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'Cross is no longer coming...it's here! The exciting discipline of cyclocross racing has some of the greatest buzz out of all types of bike racing, at least on the world wide interweb. Cyclocross is super fun and, despite the pain we choose to all put ourselves through, very addictive. Even for the most casual racer, "cross racing pushes your skills, both on and off the bike, to the limits. One of the primary differences between cyclocross and other types of bike racing is that you will most likely get off your bike at least once if not several times over the course of one lap. The most common obstacle that will require dismounting is the "barrier". 'Cross barriers often come in pairs and are typically between 12 and 16 inches (40 cm or 16" for UCI standards) and usually between 4 and 6 meters apart, spanning the full width (3 meters) of the course. Think steeplechase for bike riders. For most riders, the barriers and other obstacles only take a few seconds to traverse and their bike can simply be lifted alongside their body while they run. Sounds simple, right? Well, yes and no. You are simply dismounting, lifting the bike, running, placing the bike back down, and remounting, but there are many ways to make this process smooth, efficient, safe, and FAST  Just like that game you might have played as a child, one of these things is not like the other. Or, more specifically, one technique is considered better than the other. Which is it? Check out this great article from CX Magazine written by Adam Myerson on how to properly lift your bike. It's a skill worth practicing! https://www.cxmagazine.com/technique-tuesday-myersons-tips-on-carrying-bike Easy, right? As long as you take the time to practice PROPERLY, you'll get it in no time. If you're in the area, BJL Coaching conducts clinics and skills sessions for groups or individuals. I offer video review of your technique to help you learn and improve as efficiently as possible. Drop me a line and we can setup a time to get you on your way to your best 'cross season ever! [email protected] Cheers, B.L.
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 I wrote a post a couple of months ago (Free Speed!) about reconnecting with Dr. Matt Miller, a longtime friend and fellow mountain bike racer.
From his site, www.mtbphd.com : “Dr Matt Miller is a sports scientist and entrepreneur focused on MTB rider performance. He was the first to publish findings on using FTP to predict MTB race performance and pioneered braking analysis on the trails. Matt is the Inventor and Founder of BrakeAce, the world's first brake sensor and analysis app. BrakeAce was successfully funded on Kickstarter in August 2021. He has coached gravity and endurance MTB racers 1-on-1, including riders earning multiple USA National Championships and top-10 overall finishes in the Enduro World Series. He continues to consult for major brands in the industry and publish educational science content for mountain bikers.” Matt lived in Pennsylvania when I met him and we raced many of the same regional and national events. He was always so much fun to be around and once he aged up, a great competitor to race against. Most of the time I only saw the back of his jersey, though. Now he lives in New Zealand, with some of the best trails in the world right down the street from his house in Rotorua. Riding destination for sure! I was honored to be invited as a guest on his podcast, Demystifying MTB, with the two of us getting into a great discussion about The Top Three Mountain Bike Training Tips. Within in the episode I presented my three best tips which include some workouts to help you get faster on the trail. Dr. Matt and I share many training philosophies and it was really fun talking about some great training ideas and the why behind them, with an occasional trip down memory lane. Here’s a link to the YouTube version: https://youtu.be/SdS5ReLSRC4 But if you’re more of an audio only type of person, here’s a link to the podcast on Matt’s site: https://www.brakeace.com/podcast/episode/2859ee5a/top-3-tips-for-mtb-training I’ve been on a few podcasts before but this was the first mountain bike specific one. If you have any suggestions, comments, feedback, or the like, please shoot me an e-mail or leave a comment here. Also, please pass on the links to anyone that you think may be interested, as well as to folks who would want to learn more about BrakeAce, the world’s first brake power meter. The first round of orders have been shipped and Dr. Matt is currently taking pre-orders, so don’t delay! Order here: https://www.brakeace.com/shop What’s YOUR best mountain bike training tip? Post this up or any questions or comments below. Until next time, keep working on that aerobic engine. Your mountain bike will thank you. Cheers, Coach Brian by Dr. Matt Miller (a.k.a. MTB PHD)  Yeah, right…”Free Speed.” Believe it or not, it’s out there for the taking and this is not an infomercial. Any endurance athlete obviously has to have the physical capabilities and engine to perform their sport. But there are ways to get faster without improving our fitness. In a very skill dependent sport such as off-road cycling (mountain bike, cyclocross, and even gravel to some extent), this is even more evident. One of the most important skills in these disciplines is effectively applying (or not) your brakes, but can we measure something like this? Thanks to Dr. Matt and his amazing team, now we can! I’ve known Dr. Matt Miller for over 20 years now. Dr. Matt and I were at many of the same races back when he lived in Pennsylvania and I got to know him well through my junior teammates. Personally, Matt is super fun to be around, an excellent cyclist, and overall a great guy. And now, he is literally the MTB PhD. Dr. Matt has a master’s degree in exercise science and earned a PhD with a focus on mountain bike descending. So in addition to all of his great personal qualities, you can add super smart and experienced to the list. He now resides in New Zealand with trails right outside of his door. Perfect testing grounds for his amazing creation.  24 Hours of Allamuchy 2004 Matt and I were both on winning teams that year. Matt and his teammate took the two-person division, and I was on the winning Men's Elite 4 Person Team. Good times  Besides Matt’s extensive knowledge, research, and application of exercise science, he has also invented the world’s first brake power meter. Sound awesome? It is! It was recently showcased here on Pink Bike: Brake Ace on Pink Bike https://www.pinkbike.com/news/hq-tour-brakeace-worlds-first-brake-power-sensor-app-combo.html Brake Ace will now allow coaches and riders to actually quantify their braking and how it impacts their riding, both positively and negatively.  That which can be measured can be improved.
Along with this amazing device, Matt and his all-star team developed an app to collect and make sense of the data while providing actionable steps for improvement. The app delivers many meaningful metrics, but also breaks it down with your “flow score” and provides three “key opportunities” where you can find the greatest gains. For each key opportunity you improve, it will find another. To pull it all together, Dr. Matt also wrote a companion book that we can all learn from even without a Brake Ace. However, after reading the book, you will quite likely contact Dr. Matt to order your Brake Ace. The name of the book is, you guessed it, Free Speed. Matt and I had a great video chat a month ago, and right after the call I went straight to his site and got the book. It was written really well and an easy and engaging read. While reading it, there were many times I felt like I was actually having a conversation with Dr. Matt. He broke it down to a language that is easily understandable. I might be at a slight advantage having been a math teacher for 20+ years and with extensive education in the cycling and coaching world, but he delivers it without getting too techy. However, the science is there if you have an interest in diving in deeper. While the book thoroughly describes how Brake Ace and its app can be used to help make you faster, there are also concepts and drills that can be practiced without a Brake Ace. My question really would be, “why practice this without a Brake Ace?” Here’s a link to his book on his Brake Ace site: Free Speed https://www.brakeace.com/product-page/free-speed-the-brakeace-book And on Amazon: Amazon Free Speed https://www.amazon.com/Free-Speed-Guide-Finding-Brake/dp/B0BPGMSSHB I also encourage you to check out his two podcasts: Demystifying MTB https://www.brakeace.com/podcast These are mountain bike centric, but certainly some of the episodes could be applied to other off-road disciplines. Dr. Matt’s is joined by Rohan Martin, a.k.a. The Sweaty Techie, who has an amazing resume of decades in the technical world of ANT+, Bluetooth, wearables, and more. And now Brake Ace. He also rips it up on the mountain bike. The Performance Advantage Podcast https://www.performanceadvantagepodcast.com/podcast This one is presented from more of a training and science standpoint brought to us by Dr. Matt and his co-host, Dr. Will O’Connor. Dr. O’Connor specializes in running endurance coaching and is an accomplished runner himself. I recommend this episode first to learn more about Brake Ace: Five Ways to Get Faster Without Getting Fitter https://www.performanceadvantagepodcast.com/podcast/episode/30da38a6/99-or-5-ways-to-get-faster-without-getting-fitter Brake Ace is a smart investment for all of us that want to get faster. Yes, you should train with consistency. Yes, you should build your endurance engine. Yes, you should hire a coach. And yes, you should check out this amazing tool that can help you improve your riding. You can find more about Dr. Matt at: MTB PHD : https://www.mtbphd.com/ and let him know I sent you there. Find your flow! Coach Brian  Just like we train with specificity to best meet the demands of our events, we should also fuel with specificity. What does this mean?
Event day is NOT the time to experiment with new energy and hydration sources. We want to have fun and perform well, not be dealing with gastrointestinal distress. Or perhaps it’s a mix that doesn’t bother our gut, but tastes so terrible you have no desire to drink it. While a fun farm to fork fondo type of event might be more forgiving if you’re riding casually, you still don’t want gut issues. How can this be avoided? (Nutrition? Fueling? See: Fueling vs. Nutrition) If you’re providing all your own fueling for the event, start dialing in what you’re going to eat and drink at least 8 weeks out from the event. Practice with this fuel on different training rides, especially rides that replicate part or all of the event. Can you open up the food when going hard? Does it take forever to chew (which can be good or bad, actually)? Is it fine at an endurance pace but as soon as things heat up your stomach revolts? Does it taste pretty good 2 hours in but after 6 hours in you’re tired of it? All things to think about that can be investigated through deliberate practice. If some or all of the refueling will be provided by the neutral support at the event, make sure you find out EXACTLY what will be offered. If not clearly outlined on the registration page, find out directly from the promoter, not what your buddy that did it 5 years ago remembered. If you’ve used their products successfully before, GREAT. If you’ve never tried them, go get yourself some and practice as I wrote about above. Obviously if you’ve used and it didn’t sit well with you or just wasn’t effective for you, you're going to want to carry your own fuel and, if available, have your drop bags stocked up. I had a teammate that could not stand what one of the big endurance mountain bike events in our area had in the hydration jugs at the aid stations. Instead of using what they offered, he would carry small plastic bags of the drink mix that worked for him, and then just add water at the aid stations. Slower at the aid stations? Maybe, but better than the time you may lose from not drinking during a super-hot race of 8+ hour duration. For either situation, try to practice under similar environmental conditions, as something that sits well at 40 degree Fahrenheit might be a gut bomb at the 95 degree venue. Try these foods and drinks on the trainer when you’re really cooking as we all know it’s easy to get hot riding indoors. Or maybe the bar or waffle that’s soft and chewy at home turns into a brick at the frigid event. Obviously the different conditions are not always available, but something to consider. Even if you’ve got your plan dialed in and find “your products,” I encourage you to continue to experiment and try other things. The wider the range of products that you know work for you the better. You’ll make yourself much more versatile lower maintenance with the flexibility. You also may find that a new product came out that works better for you, or you’ve changed with time and respond better to something else. Buying box of bars or jugs of mix that you might not like can get expensive, with a little creativity you can save some dough. You can make trades with riding partners, buy singles at your local bike shop, or check out The Feed. I’m not sponsored by The Feed or anything of the like, I just simply know that some of my clients have enjoyed purchasing samplers to figure out what they like and what works. www.thefeed.com While you're experimenting, also work on the amount of the fuel that you're taking in. Are you getting enough calories (energy)? Can you push it up to 60 grams per hour? 70? 80? Find what works for you, but also be ready to adapt the plan based on the duration and intensity of the event. I can help you dial in your plan and find a good range that works for you. I had some teammates who could race up to 10 hours with all liquid based calories. And others, like me, that needed and preferred a mix of liquid and solid calories. Find what works for you and keep in mind that different durations may yield different “optimal” plans for you. Here are two solid resources to help you get DIALED: https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/how-to-optimize-carbohydrate-absorption/ https://cyclingmagazine.ca/sections/training-guide/training/pro-cyclists-share-their-race-day-nutrition-plans/ As always, find what works for YOU! So keep practicing and leave as little to chance on event day as possible, especially not what’s going to keep your turbo diesel engine humming along! What are your best practices for fueling during your event? Post these or any questions below. Fuel like a champ! Coach Brian  This is a great article written by one of the giants in a scientific approach to endurance training, Doctor Edmund Burke. I first came across Dr. Burke with his High-Tech Cycling as pictured here. Since then I have learned much from his books and other literature, and indirectly through his influence in the sport. He is surely missed but his works live on.
Keep these key concepts of:
Check out what Dr. Burke has to say and let me know your thoughts, questions, or comments below. What’s your goal for 2023? Ride on! Coach Brian Starting the Year Off Right By Edmund R. Burke, Ph.D. Active.com Most of you could ride almost as well as Miguel Martinez or Alison Dunlap. You probably couldn't ride their times or beat them in a race, but if properly trained, you could approach your potential as they have theirs. While we each have different genetic gifts for off-road cycling, most of us have the ability to fully realize our promise if we go about our training with intelligence and restraint. Whether you choose to try and maximize your talent or simply to obtain the greatest possible fitness benefits from your riding, the results will depend largely on how you train. As we begin the New Year, let's explore some of the key concepts used by many great athletes in designing their overall training program for the year. Much of what separates the good cyclist from the back-of-the-pack cyclist is their individuality, consistency, slow progression, fulfillment and goal-selection concepts from which we can all benefit. Individuality First, you must plan your training to your needs, abilities and routines. While we must listen to the training programs of elite riders, read books and articles on training, you must know your strengths and weaknesses. What is good for Steve Larson, the 1998 and 2000 NORBA cross-country national champion, may not be good for you. The smart cyclist listens to everyone and then selects what is best for his or her training. In addition, you must also train your weaknesses: if you are a poor climber, make sure to spend time on climbing technique and building anaerobic power, so you climb better in your first race of the season. Too often, we train at what we are good at already, and neglect our weaknesses. By strengthening your weaknesses, you will become a better all-around cyclist. Consistency It is more important to do less more often than to do more less often. When in doubt about a ride, the choice that will improve consistency is to be conservative. Often it is better to do less than more. You'll probably avoid the three major reasons most athletes spend time away from training: injury, illness and lack of motivation. Ned Overend, a multiple national champion, has attributed much of his success to his ability to race less, train consistently and take a few days off his bicycle every few weeks. He also pointed out the need to monitor his state of health and fitness during a long, hard season, which lasts from early March to late September. Slow Progression Along with a consistency in your training, there should be a progression in training volume and intensity that taxes your body enough to improve it, but not enough to cause it to break down. Again, if in doubt, be conservative. You'll get there. Whether your goal is to climb faster as soon as possible or to finish in the top 10 at the national championships, the season is long and you need to build to a peak during the months of July and August, and not in April. A champion's path to end-of-the-season success shows that the shortest path may be the one that appears the longest and slowest. The cyclists that were flying in March were not necessarily the ones with strong legs when the season was winding down in September. Fulfillment This can be defined as a challenge or goal you enjoy working toward, while feeling good about yourself and what you are doing. You need this to psychologically stay with any endeavor. However, if you demand too much of yourself too often, your body (especially your immune and endocrine systems) will be unable to respond to the requests you put upon it. You will be more susceptible to injury and illness, and you may even find yourself dissatisfied with cycling. Goal Selection Your goal should be a major race or race series of the season. Your goal could be finishing in the top five in the Colorado Off-Road Points Series or placing in the top five in 10 races this season, but it could also be the fulfillment of other cycling aspirations. If in doubt about some matter regarding your training, racing, commitment or equipment selection, the question you must ask yourself is, "How will this decision affect my goal?" Whatever enhances the accomplishment of that goal and doesn't interfere with consistency is probably the best answer. Though few of you have all the time you'd like to devote to mountain biking, you still take it seriously and every once in a while seek to test yourself as a cyclist. Following the above ideas and suggestions will give you a sound and proven methods for better performance in the upcoming season. Dr. Edmund R. Burke was among the pioneers in applying scientific principles to endurance sports training, especially cycling. As an exercise physiologist, he was responsible for several advances in sports drink formulation and almost single-handedly developed the subcategory of performance recovery drinks. A former director of the Center for Science, Medicine and Technology at the U.S. Cycling Federation in Colorado Springs, he worked with the U.S. Olympic cycling team during the 1980 and '84 Games. Dr. Burke is the author of 17 books on fitness, training and physiology, including the best-selling Optimal Muscle Recovery.  When you have limited time to ride, it's often very hard to "sacrifice" that very precious time with a warm-up. Sometimes it's just the excitement of getting out on our bikes that makes us start too hard, or perhaps you're at the mercy of a group ride that sprints out of the parking lot. While almost anyone who's raced has most likely warmed-up and believes in the value of warm-up, many choose to omit a warm-up before a group or solo ride or a training session.
So is skipping a warm-up a big deal? If you are interested in putting forth your best performance and just feeling better, I believe so. Although science on the cool-down is not so clear, there is indeed much research supporting the notion that a warm-up provides a performance benefit. Here are five reasons why you may want to make sure you always work in a warm up before you rides. 1. Increase Body Temperature It doesn't take much to see that this is probably where the term "warming-up" comes from. We are literally increasing our body temperatures. While getting too hot can be detrimental, the enzymes that are linked to energy production get fired up with this increase in temperature. This means your muscles will be better able to do the work you're about to ask of them. 2. Increase Blood Flow and Circulation Our muscles need blood to do work. By increasing our heart rate slowly during a warm-up, we'll be also increasing the muscular blood flow. Our body gets the signal that we need to start dedicating more of the blood for our muscles, again getting them ready and capable of doing the upcoming work. 3. Establish Range of Motion According to Cyclist.co.UK and sport scientist Greg Whyte: ‘The muscle fibres need to be activated, which means increasing bloodflow and establishing range of motion. These muscles include those associated with respiration – the diaphragm and intercostals – that assist with breathing and supplying oxygen to the muscles. More oxygen to the muscles equals better performance.’ So it's more than just our leg muscles, it's also the muscles involved in breathing that can get better activated. Bonus! 4. Reduces Muscle Stiffness and Increase Speed of Nerve Conduction Think of a piece of meat that's straight from the freezer. Certainly not very flexible at all. Now consider one out of the refrigerator. More flexible, but still perhaps a bit "stiff." Now let it heat up to room temperature and a bit above, and it becomes more an more flexible. The same is true with our muscles. It's not as large a shift as frozen to thawed, but that increase in temperature can make our muscles more flexible which means they can move more easily. While this is happening, the speed of nerve conduction is increased, which means the signals get communicated more quickly. Some also believe that this will help to prevent injuries, but there is not much science behind. To me, however, that does make some sense in that supple muscles seem less likely to get aggravated with doing hard work. 5. Prepare Yourself Mentally for Your Ride or Workout While this one does not have quite the same science behind it as it's hard to measure, many believe this is a very important and beneficial piece of warming-up. This aspect may even be more important than the purely physiological ones. By consciously preparing our mind, we can get focused on what's coming up. This may be simply detaching yourself from your other worldly tasks, problems, and concerns. Those chores, work projects, e-mails, etc. won't get done while you're out on your ride. During the warm-up is a great time to "put them in a box" and put that box on a shelf in your mind. They haven't gone away, but don't let them creep into your focus and fun while riding your bike. On a more dramatic level, if you're too distracted to focus on your ride, you may become a safety concern not only for yourself but others around you. I can definitely remember crashing at least once on my mountain bike after having been distracted with my thoughts. In a future post, I'll write about some guidelines for your warm-ups. For now I'll suggest taking at least 10 minutes to slowly increase your heart rate, and if there is going to be hard efforts or a fast group ride start involved, one or two "hard" efforts of 30-60 seconds. If you want a better ride, take the time to warm-up. What do you do for a warm-up? Do you skip warm-ups? Thoughts? Ideas? Questions? Please post below. Here are some great resources to check if out if you want to learn more: Articles: https://www.velonews.com/training/training-warming-up-for-better-results/ https://www.bicycling.com/training/a20040253/the-right-way-to-warm-up-for-every-ride/ https://www.cyclingweekly.com/fitness/do-you-need-to-warm-up-cycling-328966 https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/2399/cycling-fitness-do-i-really-need-to-warm-up https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowledge/article/izn20140115-Intermediate-Warming-Up-and-Cooling-Down-0 Podcast: https://www.fasttalklabs.com/fast-talk/forget-what-you-thought-you-knew-about-warm-ups/ Thanks for reading. Coach Brian  With 'cross starting in late August in many places, we have the opportunity to experience dry and fast courses, relative to what we typically encounter later in the season. Your preparation for these races can and should be different than for the later season cold, muddy, and possibly snowy/icy events.
Although from 2017, this article presented by CX Magazine discusses ways to help you make the most of these dry and fast courses, as well as how to use them as a springboard for the rest of your season. The "old school" racer in me still misses racing mountain bikes in the early fall and then starting 'cross in October/November, I certainly don't mind the ease of bike cleaning. And clothing selection for these hot races takes a lot less guess work! Something else I've witnessed in CX Races when the ground is consistently hard and dry is the toll it can take on tires, particularly tubulars. I recall one season specifically where it was very dry through October, and folks were rolling tubulars left and right, myself included. The extra speed we can carry into the corners can generate a lot more force on the tire, and after many weekends of this it can spell the end of a nice relationship between your tire and the rim. I've long since switched to tubeless, but even those, at low pressure, can be folded over and burped or worse. I've had that joy, too, and "rolled" the tire right off the front rim on a high speed downhill sweeper. Fortunately it was grass (albeit the grass felt like concrete : ) ) and not far from the pit, so I grabbed my second bike was able to continue. Take all this into consideration with your glue job and tire pressure choices. Good time to interject a solid article on tyres and tyre pressure from Bike Rader: How to choose the best cyclocross tyres for you (and how to set your tyre pressure for CX racing) I particularly like the paragraph from the CX Magazine article: "Feel free to give yourself some space on these courses too. There’s no sense in letting someone else take out your front wheel in a corner because you were following too closely. You can conserve a lot of energy leaving a small gap into the corner and then coasting through it to close the gap rather than having to brake and sprint hard. This is assuming, of course, you can keep the riders behind you from trying to jump into the gap." Far too often I've watched racers in all fields follow too closely in these fast races and get taken out by the rider in front because they had no time to react due to the speeds. Or, they try to force a pass and end up taking out the rider in front, themselves, and many times a rider or two behind. When the speed is up, a little space is ok. Keeping in mind the idea also presented above that you don't want to create a gap so large others will want to close it, or one too big to close down yourself. Enjoy the article! CX Magazine TRAINING TUESDAY: USING RACING TACTICS ON FAST SEPTEMBER COURSES TO JUMP START YOUR SEASON New to 'cross racing? Never tried it but want to give it a try? Give me a shout and I can help! Contact Brian Comments or questions? Please post below. Cheers, Coach Brian Here in the North East, it's starting to hot up quite a bit. If not prepared, training and riding in the heat and humidity can wreck your day and potentially days to follow. Good news is that our bodies do adapt, but you must get out there and ride in the heat to realize these adaptations.
Here are some tips that can help you as you begin riding in the heat, and even after your body has experienced some positive adaptations. 1. Drink enough fluids during the day. It is widely agreed upon that everyBODY needs a different amount of fluids per day, and many outside factors can impact this quantity. For me in the summer, I know I'm right around 6 quarts a day to make sure I'm in a good place. I use a gallon jug of water at work to be sure that I'm taking in enough water. Sometimes trying to count bottles or glasses can be misleading, and it's better for the environment to refill. As I wrote, everybody has different hydration requirements but it's widely agreed upon that athletes need more water during hotter temperatures. 2. Drink enough during training and racing. It's hot...you're going to sweat more. It's impossible to "stay ahead of it" as we often say, but you can minimize your losses. 3. Eat enough during the day and during rides. The hotter weather sometimes suppresses your appetite, so watch your intake. It's important to keep your energy levels high as you may be increasing your volume and/or intensity as the days are longer and the weather is nicer. Side note--check out this article: Lose Weight by Eating More 4. Take advantage of the neutral support in races and rides. Stop at the aid stations, top off your bottles and/or hydration pack, dose yourself with some cool water, and get some calories if the duration warrants. Just do watch your time at an aid station if you're in a competitive event. It's not a smorgasbord...go into it with a plan of what you're going to grab, grab it, and get out. 5. Stop on a training ride to refill. You can often find delis and the like that will gladly refill your bottles with another purchase. I'll often bring a little pack of drink mix with me on long rides to help with the taste of tap water. If you live in super hot areas like Flagstaff, AZ, there will be coolers of ice cold water outside of each restaurant--it's the law apparently! No matter what, carry some cash (some small shops still have a minimum purchase for credit cards) and fill up. Again, you can be efficient and not lose too much time. I've also been wearing my hydration pack more frequently on my longer rides so I can avoid stopping during these past couple of years. 6. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. This should be the case year round, of course, but the summer offers us some great treats. Watermelon is very high in potassium, one of our essential electrolytes. And the water content of most fruits and vegetables is very high and will serve your body well. 7. Keep tabs on your sodium intake. Since I mentioned electrolytes, make sure you're taking in enough of the electrolyte that is lost in the greatest quantity in our sweat: sodium. Check out this great article: Are you getting enough electrolytes? 8. Cool yourself during and after workouts. The recovery process is sped up the faster you can cool your core. It's also great for the joints and muscles. A cold shower, or a sit in a cold stream can do wonders. The stream idea can be used mid-ride, too. If you have access to a cold plunge, that's the DEAL! I've found these techniques to be VERY effective. 9. Apply lotion and sun screen. If your body's resources are being used to heal damaged skin, it's less energy that you can spend on repairing the damage done by racing and training. 10. Eat foods that agree with you. Find those trigger foods and avoid them when in the height of training and racing. Again, if your body doesn't digest well, it can't use those resources and nutrients for your cycling goals. 11. Take time for yourself. Training in general takes its toll on our bodies, and riding in challenging weather conditions can take us into even further deficit. Try to eliminate stress as much as possible and take a little time for yourself each day. Just sit and be calm, even if for just a few minutes. You can't add hours in the day, and stressing over not being able to train like you want won't change anything. 12. Keep smiling and have fun! Remember why we ultimately all do our great sport! Work hard and enjoy! Coach B.L.
No, anyone who knows me even as an one time acquaintance probably knows that I absolutely love bike racing! I was asked to join in on this Bicycles to the Rescue Podcast to share my opinions on the subject. It was a lot of fun and brought out some interesting discussions. Brendan and Kevin do a great job with their podcasts...check them out here:
Bicycles to the Rescue Podcasts As for me, I've always been pretty passionate about bikes, and then I participated in my first mountain bike race in 1993. It was only about 6 miles long, up and down a ski slope, over some of the most challenging and scariest terrain I had ever ridden. Some of it was less riding and more hanging on for dear life. I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest and that my lungs would burst. Or that my legs would catch on fire they burned so badly. I finished somewhere in the middle of the pack of college kids. Nothing to write home about for sure. But I couldn't wait until I could do it again! I was hooked. Despite racing for a few years, I was not into reading about racing or watching racing. I do remember watching the mountain bikers in the Atlanta Olympics, but besides that cycling was limited at best but also not something that really held my interest. However, in 1997, after a few years of road racing, I began to be intrigued thanks to a mentor of mine constantly referring to pro races he had seen. He was often "commentate" on sections of our training rides together and it always made me smile. But I never really watched much. Jump ahead a couple of years and Lance Armstrong certainly caught my attention, along with the attention cyclists and non-cyclists around the globe. I instantly became a fan of at least the Tour, which slowly morphed into an avid viewer of any bicycle race I was fortunate enough to catch on TV or record on my VHS. Well, there's not many folks who don't know how the Lance story turned out. {Coincidentally, when I get done with this post, I can't wait to sit down and watch ESPN's 30 for 30 on Lance, Part 2.) Although there have been many cyclists caught cheating, this incredible saga perhaps dealt the greatest blow to the sport. Through recent changes in doping control, we see that the cheating has trickled down to amateur levels as well. Racers are getting popped at the big events, so who knows what's going on even at the local level. There's even a little needle icon on some results compiling websites so you know who's been busted or not. As a fan, it's certainly disappointing. I want to believe that these amazing men and women of the professional ranks can do these "superhuman" feats without the aid of performance enhancing drugs. I understand that this may be a naive look at the sport, but I still want to believe. As a competitor, yes, it's bothersome to think that someone may beat me and many others due to performance enhancing drugs. Although it's not drugs, I was "beat" by a racer who cut the course in the 2013 Hampshire 100k Elite Mountain Bike Race. I was shortly afterwards awarded the win once the truth came out, but it definitely left me with a weird feeling inside. So when top finishers may have gotten there due to doping, it's definitely deflating. HOWEVER, I am still a fan. I will continue to be a fan and believe in the goodness of the racers and their support staff. I love the drama. I love the action. I love the perseverance. HOWEVER, I am still a racer. I will continue to be a racer and believe that we are all on a level playing field as far as the rules are concerned. I will continue to do my best and have fun and persevere. So while I don't think watching bike racing is for everyone, nor is racing bikes. But bike racing is certainly not stupid. It's a beautiful sport and we just have to hope that when racing returns, whenever that may be, it can be cleaner than ever! Until then...keep riding and stay safe. Cheers, Coach Brian This past weekend, I led a super mountain bike clinic for beginners. Although the ability levels varied, most had limited trail and even cycling experience. As an avid racer and race supporter, I would like to hope that some would dip their toe into the world of competitive cycling, I understand that pinning on a number is not for everyone.
Thinking about this made me reflect on a post that I wrote last summer, and it's worth revisiting. In my opinion, even the die-hard racer should take a step back from time and recognize their small victories and take time to enjoy the journey. As Ferris Bueller said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." My original post from 7/19/17 https://www.bjlcoaching.com/bls-blog/its-not-just-about-the-podium Keep on keepin' on! Coach Brian |
AuthorCoach B.L. is the head coach at BJL Coaching and an avid racer and cycling enthusiast himself. Categories
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