Anecdotal reports say that bike sales are “through the roof” since the various states have told their citizens to stay indoors except for grocery shopping and exercise. Wenzel Coaching has received increasing numbers of Learn-to-Ride lesson inquiries from people who …
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 »
Of all cycling events, cyclocross has to be the most fun to train for. In addition to building fitness for a 40- to 60-minute effort, racers must prepare to ride short rolling hills and steep ascents and descents, negotiate off-camber …
The Basics of Cyclocross Training for Roadies and Mountain Bikers Read More »
How good a cyclist are you? You may or may not be super fit, but skills can make riding more fun and can make you a safer, faster, more victorious cyclist or a better ride buddy no matter how fast …
Can You Do These Essential Road and Off-Road Cycling Skills? 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 …
Your body position on the mountain bike and how you use your points of contact with the bike make a huge difference when you hit the tricky sections of a course: the switchbacks, the dive-bomb descents, the wall-climbs. For inexperienced …
Improve Mountain Bike Skills through Your Points of Contact Read More »
Tips for making your team time trial a success, with 2015 US National Team Time Trial Gold Medalist Brianna Walle. Optimal performance in a team time trial requires attention to lots of details. Wenzel client and professional racer Brianna Walle …
“Hands in the drops, please!” As the Head Mentor for the NCNCA (Northern California/Nevada Cycling Association), this is a phrase I find I have to repeat over and over as I am instructing beginning racers. Riding in the drops (the …
Road riding and racing season is here, and with this may come some anxiety. Many riders, already nervous descending on the road bike, are really frightened by the prospect of descending in a peloton or group. Use these tips to …
This is a pretty straightforward exercise that can be done in front of your computer, laptop, or smaller device. It’s most effective if you can pay uninterrupted attention to the screen and sounds, so if possible find a place where …
Preparing to Improve Your Descending on the Bicycle Read More »
One path to better bike handling skills starts with your eyeballs. Whether you want to learn to negotiate technical sections and punchy climbs on the mountain bike or have more confidence and control through corners and descents on the road, …
“You Go Where You Look” – Visual Skills for Cyclists Read More »
Though cyclocross racing may seem far off in the calendar from April, it will be upon us soon enough! As a beginner, taking that first step to learn cyclocross skills and try a race can seem daunting, but it doesn’t …
Learning to Race Cyclocross – A First Person Perspective Read More »
Climbing on a mountain bike is hard for everyone. Your bike is heavy, your suspension and squishy tires steal power from your legs and your wide handlebars are better suited to working the front end through corners and over rocks …
How to Climb Better on a Mountain Bike – Long Extended Climbs Read More »
Looking for a fun way to build your bike handling skills and improve your balance? Try skidding. I’m not talking about the stuff we did as kids on our BMX bikes, I’m talking about purposely finding the limits of traction …
The Art of the Slide – Getting the Most Out of Skidding on a Mountain Bike Read More »
Cyclists’ muscles metabolize chemical energy, stored mostly as glycogen and fatty acids, and convert it to contraction forces that accelerate the legs around the pedal circle and drive the pedals. Metabolic capacity alone does not determine cycling success. The amount …
Pistons, Potatoes and Bullets: Energetics and Pedaling Technique Read More »
