group riding skills and tips Archives - Page 3 of 4

Be More Efficient

It's cold, there's a bitter wind blowing and last night's snow has left the roads both damp and layered with salt. Patches of ice lurk on the sides of the road, waiting to claim the unwary bi-wheeled traveler.

Most people refer to this as “winter” but I (and the rest of the cycling community) tend to refer to it as the “off season” or “indoor training season.” While there are times when we're able to get outside in the fresh, chilled air most of our training this time of year is spent on the trainer or rollers. As boring as that may be, there are benefits to indoor work: ability to precisely control interval duration, intensity and frequency, ability to control the environment around us, and perhaps one of the most important things, ability to increase our efficiency. Because the bottom line is: the more efficient you are, the faster and stronger you are for longer.

How do you get more efficient? You follow the tips below:

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Tags: Coaching, training|

Being Honest With Yourself

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….

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Tags: Coaching, group riding, Motivation, training|

Coaching: Don’t Fear the Group Ride (Podcast #4)

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:

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Tags: Coaching, podcast, riding|

Combining Group Rides With Your Training Plan (Podcast #3)

One of the biggest questions that I've faced in the past few weeks has been in relation to structured training plans. I've heard the following enough times to realize that it's a huge concern for many cyclists:

What about group rides? Where do those fit into my training plans?

Well, the short answer is that if you know the group dynamic and what fundamentals your plan is focusing on, you can often integrate group rides successfully. For a more detailed description, listen to the podcast below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (10.9MB)

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Tags: Coaching, podcast, training|

Cycling Force Training
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Cycling Force Training

Coaching discussion, group riding skills and tips, Training discussion

Cycling Force Training

Force is simply defined as the ability to overcome resistance. On the bike, this typically means having the ability to overcome a headwind or battle the force of gravity on a climb. Unsurprisingly, force tends to be one of the major limiters to many riders' successes when they get out into group rides and races later in the year. Thankfully, it is quite easy to work on the force portion of your riding skills both indoor and out, and cycling force work is easy to plan.

Click through for some information on cycling force work and how you can improve your force output.

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Tags: Coaching, cycling, road bike|