Answer: For most athletes, no. Depending on the familiarity and experience with an FTP value, athletes can realistically sustain the power level of FTP in a range from about 40-70 minutes. ** Our default testing format to estimate an athlete’s FTP was changed to the TrainerRoad Ramp Test since this post was published Why Your…
Ever wonder about recovery intervals? The purpose they serve, the durations they last, even the intensities they’re prescribed at? You’re not alone… We had the same question, and so we talked about it in depth on episode of 114 of the Ask a Cycling Coach podcast. Here’s an expansion of that discussion. Furthering performance capabilities…
All Cyclocross Specialty training plans are improved to be more specific to your riding and racing goals. What’s New All Cyclocross plans include even TSS weeks to allow riders to easily integrate training races and higher-priority races into their training. To prepare riders for rapid-fire repeats seen in ‘cross racing, these plans put an emphasis…
Singletrack 6 presented by Transrockies was epic in more ways than one. Here’s a compilation of lessons learned. Singletrack 6 Preview To help get you faster for your next XC stage race and/or MTB adventure, the hosts of the Ask a Cycling Coach podcast signed up to race Singletrack 6, the epic six-day MTB stage race…
There are a ton of equipment combos you can use to get started training with power. While some setups are more popular than others (check out the three most popular indoor training setups among TrainerRoad users), more often than not the equipment you already have, or are looking to invest in, is exactly what you…
With VirtualPower®, you don’t need a power meter to get the benefits of structured indoor power-based training. It’s unanimous, the primary metric to train with today is power. But power meters are pricey, and not everyone is ready to invest in one. The good news is you no longer need one! VirtualPower allows you to…
Answer: Divide the amount of kJs by 4.184 then divide by .25. Calories burned cycling are dependent on your Gross Metabolic Efficiency, but for most people, it’s between 20-25%. That means for every Calorie you burn produces around 1.045 kilojoules. For practical reasons, most cyclists approximate 1 kJ is equal to 1 Calorie. In…
Alcohol is intimately related to cycling and racing in general. Post-ride trail brews, podium champagne and “recovery beers” are all a regular part of our cycling vernacular and culture, but if you’re trying to take your training seriously, should they be? The effects of alcohol on performance can be narrowed down to two things: how…
For many cyclists, their warmup routines before a race look a lot like riding around at a moderate pace for 10-20 minutes, depending on how long their event is. This is changing. In place of loose, unspecific pre-race workouts are structured workouts that riders are opting to do on the trainer — you may have…
If you’re brand new to racing, it’s pretty straightforward to know which racing category you should start out in. But what if you’re coming back to racing? What category should you race and, more interestingly, what does it say about you as a racer? These are just a couple questions I’m about to dig into. Cycling…