Cross Dressing

So I haven't really been cross dressing but I have been riding cross, A LOT! It's all I can think about recently. My new favorite 20-30 mile loop from the house has me riding over to Pocahontas State Park and hitting up some fireroads then some singletrack and then back to the house. I can tell from the way my body hurts after these rides I am not in the shape I once was or could be in. The other tell tell factor are my averages on the singletrack. Granted I am on a cross bike and not the BUSS but I think I can get the times closer to each other with some more time on the saddle. The question of the day is, Do I put gears back on it for training purposes or do I train with the SS gear setup at 48x16 and put the gears back on for cross season?