Clancy BriggsBlog

The cyclocross season is in full swing, and the Christmas holidays are the perfect opportunity to take your riding to the next level.

Our Christmas Cyclocross Coaching Session takes place at Sherwood Pines on Tuesday 22nd December 2026, giving young riders the chance to develop their technique, improve their race craft and build confidence during the heart of the cyclocross season.

Whether you're racing your local cyclocross league, competing at National Trophy level or looking to become more confident on technical cyclocross courses, there's always something to improve.

By December, most riders have already completed plenty of racing and will have a good idea of the areas they'd like to develop.

Maybe you're losing time through corners, struggling with slippery off-camber sections, hesitating before obstacles or finding that your starts aren't quite as sharp as you'd like.

That's where focused coaching can make a big difference.

Rather than simply riding more laps, our Christmas coaching gives riders the opportunity to break down individual skills, practice them away from race-day pressure and then put them back together in realistic race scenarios.

December is a fantastic time to work on your cyclocross skills.

With much of the autumn racing behind us and plenty of winter racing still to come, riders have the opportunity to take what they've learned from their races and turn it into real improvements.

Winter conditions also bring some of the biggest technical challenges of the season.

Courses can become muddy, slippery and heavily ridden, with grip levels constantly changing and riders needing to adapt their technique throughout a race.

Our Christmas coaching session is designed to help riders become smoother, more confident and more efficient in exactly these conditions.

Throughout the day, riders may work on:

• Faster and more efficient cornering
• Choosing the best racing line
• Riding confidently in wet and slippery conditions
• Smooth mounts and dismounts
• Carrying and shouldering the bike
• Bunny-hops and obstacle technique
• Race starts
• Bike handling under pressure
• Overtaking and positioning
• Race craft and tactical awareness

Cyclocross isn't simply about who has the biggest engine.

Good technique allows riders to maintain speed, conserve energy and make better decisions throughout a race.

And when conditions become challenging, those technical skills can make an even bigger difference.

One of the biggest advantages of coaching during the cyclocross season is that riders can bring their racing experiences directly into the session.

Perhaps you're struggling to carry speed through tight corners.

Maybe you're losing confidence when the course becomes muddy, or your dismounts and remounts need to become quicker and smoother.

These are exactly the areas that focused coaching can help improve.

We'll break skills down, give riders time to practise them and gradually introduce more speed and pressure as confidence develops.

The aim isn't simply to perform a skill correctly once.

It's to make good technique become automatic when you're tired, racing hard and making decisions in a fraction of a second.

Cyclocross requires a unique combination of fitness, technical ability and decision making.

During our coaching sessions, we'll focus on the small details that can make a big difference over an entire race.

Cornering and Line Choice

Being able to carry speed through corners can save huge amounts of energy.

Riders will work on body position, braking, grip, entry speed and choosing the fastest line for different types of corners and surfaces.

We'll also look at how the quickest line can change as a course becomes muddy or heavily ridden.

Mounts, Dismounts and Obstacles. 

Smooth transitions on and off the bike are an essential part of cyclocross.

We'll practise dismounting, carrying and shouldering the bike, negotiating obstacles and remounting efficiently.

The aim is to maintain momentum and avoid losing unnecessary time, particularly when riders are tired and under pressure.

Starts and Positioning

Cyclocross races can be hectic from the very first whistle.

We'll work on explosive starts, clipping in efficiently, selecting the right gear and maintaining control while riding alongside other competitors.

Good positioning and a confident start can make a huge difference to the rest of your race.

Riding Changing Terrain

Grass, mud, roots, loose surfaces, steep banks and off-camber sections can all appear during a single cyclocross lap.

Winter conditions make these features even more challenging.

Riders will learn how to adapt their body position, power and line choice to maintain control and speed as the terrain changes.

Race Craft and Tactical Awareness

Technical ability is only part of becoming a successful cyclocross racer.

We'll also look at positioning, overtaking, defending a line, deciding when to attack and recognising where effort can be used most effectively around a course.

Understanding when to push hard and when to conserve energy can be just as important as having strong technical skills.

Our cyclocross coaching sessions are delivered by experienced coaches with first-hand knowledge of racing at a high level.

That experience allows us to coach much more than individual skills.

We can help young riders understand how those skills fit into an actual race, from choosing the best line to managing effort, making tactical decisions and staying calm under pressure.

Most importantly, we want riders to enjoy themselves.

Our sessions provide a supportive environment where young cyclists can challenge themselves, develop their confidence and learn alongside other enthusiastic riders.

Our Christmas coaching session is ideal for:

• Existing cyclocross racers
• Youth riders competing in local or regional leagues
• National Trophy and National Series riders
• Riders looking to improve their technique during the winter season
• Mountain bikers moving into cyclocross
• Riders wanting to develop their technical bike-handling skills
• Young cyclists looking to become more confident racing in muddy and slippery conditions

Riders should already be confident riding independently and have an appropriate level of fitness for the duration of the session.

Whether you're looking to improve your results, tackle technical sections with more confidence or simply become a better all-round cyclocross rider, our coaching will help you work towards those goals.

December conditions can be cold, wet and muddy, so arriving prepared is important.

Please bring:

• A cyclocross bike, gravel bike or suitable mountain bike in good working order
• A correctly fitting cycle helmet
• Spare inner tube or suitable spares
• Water bottle
• Packed lunch
• Plenty of snacks
• Warm cycling clothing
• Waterproof jacket
• Spare clothing for wet or muddy conditions

We strongly recommend bringing plenty of warm layers and spare clothing, particularly if the weather is wet.

Cyclocross doesn't stop when it rains, and some of the best learning happens when the conditions become challenging!

📍 Location: Sherwood Pines Forest Park

Date: Tuesday 22nd December 2026

Time: 10:00am – 4:00pm

Price: £65 per rider

Booking: [INSERT BOOKING LINK]

By Christmas, the cyclocross season is well underway.

Every race provides an opportunity to learn, and focused coaching between races can help turn those experiences into genuine improvements.

Whether that means carrying more speed through corners, improving your mounts and dismounts, becoming more confident in the mud or making better decisions under pressure, small improvements can quickly add up over the course of a race.

Our Christmas Cyclocross Coaching Session gives young riders dedicated time to develop their skills with experienced coaches and other enthusiastic racers.

Learn. Practise. Race. Improve.

Then take those new skills straight into your next event.

Places are limited, so early booking is recommended.

Join us at Sherwood Pines on Tuesday 22nd December and give your cyclocross skills a boost this Christmas!