Professional Cycling

Bringing back the “Good Ole’ Days”. Applying the old school art of “feel” in the modern training environment. Thankfully, there are a few old school, fundamental principles about cycling performance and training that never seem to loose their polish. For example, the importance of recovery is making a strong comeback. Much to the delight of many coaches, myself included. Another old school concept that is regaining popularity is developing the ability to make decisions about your workload based on accurate perceived exertion or “feel”. The simple art of monitoring the work you do on the bike by feel is experience a modern day renaissance.

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One of the best features of road and mountain bikes is that you can change gears (chain ring/cog combinations) to suit the terrain and conditions, which allows you to maintain a steady pedaling rate, or cadence, regardless of whether your bike is going fast or slow. This is a good thing, since we all intuitively know that both pedaling too slowly or too fast is not as good as pedaling at the right cadence. But knowing what that optimal cadence is for each of us and learning how to ride at that cadence is another matter. Let’s see what expert coaches and sports scientists have to say about this, and then let’s figure out how to use that information to make us better cyclists.

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Interval training will be your most strenuous training activity of the weekly cycle. On other rides you are concentrating on endurance and aerobic development and using oxidative metabolism for most of your energy supply. The focus now shifts to anaerobic metabolism and the use of greater amounts of carbohydrate.

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The conditions you train and race can have a dramatic effect on how you perform. Heat, cold, rain, wind, humidity and altitude can all have adverse effects on your performance. However, if you are well prepared for the elements they will have less of a negative effect on your performance and in some cases can even become an ally for you in the race. In all cases just a little extra planning can make a big difference.

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As the competition season draws to a close you need to start thinking about what you are going to do in the off-season to build a strong foundation for next year. By following a few simple steps you will be able to end your season on a positive note and set the stage for a great off-season program.

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With an energy yield of 9 calories per gram, dietary fat, or fatty acids, is a major source of energy in the endurance athlete diet. The energy molecules in the fat called triglycerides constitute the majority of the fat you consume in your diet. Cholesterol, or lipids, makes up the remainder and are more involved in building and maintaining healthy cells. Despite the hysteria in recent years dietary fat is essential for good health. Fat provides energy, insulation and padding for our bones and internal organs and contribute to a strong immune system.

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Regardless of your particular riding interest there is no better way to start the season than several days of full immersion, laser beam focused time in training camp. Pro teams hold pre-season training camps every year to introduce the new riders and staff to the system and help everyone start the season on the same page. For us mere mortals, organized cycling camps are fast becoming a very popular way to learn about the benefits of structured training and how the application of modern sports science can improve our development. In addition to learning camp also provides many hours of the pure joy and fun of just riding your bike and being looked after by a professional staff. Training camps come in all shapes and sizes and price ranges. Depending on what you are looking and how much money you want to spend there is a camp program out there for you.

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Bicycle racing can be an incredibly difficult and punishing sport. Keeping a positive frame of mind under the most demanding conditions will often be the only thing that keeps you going. For most of us, the committee of mental spectators between our ears is seldom any help when the going gets tough. Training you mind to support your body is not all that difficult if you take a proactive approach to solving the problem. Actually you already do many of the things needed to improve you mental strength. All you need to do is fill in the gaps and change your perspective a bit.

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Your ability to sustain long efforts can be attributed to all of the base miles that you put in at the beginning of the season. As you transition from the gym back to the bike the endurance training you do begins the process of building fitness, capacity and the energy systems needed for sub threshold work. Generally speaking, “endurance” can be defined as the “ability to maintain a specific power level, involving muscular contractions, for a given period of time”. There is aerobic endurance, threshold endurance and anaerobic endurance. The intensity of the work will define the limits of the efforts and limits you have at certain intensities define your endurance for that level of work.

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Many endurance riders find it very challenging to manage their weight once the competition season ends. Energy expenditure has dropped off and the need for calories to support several hours of moderate to high intensity work no longer exists. This is the time when many riders start putting on extra weight. The reasons are simple to understand and the solutions are basic.

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