This is going to be a great episode! Amber Pierce has more than ten years of experience in the pro women’s peloton and more than 60 race wins across 5 continents. She’s incredibly knowledgeable regarding performance, human physiology, and women’s specific issues within the sport of cycling, and we are excited to have her as our special guest. Join us live this Thursday at 8:00am Pacific!
Youtube Live Video:
Topics covered in this episode:
• What it’s like to race in the women’s pro peloton
• How fast do you have to be to be competitive in women’s racing? (7:00)
• The perks and challenges of racing for a pro team
• How to fuel your training (23:50)
• Managing eating disorders as a cyclist (34:00)
• The best way for women to get started in racing (43:45)
• Why Americans have such a hard time with international racing (56:30)
• The role of cognitive load in your performance (56:30)
• How to psychologically recover from a crash (1:15:25)
• How to balance training with hormonal cycles (1:21:55)
• Women’s specific equipment (1:27:00)
The eat the work before the training ride is blowing my mind. There’s been so much push on doing fasted rides and this flies right in the face of that.
I don’t press her on it because I’d rather not be pushy, and honestly since our son got too big to ride in a trailer (he’s nearly 8 but still cant ride a bike and I have to get a weego) doing rides together hasn’t really been a topic. But she signed up for a sprint tri for this summer but has yet to get on the bike, would like to see her succeed if she really wants to do it and of course for us to be able to ride together if we get the chance
Talk about podcast fulfilling prophecy - I had to ride Mt Hale today and decided to wait and train much later for me than normal - UK 4pm - and watch the Pod as I trained. Sooo … big mistake, as Amber warned, beware your cognitive load: Lots of great information to consider and take in on screen = Lots of thinking - I haven’t imploded after just 1/2 a session in a long, long time - I was shocked. But … Normally I’d be earlier in the day and distracted by mindlessly watching Belgian CX videos with commentary off and a favourite high bpm playlist blasting - kinda as @Nate_Pearson suggests. Trying to spin this into a process goal of having appropriate process goals etc. A hard lesson learnt. Oblivious Earlier - Obvious Now
Ah, way more at play here than when I didn’t want to ride with my husband because he wanted to go too far/too fast.
Could you arrange childcare and go for an outing where you ride to a coffee shop/wine bar/whatever and then the emphasis is on spending time together, the cycling is just a way of getting there? I landed up doing Masters racing one summer even though I was terrible and the only woman in my category because hubby and I got to spend time together going to/from the races and it was a nice chance just to catch up and talk.
Question for Amber regarding post workout refueling, I tend to take in “regular” protein via a couple scoops of cottage cheese or greek yogurt, meats, etc. Should I switch to whey protein/sports drink instead?? Would that be better for recovery? Thanks!! (PS it’s SO great to have a pro female athlete on the podcast!!)
And a supplementary to this, what are her thoughts on protein during exercise, especially for older riders? I’ve started using a 4:1 carb to protein powder during workouts as I’m knocking on 50 in a few years.
