Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

As far as building up cardiovascular endurance for racing I am wondering what else other as well as cycling could be of benefit in those moments when chasing,breaking away or bunch sprinting. I figure that when i am feeling good whilst racing everyone else is also, when i am pushing and feeling it everyone else is too, we all want to have a bigger threshold, so i was thinking of trying something different like doing hill repeats on foot down the local creek maybe a bit of skipping as well as time on the bike mixing it up a bit. I don't really know if this will help my racing or increase my chances of injury but i will give it a go, any opinions on this..cheers

Swim. No chance of borking your knees and big cardio.

Swimming is good...but I don't understand why you want to mix it up? Smashing yourself on the bike will translate far more directly to smashing yourself in a bike race.

Yes, mix it up.
I do tri now, as well as MTB.
MTB will show you hills like you've never seen them, plus it's fun, no cars, lots of immersion in nature.
Swimming is good too. Most people stick to the pool , but getting into the ocean opens up a whole new world of experience.

Anything off the bike will probably increase your chance of injury... depends on your body I suppose.
Really only training you do on the bike will help in racing... doesn't hurt to mix it up though. Although mixing it up for me means road / mtb / tt and cyclocross ... and a bit of stretching and core work, but then I have flexibility issues.