Group rides are fun. But what happens when your riding buddies are weaker or stronger cyclists than you are? You can either pass up every group ride opportunity you get — or you can implement the tips I share below. Tip #1: Introduce structure to your training A cyclist who does 45-minute group rides outside…
Fall is here. This is the time of year when most cyclists start their base training. For many riders, this means ramping up their training volume to get in as many miles each week as possible. As well intentioned as this type of training is, it’s not the most effective way to train. If you want…
Your season is off and running, you’ve prepared diligently and completed your early-peak event and your next one is in the horizon. But, you find yourself with a significant gap between peak events and you aren’t sure how to spend that time. This is a common situation facing athletes with a long season, and it’s a common…
From a fitness perspective, only minor disparities exist between cyclocross racing and short track XC racing, but there are enough differences between the two to merit individual plans for each. These subtle differences inspired only mildly different plans, but ones that can build on one another really well as you use your STXC training & racing as a brutal and…
Training Interruptions: When Not If Few things derail motivation the way that illness, injury or life’s many non-cycling obligations can. And it always seems to happen when your training is on the upswing, power numbers are going up, relative heart rate numbers are coming down, and the potential for improvement is inspiring to say the least.…
Recovery weeks are typically part of most higher volume training plans every 3rd or 4th week, but since most of our plans thus far are lower volume plans in the 6-9 week range, scheduled recovery is better left up to each athlete. Often enough, when riders are only on their bikes for 3-4 hours/week, full…