It may be tempting to wait for the all-clear from the meteorologists to resume training each spring, but the folks you’ll be racing against when the weather improves are training through the winter, and consecutive months of consistent training really …
A good bike fit lets you deliver maximum power from your current fitness and lets you ride for hours without generating new injuries. It lets you comfortably use all the hand positions your bike offers If your bike fits correctly, …
Will a Bike Fit Fix My Knee or Back Pain on the Bicycle? Read More »
Many if not most cyclists develop painful knees at some time in their cycling careers. You may be experiencing sore knees currently when you ride. If you are, make a change before riding again! If you ride with the same …
Knee Pain & the Cyclist [How to Prevent & Solve Knee Pain on the Bike] Read More »
Aside from saddle sores and knee pain, foot problems are among the most common afflictions of cyclists. In coaching recreational and competitive cyclists for the last three decades, I have found that there are several common reasons for foot pain, …
Six Causes of Foot Pain, Numbness, and Hot-Foot During Bicycling, and How to Solve Them Read More »
You’re just getting over an illness, feeling maybe 80% healthy, but you are more than desperate to start training again. You fear losing fitness and you want to make up for lost time, so you head out for your first …
How to Avoid the Post-Illness Over-Training Death Spiral Read More »
Nutrition can make or break an athlete’s performance. For the best chance of success in cycling and other endurance activities, different eating regimens are appropriate at different times. Athletes will utilize the following four basic eating plans: Different foods and …
Diet Tips for Cyclists & Endurance Athletes [Four Complete Fueling Plans for Success] Read More »
Cyclists and triathletes want to be ready for a peak performance at their ‘A’ race. It’s common practice to attempt that by doing a period of “overload” or extra hard training ending 1-3 weeks before the race, and then a period of …
Overreaching During a Peak and Taper May Make It Worthless Read More »
Whether you have a lot of time to train on the bike or just a little, optimizing your pedaling cadence1 will help you to finish gran gondos both faster and stronger. This is because the main moment-by-moment determinant of fatigue …
Improve Your Cadence for Faster Gran Fondo Finishes Read More »
“Fast” is a vague term in cycling that means different things in different contexts. We might say that someone who can hold 29 mph for an hour is fast, or say the same thing of someone who can sprint to …
For a cyclist, appropriate weight is just as important as aerobic fitness, strength and skills. However, many riders under-perform in hilly races because they carry too much body mass. They hope to ride off their excess weight in time for …
Healthy Weight Loss Part I: Shedding Fat to Make Race Weight Read More »
Keith has great aerobic power. He can ride a flat 40-kilometer time trial in less than 56 minutes, making him quite competitive in his master’s category. He’s been training an average of 12 hours per week on a periodized plan …
Healthy Weight Loss Part II: Shedding Excess Muscle to Make Race Weight Read More »
When racing twice or more over a weekend, your between-race recovery activities will determine how well you feel and perform in the later races. Follow this guidance to improve both. Wenzel Coaching Head Coach Scott Saifer, M.S. raced over 300 …
Recovery Tips for Stage Races, Omniums & Multi-Race Weekends Read More »
How to Execute a Bike Throw: Let the final pedal stroke lift your butt barely off the saddle if you are not already standing Drop the shoulders Straighten the arms forcefully Push the butt off the back of the saddle …
Tips for Altitude Training and Racing Preparing for an event or racing an event at altitude can be intimidating to the sea level athlete. Fortunately, the science is quite definitive on the tactics for the best chances of success in …
The Basics of Training and Competing at Altitude Read More »
Peaking is a cyclist’s nirvana. If training has gone well, you are strong on the bike, riding fast with little effort, recovering quickly enough to attack several times in a race or race several days per week and your head …
