Posts Tagged ‘road cycling’
Alex Hoehn: Grad School and Tour of Gila Defense
Alex Hoehn, the 2023 Tour of the Gila champion, is poised to make another powerful impact in the 2024 edition of the race
Read MoreCoach Taylor featured on “Fast Talk Podcast”
Trying to go pro is one of the hardest things we can do. Jack Burke and Taylor Warren share what they’ve learned and how that applies to the rest of us, too.
Read MoreHow to PR the Fiesta Island Time Trial
Time Trials like Fiesta Island Time Trial is art and science. We will focus primarily on the technical details of time trialing that aren’t fitness related
Read MoreTips for Successful SoCal Racing
Successful SoCal racing starts well before the gun goes off. Set yourself up for success by preparing before race day.
Read MoreCoach Kristen Arnold Featured on Fast Talk Labs
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.
Read MorePRT Training Camp Recap
October 6th-8th marked the annual PRT training camp at beautiful Big Bear Lake during a perfect fall weekend.
Read MoreCoach Kristen’s recap as USA Cycling Women’s Development Road Director
My first season working with the road National Team as the Women’s Development Road Director at USA Cycling was a fun, fulfilling, and healthy challenge for me.
Read MoreSan Diego Bicycle Club: Summer 2023 Recap
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.
Read MoreBrody McDonald: U23 World Championship Road Race Prep
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.
Read MoreIntelligentsia Cup Podium Finish After Injury
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.
Read MoreCory Williams, Evolution of Excellence
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.
Read MoreTour of the Gila Recap- Alex Hoehn’s First UCI Stage Race Win
Alex Hoehn won the 2023 Tour of the Gila by a margin of two seconds over Óscar Sevilla. his win was the culmination of years of hard work. He has dedicated himself to the sport, to his training and becoming a 24/7 whole athlete.
Read MoreTulsa Tough’s FASTEST 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?
Read MoreCriterium Workout of the Week: Group Ride
The group ride is an excellent training tool for criterium racing.
Read MoreCriterium Workout of the Week: Heat Adaptation
Hot and humid weather is the universal foe that impacts every summer race. Being heat adapted is like having a superpower that allows you to conquer any climate.
Read MoreCriterium Workout of the Week: Mid-season Zone 2
It’s mid-season and you’ve probably been racing lots and can feel that race form coming on strong but it’s probably time to some mid-season Zone 2 training
Read MoreCase Study: Taylor Kotwa, Sprinter, Increases FTP 7% in 4 months
I started working with Taylor in the fall of 2022 as he was coming back from time off the bike after a recent injury. He came to me with high expectations and lofty ambitions, so we set to work right away in preparation for the 2023 season
Read MoreSDBC Spring Recap from Coach Taylor
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…
Read MoreCriterium Workout of the Week: Over-Unders
The concept of over-under intervals is to work in a tight range over your FTP for a short period of time and then to alternate to a power target under your FTP and repeat.
Read MoreCriterium Workout of the Week: Film Study
Film study has always been an important tool for improving personal and team outcomes in competition. Teams and racers were late to the game but are catching up and now film study is just as important in cycling as it is in other sports.
Read MoreCriterium 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…
Read MoreCriterium Workout of the Week: Sprints!
Most criterium races require a high degree of skill and neuromuscular coordination and right in the middle of that Venn Diagram is sprinting.
Read MoreCriterium Workout of the Week: VO2 and Race Winning Intervals
This is a great workout to simulate establishing a breakaway or going for a last lap solo attack.
Read MoreCriterium Workout of the Week: Sweet Spot All-Day- Long
Sweet spot training. Criterium racing is still an endurance event, despite our willingness to make it about explosive efforts. Any event lasting 30 minutes or even 90 minutes is definitely an endurance based sport. So how do we get better at riding for that long? Sweet spot training.
Read MoreWhich Training Methodology Best Improves Your Performance. Systematic Review
The general concept of leveraging different training methods to improve Functional Threshold Power (FTP), VO2 max and ultimately performance is immensely important to every endurance based performance athlete. Until now a direct systematic review comparing Traditional Periodization, Block periodization and day-to-day programming has been never conducted.
Read MoreEthan Doherty 2022: Road Racer Targets CX Nationals Podium
Ethan’s training emphasis has been on aerobic foundation and extending Time to Exhaustion (TTE) at threshold. This year, we decided to take a different approach that landed Ethan on the CX Nationals podium.
Read MoreGoal Setting in an Age of Social Media and Too Much Data
Goal Setting is both easier and more difficult than ever. Here are some guidelines to help you set your goals for the coming year.
Read MoreFemale Cyclists: Hormones and Performance
Are there certain times of the month when you feel like you’re on fire and then other times you feel like a load of bricks? You are not alone! Most individuals who have female reproductive organs have a menstrual cycle. That menstrual cycle impacts many aspects of our physical and mental health and performance.
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 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 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 MoreSean 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…
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 MoreThe Science Behind 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…
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 MoreSETCR 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…
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 MoreRider 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…
Read MoreRider Highlight: Tom Lewin wins the Cat 4 KS State Crit Championships!
Tom Lewin recently took the WIN at the Cat 4 Kansas State Championships! Here’s how the victory went down: The race was super hot with a good field. My teammate, Sam Loring, and stayed near the front the entire race. With 2 to go Sam went off the front while I blocked. At about 1/2…
Read MoreCory 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…
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 MoreAthlete Key Workout: Justin Williams' Recovery Ride
June 5, 2017: Justin Williams of Cylance Pro Cycling 60 minute, Recovery Ride. Recently, Justin has had what I would consider a brutal last few days. During that time, we put him in a state of systematic overreaching in order to push his fitness into a solid mid-season form. The benefits of this training block should…
Read MoreRider Highlight: Thomas Wavrin climbs his way to 9th GC at Tour of the Gila
Anyone familiar with the road scene in the U.S. is well familiar with how brutal Tour of the Gila is. Thomas Wavrin had an excellent race despite coming from wintry Wisconsin and spending a lot of time on the trainer. It takes a lot of mental toughness to get through Gila in general, but Thomas stayed…
Read MoreCase Study: A day in the life of a Sprint Specialist
Photo Credit above: DMunson Photo When a sprinter stands on the top podium step we all see the same thing: arms up in the air and that smile, rehearsed to show sincerity while trying to hide that extreme confidence bordering on a cockiness that could be unappealing to the fans and media. But behind the…
Read MoreMeet SE Sponsored Team: Rio Grande Elite Cycling Team
Team name: Rio Grande Elite Cycling Team (formally Scout Cycling Team). Road Category 1 / 2. How long has the team been around? This will be Rio Grande Elite Cycling Team’s 3rd season racing in the 1 / 2 field. What is your relationship with SE and SETCR? With Zack Allison as our team coach, he…
Read MoreMeet SE Ambassador Cory Lockwood
Cory Lockwood races professionally for Continental Pro team Elevate KHS Pro Cycling Team. We talked to him about all things bikes and his upcoming year. How long have you been racing road? I have raced road for 3 years, but I have been riding bicycles and motorcycles my whole life. What do you like the most…
Read MoreOffseason is Over: How Do We Know?
It seems like it’s just started, but offseason is just about over. There are a couple reasons why this is true, but if you’re looking to race well in the coming season, right now is the time to get ready. Offseason: People are different. One of the most important parts of effective training is tailoring…
Read MoreTake Offseason Off
With the end of the road season fast approaching or already here for the majority of the US, it’s time for the offseason to begin in earnest. There are a lot of great reasons to really take time off and take a step back from bike racing and serious training. Many are transitioning to cyclocross,…
Read MoreAthlete Highlight: Christian Helmig, Luxembourg National Champion
Christian Helmig has done it all. He holds Luxembourg National Titles in a range of disciplines- Cyclocross, XC MTB, MTB Marathon, Elite Road, and Elite Time Trial. How does an athlete come to find success in such a range of disciplines? It’s definitely not easy and takes a lot of careful planning, a lot of…
Read MoreRider Highlight: Eric Marcotte, Jamis Pro Cycling
Eric Marcotte is a household name for anyone who follows the American road racing scene, with two national titles to his name in both the US Pro Road Race and Criterium. Marcotte also owns a chiropractic office and balances working and running that business with racing professionally for Jamis Pro Cycling. We interviewed him recently…
Read MoreHeath Blackgrove, Elevate Pro Cycling
We had to share this great interview by Thomas Miller at Bicycle World with Heath Blackgrove who is a director for Elevate Pro Cycling, one of our sponsored teams. The article and photos are re-published with permission. It’s 10am on Tuesday morning and I’m at Café Medici in Austin, waiting to meet up with the…
Read MoreAmbassador Highlight: Scout Cycling Team
Source Endurance is a proud sponsor of Scout Cycling Team in Fort Collins, Colorado. Scout Cycling Team is Fort Collins’ top elite team and is comprised of aspiring professional racers competing across Colorado and many out-of-state races like Joe Martin Stage Race and Cascade Cycling Classic. How Scout Cycling Team Got Started Scout Cycling Team…
Read MoreRider Highlight: Brad Loyd wins Niwot Circuit Race
Brad Loyd began racing last year as a category 5 and has found great success, most recently winning the Niwot Circuit Race in Colorado! He’s been working with coach Zack Allison since the beginning of the year and is preparing to cat up to a cat 2. Name: Brad Loyd Event & Category: Niwot Circuit Race,…
Read MoreRelative Efforts of the Breakaway vs. Sitting In the Peloton
Drafting is the fundamental building block upon which all road racing strategies and tactics are based. That’s often an overlooked and underappreciated aspect of any race at every level of the sport. Conversely, there is a definitive strategic advantage to having rider(s) up the road both tactically (they are in a position to win) and…
Read MoreAthlete Highlight: Joseph Schmalz of Elevate Pro Cycling
Recently, we sat down and chatted with long-time Source Endurance athlete Joe Schmalz of Elevate Pro Cycling Team. Joe has a long background in cycling and has found great successes this season at the Pro Road Tour. He is also a great athlete to work with and an all around great guy. Tell us about…
Read MoreRider Highlight: Brian Darby wins team time trial championships
Name: Brian Darby Event & Category: Victorian Club Teams Team Time Trial Championship (Australia). Masters. Brief event/course description: A rolling 37.6 km course with 232m of climbing. How’d the race/event go down for you? It was a very windy day (30 km/hr with 45km/hr gusts) and it would be a crosswind for much of the race. Our team was a…
Read MoreCreating, Establishing and Committing to a Breakaway
Eric Marcotte wins out of a breakaway. Photo Credit: Casey Gibson Welcome to the mid-season for road racing, 2016. All around the country, Source Endurance athletes have been taking chances and getting up the road only to have the breakaway attempt fail for a multitude of reasons. I thought I’d take a couple minutes and send out…
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