SoCal Race Season: Are you ready?

SoCal Race

January marks the beginning of SoCal race season. If you’re still riding base miles, it means you’re behind and it’s time to spice up your training with some higher intensity crit-specific workouts.

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Coach Kristen Arnold Featured on Fast Talk Labs

Fast Talk Kristen

National Team Coach and Nutritionist Kristen Arnold helps us explore maximizing your nutrition as an athlete, gives advice for how junior women can reach the next level, and shares her experience managing national projects.

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Planning Your Season

Start next season NOW The best part about planning your season for next year is that we get to plan our epic adventure(s). Many of these adventures involve travel to faraway lands which ultimately means you’re committing significant time, energy and funds to create a life enriching experience for yourself. You would be in the…

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A Guide to Choosing a Cycling Coach

Hire a Coach! Choosing a cycling coach is very important… and it can also feel very overwhelming! In my opinion, it’s as important as choosing a bike frame, wheelset, or drivetrain. A coach is someone who not only keeps you accountable, but works together with you to achieve your goals. If you choose to hire…

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San Diego Bicycle Club: Summer 2023 Recap

sdbc team

With the road season stretching from mid-January to early August, it can be a difficult balancing act to stay consistent and perform from start to finish. SDBC did an excellent job of representing the club during the late Spring and Summer months, racking up several wins and many podium finishes across multiple fields.

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Brody McDonald: U23 World Championship Road Race Prep

Brody McDonald Team USA

Brody McDonald is one of the favorites to win the U23 World Championship road race in Glasgow. In this article, we take a look at his training and preparation for the race. We discuss his focus on volume and zone 2 training, his on-the-bike nutrition, his racecraft, and his taper. We also give our predictions for how he will perform in Glasgow.

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Intelligentsia Cup Podium Finish After Injury

JP Brocket Intelligentsia Podium

JP had not raced a proper high-level USA criterium since mid-2019, and was concerned about the caliber of racers at the Intelligentsia Cup. He was also still recovering from a double crash in April, which resulted in a broken shoulder blade and a month off the bike.

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Cory Williams, Evolution of Excellence

Cory Williams- Riding

I had heard about Cory prior to 2016 but in all honesty I didn’t know much about him.  I knew he was one of the fastest and most explosive field sprinters in North America.  But his Achilles Heel was that he couldn’t consistently reach the finish line with the peloton. As the Performance Director on the Elevate- KHS Pro Cycling Team there was a distinct need to see improvement from one of the team’s designated closers.  

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Tulsa Tough’s FASTEST LEAD OUT

Legion Lead out

Tulsa Tough is the biggest and most prestigious weekend of criterium racing on the planet. It is a destination race for the best-in-class and the best criterium teams send their most valuable riders to vie for the glory at the races. But who has the fastest, and by proxy, the most dominant lead out?

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SDBC Spring Recap from Coach Taylor

SDBC

With Tour de Murrieta wrapped up this past weekend, race season in SoCal is in full affect! For the rest of the country, racing may just be starting up but out here in California we are just about at our midway point in the season. Working with SDBC this Spring has been a pleasure. My…

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Criterium Workout of the Week: Rest Days

Recovery days are often overrated but are crucial to criterium racing because of the repeated high-intensity efforts. These intense efforts can lead to muscle fatigue, soreness, and even injury if a rider doesn’t allow their body enough time to recover. Recovery days allow the body to rest and repair, reducing the risk of injury and improving…

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Structuring 2023 for the SoCal Race Calendar

Most of us have already closed the book on our 2022 season. Perhaps you’re already in a transition phase and craving some much-needed soul riding. Once the season is finished in earnest, usually taking 2-3 weeks away from structured training can be one of the best things you can do for yourself to start to…

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Alex Hoehn: SBT GRVL 5th. A Closer Look at the Power of Fatigue Resistance

The legendary races of cycling all tell a similar story of overcoming adversity through beautiful suffering.  At its core, this very romanticization is excellent at engaging fans while inspiring all of us to persevere through hard work.  This suffering is universal across all competitors and it seems like the only difference is if one suffers…

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Zack Allison’s BWR North Carolina Race Recap

BWR North Carolina, for me, for my race day, actually started when we left Kansas after Unbound. It was a pretty crazy set of travel days with Whitney getting Giardia and massive lightning storms each night we stopped with the camper, causing a lack of recovery/body work going into North Carolina.   Thank goodness for…

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Tackling the Hell of the East (Coast)

Just six short weeks after the first Belgian Waffle Ride in San Diego, the second stop of the Quadrupel Crown of Gravel took place. This time the traveling gravel circus took roots in the East Coast, somewhere about 30 miles south of Asheville, North Carolina along the border of South Carolina. BWR North Carolina was…

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Preparing for the Hell of the North (Carolina)

It’s been about one month since Belgian Waffle Ride (BWR) California and now North Carolina is right around the corner. I thought I would have a solid window to prepare for what’s to come at the next BWR but honestly, I’ve been on a crit racing calendar, so the preparation is, well, being handled differently.…

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How to Avoid DNFing the BWR

Many begin an epic adventure like the one you’ve just embarked upon expecting moderate discomfort and glory to await us, but only the most prepared will triumph over the Belgian Waffle Ride. Although the numbers are not public, we know a high percentage of riders never cross the finish line and get their own ride…

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Tackling the Dubbel Header

For those of you uninitiated to the Dubbel Header, the concept is simple; race the Waffle ride on Saturday and turn around and race the Wafer on Sunday. Easy enough? Ha! The Waffle ride was 135+ miles long, sure to be my longest ride of the year and the Wafer was 75 miles, yet still…

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Epilogue and Epitaph of a Glorious BWR Finish

Epiligue an Epitaph of a Glorious BWR Finish Evolution doesn’t always occur incrementally. Sometimes change is sudden, surprising and painful. The Belgian Waffle Ride has always been different. Different is challenging; it’s new; it’s unique. Then, for 4 years the course did not change substantially. Yes, there were small tweaks but nothing that affected overall…

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The Best Tire for the Belgian Waffle Ride CA (San Diego)

The Best Tire for the Belgian Waffle Ride CA (San Diego) Monuments are generally considered to be the oldest, hardest and most prestigious one day races on the professional circuit and winning one can immortalize an athlete in the annals of history. As such, Monuments define spring racing success in the professional ranks, dictating future…

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Josie Fouts, Leader in the Off-Road Para-cycling Movement

Born in Korea with only a right hand, Josie is an Asian-American amputee that grew up in the midwest, always standing out. Her interest in metabolism research led her out to San Diego and the year-round great weather encouraged her to begin commuting by bike. Soon the San Diego cycling community discovered her potential and…

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JP Brocket, King of the Long Ride

SE athlete JP Brocket has been training hard in Taiwan: JP Brocket, a long-time Source Endurance athlete, has been living in Taiwan and sharing his journey with us on social media. He’s been climbing big mountains, completing hard intervals, and hopping into local races. JP just finished a big block of volume where he completed…

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Shadd Smith, Multi-Discipline Master

From long-time SE athlete Shadd Smith: Big shout out to Source Endurance coaches for keeping this guy in the mix. I am certainly a creature for training and riding so I can not stress enough how important the coaches are to properly keeping the sword sharpened. Cyclocross is in full swing now with racing every…

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Sean McElroy Storms Back from the Brink

In mid-March Sean McElroy went to the doctor complaining of stomach pain.  After being told that he had gas and that he should go home Sean thought that everything would return to normal in a couple hours. Little did he know what the next few days would bring. The pain would continue to build in the lower part of his stomach and…

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Training for a climbing-heavy event no matter where you live

Climbing Tips

You don’t have to live in a mountainous area to be a climber but you do have to train for the hills to be your best. If you’re on the start list for such events as The Last Best Ride, Crusher in the Tushar, BWR San Diego, FoCo Fondo, or Rebecca’s Private Idaho, to name…

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Returning to Training and Racing After Covid19, an Update

As the pandemic began to tighten its grip, the United States and the world began to enter lockdown. Meanwhile, professional sports leagues including Major League Soccer (MLS), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Hockey League (NHL), National Football League (NFL), and the men’s and women’s National Basketball Association (NBA, WNBA) were already planning the massive undertaking…

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Why a Legion Sprinter is so Hard to Beat

Legion of Los Angeles Sprinters

Become your best performing self April 11, 2021.  That was the day that criterium racing came back to Southern California with the Majestic Criterium in Ontario, CA. The turnout was incredible and it really showcases how desperate we all are for social interaction and real-life competition.  The action did not disappoint as onlookers were treated…

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Consistency, the Most Important Aspect of Training

What is the most important aspect of training? Is it nailing the fundamentals? VO2 max intervals? Squeezing out every marginal gain? I’d argue each of these has validity but the king and queen of them all is consistency. Cycling is a highly aerobic sport and most of the training adaptations simply take a lot of…

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Patience in Racing: Often Overlooked, Never Underrated

HERE. WE. GO! Whether you’re ready or not, the 2021 racing season has started. Many of us are emerging from the months of Zwift training and working up the courage to do that first race. It’s likely racing will be analogous to our first post-pandemic group social interactions. We’re all going to be excited, a…

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Returning to Training and Racing After COVID-19

If you or someone you know has gotten Covid, check out Adam Mills’ guide on Returning to Training and Racing After Covid-19, recently published on TrainingPeaks.It looks at the latest studies that are coming out and can hopefully serve as a way to self-evaluate when you can start riding again. Read the Article. Check out all…

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Keeping a Positive Mindset When Things Seem Not So Positive

Not to sound like a broken record, but 2020 has tested a lot of people, physically and mentally. With so many changes and people feeling more isolated than ever, it can be hard to keep a positive mindset. However, it has been proven that having a positive mindset can have a lot of health-related benefits…

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Training Methods for Breaking Cross State Records, a Case Study

Cross State Records

Case study by Kristen Arnold MS, RDN, CSSD, Sports dietitian and Cycling Coach Coach Kristen here! I have had the pleasure of coaching Meagan Gehrke for 4 years now. It has been a rewarding experience to be a part of her successes and progression through her athletic career in cycling. She has a strong PMA…

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Meagan Gehrke of Lady Gnar Shredders’ Cross Ohio Prep

Meagan Gehrke Cross Ohio

Meagan Gehrke broke the Women’s Cross Ohio West to East this fall and shared how she prepped for her attempt with no prior ultra experience. We think you will find it inspiring for your own FKT attempts! Thanks for the guest blog post Meagan!  What’s a girl to do when her 2020 dream gravel race…

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Adjusting goals and event predictions

2021, the first year of the new world, and we’ve been through a ton and we’re not at all out of the COVID woods. With everything that has happened in 2020, it’s easy to lose sight of what life was like and where we are heading for next year. There are many things that are…

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CdA and Aerodynamics of Cycling

Photo courtesy of SnowyMountain Photography. Seventy to ninety percent of the opposing force you face as a cyclist on a flat road is aerodynamic drag. Most of us have felt the experience of drafting before, or even a tailwind versus a head wind. This is the greatest drag we face on the bike and changing…

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Meet SE Coach Taylor Warren

Taylor Warren just joined the Source Endurance coaching team. Taylor began his cycling journey on the bike path as a kid and fell in love with racing shortly after. He’s spent time at the top in road and track, holding National Championship titles and racing professionally on the road with 303 Project.   How did…

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Flavors Make You Fast

It’s no secret that food is fuel. Kristen Arnold has written many pieces giving excellent nutrition advice on how to fuel exercise and an active lifestyle. If you want to nail your workout, recover like a Pro, and keep making improvements, it’s imperative that you take in enough nutrition. But did you know that flavors…

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Belgian Waffle Ride Cedar City: Course Musings

Photo: Jake Orness The folks at Monuments of Cycling wanted a weekend of proper reconnaissance and feedback on the finalized Belgian Waffle Ride Cedar City course.  A few of us made the trek with the mindset of learning what this course was all about and how it felt at speed.  What follows is my initial…

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Training in smoke: Hacks for fire season

A lot of the West is currently on fire and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated. It’s smoky but safe where you are, it’s hard to breathe. Should you ride? Check your local air quality and decide if you should be outside or not. Then, adjust training as needed. Contact your coach if you…

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5 Benefits of Cycling Coaching in a Pandemic

coaching

The global pandemic is very real. If you’ve been fortunate enough to maintain your health and employment, you’ve probably also felt bummed to watch all your 2020 events and goals go up in smoke. We’ll never be taking events for granted again, that’s for sure… Here are five ways Source Endurance coaches are here to…

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Three ways to increase your FTP

Hire a coach and level up your FTP Functional Threshold Power or FTP is a single power value used by athletes and coaches to define a range of training ‘zones’ as well as assess overall fitness gains, losses, and status. FTP, as defined by Andy Coggan and Hunter Allen, is the highest average power or…

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How Much Time Does it Take to Improve FTP?

As a reader of our blog, you’re probably familiar with the term FTP, or functional threshold power. This number is most often approximated to maximal one hour power output and is one of the foundations of modern training and performance analysis for cycling. Very much like your 1 mile, 5k or 10k pace in running,…

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Utilizing Indoor Training Apps for Coaching

Indoor Training Smart Trainer

Source Endurance launched a free guide titled Utilizing Indoor Training Apps for Coaching, written and designed by Colorado-based senior coach Zack Allison. This guide evaluates the smart trainer and all the apps and tools that have come in its wake. Designed with cycling and triathlon coaches in mind, it is also beneficial for the devoted…

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Basic Nutrition for Endurance Athletes, Part 1

Build a Strong Fueling Foundation for Victory, Blog Series Part 1 Over the next few months we will discuss the basics of nutritional needs for endurance athletes. In order to optimize performance through nutrition we need to start with the basics and build a solid foundation. Similar to how base training builds a foundation in…

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The Science Behind Time Trial Pacing

Time trial pacing

To define pacing in cycling is simple, it’s the rate at which you complete a course. Every course has a pace whether or not you’re aware or in control of your pace. A mindful pacing plan based off the course conditions, your personal power curve, and physiological knowledge can leave you minutes ahead of your…

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When To Start Training For Next Season And Why

when to train for next season

Now. The time is now. As coaches and athletes, fall or early season is training season and this is the most exciting time of year. We can look back at last season and be objective in looking at the data and seeing what worked and what didn’t. We can sit down and map out the…

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Gravel Bikes are Pruning the Bicycle Tree of Evolution

gravel cycling growth

As life began to fill every corner of the globe, it has become adapted to each area. Every environmental niche has an organism that is perfectly suited to it.  That sort of evolution is exactly what we expect from life. It’s also what have come to expect as we become more adventurous in our ever-expanding…

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I See Food in your Power File: Fueling Adequately for Training

training plans

A few weeks ago I hosted a webinar for USA Cycling on the Nutrition Care Process. I discussed how Registered Dietitians conduct nutrition assessments and how coaches can apply these concepts to identify nutrition-related issues in their athletes. The webinar inspired this article where I present a few cases where athletes were unable to complete…

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Masters Nationals at 6900ft: Air Force Academy 2019 Course Prep

For 2019 Masters Nationals lands at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs Colorado. The course is 18k in length per lap, has 968 feet of gain per lap.  In total, Men age 35-65 will race for 110k, with 6 laps and a total of 5,808ft of climbing. Women age 35-65 will race 4 laps,…

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How to Ride a Break Away at the Amgen Tour of California

In honor of the Amgen Tour of California week, we’re throwing back to 2018 where SE athlete Whitney Allison of Hagens Berman Supermint took the Most Courageous Rider jersey in the first stage. “Be aggressive. Ride hard. Make sure the Supermint team leaves a memorable impression on the race.” That’s been a general strategy from…

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How to Make Winning Look Easy: Team Edition

Teams and directors, amateur and professional, on any given day try to put assets into the break away and up the road as early in a race as possible.  From this strategic position many more opportunities and options are afforded those that have been successful with their aggression. Southern California has been synonymous with fast…

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SETCR Spring Road Camp Recap

The 2019 SETCR Spring Road Camp finished up on March 24th. It included four days of big miles all around Fort Collins, CO, for a self-selected A, B, and C group. The camp was run by SE coach Zack and Whitney Allison, along with SE coach Kristen Arnold. After a weather-phenomenon bomb cyclone the week…

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Forcing the Break at the Redlands Classic Criterium

I did a bit of a contest on social media asking the internet what Alex Hoehn’s average power was in the Redlands Classic Criterium during those crucial first 5 minutes where the break away was being established.  The answers were all accurate in that the power number was big, especially considering his weight.  Let’s take…

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Are starches the new sugar? Types of carbohydrates for cycling and how they improve performance.

Nutrition Consultation

Many athletes ask themselves how much sugar they should have, when, and from what sources. Studies show eating or drinking carbohydrates before and during workouts improves performance in endurance exercise1. For decades sugars have been king of performance enhancement during exercise in endurance sports. Hundreds of companies make products with sucrose, glucose, maltose, dextrose and…

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How to Get Better at Bike Racing Skills

Bike racing is a puzzle requiring numerous pieces. When an athlete fits all of the puzzle pieces together as one, great things happen, like winning! As a coach and a racer, I cannot emphasize the importance of ‘skills’ in racing and training. Typically, when asked how to define skills for bike racing, coaches focus on…

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How to Choose your Peak Events

how to choose peak events

To peak means to reach a highest point. In endurance sports this means training intensity and volume accumulate over time to reach top-level fitness at a specific time for a given individual. Reaching peak fitness can be tricky as there is a balance for every athlete to reach their highest fitness at the right time,…

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Film Study: Cycling’s New Training Frontier

While many sports have benefited from film and video technology for years, and even decades, cycling is not quite there yet. There are a variety of reasons for this, but primarily it’s due to the lack of accessible video and the associated cost of filming or otherwise capturing the correct things in a sport that…

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Rider Highlight: JP Brocket ticks off bucket list event: Taiwan KOM

Check out this guest post from JP Brocket who recently took on the Taiwan KOM Challenge in October! Bucket List event checked off!!! I have wanted to do Taiwan KOM Challenge for several years and this year life events lined up perfectly. The timing of the race is right in the middle of my Cyclocross…

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Cycling Training: Workout completion over perfection

October is an odd month for cycling athletes. In many ways it’s a great time of year: fall is here, the leaves are changing, warm weather sticks around sometimes and can make for some great riding and training. October, November, December are also when athletes are most likely to look backward or inward. If you…

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Rider Development: From a Cat 2 to U23 National Champion

I was introduced to Alex Hoehn and his family by a mutual friend and Source Endurance alumnus, Phil Groninger. Phil had always said, “This kid is crazy good.  Watch him and you’ll see he has the right stuff.” Apparently, Phil made a similar pitch to Alex and his family about the work we do as…

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Rider Highlight: Sylvia Maas tackles Haleakala

Sylvia Maas never shies away from a challenge. She recently took on the infamous Haleakala climb on Maui. The road to the top of Haleakala on Maui is the longest continual climb in the world. Sea level to 10,000 feet in 36 miles. Sylvia and her coach, Adam Mills, have been working on power to tackle this long…

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Peaking during crit season with Matt Bosman

There’s a few different ways to build your periodization around crit or general road season. Periodization is key in cycling and coaching. Even if you don’t have power, even if you have major A races scattered through the season, periodization of your training and timing where you will peak is a necessity. In Matt Bosman’s…

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Rider Highlight: Whitney Allison finishes 7th at US Pro Nationals Time Trial

Whitney Allison of Hagens Berman Supermint Women’s Professional Team recently competed at the US Pro Nationals Time Trial in Knoxville, TN, where she sat in the hot seat all day, ultimately finishing 7th. Photos courtesy of SnowyMountain Photography. How’d the race go down for you? The course was new this year- I had a good idea…

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Cory Williams- 2018 Air Force Classic Sprint Analysis

  There is zero chance or randomness in a field sprint. In fact, the term “field sprint” is misleading.  What we witness isn’t a field sprint but more like a handful sprinters having at it with the remaining riders following and incorrectly believing that they have a chance. It is no coincidence that we would…

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Race Week Tips from Coach Matthew Hill

The week before a big – especially a big long race – start adding a little bit of extra salt to everything. Drink a little bit more water with everything.  Cut out the caffeine heading into a race, and you will get a bigger bump from it on race day. Well proven, and helps with……

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Rider Highlight: Andrew Ennis hits 40k TT goal

Written by SE athlete Andrew Ennis A century ride, ride tour de France climb, win a road race…as cyclists we all have a bucket list of things we would love to do or achieve. One of the most popular and on my bucket list, was to do a sub 1hr 25mi (40k) time trail. At…

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Case Study: Tyrel Fuchs' Journey to Cat 1 Upgrade

Tyrel Fuchs just got his Cat 1 upgrade at 19 years old! Nice work! It took a ton of work on Tyrel’s part to get here and this article is a way to highlight his work and a follow up the Junior / U23 trajectories article before this. Tyrel’s brother Caleb was a very fast…

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The Trajectory of a Junior Cyclist

Young riders are the future of our sport. Whether or not a certain junior cyclist will go pro on the quick trajectory, or that rider will stop after college, take a break, come back as a Cat 3 and race through masters, every young rider entering the sport is someone that should be cultivated.  With…

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Rider Highlight: Skyler Mackey takes 6th at Collegiate Nationals in the Crit

Skylar Mackey recently finished a respectable 6th at Collegiate Varsity Men Criterium Nationals in Grand Junction, Colorado. The course was super tight and technical with very few places to move up. The changing surface from asphalt to concrete and to brick made for interesting corners throughout the track. How the race went down: During the…

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Rider Highlight: Blaize Baehrens comes from injury to Top 10 at BWR

Blaize Baehrens had lofty goals after an unexpected crash at Rock Cobbler leaving him with broken ribs and a collapsed lung…plus a series of winter colds leaving him off the bike for over a month. Nevertheless, he continued to move towards his goals, slowly and meticulously with the help of his coach Adam Mills. He…

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Get Your Source Endurance Socks

There are two ways to get some sweet Source Endurance socks: Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, share a photo from a recent bike accomplishment (send to marketing@source-e.net) and share your story with us here. We’ll then mail you a free pair of socks! Purchase below for $14. Price is inclusive of shipping and applicable…

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Rider Highlight: Dean Parker takes the win at Bazaar Road Race

Dean Parker recently won the Bazaar Road Race in the infamous Flint Hills in Kansas, taking the sprint by three bike lengths! The Bazaar Kansas race is a out and back course, mainly North/South. That turn around point is really important because it is generally a tailwind back to the start. Here’s how the race went…

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SETCR Spring Road Camp Recap

Source Endurance Training Center of the Rockies hosted their second annual Spring Training Camp in Fort Collins, Colorado this past weekend. The “A” Group saw 4 days and 18 hours of riding, 355 miles and over 20,000 feet of climbing. The “B” and women’s groups were not a whole lot less!! When you get a group…

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Janne Hamalainen takes back-to-back wins at La Primavera at Lago Vista

Janne Hamalainen competed at La Primavera at Lago Vista, 40+ 1234 and 50+ 1234, an extremely popular early season Texas Road Race on a hilly circuit course, where he smashed, taking two wins, back-to-back! Which coach do you work with and how did your training help you prepare for the event?  Adam Mills. Structured training…

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The Mental Aspect of Winter Training

The mental aspect of training in winter can be the hardest part. We worked with Utmost Performance  to figure out what you can focus on to keep those winter blues from derailing your training even with a vast majority of rides on the trainer. Here’s a brief interview with Mario Arroyave on how to stay…

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Endurance athletes: Don’t beat winter, embrace it!

Cycling training in the northern US presents many challenges. Shorter days, inclimate weather, and possibly even psychological factors associated with seasonal affective disorder may lead to training inconsistencies. Living in a subarctic climate presents challenges of training indoors versus outdoors and making optimal workouts can be a task. Potentially even more important than your chosen…

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