Time trials are called “the race of truth” because it’s just rider and machine against the clock with the fittest person winning. I interpret things differently. My interpretation is that time trials are the race of truth because if you don’t know how to pace them, the truth is, you’re going to have a bad time.
Read MoreThis week we’ve got a guest blog post from Catalyst athlete Aaron Mahoney. He’s made the transition from triathlon to road bike racing. Here he describes some of the lessons he’s learned along the way. Enjoy!
When I went to college, I took up triathlon, racing a handful of times during the summer. This culminated with racing Ironman Wisconsin last summer where I placed 19th in my age group. During my time training for triathlon, I always looked forward to the bike days. So, after finishing up my Ironman, I decided to try my hand at racing bikes. What follows is a list of the things I felt made up the bulk of my learning curve when adjusting from one sport to the other.
Read MoreThis week we’ve got a guest post from Catalyst athlete Landry Bobo! As a relatively new cat 2, he discusses what he’s learned in making the jump from cat 3 to doing some races with the pros. Enjoy!
It’s the 2012 Morgul Bismarck—my first ever road race. I’m about to line up for a 30 mile course in the Junior Men 15-16 category. As I ride towards the start area, I pass the Pro-1-2 Men’s field that is already lined up for their race.
Read MoreWe’re constantly being told that stress is bad, but it’s not that simple. Stress has different forms. In the sports world, physical stress plays an important role for improving performance. Training puts stress on the body and you need this physical stress so that the body will adapt and get stronger.
Read MoreFive, four, three, two, one - GO! The 2018 Gila TT began, I pushed off, and a few out of the saddle pedals later I was down in the aero position holding myself back while adrenaline shot through my body.
When I crossed the line 37 minutes later the moto that had been following me came up to my side and said “Nice ride dude! I think you put at least 90 seconds into the guy closest to you.” It turns out I had put 5 minutes into him, finished in 3rd place, and beaten my best Gila TT time by 2 minutes.
Read MoreIt’s 30 min before the start of the race, Jake has his aero gloves on, he’s just lathered his legs with topical sodium bicarbonate, pockets are loaded with the finest packets of glucose, fructose and caffeine, power meter calibrated, wheel choice verified as the best for this course by Best Bike Split. Jake is dialed, no reason not to win.
Read MoreWhen you’re just starting off, the best way to improve on the bike, is to ride the bike. As you get better and better though, what you do off the bike really starts to matter. In other words, preparing for and recovering from rides makes a world of difference. For this post, I’ll talk about some of the key things you can do.
Read MoreRunning and cycling, two sports with a lot of similarities, and even in triathlon – two sports that people train for concurrently. However, there are also big differences. On a simple level – and being FAR from an expert – I think when we look at running next to cycling, with regards to metabolics, oxygen demand, and HR response, we see super similar figures and demands. Where the sports start to diverge in demands is the mechanics. Without going down too much of a rabbit hole, on a bike the athlete is limited by oxygen uptake and transport largely, with the bike taking care of the mechanics. However, running, athletes can have super different economies (how fast they can go for their internal effort), based on the mechanics of the body (tendon stiffness, technique, etc). I’d say those differences are simplified in general, and that I am far from an authority to talk on this topic.
Read MoreJust like the fashion world, the science world has trends. What are the hot fashion trends right now? You’ll have to ask Nate… As for the latest craze in science, it’s gut bacteria.
First, a short review on bacteria. Bacteria are about a tenth of the size of human cells and are found everywhere in the world, including inside you and on your skin. In fact, you have more bacteria cells in and on you than you have human cells (estimates vary and go up to a ratio of 10:1 (1)).
Read More10 years ago I got my first power meter. There were two "real choices" I can think of - PowerTap and SRM. There were some "other choices" - Ergometer, iBike, and probably some others I'm missing. At that point training with power was certainly popular and established, but it wasn't what it is today. Today it often feels like power meters are on bikes like bar tape - I'm sure there's some people out there riding without bar tap, but it's not really done, and why? A lotta folks are training with a power meter. I was just at a team camp, and these kiddos are rocking 3-4 different bikes, between training bikes, racing bikes, TT bikes, and they've definitely all got power meters. Well, point being - power meters are popular as hell. The pros have them, and trickle down economics is a thing.
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