Tailwind Coaching

Dealing With Saddle Sores
Dealing With Saddle Sores

general cycling discussion, injury and cycling medicine

Dealing With Saddle Sores

Saddle sores.

At some time in our cycling lifetime, each one of us will be visited by this demon that lurks in the darkness of our chamois. Steeped in tales of horror, deeply personal and sometimes utterly disgusting, this little pest can derail the most dedicated of cyclists, grinding their riding, training and racing to a complete halt. To top it off these devils are often incredibly difficult to treat and get rid of.

There may be many causes of saddle sores, plenty of confounding elements, and a lot of closely inter-related issues behind the development of one of these pests, and you have to look at each and every one of those aspects if you want to finally be free of that pimple on your nether regions.

That being said, let's delve into your shorts and see what's cooking (or boiling, as it may be.)

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Tags: cycling, injury, Recovery|

Beginner’s Guide to Training With Power (part 2)
Beginner’s Guide to Training With Power (part 2)

Coaching discussion, Power training and discussion, Training discussion

Beginner’s Guide to Training With Power (part 2)

If you missed the first part of the Beginner's Guide to Training With Power series of articles, it would be a good idea to go back and read it. Go ahead, I'll wait…

Done reading? Good. You should have a good idea about FTP, W/Kg, Training Levels/zones and more. Now, let's take a look at some more power-based metrics, specifically power training zones. You may recall the definition from my last article:

Power Training Levels/Zones: Along with FTP, these dictate (roughly) the energy systems used at certain power levels and allow a rider to train specific systems to get specific gains. These may be described as “zones” or “levels” interchangeably.

We'll discuss what each zone is, what energy systems it uses and how long it is sustainable below:

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Tags: Coaching, power, training|

A Pedal For Your Thoughts?

[dc]H[/dc]ow many times have you heard the expression "a penny for your thoughts?"

While it's true that life can be complicated, the idea of paying for someone's thought process (especially the valueless penny) seems odd to me. No, I propose an amendment to that phrase, offering up a pedal for your thoughts. But what can a pedal give you that a penny can't?

How about solace and freedom?

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Tags: Motivation, riding|

Medio Fondo NJ (Training)

Just a quick note to everyone who reads this blog:

Gran Fondo NJ is a pretty class act. If you're at all able, register for it: there's 4 different rides catering to all ability levels of riders along with timed climbs and plenty of festivities the weekend of the ride.

One of the biggest perks is the series of training rides that Marty's Reliable Cycle (the chain of shops that organizes the event) puts on to get riders ready for the routes. Cue sheets and GPS routes are provided. Free nutrition is provided. Rest stops are organized. There are like minded riders training to be the best they can be on Fondo day. It's pretty awesome. Today the Jamis truck was available with test bikes available (for the entire Medio Fondo route to boot.) Interestingly, they were testing a (blacked out, of course) new 2013 frame before it goes into production. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any photos, but it looks quite interesting.

Beginner’s Guide to Training With Power (part 1)
Beginner’s Guide to Training With Power (part 1)

Coaching discussion, Power training and discussion, Training discussion

Beginner’s Guide to Training With Power (part 1)

Training with power is consistently hailed as the next step for any cyclist who is looking to improve their fitness. While that's true, most cyclists who are in the market for a power meter are hesitant to purchase one. The biggest reason I've run into is hesitation on how to actually utilize such an instrument.

But why?

A power meter is wonderful and spits out bucket loads of data, but the one thing that it won't do is make you faster. It will, with some practice and some simple analysis allow you to train to become faster. In this series of articles, we'll look at a few of the basics that beginning power meter users need in order to train smarter.

Click through for some definitions you'll need to know when you start training with power:

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Tags: Coaching, power, training|

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