By Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach, co-author of “The Time Crunched Cyclist” and “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” Athletes use altitude training camps to stimulate the production of red blood cells, thereby increasing the oxygen carrying capacity of their blood. There are other benefits, too, but the increase in red blood cells is the most …
By Adam Pulford, CTS Premier Coach, Host of “The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast” Getting dropped from cycling group rides is a probability all riders face. Sometimes it’s caused by inadequate fitness, but even fit riders get dropped when they have poor skills and habits. So, for the beginners and those we are welcoming back to …
By Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach, co-author of “The Time-Crunched Cyclist”, “Ride Inside“ and “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” High school mountain bike leagues are transforming the landscape for Junior (racing age 18 and under) cycling in the United States. As cyclists ourselves, we are motivated to share our love for the sport with our …
By Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach and co-author “The Time-Crunched Cyclist“ Car enthusiasts long derided American muscle cars for being great in a straight line and useless in corners. European performance cars, they argued, were designed for drivers. They had power for speed but also advanced suspension, steering, and weight distribution for superior handling. …
by Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach, co-author of “Ride Inside“ and “The Time-Crunched Cyclist” We received a question about short or long rides and thought we’d answer it for everyone. Here’s the question: “Would it be preferable to ride 6 hours in one day with a day off following, or 2 days back to back …
By Chris Carmichael, CTS Founder and Chief Endurance Officer Performance is never just about fitness, or even determination. Your performance in specific events often comes down to how you use your energy. Many cyclists are used to riding 2-4 hours, but rarely get the opportunity to go really long and stretch themselves to 6+ …
by Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach, co-author of “Ride Inside“ and “The Time-Crunched Cyclist” Normalized Power® (NP) is a valuable training metric used to account for the variability of power output during different types of rides and races. It is also used in calculations for other common training metrics, including Training Stress Score, Intensity …
By Adam Pulford, CTS Premier Coach, Host of “The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast” Adam Pulford is a CTS Premier Coach, worked with the TeamShoAir UCI Professional Factory MTB Team, Twenty16/Twenty20 UCI Professional Women’s Race Team, and Orangeseal Off-Road Team, and currently coaches 2023 Paris-Roubaix Femmes winner Alison Jackson (pictured above). The Spring Classics season kicks …
By Chris Carmichael, CTS Founder and Chief Endurance Officer The first things athletes should understand about missing workouts are that it’s 100% normal and it’s rarely anything to stress over. Meaningful training progress happens over the course of several weeks to several months. Individual workouts are important, but it’s the long-term accumulation and concentration …
By Chris Carmichael, CTS Founder and Chief Endurance Officer Often, the best thing cyclists can do is get out of their own way. I’ve been coaching amateur and elite athletes for more than 30 years. People have more access to quality training plans and performance data than ever before. But it takes more than …