Throughout the Time-Crunched Cyclist books, I have argued against traditional base training because it is incompatible with the busy lifestyles of so many athletes. Traditional low-intensity base training works, but very few full-time working parents can increase training time to 12-20 hours/week for 2-3 months. A well-structured program of short, high-intensity intervals works, too, …
By Syd Schulz, CTS Athlete and MTB Pro A recent Trainright blog about group ride etiquette for road cyclists got me thinking — do the same rules apply to mountain bikers? How about trail runners or triathletes? Most of my personal experience is with mountain bike group rides, and obviously the group dynamics are different …
As I looked up at the pretty yellow aspen leaves fluttering against the blue Colorado sky, all I could think was, “F@&k, that was my collarbone.” I didn’t intend on sky gazing on Monday. I was only on the ground looking up at the leaves because a deer took me out while I was descending …
Heat is an endurance athlete’s biggest enemy. A human on a bicycle only achieves 20-25% mechanical efficiency, meaning the majority of the energy you produce is lost as heat. And when the air temperature rises that heat leads to a well-documented drop in lactate threshold power output. But the question is: how does this …
Every year a team of CTS Coaches and nearly 20 athletes rode every stage of the Amgen Tour of California. Our group had a head start on the pro peloton, VIP access to parts of the course that were closed to the public, pro-level support on the road and between stages, and the opportunity …
I have talked before about proper group ride etiquette and skills that make you a welcome rider in the group, but there are more advanced skills you can utilize to drop your new riding mates on race-like group rides, and also drop your competitors in races. I want to emphasize these tactics are meant to be practiced at …
The Super Bowl is this weekend and this year we have two workouts for you to choose from! As we have in previous years, we have an indoor trainer workout loosely styled after a drinking game. New for this year, we have downloadable .zwo, .fit, and .erg files you can use with a smart trainer …
With a few more pounds around our midsections thanks to the holidays, weight loss is a hot topic in January. And while many people start the new year with a “new” shortcut to shed pounds by Spring Break, smart athletes understand that a wise combination of nutrition and exercise will melt away those pounds. But …
January is traditionally when endurance athletes in the Northern Hemisphere dig in and recommit themselves to goal-oriented training. The months of November and December are often less structured, even for time-crunched athletes who rely more heavily on shorter, higher-intensity workouts to maintain and improve fitness. It’s a smart idea to think of the next three …
As winter tightens its grip, I’m seeing a lot of bikes that are ‘plain tore up’, as one of my favorite old mechanics used to say. Your bike or fleet of bikes have seen a lot of hard hours and miles this year, and this is a smart time to get your equipment tuned …