Welcome to the Tailwind Coaching podcast archives. You’ll find all the back editions of the Tailwind Coaching Podcast along with show notes and any downloads that accompany them. Feel free to peruse the archives and share the episodes with your friends. You can also subscribe to the Tailwind Coaching Podcast on iTunes, and if you do, leave a review and tell me what you think.
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Everyone loves a group ride, right? Group rides are chances to catch up with friends, get in a good workout, chase a few stronger riders or tear the legs off your riding buddies. But a group ride is as much a dance as it is a ride, and there are a number of things you SHOULD have learned along your journey as a cyclist. Whether you are a group riding sage or a newly minted rookie, you should observe the rules, the etiquette and the sanctity of the holiest of Sunday cycling practices (aside from watching the pros on Eurosport, of course…)
In today's episode of the Tailwind Coaching Podcast, I'll wax poetic on those things that you need to have learned in order to execute the perfect group ride, and I'll cover a couple of things in the cycling news sphere that caught my attention.
That said, today's podcast will include:
Power: it's the ultimate in training metrics. Nothing beats the pinpoint accuracy of training with an output measurement such as power. You can know at each moment of each ride how hard you are working, if you're burning matches and if you're going to be paying for this effort later in the day. The question most people end up asking themselves is “which power meter should I choose?” And rightly so.
With the myriad of power meter options on the market, offering tons of different features at different price points, where should you start looking in your quest for technological bliss? And when it comes time to plunk down your hard earned cash on (arguably) the biggest training tool you'll have (aside from a coach), which one should you choose?
In this episode of the Tailwind Coaching Podcast, I talk about some of the ins and outs of choosing a power meter, from considering how much mechanical ability you have to how much money is in your bank account. As you listen, you'll hear me discuss:
In part 1 of “Strength Training For Cyclists” I talked about how your body adapts to different kinds of exercise. We learned about the concept of different pathways that create physiological adaptation and a touched on a couple of ways these pathways interact with one another, turning you into a sharp physical specimen where there used to be couch potato.
But there was a problem: I covered all these concepts about how your body uses some common physiological mechanisms to build fitness in different muscle types, that's true. But the one thing not talked about was how to put all that sciency stuff together. I'll tackle that in detail in today's podcast, so click through the break and check out the show notes.
Want to be a stronger cyclist without touching your bike? Did you ever wish there was a way to build cycling prowess without sitting on the trainer for hours on end during the dark and cold winter? Do you dream of a lean, muscular physique like the sport's top rouleurs? Well, there's definitely a way to go about making that happen, if you're willing to put aside some bias and start hitting the gym (or the home gym if you're motivated enough.)
For years, many coaches thrashed the idea of strength training for cyclists. But those attitudes are (thankfully) on the way out. Frankly, a coach who doesn't believe in strength training is either not well versed in physiology or is just not interested in developing weight based workouts for his/her athletes. In fact the recent success of numerous former track athletes in the professional road race ranks should have people clamoring for some weight lifting (most trackies are avid weight trainers during the off season.) Think of guys like Brad Wiggins, Michael Morkov, Jack Bobridge and Geraint Thomas if you want a few examples of trackies who took to the road successfully. So what's your reason for not hitting the weight room?
With that in mind, today's podcast will discuss some of the components of strength training and exercise adaptation. I'll discuss the physiology of how your body adapts to exercise, so check out the show notes after the jump and follow along with the podcast.
Last time on the Tailwind Coaching Podcast I talked about how to get started with road racing. So far, I've received a lot of positive commentary on it, but a number of people felt that I was leaving some things out. Comments were made to the effect of “What about gran fondos?” and “What about centuries?”
I realize that the majority of cyclists out there aren't racers, but still find joy in searching out tests of their endurance, climbing or overall fitness. Many of those ways involve planning for a century or gran fondo. Do you want to complete that event, or do you want to CRUSH that event?
In today's podcast, I'll discuss what you need to know to not only be successful in pursuit of that goal, but to shatter your expectations. I'll cover:
