Table of Contents PART 1: Preparing for Exercise in Hot Weather PART 2: Optimizing Performance During Hot Weather PART 3: Recovery Strategies After Exercise in Hot Weather Introduction: Heat is the enemy of endurance performance and an underlying cause for diminished performance, dehydration, heat stress, gastrointestinal distress, and impaired recovery. This guide will provide you …
Group rides are growing! Cyclists around the country are meeting outside bike shops and coffee houses for their Saturday morning club rides. Sometimes it’s a road ride, other times it’s on gravel or mixed surface ride. There might be some new riders at the group ride or on your cycling team. If you’re new …
By Reid Beloni, CTS Senior Coach There are a lot of Murphy’s Law moments in gravel racing, so we need to talk about crisis management, or what to do when things go wrong. Anticipating and planning solutions for what could go wrong creates the greatest chance of success. Particularly in long races, athletes who can …
Back-to-back long rides can be massively beneficial for all cyclists, and especially Time-Crunched Cyclists. However, they must be executed correctly. Too many riders ruin their back-to-back rides by going too hard, under-fueling, and making other silly mistakes. Everything you do before, during, and after a long ride today affects performance tomorrow. And these mistakes amplify …
We’ve all been there before. You are in the last two weeks leading up to a race and just thinking about the race makes your palms sweat. Suddenly, all the weeks and months of training – countless hours on the trail – are all but forgotten. All you can see are the remaining 14 days …
As sports fans we are accustomed to witnessing extraordinary performances, like CTS Athlete Alison Jackson’s victory in last weekend’s Paris-Roubaix Femmes. (Stay tuned for Coach Adam Pulford’s analysis of her training and race data on Tuesday!) Huge wins are inspirational. Many cyclists go out after watching an amazing cycling race like Paris-Roubaix and have storming …
My alma matter’s Code of Conduct was “Aggies do not lie, steal or cheat, nor do they tolerate those that do”. As we A&M Aggies are a cheeky lot, we would routinely add an addendum to the Code that stated: “They just exaggerate, collaborate and borrow”. Little did I know in my late teens and …
Long rides can be intimidating for newer riders, but they don’t need to be. Training for a century ride is one of the most common cycling goals. With some patience, practice, and consistency on the bike, anyone can develop the fitness, skills, and confidence to achieve this milestone. Here’s a guide on how to train …
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 …
In an era when algorithms amplify gimmicks and 7-second soundbites, athletes are inundated with contradicting and confusing messages about how coaching works. Some athletes fail to see the difference between a professional coach and a hobbyist whose main qualifications are their own competitive results. As of this year, I have worked for CTS for half …