Training Tips

Come race day- your nutrition is a very important part to have a successful day on the bike. Eat a meal 2.5 to 3 hours pre-race. This is your last chance to fuel your body for the race.

It's officially the start of "Stage Racing" season and riders are priming their legs and lungs for the first set of performance(s). All the off-season training and preparation will be displayed as athletes anxiously await in the final countdown before "game time." There are two aspects behind preparation for a Stage Race: the physical time and energy and the mental aspects.

Everyone is excited to finally pin on a number and make use of all the training during the winter months. But in order to have success, you should be well prepared for race day. Ideally one should have a race day routine and maybe even a checklist that will help get the mind into the game.

In order to have success in a race, you have to be prepared for the race. Great training alone won’t do it. This means you have to know the facts about the race and race course and then come up with a tactic on how you can reach your goal for the race.

"Getting back to racing this year taught me some good lessons. It was a modest re-introduction, don't get me wrong. There have been some issues in the last couple years that certainly didn't help, but a lot of it was on me. I just needed to make the time and commit. That took more than I expected."

Preparing for race day is more than training and recovery. by Alison Powers, ALP Cycles Coaching The art of being prepared comes down to one simple thing – no surprises on race day. Preparing for race day is more than training and recovery. Success on race day requires precise preparation. This means the things you […]

…cluttering that routine with unnecessary rules is a good way to keep chaotic dialogue going in your head. by Jennifer Sharp, ALP Cycles Coaching This past April and May, I had the pleasure of racing the Cherry Creek Time trial series with ALP Cycles Coaching Athlete, Kimberly Hodes. Kimberly (who is very goal driven – […]

“Chicago Women’s Elite Cycling Team Warming up for the Time Trail at Joe Martin Stage Race.” by  Jennifer Sharp, ALP Cycles Coaching 3% You spend money on equipment, coaching, nutritional advice, etc. yet are you getting the most out of your racing? If you knew that you could improve your cycling by 3% and increase […]

“Race season is here!” by  Jennifer Sharp, ALP Cycles Coaching As winter becomes a distant memory and spring arrives with a bang – you can look back and reflect on the dozens of intervals, hours of gym workouts, and mental preparation you’ve devoted to the dark winter months. Race season is here! Whether you’ve been […]

“We rode to the Louisville Criterium course, a moderate course with 1 tough corner and an uphill finishing stretch that is usually windy.” by ALP Cycles Coaching We think the most important thing a coach can do for her/his athletes, is to ride with them. So much knowledge and information can be gained from seeing […]

What does it really mean to work together as a team? by Patricia Schwager, ALP Cycles Coaching For my May blogpost, I chose to write about teamwork. What does it really mean to work together as a team? And what does it require? It isn’t that easy and it takes a while to put a […]

by Stephen Gallagher, Dig Deep Coaching Head Coach Vacation, kids off for the summer, demands in work or perhaps reduced motivation for the bike, all can play their part at this time of the year.  This is where the importance of CONSISTENCY comes into play even more so. So you have been committing to getting […]

by Stephen Gallagher, DigDeep Coaching Head Coach As a coach and rider, I fully understand the importance of the science of training and the necessity to concentrate on your functional threshold power (FTP), Vo2max and sprint etc.  How this directly impacts on your fitness and, in turn, enables you to gain results and performances in […]