Joe Baker is a keen racer and saw some good success on the road, however, for the first time ever, he's going to be turning his hand to the mud. Joe will be tackling a Cyclocross race, juggling busy work life, he needs to optimise his time on the bike. This is why he decided to use Zwift to help him train and build in the high intensity that he needs in order to perform. He also spoke to CX legend Nick Craig to get some top tips and insights on how he should tackle his first race.
How do you think he did?!
This video was created in partnership with Zwift
How do you think he did?!
This video was created in partnership with Zwift
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SportsTranscript
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.