Imagine sitting down with someone and having a coaching discussion at your dining room table. That’s basically what my “coaching discussion” archives are. These archives are a repository for all the coaching discussion I’ve penned in the past few years.
Browse through the archives of my coaching discussion and learn how to be a stronger cyclist. Don’t forget you can contact me with questions or check out the Tailwind Coaching Newsletter for more great coaching discussion.
Here in the northeast, we've been blessed with about 10 days of "good" weather; "good" being in quotes because good winter weather is essentially anything that isn't snow, ice or hail and temperatures above 38 degrees (the point at which I prefer to sit on the trainer in front of the TV.) While the sun hasn't shone often and the roads aren't often dry, warmer temperatures create the itch to imbibe fresh air and feel the road slip by under 23mm tires.
Since motivation is high on these rare gems of days, it's only right that we get out, rain or shine. And let's be honest, when it's 45 degrees and you've HTFUed (Hardened The F*** Up, for the uninitiated, or see rule 5) you're not going to do a 10 mile round trip to the coffee shop and then call it a day. No, you'll seek out climbs, descents and (if you're anything like the classics lover that I am) dirt and gravel roads. Basically, the gnarlier and more "Belgian" the route (and the weather) the harder you'll push yourself.
There's only one problem with that line of thinking….
Perhaps you've seen the oft-repeated “New Year, New You” headline on the cover of Bicycling Magazine. It's so predictable that even Peloton Magazine said “you'll never see this on our cover.”
While you may not be able to completely transform yourself into a new person, you can always improve on what you've got, and that's what today's podcast focuses on; taking your successes from last year and building on them. What do you want to be? Stronger? Faster? Leaner? A better hill climber? All of the above?
While nobody is going to become a “new you” unless you're suddenly reincarnated as a ProTour rider, we can certainly make you a “better you.” Learn which facets of your body and fitness are trainable, which you're just going to have to live with, how to turn your weaknesses into strengths and how to maximize your strengths.
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Functional Threshold Power is better known as FTP. What is it? What do we do with it? Why is it so important to my cycling?
Athletes almost always have these questions when they begin training with power. When an athlete begins their training plans to prepare for next season's goal races, gran fondos and centuries, they need to address this metric. They're looking for the best and quickest ways to improve their performances, but many seem to be having trouble with the training concepts behind FTP. Questions have predominated about what it is, why we use it and how we calculate it for a long time.
In this latest edition of the Tailwind Coaching Podcast, I attempt to dispel some of the myths behind FTP: how we test it, why we need to know it and how we use it.
After the jump, look into functional threshold power a little more and learn how you can use it to enhance your training.
Some recent commentary on being afraid of “not having the fitness” to participate in group rides (along with some comments that I was a little critical of group rides in my last podcast) has inspired this week's podcast. This week I'll be discussing the skills necessary to succeed in group rides, even if the group happens to be stronger than you.
I'll be discussing some techniques and skills that will help give novice group riders and riders with lesser amounts of fitness a fighting chance of hanging with the group and accomplishing their group ride training goals.
I'll cover the following:
Learning to control and range your cadence outside your “comfort zone” of your sweet spot is a critical skill for all cyclists. It's the basic skill that allows you to succeed in group rides, modulate energy systems (switch from aerobic to anaerobic and visa versa) and make you a stable rider that others can draft. But many cyclists find it difficult to learn how to control their cadence, until now. The singlespeed workout is an excellent way to build confidence in your cadence control and it doesn't even require you to buy a new bike (although any excuse to buy another bike is a good one.)
In order to perform this workout, you'll need to find a segment of road that has some varying terrain: avoid steep climbs or sharp descents. Rolling terrain works best for this kind of workout. Shift into a gear that allows you to spin at your sweet spot cadence (the average cadence you pedal at for a LTHR/FTP test) and DON'T SHIFT OUT OF IT FOR THE ENTIRE WORKOUT. You'll pedal through the designated stretch of road (I like to run this workout on a 2ish mile long, gradual climb that includes some up and down rollers) using only your cadence to control your speed.
If the road climbs, your cadence will drop and you'll have to add tension to the pedals in order to get up the roller. As the road declines, you'll need to speed up your cadence to keep tension on the pedals. Don't coast unless you spin out completely (your spinning becomes choppy and poorly controlled.)
Adding this short workout to your rides will have you confidently controlling your cadence in a wide range of leg speeds. You'll thank me next time you're able to accelerate on a group ride by just spinning up 10 RPM more and hanging with the wheel in front of you.
