There are two competing mantras that dominate training blogs and magazines at this time of year. One is that the late-summer and early fall is a great period for endurance athletes to take a break, rejuvenate, and recover from a long season. The other is that this period is the best time to make …
Recently Chris Carmichael was interviewed about the role of identity in keeping athletes engaged in sport, and how an person’s identification as an athlete evolves over time and as the result of changes in the person’s age, career, and family life. This is a subject we deal with a lot when working with athletes, …
“Pick your head up!” In recent years that is probably one of the phrases I’ve used most in group rides, charity rides, and during camps and Bucket List events. Of all the habits that make a cyclist more economical, safer, and faster in a group, keeping your head up and your eyes forward is …
Heart Rate Training Is Not Dead Like so many areas in our lives, the pace of innovation in cycling is accelerating. Power meters were once a rare sight anywhere outside of the pro or Olympic team ranks; now they are ubiquitous at the Saturday coffee shop ride. But this has led to a few …
I’m going to keep this brief because I’m still in the thick of the USA Pro Challenge Race Experience. We’ve been having a great week and I’m so proud of the athletes who have been riding every stage of this great race with my coaches and me. And it’s been great to upload my data …
What a week! Last Saturday I was up in Leadville, Colorado, to support CTS Athletes as they conquered the Leadville 100 MTB Race, this week we announced the 2015 Bucket List Event Schedule and released the “CTS Endless Summer” report, and tomorrow I’m headed to Aspen to meet Team CTS before the start of the …
The journey from a cyclist’s first race to the top of the podium in Paris is long and arduous, but the route is pretty well defined. Riders progress along the route at different rates, and many have to endure setbacks and detours along the way, but the basic pattern for developing a potential Tour de …
In the modern Tour de France, time trials play a huge role in the final outcome of the race. This year is somewhat rare in that there is only one test against the clock. Typically the organizers either start with a prologue and/or put an individual or team time trial in the first 10 days …
You know, I’ve heard and read sentiments that Vincenzo Nibali is winning the 2014 Tour de France solely because Chris Froome and Alberto Contador abandoned. Yesterday someone even asked me if I thought Nibali would think less of his victory because of their absence. My emphatic answer was, “Hell no!” Being able to stay in …
With four huge climbs packed into just 124 kilometers (77 miles) of racing, Stage 17 of the 2014 Tour de France was a brutal test. On a long stage that features big climbs, the distance and the terrain cause the selection even if the racing isn’t very aggressive. But when a mountain stage is …