CTS Premier Coach Renee Eastman has been a Retül Bike Fit professional for more than 10 years and a cycling coach and phsyiologist for more than 25 years. This is her bike saddle guide to comfort, clarity, and finally sitting on your bike without suffering. Saddle discomfort is one of the most common issues I …
By Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach, co-author of “Ride Inside“ and “The Time-Crunched Cyclist” As the summer cycling season winds down, cyclists face several options. With your biggest event goals in the rearview mirror, the next few months are full of opportunities! Rather than sitting on the couch and watching football, use this time to …
As we start reach the end of August, the bulk of the summer is in the rearview mirror. And while there are athletes who have big events coming up in the next several weeks, many of you are wrapping up your summer season. You have trained long and hard to get here and I …
I am never riding the Leadville 100 again. Don’t get me wrong, I love Leadville. I’d recommend it to my friends, help them train for it, and I’m sure I’ll be back to crew for CTS Athletes and friends in the future. But 1,100 miles on that course, eleven times up Columbine and Powerline, is …
Of all the successes North American cyclists have earned at the Tour de France, only one US rider has ever won the final road stage on the Champs Elysees. Yes, Greg LeMond famously won an individual time trial that finished on the Champs to win the 1989 Tour by eight seconds over Laurent Fignon, but …
One of the key storylines from the Tour de France this year (and the past few years) is the extreme carbohydrate intakes in the pro peloton. Elite cyclists and their teams have reported intakes of 100, 120, and even more grams of carbohydrate PER HOUR. This is a lot higher than the standard recommendations …
Most endurance athletes spend months fine-tuning their fueling plans. Yet, on race day many still bonk, sometimes shockingly early. Although it’s easy to blame poor pacing or a missed gel, there’s often a hidden reason you burn through energy so fast: the surge of adrenaline and the body’s stress response that ramp up …
To peak or not to peak? Is it more valuable for you to achieve your absolute peak fitness for about two weeks or to sustain a high level of fitness (e.g., 90% of absolute peak) for a longer portion of the season? I wrote previously about “How Long Can You Hold Peak Form?”, but …
Climbing through the Alps and Pyrenees with my Trek Factory Racing teammates during the 2014 Tour de France was one of the highlights of my professional cycling career, and one of the things I love most about cycling is that we can all visit and experience the sport’s most famous and storied climbs. And …
One of the most common questions cyclists ask me is: What’s the shortest Zone 2 ride I can do and still see results? The answer depends on your fitness level, training history, and overall goals. Based on how I’ve worked with cyclists, from beginners to pros, over the past two decades, I’ll break down …