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2026-11-01

Hardwood Cross

  • Id: 2026-11-01-hardwood-cross
  • Title: Hardwood Cross
  • Kind: event
  • Discipline: bike
  • Surface: cx
  • Priority: key
  • Planned time: race start (confirm)
  • Duration: race
  • Distance: ~50 min race
  • Intensity: race
  • Location: Oro-Medonte, ON
  • TrainingPeaks ID: 40520368

Objective

Race for UCI points with a committed start and steady middle laps.

Goal

A controlled race for UCI points: about 215-225 W a lap, no deep efforts. PanAm is six days away.

Reasoning

UCI points on the same venue the day after Nationals, raced controlled to protect freshness for PanAm. Changed Oct 15: a rule for surges added. Changed Oct 25: climb, power-section and finish notes added. Changed Oct 26: cold-weather line, the UCI points note and the controlled-effort plan added.

Event details

  • UCI C2, Oro-Medonte, ON.
  • Race breakfast 3-4 h before the start.
  • Warm-up 35-40 min: 15 min building, 2 x 3 min at 247-260 W, 3 x 15 sec starts. Stay on the rollers or trainer until call-up, with 2 x 20 sec hard at about 10 and 5 min before the start: heart rate 120-130 at the gun, not 95.
  • Cool race: about 10°C forecast, with a chance of drizzle. Keep the jacket and leg warmers on until call-up.
  • If it is 22°C or warmer, or in full sun: wait in shade with a cold towel or ice vest, drink an ice-slurry bottle 30 min before the start, take 500-750 mL of fluid with 500-700 mg of sodium in the 2 h before, and take a bottle hand-up in the pit if the commissaires allow it.
  • Race the first 60-90 sec for position, then settle: lap 1 NP no more than 235 W.
  • Controlled effort from there: about 215-225 W NP a lap. Smooth and seated on the climbs where you can, and build your gap in the technical sections, where it's cheap. Don't sprint out of every corner, and don't chase extra seconds once you're clear.
  • If a rider is stronger today, let her go: 2nd is worth 30 UCI points against 40 for the win, and PanAm matters more.
  • When the leaders surge: follow surges of up to about 30 sec at up to about 360 W. If a surge is longer or harder, let a gap of a few seconds open, ride your own threshold over the top, and close it in the technical sections.
  • Steep climbs and power sections: ride a short steep climb at the power it needs (the surge rule is for attacks). Gaps are kept on the power sections over the top: get back to threshold straight away and hold it.
  • The finish: learn the last corner and the finishing straight in the pre-ride. On the last lap, be first into the final technical section; on a short straight, the rider out of the last corner first usually wins.
  • Race.
  • Cool-down 15-20 min easy spin.
  • Review targets from the race file: a controlled race, laps at about 215-225 W NP, no deep efforts after the start; position at the first corner.

Constraints

  • Power meter paired and zeroed before the warm-up; the start and lap numbers depend on it.
  • Record the race as its own file, separate from the warm-up.

Recovery

Recovery drink within 30 min (GF/DF, about 1 g/kg carbohydrate and 20-25 g protein), then a full meal within 2 h.

Fuelling

Breakfast of 1.5-2 g/kg carbohydrate from familiar GF/DF foods. 30 g carbohydrate with water 30-45 min before staging, a gel 10-15 min before the gun. Too short for on-bike fuelling: arrive fuelled.

Notes

If Nationals left real damage (crash, illness signs, tissue complaint), skip it: PanAm matters more. Debrief to Luca within 24 h: placing, gap to the winner, start row, lap times, what limited you, and how the legs feel the next morning. Today's UCI points count toward your start position at Ostrava; Nationals points don't, because the UCI counts national championships from the January championship date.