A Beginner’s Guide to Cyclocross
Coach Julie Young breaks down the art and training of cyclocross—from training to skills, racing to drills.
Co-host of Fast Talk Femmes Podcast, Cycling Coach, Contributor
Julie Young is a sports scientist, cycling coach, and U.S. National Team member.
Julie’s athletic background began as an all-league soccer player and alpine ski racer. After a knee injury, she made a hard pivot to pursue golf, eventually playing at UCLA, where she became an NCAA Academic All-American. After graduating, she discovered cycling and had the opportunity to race full-time for the U.S. national team and numerous American and European pro teams, including Saturn, Timex, and Fannini. Julie spent most of her cycling career racing in Europe, winning the most prestigious women’s stage race, Tour de L’Aude, and numerous stages and podiums in this and other stage races. During this experience, Julie had the opportunity to work with many of the sport’s most prominent coaches, physiologists, and biomechanists, and apply that knowledge in practice as an athlete.
After ending her cycling career, Julie started her coaching business and ran a physiology-biomechanics lab for a private practice sports medicine physician. During this time, she pivoted in her sporting life to compete in 50K trail runs, winning a national championship; XTERRA triathlons, taking several wins; and cross-country ski racing for Rossignol.
She has recently been recruited by Kaiser Sports Medicine to develop and run a physiology-biomechanics lab at their Sacramento Kings NBA arena site. Julie completed her Master’s in sports science and human performance in early 2021 and is currently studying for a graduate degree in performance nutrition. Julie also continues to compete; she believes it’s the best way to relate to her athletes, by maintaining an intimate understanding of what it takes to physically and emotionally train and compete.
Her background as an athlete, combined with her education, provides a unique perspective: training cannot be completely subjective, nor can it be solely scientific; it must be a blend of art and science. Using this approach, Julie creates holistic, time-efficient, and integrated training plans to help each client be their best athlete.
Coach Julie Young breaks down the art and training of cyclocross—from training to skills, racing to drills.
Sports nutrition for endurance athletes is controversial. With the help of experts like Dr. Asker Jeukendrup, Dr. Timothy Noakes, and Dr. John Hawley, we examine the science of fueling your body for performance and health.
Coach Julie Young explores ways to develop mental skills to embrace discomfort as fuel for growth and performance.
Analyzing your training is a critical aspect of improving fitness. With the help of Dr. Stephen Seiler, Colby Pearce, Julie Young, and many others, we explore how and why to monitor and analyze data, and explore different approaches to interpreting and managing your workout data.
Exogenous ketones reached “super fuel” status in 2016. Since then, research hasn’t been so positive. We explore the potential benefits of supplementation with ketone esters.
Every athlete of any ability level can benefit from the guidance of a good coach. We explore the coach-athlete relationship, and offer advice on how to reap the greatest rewards from working with a coach.
Given the hormonal fluctuations experienced during the menstrual cycle, should female athletes prepare differently for lab testing?
These nutrition strategies will help reduce the side effects of hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle.
Train by data or train by feel? Here to unpack the duality of data and intuition in endurance athletics is cycling coach and former pro cyclist, Julie Young.
Guest coach Julie Young answers questions from listeners on fatigue, peaking, returning from injury, and sports nutrition.
In episode 91 we emphasize the many critical aspects of training and coaching that don’t show up in the numbers.