By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS Stage 5 of the 2020 Tour de France was one of the rare instances of a road stage without a breakaway, something we typically don’t see unless the peloton is riding in protest or mourning. Thankfully, it wasn’t for either of those reasons. But that …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS Ever since the early 2000s, when live Tour de France coverage debuted in the United States, my daily routine for July included listening to or watching the Tour each morning. Sometimes it was just playing in the background, other times I was glued to the …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS Alcohol has long been engrained in the culture of sports, from champagne on the podium to beer commercials during football games and the ever-present ice-cold beer at the finish line of gran fondos, charity rides and runs, and weekend adventures. But the long term data …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS Up until the 2020 season, cycling events, bike races, and group rides provided athletes with hard-to-miss feedback about their fitness and performance. When you had good legs, you rode at the front. When you were tired or not fit, you hung on at the back. People …
By Chris Carmichael CEO/Head Coach of CTS The summer of 2020 has been unusual, to say the least. For cyclists, the widespread cancellation of events has led to increased weekly and monthly riding volume, both in terms of time and mileage. This may sound counterintuitive, but in the absence of events, riders are training more …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS While cycling plays a central role in our lives, for the general public interest in bicycles comes and goes in waves. Ridership and new bike sales are soaring in 2020 as more people turn to cycling for transportation, recreation, exercise, and commerce in response to the …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS When you think about it, athletes spend far more time not training than they do working out. There are 168 hours in a week, and it is rare for any athlete to train more than 25 hours in a week (15% total). At 12 hours per …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS Good athletes make bad decisions when they’re tired. Fatigue and exhaustion are major components of endurance sports. In training athletes are always balancing stress and recovery in order to achieve positive adaptations. During adventures and events, we manage our efforts to prolong optimal performance before fatigue …
By Chris Carmichael and Coach Adam Pulford, As the wave of cancellations and postponements swept spring and summer cycling events off the calendar, athletes were understandably disappointed, but months later we’re seeing record-setting performances by amateur riders, masters racers, and even pros. To show you how they did it, I sat down with CTS Pro …
By Chris Carmichael, CEO/Head Coach of CTS Maintaining body temperature within a narrow range (97-99 degrees Fahrenheit) is not an easy feat for humans, particularly when you consider all the things that can push body temperature up or down, including air temperature, humidity, clothing layers, medications, dehydration, body size, and exertion. We also have …