Cycling training should not be made more difficult than it already is. Consider how many cyclists who have won great races, championships and honour without knowing anything significant about cycling training principles, nutrition or training planning (not to mention heart rate monitors, power meters etc.) There are a lot athletes having success, because they have talent and do a lot of clever things without knowing it: They train hard, they rest and they eat proper amounts of food.

Thus, they make above 95% of their potential performance by doing these things right. Advanced training methods can only add a few watts to this, but in tough competitions these can be crucial. But for a beginning it can be valuable to read these articles to avoid the most common mistakes and understand the basic principles of high quality cycling training:

Recovery Tips for Cyclists

Basic Principles of Cycling Training

Heart Rate Monitor Training Mistakes

Strength Training Mistakes

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Most races end up in a bunch sprint, which normally is exclusively for the sprinters. But it is only a small percentage of Training4cyclists.com’s readers who are pure sprinters and play a role on the last 200m. I will now make a short description of how you can win the next bunch sprint – at least in the theory…

1. Pick your parents carefully
When it comes to true sprinters, genes play a big role. Sprinters are born to be sprinters. It is said that you can make a slow donkey to a faster donkey, but you can never make a donkey to a race horse. This animal is simply born to be slow and it is the same situation for many non-sprinters. Naturally born sprinters have a higher percentage of fast twitch fibres than normal people. Road cycling sprinters are not as pure sprinters as you see them in track and field. This is because the sprinters have to carry themselves a long distance before they can see the finish line.
Before you give up, it is important to notice that in many races, stronger riders use the terrain to challenge the sprinters before the final 200m. They attack on the hills and make jumps in the crosswinds. That is their chance to beat the sprinters. So if you already know that the sprinters are faster than you, then you have 3 options: Attack, attack, attack… Got it?

2. Be patient
Save your energy for the final km. Until then, your job is to get through the race as easily as possible. There are many riders who could do a reasonable sprint, but they do not do it as they spend energy on desperate attacks because they do not believe in themselves. So make your decision before the race and stick to it. If you decide to go for the sprint, do it 100 percent. Otherwise forget about it.

3. Get in position
Sprint is all about position. If you are not in position you will never win a sprint even if you are the fastest sprinter. Keep the wheel of a sprinter you know is going to be among the first riders. If you are lucky or talented, you might have team mates that will help you get in position.

4. Be strong
Power is important, and for sprinters power is essential. If you want to make an incredibly fast sprint, you’ve got to train for it. That means specific sprint and anaerobic endurance training, and maybe strength training. You can read more about strength and sprint training here at this blog.

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I thought it might be interesting to have a little insight look to my work as cycling coach in 2008.

This season I have significantly reduced the number of riders I plan training for. Thus, I have only 2 riders that receive training plans in 2008. These two riders are both very talented and focused on optimizing their training with power meters, so I still spend quite a lot time on coaching. The most important reason I have reduced the number of athletes is time. July 2007 I became dad for the very first time and in January 2008 I finally graduated as medical doctor at the University of Aarhus.

Becoming dad was the most fantastic experience ever and makes every day even better. Thus, I have naturally given the highest priority to my little daughter, Lea. Finishing of my studies on the university also took a lot time and starting in my first job as medical doctor is obviously also quite time consuming. These two factors made me conclude that I had to reduce the number of athletes if I shouldn’t reduce the quality of what I did.

As I mentioned previously, I will only be coaching two riders this year.

U23 rider makes progress with SRM power meter

The first rider is Jakob Bering who is riding his second season as U23 rider. He rides for a continental team called Team Designa Køkken. I have been coaching him for more than 6 years. He won a silver medal at the national championships for U23 last season and played a central role in Denmark’s team victory in Tour de l’Avenir (Tour de France for U23). He is a climber and is currently training very hard to peak his performance in a stage race in April. Hopefully he will be representing Denmark in the U23 World Championships later this year.

Jakob uses a SRM power meter in all intervals and until now I have been very satisfied with the numbers I receive in my inbox. He is stronger than last year and compared to last season we’ve known the dates for peak performance in months. There is a huge difference from planning a peak performance in two months instead of just two weeks (or less..!). Now he is a more integrated part of the national team, which gives me a better possibility to plan his training and tapering compared to last year where every little stage race was like having an exam. When I plan a tapering protocol for a specific race I usually start at the peaking moment and work backwards. If I have 14 days, I start with the day before the big event, then the day before that one and so on until I reach day 1 in the program.

Tapering protocol is a corner stone

Thus, my programs are often identical in the final period because the tapering protocol is a corner stone in all my training programs. Though these tapering protocols look identical they might be adjusted to some specific requirements in the upcoming event.

Junior rider focusing on climbing

My other rider is Rasmus Malmkjær who is a talented junior rider. He rides on a very strong junior team which is probably the strongest junior team in Europe (Team Festina Hobro). His speciality is climbing steep climbs, so I hope that he will make some good results in some international junior races in southern Europe this year. He uses a Polar CS600 to optimize his results. Climbing is his number one skill, but on home ground in Denmark he will still be a strong rider, though he will be not strong enough to compete with the best riders on windy, flat roads. My biggest challenge is to make him produce as many watts as possible compared to body weight, making him an even better climber. We won’t focus much on flat races, because that will never be his speciality.

Challenging jobs as cycling coach in 2008

Thus, I have some really challenging and exciting jobs as cycling coach this year even though I have significantly fewer riders. I have received several emails with questions about why I’m not posting so often and I hope that this post explain why. Since July 2008 I have re-published some articles that deserved some additional attention. I hope that all readers understand and in some way respect this decision.

What coaching jobs I will do in 2009 is still uncertain.

If you have any questions or comments to my plans for 2008, feel free to post a comment.

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I guess all of you have tried this kind of activity on your bike. We are talking about biking at intensities that can only be maintained for a very few minutes or maybe just seconds. These jumps require anaerobic power which can be trained separately in your training program. There are made several tests to measure maximum oxygen uptake in the lab, but unfortunately there are no similar possibility to measure anaerobic power. Thus, we have to develop indirect methods to evaluate anaerobic power. I think that testing with a power meter will be the best evaluation of anaerobic power for most riders. Find your average power output in a 60sec. all-out test.

Lactate is not responsible for fatigue
One of the biggest myths about anaerobic power is that lactate is responsible for the fatigue. Lactate is just a piece of sliced sugar and a couple of studies have shown that lactate itself is not produce fatigue, in fact one of the studies I will present in the future claims that lactate actually protects the muscles from fatigue. There are probably many reasons why we determine exercise at severe intensity.

Read the rest of ‘How to train for anaerobic endurance’ here.

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The following post is a guest post written by Levi Bloom. Levi has his own blog about cycling training on CoachLevi.com.

If you’re looking to win a race, there are plenty of ways you can train to ride stronger. You can do all sorts of base training and interval sessions, follow a training plan, get lots of rest, etc. On top of that you can vary your riding to avoid burnout. That should keep you riding strong in most cases.

But what if you wreck? Will you bounce back or be stuck on the sidelines the rest of the year? Or maybe you drank a little too much champagne at your last post-race celebration and ended up falling down a flight of stairs? Has your training prepared you for that? Probably not. So here are a few ways to avoid injury, whether you are a road racer, mountain bike racer, or recreational cyclist:

Wear a helmet

This is basic advice, but it’s worth repeating due to the number of lives saved each year due to helmet usage.

Learn to ride in a group

Whatever type of riding you do, chances are you do some group rides or races. While riding in a group can be more dangerous, a few tips and a little practice will make things safer.

On the road: Ride predictably in the paceline and maintain a steady pace. You can ride close to the wheel in front of you but look a few riders ahead so you are aware of any pot holes, stop signs, turns, etc. The further back you ride, the more likely it is that someone will wreck in front of you, so stay closer to the front. Similarly, watch out for any erratic behaviour and keep your distance from those riders. Lastly, you can practice “bumping” by riding with a buddy in a soft, grassy field and bumping elbows and shoulders. This will get you accustomed to riding in tight quarters with others.

On the trail: The main thing to remember is to give the other riders some space. If someone goes down in front of you, make sure you have room to stop safely so you don’t hit them and end up crashing yourself. This also lets you watch their line and adjust yours to avoid any problem areas. (Caution: Those quick tips are just a starting point for learning to ride in a group. To make things safer for you and those around you, get some personal advice from an experienced cyclist before jumping into a big group ride.)

Cross-train

Maybe you don’t use your arms so much when riding, but if you fall on your arm, it should be strong enough that it doesn’t snap like a toothpick. If you are avoiding weights for fear of bulking up, at least do some push-ups and pull-ups to strengthen the upper body. For the lower body, running will improve bone density, which is something cycling doesn’t do. And a little extra muscle covering your body will protect your bones and internal organs!

Practice falling

If you’ve ever listened to Tour de France commentary, they emphasize how riders “go limp” if they are going to wreck. That’s exactly what you want to do. Proper form when crashing is almost an instinct amongst the pros because they have practiced (or learned from experience.) In your case, I suggest a good practice session. Start by going out in a grassy field, with helmet and pads, of course. All you have to do is roll along, stop, and fall over while keeping your hands on the bars. Don’t stick your arm out, that’s how you’ll break a collar bone! You can start out falling into a hill so you don’t have to fall so far, but work your way to flat ground. The key is to go limp (relax all your muscles) and absorb the shock, letting your entire body hit the ground. (You know how boxers “ride” a punch? It’s physics. The longer the time period of the hit, the less damage it causes.) So when you go down, your legs will hit first, then your side, and then your shoulder. You won’t really roll in this slow-speed drill, but you will in the next one.

Try “James Bond” drills

Now we’ll work with faster speeds and fulfill your superhero fantasy at the same time. We’re going to couple our “falling” drill with some action. The best example of this is a survival roll. You run, and when you’re ready, dive forward. As you go towards the ground you should let your arms or shoulders hit first and then roll through one shoulder over onto your back. Make sure not to lock your elbows. Note that when you crash, you should roll. Again, you are increasing the time period over which the force is applied in order to minimize the damage. As you get better, you’ll be able to dive and roll and get back onto your feet and keep running! Watch some mountain bike races and you might see this happen! (Note that this is best done on a wrestling mat or other soft surface.)

Work on balance and flexibility

It’s time for yoga! Yoga is great because it improves flexibility and balance. Try some balancing poses, such as the airplane pose or the tree pose. With better balance, you are less likely to fall off your bike in the first place! Increased flexibility will make it easier to go limp and roll along the ground. Plus, if you do get stuck in a weird position, your flexibility training could be the difference between a couple small scrapes and torn ligament! Flexibility also decreases your chances of overuse injuries and tight muscles (especially hamstrings.)

Ride BMX

If you’ve never tried freestyle BMX riding, you probably think it’s reserved for hooligan teenagers. If so, it’s your loss. Trying basic BMX balancing moves and tricks greatly improves your balance and bike handling skills. Whether you want to improve your balance by messing around in a parking lot or get used to air time by hitting the dirt jumps, the technical skills really come in handy. (Riding trials would be a similar way to train, although trials bikes are hard to find and usually on the expensive side.)

Drink responsibly

You have two choices here. Either 1) slow down on the alcohol consumption during the season, or 2) make sure your designed driver would rather keep you safe than watch you ride down a flight of stairs… Follow those tips and in the unfortunate event of wreck, you will be more likely to emerge without serious injury.

About the author
This article was written by Levi Bloom, a road cyclist and mountain bike racer who writes about racing and training on his own website, http://coachlevi.com/. Check it out for more great advice for cyclists.If you´re interested in writing a guest post on Training4cyclists.com, read more here.

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An individual time trial is a discipline with requirements for physiology, technique, tactics and psychology. Each of these categories has a potential for optimization that will make you faster. In the first article I will take a closer look on what you can do to optimize your physical performance in time trials.

VO2 max and threshold power are important
It is clear that the most obvious parameter for time trial performance is your physiological status. Maintaining a large percentage of your maximum oxygen consumption over a long period is essential in a time trial. Genes play an important role for your maximum oxygen consumption, so you will benefit from choosing your parents carefully. (If you read this it is probably already to late, sorry…)

Interval training can improve your aerobic system
Forget about the genes for a while. You have a great opportunity to optimize your aerobic engine through interval training. These intervals should be focused on workloads that require intensities at maximum oxygen consumption (VO2 max) or just below. Training at this intensity not only boosts your VO2 max, it also improves your performance at lower intensity. That is probably not known by all cyclists, but the physiological adaptations you get from this training is the same as you get from the long ‘threshold’ intervals. There is nothing magic about training at the threshold, it is not better than training slightly above or below the threshold. The interesting thing is how great a stimulus you put on your oxygen system and how long time you spend on that intensity, because that is what makes you better.

Use time trial power outputs to plan future intervals
Performing a time trial with a mounted power meter or simply making a maximum power output test will give you a picture of what intensity is required in the intervals. Intervals can be performed in many ways and they work wonderful for most riders - especially if they are performed as described in this article. The whole idea of doing intervals is to split up a long ride into shorter sections with high intensity. By doing this, you will be able to get more time at your planned oxygen consumption with less effort.

Use power output to control pace
I normally recommend serious riders to use a power meter for optimization of physical performance. The reason for this is that it is possible to control the workload very precisely, securing me that they train exactly what I am interested in. There are a lot of riders who start out too fast in intervals and then slow down in the last part of the interval. The problem about this is that the first part of the interval requires such a great amount of anaerobic work that they get exhausted too early. They reduce the pace and can’t maintain the power output required to stimulate the aerobic system sufficiently. The result is that the interval subjectively is a very hard experience, but objectively a poor controlled aerobic interval. If they just know how many watts they can maintain over a given period it is much easier for them to control the pace during the interval.

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