training

Home/Tag: training

Cornering: Understanding Apexes (Podcast #57)

Cornering is an important cycling skill to master if you're going to ride efficiently (and safely) and understanding apexes is a critical part of cornering properly.   Since there's so many potential spots for error, cornering is a fine balancing act comprising a number of different forces, but everything falls into place more easily when you can learn how to cut an apex properly, and how to choose the proper apex for each corner you encounter.

Cutting an apex allows you to do a number of things more safely, including carry a higher amount of speed into each corner.  Knowledge of how to properly execute different apexes will also help to keep you out of trouble with traffic, prevent panic braking and set you up for any terrain that's beyond the curve in the road (even if you can't see it.)  Proper use of apexes will also foster and encourage proper cornering skills like correct weight distribution and looking through the turn to the exit point.

In this excerpt from my upcoming “corner like a pro” online course, I'll diagram different apexes and explain the nuances of each one.  Click through for more information and the key points to take home:

(more…)

Tags: , , , , |

Ride Stronger: VO2 Max Workouts

20090906000556_bicycle-racerAmong the many weapons in the armament of the cyclist who wants to ride stronger, one of the least practiced and most important is VO2 max repeatability.  The ability to accelerate and push your body to the limits, recover at threshold and repeat that process over and over is one of the most versatile and important skills for a cyclist to possess.  It's also the one that's almost always lacking in the cyclists that I consult with or coach, and it's one I drill home in my training plans.

The real question most people follow up with is “why?”

Before I answer, first let's delve into VO2 max a little bit.  For our purposes, a VO2 max level effort (or a Zone 5/Z5 effort) is a suprathreshold effort that is sustainable for around 3-8 minutes (depending on the intensity of the effort.)  It is a mixture of aerobic and anaerobic energy production and is most often used in pursuits, attacks, bridging small gaps and short climbs.  By the numbers, it's an 8 to an 8.5/10 on an RPE scale, 105%-120% of Functional Threshold Power and >105% Lactate Threshold Heart Rate.

After the jump, I'll give you some more detailed information and a couple workouts to help you build your Zone 5 Repeatability (Z5R).

(more…)

Tags: , , , |

The Pre Race Warmup

Have you ever arrived to a ride a few minutes later than you wanted and just jumped on your bike and rolled off with the group?  Do you remember how you felt?  I'd wager that you were probably feeling stiff, awkward and it took you a long time to actually warmup to where you were comfortable and powerful on the bike.

Knowing the consequences of “rolling cold” why do coaches and friends alike have to constantly remind each other to warm up before we ride?  We all know better, and we shouldn't have to be asked the question “why should we warm up before we race (or even ride).”

It's staggering how often I hear this, and it amazes me that people still haven't accepted that they need to warm up before they hit the road in order to have a good performance.  Even more amazing is the number of people who are under warming up, or not warming up to match the effort they are preparing for.

It's time to put a stop to this; we'll explore why we warm up, what it does for our body and then see an example warm up workout.

(more…)

Tags: , , |

The Cost Of Bike Racing? (Podcast #56)

So you're thinking about racing a bike, but you're concerned about the cost.

You're not the only one, apparently.

Recently, an article in the UK based Telegraph caused a little bit of a stir in the cycling world, claiming that the cost of racing was approximately £25,000.  £25,000!!  Adjusted to USD, that's around $39,000!  That's a salary for a lot of people!

And that's completely insane.

There's no earthly reason racing a bike needs to cost that much.  In fact, if you read other articles by the same author, you get a different impression: the author is racing at an elite level, attempting to recapture a lost opportunity of his youth.  He's not starting off racing a Cat 5 criterium, or a weekend stage race where you're competing against other guys who are coming out to have a little fun and maybe sprint for a pair of tires.  We're talking two different worlds here.

But the article did get me thinking about what IS the cost of racing a bike?  And if you wanted to start racing a bike today, what would you need to lay out in terms of dollars and cents.  That's what I'll explore in today's podcast, along with some helpful tips to get you ready to race for the first time.

Click through for a breakdown of what it takes to race on the elite level, and what you need to race on the local level:

(more…)

Tags: , , , , |

Effective Build Phase Training (Podcast #55)

Do you wish you could get more cycling prowess out of your build phase training?

So do a lot of riders.

Here's a short backstory: A while back I released a podcast discussing how you can get the most out of your base training by throwing out much of the old school rhetoric and focusing on new school science.  That podcast has become one of my most popular podcasts to date, sparking questions about everything from workout frequency to using High Intensity Training to rocket your fitness up during the base phase.  It didn't stop with the base phase either: people started asking how to turbocharge their build phase training too.

So by popular demand, this time, I'm going to tackle the build phase of your training plan.  Again, the name of the phase sort of gives away the goal behind it: to build fitness in an exponential way.  However, fitness is a tricky thing: there's general fitness (for you power meter users, that's the CTL on the performance management chart) and there's situation specific fitness such as climbing ability, sprinting ability, 3 minute power, etc etc (which can all be tracked if you're training with power).  Many athletes are happy with going out and doing the same old rides, watching their “fitness” (really, they're seeing an increase in CTL) steadily climb.  Then they register for a fondo, race or event and fail to meet their expectations.

Why?

Because they didn't train their weaknesses, nor did they build specific fitness to conquer their goals.

In this episode of the Tailwind Coaching Podcast, we'll cover that and more.  Show notes and links are available after the jump:

(more…)

Tags: , , , |
Copyright Tailwind Coaching 2012-2017 | All Rights Reserved | Tailwind Coaching is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.