Happy Halloween! In honor of one of my favorite holidays, today’s blog post covers one of the scariest topics in sport: goal setting. Now I know, I know, there are better ways to incorporate Halloween into a blog post (like how slow and steady can win the race). Instead, goal setting is the focus as it’s that time of year when athletes and coaches start to think about next season.
Read MoreThere is plenty of commentary at the moment on the “state” of professional cycling. Folks don’t usually seem to refer to the current affairs as a “state” when it’s in a good way, so I guess it’s simple enough to say it’s in a bad way.
Just in the US teams have been folding, some of our best riders are struggling to find jobs, it takes a bit of the fun out of it. People are frustrated, angry, confused. I don’t know if it is necessarily confusing - I am not sure that sponsors of domestic cycling teams get much in terms of any return on investment. Sponsorship at least on the domestic level probably does not really make sense regarding return on investment, it comes down to enthusiasm and philanthropy. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but a thing that in my opinion needs to be realized and embraced. I don’t want to get too far down that road though as there is plenty of opinion and commentary out there, and in no way do I feel I’m an authority to speak on it.
Read MoreJust because the summer racing season is over, doesn’t mean all the fun is over. In fact, this has always been one of my favorite times of the year. Racing is over, fitness is high, and the Fall weather is keeping things cool and crisp. All of this adds up to be the perfect recipe for an adventure ride.
The adventure ride is unique in that each person will have their own interpretation. At its essence though, the adventure ride is about losing the training structure, pushing yourself, and having fun.
Read MoreI recently lined up and raced on the Kokopelli Trail. The race started at midnight in Fruita Colorado and ended in Moab Utah. The race covers around 142 miles and around 14000 feet of elevation gain. Terrain wise the trail covers most of the different types of topography mountain biking has to offer. This, coupled with being forced to ride through the night guarantees AT LEAST 12 to 13 hours in the saddle. It is a unique challenge and took an extensive amount of preparation and mental fortitude. Nate kindly asked me to share my thoughts on the experience, and below is a basic run down of how I prepared and how the race itself went.
Read MoreAt the end of July, Sam Dolzani strung together some big rides split by two weeks. First up was the Laramie Enduro on July 28th, where he took the win. Second was the Steamboat Stinger on August 11th, where he took fourth. What we’ve got here is two days, in relatively close proximity (in the scope of the whole season), of similar effort and both strong performances. We thought it might be interesting to line up the data next to each other, see the similarities and differences, and talk a bit about how we bridged the gap between the two races to keep the engine running hot.
Read MoreThis week we're diving into a Q and A with one of our athletes, Keegan Swirbul. Keegan is hot off a 7th on GC at the Tour of Utah. A result we're proud of and worked for, but also maybe the tip of the iceberg. Read on for more...
Q: You were just 7th on GC at Utah, highlighted by a 5th place on the final day. Can you walk us through that ride a bit? How did you feel?
Read MoreThe increased amount of data athletes can collect about their training has helped to push the boundaries of what we thought was possible. However, this has come at a price. Some athletes are too dependent on data when they race. While post-race data analysis is key for improving performance, real-time data analysis can actually hurt performance.
Read More“Injury”, it is a bit of an interesting term. An interesting term because it can span such a range of issues, and such a range of repercussions. A scrape from a slide out in a corner is a fair injury, but so is a concussion that might keep an athlete out of training for a couple months if not longer. The implications vary, but the term stays the same. That said the goal here is not to have a ramble on semantics, rather to have a rant on dealing with injury.
Read MoreFor a sprinter to prepare for the Tour de France, is like me baking a cake (but not one of those box cakes!) it takes time, a few key ingredients, definitely a lot of patience, and also the confidence that the process is going to pay off. That said, there are a lot of different cakes – some come out great, and some do not – it takes years to perfect. It may be simple to define some of the baseline demands of being a Tour de France sprinter, however the execution is anything but simple.
Read MoreTime 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.
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Vain Musings
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