Many things in life follow a natural progression. You train, then rest, and get stronger and faster as a result. You start a job knowing very little and become an expert over time. Even declines in performance and health are often gradual and progressive. Where you could recover from a hard ride in a …
Two weeks before USA Pro Challenge I got dropped. It happened about 60 miles into a 70-mile “Coaches Meeting” ride, but the trouble started long before that. I felt fine and took some strong pulls in the first 90 minutes of the ride, but started feeling flat and empty not long after that. I …
One of the best things about having a staff of full-time coaches is the impromptu coaching round-table discussions we tend to have. This week we had an interesting discussion about the Giro d’Italia – Tour de France Double, or more broadly the attempt to win two back-to-back Grand Tours in a single season (Giro-Tour …
Many of you have been watching the Tour de France for years and perhaps you’ve read my commentary and articles about the training and strategies riders use to be successful at the Tour. On the other hand, some of you may be pretty new to watching the Tour de France or any professional cycling event. So, let’s …
Earlier this week Jim Ochowicz, my old team director from 7-Eleven, upset some cycling fans by suggesting that the Tour de France should reduce the number of teams in future races in order to reduce the number of crashes. And while other people have made that suggestion in the past, Jim further ruffled feathers …
By Chris Carmichael, CTS Founder and Chief Endurance Officer Several years ago I became more interested in lactate, particularly because both research and experience were suggesting that coaches and sports scientists had been wrong about the stuff. Recent years have seen a renaissance for lactate, but out on the road and in the blogosphere …
By Chris Carmichael Coaching is a push-and-pull between tradition and innovation, between “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” and “Newer is better!”. During my coaching career I’ve been on both sides of that divide, always seeking innovation but wary that innovations that sound good don’t always lead to improved performance. Training when you’re …
If progress is important to you then measuring and monitoring your performance is critical. We know, for instance, that in the first six months an athlete works with a CTS Coach, the athlete’s Functional Threshold Power (FTP) typically increases by 10%. Increased power isn’t the only way we measure success, but it is certainly an …
In Part One I ran through the basics of cycling in the rain, which means we can move to the next level of wet-weather performance and answer some of the questions readers posted on the previous article. Only stop if continuing puts you in danger When the skies open up you have to evaluate …
It’s been raining on and off in Colorado Springs for the past few weeks, so I guess it’s not too surprising that wet-weather riding is on my mind. Here’s the first part of a two-part discussion of cycling in the rain. If you have questions put them into the comments section and I’ll try to …