar is.  Locally in the Ohio Valley we have clinics featuring Jeremy Powers and Kaitlin Antonneau, a cyclocross series in OVCX that’s on par with New England and the Northwest, the Cincy 3 Cyclocross Festival, Cross After Dark, USGP races in Madison and Louisville, a huge UCI weekend in Chicago, Nationals nearby, a Worlds warm up race in Cincinnati and then, finally the Cyclocross World Championships in Louisville for both Masters and Elite.  Oh-My-God!  What a Cyclocross Season!

Harbin Park, site of Cincy 3 CX Festival, circa 2001

12 years ago, you had your choice of three races: A, B, or C. The course was hastily marked with flags and orange spray paint.  This year, you’ll see national jerseys on the backs of European stars wiz past your nose through the fog of your frozen breath.  I’m not saying cyclocross is going to disappear in 2014, but right here, right now, for many of us this season is the best chance we’ll ever have to plant our cleats as high as we can on the summit of cross mountain.  This is the perfect opportunity to grab the low hanging cowbells.  Without pounding a nail in the cross-coffin, for those on the upper end of the Masters demo, you’ll likely never have this chance again without dipping into your 401(k) for plane tickets and baggage fees to Europe.  This is your Eminem “Lose Yourself” moment. 

Marshall Mathers turns 40 in October, racing age 41.

2008 OVCX Gun Club Carnage

Oddly, I feel almost alone in the pursuit, and mine has nothing to do with the podium.  Outside the voices in my head, I’m not feeling a buzz, your buzz.  Maybe it has something to do with the individualistic approach we have to cyclocross or cycling in general.  We know better than to hang our hopes on one race.  Dreams can be dashed on a sharp root or a slick corner.  We purse our lips and swallow back notions of excitement, in case they are dashed with a 25mph header into a sand pit.  But this season is different.  Never before have we had so many major events, so many chances to feel a little glory. 

Masters 45-49 World Champs Seeding Startline Jan 2012

So, afford yourself the chance and share your excitement.  Get off the fence.  Register.  Let the tiny cowbells in your head crescendo into some thing on par with the bum-bum-BA-bum-bum rumble of the Olympic Theme kettle drum.  Share your goals on your Facebook status.  Remember what a treasure it is to have that photo of yourself towing the start line at Worlds.  Hire a coach.  Snatch up that non-stop January flight from Denver to Louisville that I saw online for $262 round trip.  Volunteer as a course marshall.  Book the hotel for that faraway race or pro clinic you’re on the fence about.  Show up early for the juniors.  Stay late for the post race party.  Create a Power Point to convince your family that Chicago, Madison, Cincinnati and Louisville are wonderful places to visit in the winter.  The next six months will fly by and we need to make the most of it.  I can’t wait to be wearing a rain jacket, rubber boots, eating a waffle, drinking from a flask and standing next to you as we hang over the banners at Worlds screaming “Allez!”

Cross Nation, this year is special and we need more cowbell.

#CXnats Elite Podiums Won in the Pits

Everyday I'm Pamperin'

While you may have watched the live streaming video or followed #cxnats on Twitter, you missed a few things at the Elite Cyclocross National Championship Races in Madison, WI on Sunday.  For one, you missed this dude in the diaper with a cooler full of cold ones and a RoadID on his wrist.  You also missed the details that made the difference for Antonneau and Powers.


The CX Nats pit was small, crowded, inadequately spaced and tough on entry/exit.  While pits are usually crowded during top level races, the pit at CX Nats was one tough mooglie for riders and mechanics.  For wrenches, it was hard to get to the race lane.  Many places were 3 people/bikes deep as mechanics tried to get out to the race lane. Coming from a background setting up pits for UCI events in Cincinnati, they needed more width and more depth.  For riders, the entrances, exits, and race lanes were bumpy and rutted.  Add in the technical turn preceeding Pit #1 and it was a mix that rewarded perfection from crew and rider and spelled disaster for those that bobbled.  

Women's Race-Antonneau's Recovery

Antonneau running her bike after early mishap

While Meredith Miller took the hole shot, Compton stomped on the pedals and built a gap of almost 5 seconds within 4 turns of the start. With the sketchy descents and rutted mud that was still half frozen, you could see on her face that she wasn't willing to take any risks today and simply wanted to run in clean air.  Game over.  The race was on for 2nd.  While the cameras followed Compton, there was a huge battle behind. Antonneau, Duke, Miller, Butler, Stetson-Lee, Bruno Roy, and Rivera were all in place and chasing each other down back and forth the whole day. By now we all know that Antonneau was 2nd on the day for the Elites after winning the U23 race.  What you don't know is the pits played a pivotal role in her podium.

On the second time through the technical turn immediately preceding Pit 1, Antonneau was in 3rd place behind Duke and Compton. She was looking pretty comfy, but navigating the tight technical turn she slipped and fell. The crowd heard a very distinct SNAP!  The sound that makes your heart sink.  She snapped a spoke on her Zipp.

Kaitie got up, tried to remount and quickly realized the damage.  She immediately ran the few steps into the pits and retrieved a new bike. If the spoke had snapped a bit later, as happens a lot, it would have been day over for Antonneau. Running after the pits back around to the pits again would have been disaster, a feat Olympian Usain Bolt couldn't pull off.  Luck was on her side and a good crew always at the ready with a fresh ride.  

Dylan McNicholas drills the hole shot

Men's Race-Powers Attack

Watching the men's race was edge of your pit-bucket excitement for the whole hour.  From the coverage you didn't see that it was Pit 1 that made the difference in the men's elite race as well. It played out like this.  Page would pit every time through Pit 1 and take a clean bike. Powers and/or Trebon would punch it past the pits, choosing to not take a clean bike and put some distance on Page.  Page would power out of the pits and catch back on before the stairs.  Powers attacks here proved to be the difference.  

Page on the bumpy exit from Pit 2

If you remember from the Women's race, the technical turn preceding Pit 1was incredibly difficult.  There was almost always a shuffling of racers in this particular spot.  Even Tim Johnson choose to run this section several times due to the difficult ruts and awkward lines into and out of this section. If you missed the line exiting this technical turn, getting to the pit lane to change bikes was really hard.

Nearly every lap we'd see Page attack heading into the technical corner, clean the corner and head straight for the pits. He'd swap bikes and by the time he exited the pits he would be almost right on Powers' or Trebon's wheel. 

Leaders hit the climb on Lap 1

The difference came on the next to last lap. Powers knew this was occurring every single lap.  He pushed the pace heading into the technical corner which forced Page to navigate the corner in traffic with Trebon and McDonald. Exiting from the technical corner, Page and McDonald bumped each other, then bumped each other again. Page was stuck on the left side of McDonald (Powers' Rapha-Focus teammate) and the pit entrance was on the right side. Page had to nearly ride through McDonald to get to the pit lane to swap bikes.

Obviously Page was hell bent on getting a fresh bike.  Doing so he was forced to bump and rub McDonald twice, slow down, ride across the rough ruts in front of McDonald and get into the pits. Right there, Powers smelled blood and put 8 seconds on Page as he exited the pits.  

Powers driving the pace with Page following

Whether this was planned team tactics or luck, it worked to perfection for Powers. Once Page was chasing he didn't take a clean bike on the last lap trying to catch back on, but the gap created at the entrance to Pit 1 never changed through the end of the race.  The rest is history.  

Had that exit from the technical turn and the entrance to Pit 1 been less bumpy and more roomy the final two laps of the race might have gone down differently. Kudos to Powers for knowing where and when to attack the race - whether it was his spidey senses or just plain luck, it worked.