gravel cycling
VO2 Max Testing in San Diego with Source Endurance
Did you know that Source Endurance has partnered with San Diego State University to offer laboratory performance testing??? The SDSU lab offers VO2 max testing, along with lactate threshold testing and DEXA scans. This is a great time of year to get baseline data to help you tailor your training approach to meet your upcoming…
Read MoreThe 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…
Read MoreThe Road to UCI Gravel World Championship
Hire a Source Endurance Coach This past month, Team USA’s Elite UCI Gravel World’s roster came out for said race taking place on October 5-6th in Leuven, Belgium. On that roster, two Source Endurance athletes were selected to participate in the Elite Women’s race. This is quite a big deal, as our small coaching company…
Read MoreExercise in Wildfire Smoke: Poor Decision?
Exercise in wildfire smoke can be an insidious threat to performance and health. Learn some practical health tips and how to protect yourself and keep training.
Read MoreCoach Zack Wins North South Colorado-Recap
The North South Colorado Bikepacking Race is a 610-mile adventure from Fort Collins to Trinidad. Coach Zack gives a recap of his winning adventure. Recap Featured in the Raddavist
Read MoreNUTRITION CHALLENGES AT UNBOUND GRAVEL
Coach Kristen Arnold,MS, RDN, CSSD breaks down common nutrition challenges at Unbound Gravel.
Read MoreBraving the Elements: Racing BWR Utah Amidst Extreme Weather
The notorious Belgian Waffle Ride (BWR) Utah kicks off this week, but alongside the usual challenge lies an extraordinary test: extreme weather with temperatures expected at the start to be a chilling 26F.
Read MorePre-race Meeting: The Mid South Gravel Race
Coach Adam Mills of Source Endurance discusses how to prepare and ride the Mid South Gravel Race
Read More2024 Rock Cobbler Pre-Race Briefing
Coach Adam discusses best strategies for Rock Cobbler. Everything from course features to aid station strategy. Even equipment review like, “is there a tire that works equally well in both MUD and LIVING ROOM CARPET?” Find out those answers and more! How much can coaching help you improve? How much can coaching help you improve?
Read MorePlanning 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…
Read MoreA 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…
Read MoreUnbound Gravel: Kelly Bastman Tells Her Kansas Experience Story
This was my first Unbound Gravel so I had no idea what to expect. This is a story of my adventure in the Flint Hills of Kansas.
Read MoreBWR as Seen Through the NoFcks Given Gravel Lens
Source Endurance athlete Casey Cohenmeyer gives us her colorful recap of the Belgian Waffle Ride California
Read MoreRock Cobbler Final Preparation Tips
Race Director Sam Ames of the Rock Cobbler and coach Adam Mills share some final tips
Read MoreStructuring 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…
Read MoreHaving a Coach Holds You Accountable: Tales from an Endurance Mountain Biker
My name is Ray Landry. For work. I am a dental rep. I race mtn bikes and gravel mostly and a little road for fun. So many races. It’s hard to pick a favorite. But my favorite would be the event that got me into cycling to start and that would be the Leadville 100.…
Read MoreGravel Worlds: Comparing Jay Thomas’ Championship in 2012 to 2022
The year is 2012 and Jay Thomas is a young 43 years of age and newly minted Gravel Worlds Champion. Even though he is officially an “aging athlete” Jay was very much holding his peak form from his mid-30’s. Jay came home with a victory, brand new rainbow-ish striped jersey, a sabre* and the swagger of a Gravel Worlds Champion. The winning time was 9 hours and 6 minutes.
Read MoreAlex 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…
Read MoreShake Your Money Maker: Helmets Protect Your Greatest Asset
Using science-based evidence to guide us when choosing a safe bicycle helmet
Read MoreZack 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…
Read MoreTackling 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…
Read MorePreparing 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.…
Read MoreHow 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…
Read MoreAma Nsek: USAC Collegiate National Champion in the Criterium
Ama Nsek wins NCCA Criterium Championship
Read MoreTackling 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…
Read MoreEpilogue 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…
Read MoreThe 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…
Read MoreNat MacLean: Doctor, Mother, Athlete, Friend, Ambassador of Cycling.
Nat MacLean is coached by Zack Allison and has made many improvements in a short amount of time!
Read MoreJosie 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…
Read MoreJP 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…
Read MoreLess Pain, More Gain: 6 ways for cyclists to reduce soreness from strength training and running
Get DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) every season you start working out in the gym? Can’t walk the day after going for an easy 2 mile jog? Tried doing a 15 minute HIIT workout once and now your arms feel like jello on the bike? Check out these strategies to reduce soreness from exercises that…
Read MoreShadd 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…
Read MorePower Analysis – Whitney Allison’s BWR Cedar City Win
Photo: JPov Photo Whitney Allison had a breakthrough ride at Belgian Waffle Ride Cedar City winning the climbing jersey, the sprint jersey and the women’s overall race. Here’s a power analysis of her race winning file. Setting the stage This edition of BWR Cedar City had a 10 minute separation between the men’s Waffle wave…
Read MoreBWR Survival Camp: Utah offers pro-style lead-in
The Belgian Waffle Ride Survival Camp p/b Source Endurance in Utah is a fully-supported, pro-style lead-in to event day. The camp runs September 21-26th with the final day of camp being the BWR Utah Race day. How does this work? A common strategy for professional teams is to take a few days leading into a…
Read MoreShadd Smith wins his age group at Unbound 100
From Shadd: I’ll start off by saying I really, really, really, like riding bikes but more than that I would say that racing them is even better. I am racing for the Steve Tilford Foundation Racing Team in honor of my teammate and world class bike racer, Steve Tilford. I realized from the start list…
Read MoreTraining for a climbing-heavy event no matter where you live
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…
Read MoreReturning 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…
Read MoreConsistency, 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…
Read More10 Tips and Tricks for Fueling for Long Gravel Races & How to Maintain Stamina in the Heat and Dirt
Race Day Nutrition Plan Mass start, dust up the nose, endless climbs, stretches of desolate scenery, clock ticking. Gravel races are sweeping the hearts of cyclists across the country for the opportunity to complete something epic, try something new, enjoy beautiful scenery, and challenge oneself. As one of the newer disciplines of cycling, racers are…
Read MorePatience 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…
Read MoreIncorporating other cycling disciplines to improve your cycling performance
Perhaps you are in the middle of a training block and your fitness is starting to plateau and stagnant or maybe you’ve been road riding the same loop day in and day out and motivation is starting to wane. Picking up another discipline of cycling might be just the right move to boost fitness and…
Read MoreReturning 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…
Read MoreKeeping 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…
Read MoreAdjusting 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…
Read MoreThe Inaugural Belgian Waffle Ride Cedar City Experience, Explained
Adam Mills attended the inaugural Belgian Waffle Ride Cedar City late summer this year. He did a write up on this already legendary event over on Pure Gravel. Click below to check it out. Did you attend the event this year? Is it on your 2021 event list? Read it now.
Read MoreCdA 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…
Read MoreMeet 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…
Read MorePre-order Your Source Endurance Gravel Kit
It’s that time of year again…the Source Endurance kit pre-order time is here! We use Castelli Cycling for our kits. This time we have the Podio Jersey and Team Bibshort in both men’s and women’s sizing, plus the unisex MTB jersey. Jersey options pair well with the Unlimited Baggy Short. Castelli Cycling has been…
Read MoreFlavors 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…
Read MoreBelgian 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…
Read MoreMeet SE Coach Nikki Peterson
Nikki Peterson is Source Endurance’s newest coach. A lifelong endurance athlete and current professional mountain biker, she backs up her experience with years of education in the Nutrition and Exercise field. We did a little Q&A with her so you can get to know her. What was your athletic career pre-cycling? I started running in…
Read More5 Benefits of Cycling Coaching in a Pandemic
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…
Read MoreThree 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…
Read MoreAre V02 and Blood Lactate Tests Still Relevant? With WKO, probably not.
If we’re focusing on raising FTP or Lactate Threshold power, we need the best metrics to track change in FTP. 5 and 10 years ago, we sent our athletes into a lab or university to get the athlete’s blood lactate and maybe Vo2 max tested. Back then, that was the best way to check FTP…
Read MoreJune Challenge: DIY Ride Food
Kristen Arnold MS, RDN, CSSD shares her favorite easy ride food recipe: sweet potato bites! This month, we challenge you to make your own ride food at some point- whether it’s Kristen’s recipe or something else. Kristen’s special tip for sweet potato bites: freeze leftover bites. You can put them directly in your pocket and…
Read MoreMay Challenge: At Home Strength Training
SE coaches and next door neighbors, Kristen Arnold and Zack Allison are challenging you to share your at-home strength workout or try theirs! Tag us on Facebook or Instagram in your at-home strength workout post or story in May for a chance to win schwag from ENVE, AMP Human, Chamois Butt’r and of course, Source Endurance! …
Read MoreUtilizing Indoor Training Apps for Coaching
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…
Read MoreLori McCarty ups gravel skills at the BWR Survival Camp
From Lori: Incredible. Source Endurance knows how to do camp. My 1st time in California and I rode alongside my favorite cycling celebs, we even squished in vans together. The coaches were open, resourceful and encouraging. They looked out for us and offered advice and humor along the way. The different group options made it…
Read MoreBasic 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…
Read MoreQuestionable Decisions World Tour 2020. Volume 2: Rock Cobbler Recap.
Of all the events on the QDWT2020, this one presents some unique challenges as a coach and also to Casey as an athlete. First, it’s early in the year. February 7 is dangerously early and most of the country spent the weekend shoveling snow while Casey was riding in weather good enough to warrant a…
Read MoreWhen To Start Training For Next Season And Why
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…
Read More2019 Canyon Belgian Waffle Ride: When Good Plans Go Sideways. A Lesson In Humility
When I first moved to SoCal in late 2014, I heard of this groovy and “weird” ride in San Marcos called the Belgian Waffle Ride. It went on dirt some, pavement lots, and was ridiculously hard. Back in Kansas, we always took gravel roads and dirt paths as connectors between cool roads. Also, with my…
Read More5 ways to NOT DNF at the BWR
The Belgian Waffle Ride has a 30-40% Did Not Finish (DNF) rate. That is roughly 1 in every 3 people who start BWR don’t finish and need to be picked up by support or get their own ride home. With proper preparation and following these tips you will make sure you are not one of…
Read More10 Fueling Tips for Belgian Waffle Ride and other long cycling events
Mass start, dust up the nose, endless climbs, stretches of captivating scenery, clock ticking. Long Classic-style races are sweeping the hearts of cyclists across the country for the opportunity to complete something epic, try something new, enjoy beautiful scenery, and challenge oneself. Do I want to be a finisher, or do I want to try…
Read MoreCornering in gravel at BWR
Cornering in gravel is hard. It’s a traction issue. On a road bike, your tires grab, sliding is bad, and you can really lean the bike over. On gravel there’s not really any major bike leaning. When the speed is high enough that you can lean the bike over, if you’re on gravel you’d just…
Read MoreUtilizing winter sports for BWR training
I’m going to paint a picture and it may resemble your situation. Minnesota in February. You’re working during the day, watching the weather, and it does not look good for your weekend ride like it did in July. Looks like another evening on the trainer. You’ve found Zwift, you’ve tried TrainerRoad, your coach writes some…
Read MoreShould you incorporate strength training into your BWR preparation?
To lift or not to strength train, that’s NOT the question. In your run into BWR, you will be gaining fatigue. If 100% of your CTL (chronic training load) is from riding, you’re leaving some potential power behind. We’ve seen the BWR course. Besides some major tweaks that Michael Marckx may throw at us the…
Read MoreDon’t Compromise on your Gravel/ Everything Bike- You Don’t Need to.
“When it comes to gravel, play it as it lies” – Joseph Schmalz Gravel bikes are not limited by any national governing body in any way. Therefore they are not restricted by any rules for equipment the likes of which are in the 49 page UCI equipment rules and regulations. By any logical discussion, cycling…
Read MoreGravel Bikes are Pruning the Bicycle Tree of Evolution
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…
Read MoreI See Food in your Power File: Fueling Adequately for Training
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…
Read MoreGravel Upgrades You Don’t Know You Need (Or at least would be a good idea)
It’s getting to be epic gravel season again and many more of us have set our goals to take on the challenge of events like SBT GRVL, Crushar in the Tushar, Rooted Vermont, FoCo Fondo, Belgian Waffle Ride, etc. All of us have read countless articles about the “best things” for gravel in far too…
Read MoreAre starches the new sugar? Types of carbohydrates for cycling and how they improve performance.
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…
Read MoreChoosing a Tire for Your Next Gravel Adventure
“Hey… what’s the best tire for this event?” That’s something I’ve been hearing a lot over the last few months as more and more mixed surface and gravel events come on the calendar. I remember back to my full time cyclo-cross (CX) days riding with the KCCX team and all the conversations we had about…
Read MoreHow 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…
Read MoreHow to Choose your 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,…
Read More2019 Belgian Waffle Ride Survival Camp- Day 3
Day 3! We focused our efforts on Lemon Twist, plus some odds and ends, finishing Day 3 up Double Peak one last time, and lunch at The Lost Abbey. Day 3- Chamois Butt’r required! PR Lotion too. One final Source Endurance coaching lecture… 100% Cycling glasses for optimal coverage and visibility. (Nite Rider) Lights, camera,…
Read More2019 Belgian Waffle Ride Survival Camp- Day 2
Day 2 was the big one: 100 miles, 8400 ft of climbing, and a LOT of dirt….errrr mud. It rained a bunch the night before and when we started bright and early, it was still drizzling. Good morning, Day 2! All ready to go with a sleek Orucase saddle bag. Castelli came to the rescue…
Read More2019 Belgian Waffle Ride Survival Camp- Day 1
Day 1 of the Belgian Waffle Ride Survival Camp kicked off with getting everyone settled- getting Canyon Bike demos dialed, goodie bags distributed, IRC tires mounted, and Castelli Cycling custom BWR Survival Camp kits distributed. Danny Munson of DMunson Photo captured the whole weekend for us. Yes please! Campers got all sorts of goodies from…
Read MoreFilm 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…
Read MoreCycling 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…
Read MoreAthlete Highlight: Blaize tackles RPI
Rebecca’s Private Idaho is a 96 mile gravel race at elevation in the mountains of Idaho. Source Endurance Athlete Blaize Baehrens showed up to last years event self-coached and finished in a respectable 5 hrs 45 mins. This year training under coach Adam Mills, this race came up as a long training weekend leading into…
Read MoreHow to get a Bolo- Tie at the FoCo Fondo
The FoCo Fondo has all the makings of an iconic gravel event that flirts with the mountains and is based out of Fort Collins, Colorado. The 2018 event started and finished at New Belgium Brewery and I think that should be a requirement for all epic gravel events. Coach Zack and Co. put on the event…
Read MoreHow to Corner in Gravel
SE Coach and FoCo Fondofest promoter Zack Allison spends a lot of time training on Northern Colorado’s gravel roads…while cornering in gravel is instinctual to him, for a lot of folks, it’s something that takes a hot moment to learn if you are unfamiliar. Check out these tips from Zack (originally posted for FoCo Fondo…
Read MoreBlaize Baehrens Tips for SPNDX Stampede Big Bear Edition
SE athlete Blaize Baehrens shares his insider knowledge on the upcoming SPNDX Stampede Big Bear Edition: If you haven’t seen it yet, Hornbeck has been dropping some knowledge to get you prepped for the upcoming SPNDX Stampede Big Bear Edition on the SPNDX Stampede website. He’s got some Tips for Riding at Altitude and a nifty 45 second…
Read MoreNeil Shirley's Final Thoughts on Unbound Gravel
As we’re all slowly crawling out of our post- Unbound Gravel hangover, I wanted to do one last blog post with some final thoughts about the work that Neil and I did together. From the feedback Neil gave me during our debrief, here’s a quick summary of my notes: Neil didn’t think that he needed…
Read MoreRider Highlight: Casey Cohenmeyer tackles the Italian Sausage Ride
SE Athlete Casey Cohenmeyer recently tackled the Italian Sausage Ride. While not an official event or race it is a gathering of riders possessing questionable judgement: 127 miles, 12k feet, 62 miles off road. Here’s Casey’s Recap of the epic self-supported day: So what are you doing this weekend? ISR…. it’s kinda like Belgian…
Read MoreRider Highlight: Meet Robert Ellis Gravel Guru and Enthusiast
SE: Want I to talk to you about gravel cycling in the Midwest, and about the Trans Iowa. RE: Cool. SE: Tell me about your cycling routine and your training during the year. RE: I do base miles in the winter on gravel and on the road. And I try to work on some endurance…
Read MoreUnbound Gravel 2018 Recap with SE Coach Adam Mills
What an adventure! I went to Unbound Gravel to experience the event and to cheer on all my friends, as well as the many Source Endurance clients we had there. While I’m sure I didn’t see each one of them, I’m proud of them all. I entered the 100 mile event knowing that any substantial…
Read MoreRace 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……
Read MoreRider 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…
Read MoreGet 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…
Read MoreNeil Shirley Road to Unbound Gravel: Checking in at the Belgian Waffle Ride
Neil Shirley’s exploits as a professional road racer are well-documented in the annals of cycling. You can do a quick Google search and find a library of articles with him mentioned as a protagonist at “name that race.” Unfortunately, because of Neil’s career as a journalist, you can also find a good deal out there…
Read MoreNutrition for the Canyon Belgian Waffle Ride
This years’ Canyon Belgium Waffle Ride is shaping up to be another great event. With a growing field of over 500 Riders in the Waffle Ride, and nearly the same amount in the Wafer Ride, the competition will be fierce. The sheer act of completing this event will be a feat, but how you finish…
Read MoreSETCR 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…
Read MoreRider Highlight: Jerry Bueno smashes the Land Run 100 Double
SE athlete Jerry Bueno not only finished Land Run 100, but also the Land Run 50K Ultra Marathon the day before, for the Land Run 100 Double. Brief event/course description: 50K run (Friday) followed by 100 mile gravel (Saturday) How’d the race go down for you? Stillwater, Oklahoma is a lot hillier than I anticipated!…
Read MoreHelp! BWR is only 4 weeks away!
Check out our Emergency BWR Training Plan It happens, life gets in the way of our goals. You can still make some big gains in four weeks you have and have a successful BWR! [maxbutton id=”2″ url=”https://www.trainingpeaks.com/training-plans/cycling/gran-fondo-century/tp-113681/4-weeks-to-belgian-waffle-ride-bwr-help-me-from-the-officially-licensed-bwr-coac” text=”Emergency Training Plan” ]
Read MoreThe 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…
Read MoreEndurance 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…
Read MoreAll about that gravel endurance training…
When Neil Shirley and I started discussing his 2018 goals I did most of the listening. When a legend such as Neil takes his time to reach out and discuss his goals and ask for guidance to meet those goals it means a few things: Neil is focused and no longer satisfied with just finishing,…
Read MoreBelgian Waffle Ride Survival Camp 3.0 Recap Day 3
The Belgian Waffle Ride Survival Camp 3.0 ran January 12-14, 2018, for three days of course reconnaissance of the BWR course. Check out our photo journal from Day 1 and Day 2. The day focused on all the technical gravel sections which take many tired victims every year. All photos are by DMunson Photo. Day 3: …
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