It has been a very busy couple of weeks at The Coached Cyclist. Several new articles and a guest blogger @PamelotH gave us another great article on time management. While all this has been going on I have been training, racing and taking the daughter to soccer. What is the most exciting aspect of the last couple of weeks is that I am almost prepared to open Positive Performance Coaching to the public.

Our logo and web site are almost complete, training services have been outlined and The Coached Cyclist content has been moved. Yep you read correctly The Coached Cyclist content has been moved. What this means is that once the Positive Performance Coaching site has been announced I will be writing all my articles on the new site. No worries The Coached Cyclist will remain for a bit longer but not likely to have any content updates until the announcement is made in the very near future.

Thanks everyone who has played a role both small and large in this new venture.

Rob

I hear quite a few cyclists, not just racers; say I wish I was faster in the hills or the flats. When its someone I know I ask what are you doing to reach this goal? The usual answer is I am riding more or contemplating purchasing lighter wheels or even a lighter bike. Yes a lighter bike will help some but the best investment you make is in you. You are the engine that powers the goal of going faster!

When I start making recommendations for strength training the first comment I get, before finishing usually, is I don’t want to get bigger. A coach once told me the more muscle mass you carry the more there is to hurt. Irrelevant but funny.

The other issue I run into is that many cyclists make assumptions about their performance on the bike. Some cyclists may have developed their VO2 Max, Lactate Threshold, Force Production and have recruited all the Fast Twitch muscle fibers they have or maybe not. This is the whole point; they have not tested to learn what their weakness is. They may find that actually instead of training a weakness they have been training a strength. So how does one truly find out what their weakness is? We test, then we test again and then we test some more. Fitness tests do not have to be expensive as a matter of fact there are tests to cover each and every thing I have mentioned above that can be done in the field or at home on your trainer.

Myth number 1 I get to hear over and over again about cyclists developing strength is that lifting weights is bad for a cyclist or that lifting weights is great for cyclist. In reality both are correct. There are different reasons for cyclists to lift weights for part of the season or even all season long. So which one is it for you? Depending on age, health, former injuries, the type of cyclist you are, you’re goals and what fitness tests have discovered about your current fitness is what will determine the kind of weight training program you should or should not undertake. Long sentence I know but I am trying to make a point. There is quite a bit that must be understood before jumping into a weight training program for any cyclist.

Myth number 2 I encounter is that stretching won’t make me faster. While the act of stretching itself will not make an impact on the development of pedal force it will do quite a bit for performance! Those who have read my articles and know me know I am huge proponent of stretching whenever I can. I also have been known to say “A flexible rider is a confident rider and a confident rider is a fast and safe rider.” Stretching first and foremost serves to functions to the cyclist: Flexibility and Recovery. Flexibility allows the cyclist to maintain a more relaxed position on the bike when others would grimace at the thought of riding in the drops into a headwind for an hour straight. Stretching for recovery allows the body to begin the healing process after a long hard ride or race. It also allows for muscle fibers to be elongated which I have been told allows for greater recruitment of slow twitch muscle fibers. I am not sure how much I believe this but I do know that once I stretch 10, 15, 30 minutes after a race or training ride I feel better, I sleep better and I perform better the next day.

Myth number 3 I hear from time to time is that such and such new DVD training program is exactly what I need to get stronger. Yes you will get stronger but you could also get injured or make yourself sick. Do not forget to consult with a Doctor before taking on any training program regardless of age or sex. While I do several of the things outlined in some of these DVDs I do not do them at the intensity, length or frequency described in their commercials. Don’t get me wrong there are some fantastic training DVDs for cyclists and non cyclists alike. Before you invest your hard earned money ask around and see who has tried them and see what results they have gotten.

I have left out quite a few other methods for developing strength such as, Meditation, Core Work, Yoga, and Pilates. While I do not have direct experience with Pilates I have been told it can be an alternative to Yoga. I have found that meditation will clear my head and allow me to focus better on the upcoming race goals and reduce race day jitters. I know meditation doesn’t make my muscles stronger but sometimes all that you have left is your mind to convince your body to work harder. Core work is something all cyclists need to invest time in. Core development will make for smoother and more powerful cyclist! I can’t begin to share enough on this subject. It has helped me immensely. The Yoga I have done from time-time along with Core and stretching has helped me to become more balanced and less twitchy in Criteriums when the pressure is on.

I think it’s pretty obvious by now that I have not prescribed any training program to anyone in the article. Instead I have described some training methodologies and potential means for getting stronger and faster. Sometimes it’s better to be able to ask a good question then to be given an uninformed answer. To this point seek out the help of professionals, teammates with experience or friends with experience in the above types of training. I have been lifting weights since I was 13 years old and yes I have injured myself more than once. I now work with a Strength Coach when planning my season or when I have questions about developing some new aspect of strength. I also have tried many other programs on core and flexibility training. It wasn’t until I started working with a Sports Medicine Doctor a couple of years ago that I was able to repair some imbalances and begin to truly reap the rewards of a core and flexibility program. I also have a teammate who has been a Yoga Practitioner for years and have hit him up several times on what makes for correct posture in many of the poses and found several times I was doing it wrong.

If you are confused further by the above I completely understand! It has taken me years to get as far as I have in my understanding of developing my fitness for racing and sometimes just so I can train harder. If you find yourself asking more and more questions and finding fewer and fewer questions or worse not meeting your goals it’s time to speak with a Cycling Coach.

First call is on me! TO learn more about what a cycling coach can do for you contact me Rob Grissom at (502) 509-7624 or Rob@PositivePerformance.com

Have a great week and ride some new roads.

A friend of mine noticed on a recent race report that I had mentioned setting up a teammate to attack. He was wanting to know what went into this. I told him that it was pretty straight forward. Then I thought about all the different ways there are to attack. So rather then give away what type of attack was used in that particular race I thought I would post a few of my favorites.

Before I list my favorites you might or should be asking your self why should I attack in a race. Even better why shouldn’t I attack in a race. An attack is when a rider with or with out help will suddenly sprint away from the group he or she is with. These attacks are done primarily to peel off weaker racers, or those not paying attention and to possibly just possibly get away and stay away for a win. I have witnessed larger and more organized teams put one attack out after another to wear down an entire peleton with two or more riders in reserve so that they are but guaranteed a win at the sprint.

When one team attacks its inevitable that one of four things are going to occur.

1. Another team or team’s will respond to join in the attack to create a break or to reel in the rider by slowly over time settling the pace down to where the main group (peleton) can catch them.
2. The peleton will let the attacker go knowing they don’t have the legs to go for a break away and wait for them to come back to the peleton.
3. The attacker(s) attack for purely psychological reasons. This is done in an effort to show superiority or to break down weaker riders. What new riders don’t understand is that very few attacks lead to much and the pace will settle down. Instead they go all out on every attack and wonder why they are off the back heaving. Been there done that.
4. The attack is successful either because the peleton is to tired/weak to catch the break or do not believe it will stick. This is when the break away artist must have Time Trialing strengths to stay away.

Here are some of my favorite Attack tactics:

Attack when it hurts

If you have been keeping up with the main group or the break away group then the likely hood that you are the only one hurting is probably pretty narrow. This is a great time to attack. More than likely everyone will require the same amount of time to recover. You won’t see this happen much in amateur ranks but Pros are known to attack right after attacking! The element of surprise plays a big roll in attacking successfully.

Lead out an attack

Often when teams are well organized and bunch together at the front of the peleton this is where one rider can jump off the front hopefully only with one teammate in tow and sling shot them out further and faster than if they were doing it all by them selves. Teams that are smart won’t allow this to happen by simply not allowing to many teams to organize at the front of the peleton. There is also the threat of this happening off the back or the middle of the peleton but it can be tricky to execute due to road constraints or team communication. You know, the guy who yells out what everyone is doing.

False attack/Lazy attack

Not really sure this one counts as an attack but it can still serve to wear out other riders. When a rider finds themselves rested and drifting to the front and the pace slows down to the point of frustration especially on a down hill section go off the front at speed faster than the peleton. They may or may not try to bring you back if you have legs attack again and begin your time trial.

Surges and more surges

Surges aren’t really attacks but I thought I would mention them because they serve some of the same purposes. Primarily weakining riders and limiting field sizes. Surging needs to be done from the front of the peleton and it needs to be done with out telegraphing it. To do it you just want 2-3 revolutions of your spin to be a bit more powerful then the last 2-3 revolutions. DO NOT do this more than a few times, you can wear your self out. What happens is that this effort is magnified ten fold in a large peleton and has an accordion effect to those in the last third of the peleton. This accordion effect requires those in the back to work much harder than those on the front to hang on. In lower category races this happens in most road races with out actually trying!

Attacking in out of corners

The tactic of attacking corners is very effective psychologically in Road Races but especially Criteriums. When approaching a corner sprint away from the front into the corner then sprint again out of the corner. The goal is to get threw as many corners as you to where the peleton can no longer see you (Out of sight out of mind). To be truly effective using this tactic you need to have a teammate/supporter not racing call out the time splits so you know if you are working to hard or not hard enough. You will know if your attack is leading to a successful break away when you time splits hold or the announcers tells you that you are about to lap the field.

Thanks to my teammates of Main Street Velo for offering up shots from various races this spring!