off road tri VS road tri

I've never done one, but I would guess you would want to practice your mountain biking skills before the event.

And do some trail running. It is alot different from just putting in miles on the pavement.

You can also check the magazine rack. There is usually several mags about off-road biking. Sometimes you can even find some Xterra articles floating around.

Good luck

Snookdude

MB skills are critical and more low rpm riding to prepare for that reality on race day. below is an article I wrote about XTerra skills.

Ken


Taking Triathlon Off-Road
© 2004 by Ken Mierke

It's easy to forget that triathlon is a very new sport. While the sport of running has been around seemingly forever, and bicycling has its roots in the 19th century, triathlon only took off toward the end of the 20th century. Triathlon is fresh, new, and like anything young, still undergoing some changes.

One of the newest expansions in the sport is the off-road triathlon, specifically the XTerra off-road races that take racers over technical mountain-bike courses and hilly, root-covered runs. The XTerra triathlon is also the fastest-growing area of the sport, with new races popping up all over.

Racing off-road requires a whole different set of skills for the multisport athlete. Here's what you'll need to know to navigate the woods and trails of the off-road race.

The Bike Leg

Momentum is Your Friend: Obviously, the more you slow down, the longer it will take to finish. But when racing on a trail, particularly on a mountain-bike, you have to keep moving forward at a steady pace. Slowing down when facing challenging terrain is natural but ineffective. Always ride under control, but understand that many technical sections and obstacles can be cleared easily and safely at moderate speed, but are quite difficult to maneuver at slow speeds. Whenever you can safely ride a technical section, maintain your speed throughout. This keeps the gyroscopic effect of your wheels providing stability. Use a slightly harder gear and keep flowing.

Learn to Pass: Passing on a mountain bike is not as simple as in a road triathlon. Yelling, “On your left” and powering by might take you right in to a tree. Research consistently proves that this is not good for race times. Putting in a little extra effort to pass as many riders as possible on smooth, wide sections of trail pays off.

When a faster rider starts to pass you, allow them to pass, but stay right behind them if at all possible. This allows you to follow their lines through technical sections. Not only does this provide an excellent learning opportunity, it cuts seconds—possibly minutes—off of your bike split.

Watch the Weight: Keep your weight down and back, or up and forward. When the trail goes downhill, you need to move your weight way back on the seat or completely behind it. When the descents get steep, move your butt back so that it’s actually behind the seat, taking your weight on your legs. If you haven't tried riding behind the seat, practice in the grass while coasting. Try to move your hips completely behind the seat, then back on, getting a good feel for what it takes. This is probably the single most effective skill you can learn, and it can save your front teeth, wrist, or any other ground-stopping body part by keeping you upright when the trail gets steep.

Going into a climb, move your weight forward on the seat to keep some weight on the front wheel to improve steering control. For more details about bike handling, see the video at www.wildflowermtb.com or find a local clinic at www.Fitness-Concepts.com.
Know When to Run: There's no shame is dismounting and running with the bike—the best XTerra triathletes know when to run on the bike leg. Practice getting on and off your bike quickly. Get used to running your bike across uneven ground and jumping over obstacles. In very technical sections, it can be much faster, less exhausting and less frustrating to run through a rough section with the bike on your shoulder than to repeatedly dismount and remount.

Ride the Course: Pre-riding a triathlon course is a nice benefit in a road race, but it's even more of an advantage in an off-road tri. Even the trickiest road course is nothing compared to the tamest off-road course. If you can develop strategies and lines for tackling the tough sections, you'll be that much faster and confident. Re-ride sections that give you trouble.

The Running Leg

While the biggest challenge for the road triathlete going off-road is the bike, running off-road is also a unique test. The bike in an XTerra triathlon will leave you more fatigued than a road triathlon bike, and off-road running is always slower, so don’t expect a scorching pace. Prioritize endurance, force and race-pace workouts over speed in training.

Keep turnover extremely high in XTerra runs. While high-turnover running is always more efficient, this is even more important after mountain biking. In an off-road bike, even the strongest and most skilled triathlete ends up grinding at low cadence for a significant portion of the race. Local athlete Justin Thomas is one of the top climbers in XTerra racing, but he spends a lot of time at 60 or fewer rpm. While a road triathlete will shift gears to generally maintain about 90 rpm and rarely dip below 80. Low cadence riding is just an unfortunate reality for off road. When the muscles have produced high torque on the bike, they are not able to create high torque on the run. “Shift” down a gear on the run by driving your knee forward quickly and pushing off lightly. Take very short, quick strides and minimize contact time between feet and ground, and you’ll finish faster.


Ken Mierke, Head Coach of Fitness Concepts (www.Fitness-Concepts.com) coaches two of the world’s top XTerra athletes. Justin Thomas is the 3rd world-ranked professional and Dr. Kathy Coutinho has placed as high as 3rd at XTerra Worlds.

My first tri lat year was off road. The most important advise I have to give was also in that very interesting article by Ken: Practice the bike course ! I only did this once and was very disapointed with my performance on race day. The course was very technical. I just couldn't manage to maintain any speeed in the long windy and narrow sections. Since the race I have done the course a few times and my times get better at each time.