gravel-racing-training

Trainright Guide to Gravel Racing and Training

There’s a whole world of adventure on the other side of that “pavement ends” sign. More cyclists than ever are riding and racing on gravel roads. Registration for popular gravel events sells out in minutes, so committing to show up at the start line can often take 10-12 months of planning. The training, equipment, and …

cycling skills indoor cyclists

Outdoor Cycling Skills for Indoor Cyclists

The gamification of indoor cycling is closing the gap between indoor and outdoor experiences, but cyclists who spend a lot of time riding inside need to hone their handling skills when they venture out into the real world. Gravity, wind resistance, and traction are all real and waiting to beat you up. Consistent training leads …

Start Faster With 3-Step Threshold Ladder Cycling Intervals

  By Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach, co-author of “Ride Inside“, and “The Time-Crunched Cyclist” It is Super Bowl weekend, which is about as close as the US gets to creating a national holiday for a sporting event. I’m a football fan and plan on watching the game on Sunday, but I’m a whole lot more …

peak-end rule

Use the Peak-End Rule to Improve Every Cycling Training Ride

Most of my cycling routes feature two optional endings: a steep climb followed by a descent, or a mile-long false flat uphill. Reaching the descent is the more difficult option and typically adds a mile to the distance, but I choose that route almost every time. Why? Cruising downhill at high speed is a much …

pre-made training plans

Mistakes Cyclists Make with Apps and Pre-Made Training Plans

Whether you are new to cycling or have been riding for decades, there are multiple ways to get started with a structured training plan. Personal coaching is rarely an athlete’s first experience with structured training, even though we wish it was. Rather, it’s more common to start with a pre-made training plan from a book, …

cyclists climbing uphill at low cadence and high torque

To Climb Faster, Start With This Low-Cadence High-Torque Cycling Workout

    By Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach, co-author of “Ride Inside“ and “The Time-Crunched Cyclist” Just about every cyclist would like to climb faster, or at least make climbs less taxing at the same speed. Many cyclists focus on improving aerobic conditioning with Zone 2 endurance rides, and layer in lactate threshold and functional threshold …

training streak

Training Streaks: The Pros and Cons of Training Every Day

Behold, the Streakers. In virtually any athlete community, you can find someone who has ridden, run, climbed, swam, hiked, or something every day for the past 30 days, 6 months, or even multiple years. In an era when the value of recovery is more understood and accepted than ever, training streaks make little to no …

annual training plan

Cyclists’ Guide to Creating an Annual Training Plan 

  By Maddison Russell, CTS Senior Coach With the New Year rapidly approaching, many cyclists are wrapping up the Transition Period or “off-season” and getting ready to ramp up training in January. If you haven’t done so already, it is important to start the year with defined goals and an annual training plan to achieve …

6 Goal Setting Failures That Will Ruin Your Season

You would think setting goals would be one of the simpler components of being an athlete. What do you want to do? Why do you want to do it? What does success look like if you accomplish it? But the truth is that many athletes are much better at stepping through a long series of …

Reggie Miller Trailblazers

Reggie Miller: 5 Questions for Trailblazing Cyclists

By Reggie Miller, NBA Hall of Fame, Olympian, MTB Racer, CTS Contributing Editor For my last article of the year, I reached out to 4 highly respected cyclists I admire to ask them 5 unique questions. It’s always interesting to know how champions find their inner drive. What motivates them to continually push the envelope …