Kristi Kuldkepp – riding into 2026
Cycling inspiration for the season ahead
While many cyclists take a break over winter, for me the cyclocross season is something too good to miss and something that I love. Yes, it has highs and lows, but it also has challenges to overcome and keeps me focused.
My Cyclocross Season: Highs and Lows
Cyclocross has a funny way of humbling you one weekend and making you feel unstoppable the next. One lap you’re floating over the grass, nailing every remount, feeling like a hero.
The next, you’re knee-deep in mud, heart rate redlined, questioning why you ever thought racing bikes in winter was a good idea. It’s an emotional rollercoaster – simply surviving the cyclocross season, and yet I love it’ Ultimately, this is what the cyclocross season is – a mental and a physical challenge.
The Highs: Why We Keep Coming Back
For me, there’s nothing quite like the first race of the season. Fresh legs, clean kit, and that buzz on the start line and nerves kick in. When things click, cyclocross feels electric. Then it’s all of those things that merge together and make cyclocross such an electric experience:
• Finding your flow: Hitting a perfect line through off-camber corners or gliding through a technical section you’ve practiced all week is deeply satisfying.
• Small wins: Maybe it’s your fastest start ever, your first clean barrier remount, or finally beating that rival who always edges you out. In cyclocross, progress shows up in tiny, meaningful moments.
• The community: Mud-splattered smiles, shared jokes in the pits, and friends cheering even when you’re dead last. Cyclocross crowds and camaraderie are unmatched.
• That post-race glow: Legs destroyed, face frozen, but grinning anyway. You survived. Again.
Yes, cyclocross becomes a rich tapestry of all of these – and the mud, of course!
The Lows: Mud, Mistakes, and Mental Battles
Of course, it’s not all podium dreams and perfect lines. Bad days happen for all of us on the cyclocross start line, and this season has been no different. Missed pedals, dropped chains, blown starts, or that one crash you can’t stop replaying in your head. Cyclocross is unforgiving. My own season has embraced all of these issues and more: weather wars with freezing rain, axle-deep mud, or courses that turn into peanut butter by lap two. Sometimes the conditions win—and that’s okay. I’ll take those for the balance with the wins!
Then of course, there are the fitness reality checks; yes, this most unrelenting of cycle sports exposes everything: power, technique, recovery… all of it, and cakes it in mud for all to see. Some races are just pure survival mode. The mental fatigue of racing hard every weekend while juggling work, life, and training can wear you down faster than expected. Add to this the travelling involved across Europe for the best races – it can be a challenge in itself. You have to be tough, and cyclocross helps you to achieve that – once you decide to stay the course.
What the Season Teaches You
Cyclocross has a way of sharpening more than just bike handling skills. You learn resilience—how to keep pushing when things fall apart. You gain perspective—a bad race doesn’t define your season. And, you build confidence—because if you can race an hour at full gas in the cold and mud, you can handle a lot. As the cyclocross season ends and the road season opens up, you feel ready for the new challenges that await you; you feel fitter and those all-important bike handling skills and peripheral vision are honed for when it gets tights within the peloton.
Rolling Into the Off-Season
When the final race is done and the bike is finally clean (or at least cleaner), there’s a mix of relief and nostalgia. You’ll swear you need a break—but deep down, you’re already thinking about next year: what worked? What didn’t? What do you want to improve?
Those highs and lows are the reason cyclocross sticks with us. It’s chaotic, painful, joyful, and addictive all at once—and somehow, every season leaves us wanting more. I guess it’s like a drug, like that movie we always go back to even though it scares us, because it also excites us.
Why cyclo-cross can help cyclists during winter and in readiness for spring
High-Quality Fitness Without Endless Miles
Winter can be tough for long, steady rides. Cyclocross replaces hours of base riding with short, intense efforts that build aerobic capacity and top-end power fast. Those repeated accelerations, surges out of corners, and full-gas efforts mimic race situations—perfect prep for spring road, gravel, or XC races. You hit the season with strong VO₂ max, punchy power, and race-ready legs.
Bike Handling Skills Level Up
Yes, mud, grass, off-cambers, barriers—cyclocross forces you to be smooth and precise. You learn how to corner confidently on slippery surfaces, how to choose better lines under pressure, and how to brake less and carry more speed. Moving onto the roads in spring, you have improved handling on wet roads, fast descents, tight crit corners, and technical gravel sections.
Mental Toughness Gets Built in the Dark Months
Racing hard in cold, rain, and mud builds serious mental resilience. Cyclocross teaches you how to stay focused when you’re uncomfortable, tired, and things aren’t going perfectly. The spring payoff is easy – when races get hard or when the weather turns bad, you don’t panic. You’ve been here before.
Consistent Motivation Through Winter
Structured training is great, but winter motivation can fade fast. Cyclocross gives you clear goals and race days, keeping training purposeful and fun when daylight is limited.
Spring payoff: You arrive at spring motivated instead of burnt out from months of solo trainer sessions.
Strength Without the Gym (Mostly)
Running with the bike, riding low cadence in mud, and repeated explosive efforts develop functional strength—especially core, upper body, and stabilizing muscles.
Spring payoff: Better control on the bike and improved ability to handle surges, climbs, and rough terrain.
Smooth Transition to Spring Racing
Cyclocross naturally bridges the gap between off-season and race season. You stay race-sharp while still leaving room to shift focus to endurance and specificity later. The spring payoff here is simple – there’s no frantic fitness scramble in March—you’re already ahead.
The Big Picture
Cyclocross isn’t just winter survival—it’s winter advantage. It keeps cycling fun, builds real-world fitness, sharpens skills, and toughens your mindset. When spring arrives, cyclists who’ve raced cross don’t feel like they’re starting over—they feel ready. I feel ready! I love the cut and thrust, the pain the excitement, the anticipation, the challenges – mental and physical. Taking all of this together and weaving it into the bigger picture – cyclocross is a sensible choice for cyclists.
My cycling season goals for 2026
Because the road racing calendar in Estonia is relatively short, the focus for me is on quality racing, consistency and development. I want to make each race count in terms of experience and performance. I plan to include several gravel bike races this season to accumulate more race kilometers and stay competitive throughout the year – on all surfaces. I had a good season and surprised myself by winning a European AG title too – that felt good and has given me a lift for 2026!
Cyclo-cross is about intensity, skills and resilience.
The 2026 season is not just about results though, but about building a stronger foundation as a rider. By combining road, gravel and cyclo-cross racing, I aim to gain more experience, more race kilometers, and more confidence for the years ahead. I love riding bikes and I love challenging myself – I love racing. The feeling can be indescribable and I want that to continue to be a part of who I am.
