Training

When most people hear "training", they think 'racing". The fact is, there are reasons to train other than racing. Targeted training can benefit all of us and that doesn't always mean sitting on a stationary trainer for two hours at 5am.

Let's say you are a new cyclist and you want to enjoy the activity as much as possible. You might ride with friends who seem to be faster and more comfortable on long rides. It can be frustrating getting dropped or bonking on long rides. By riding smarter with more focus, you can make significant gains quickly. There are relatively inexpensive pieces of equipment that can help and with a little guidance, you can use these tools to become a more efficient rider.

If you're a seasoned, avid cyclist but your goal is to ride longer, more difficult rides. There are the granfondo's, double centuries, the infamous Death Ride and countless other great rides out there that are no joke in terms of difficulty. Surviving is one thing but having a pain free, enjoyable experience is another.

The fact is, if you take a couple of your regular riding days and structure those rides in a way that is more beneficial to reaching your specific goals, you absolutely will have a better experience. It doesn't matter if you're a veteran, new to the sport, a mountain biker or road rider.

So what does it take? There are a few different ways of approaching this. You can get a heart rate monitor and learn about training specifically with heart rate, we can help you with the basics. That is a simple start. You do need to understand how to effectively train with heart rate, that is critical. moving beyond that, the best way to train effectively with measurable results is to get a VO2 test done. VO2 testing is the most accurate means of establishing your heart rate training zones and your metabolic rate. It sounds complicated but we do most of the work. From there you can use a power meter such the Powertap or a crank based unit from Quarq or SRM. At some point in the near future we'll see pedal based power meters but we're not holding our breath.The Powertap hub can be built with almost any rim out there. You can switch between multiple bike easily too.

Garmin makes great GPS devices and they will also give you heart rate and they are ANT compatible which means they will read third party power meters.

The Quarq crank is a great choice for a crank based power meter. They are incredibly reliable and perform very well.

If you want to learn more about this, come by or give us a call. Personally, I don't race much anymore and I really don't have the time for it. I do however really enjoy riding long rides at a brisk pace. I don't like getting dropped even though it does happen once in a while. I train so that I can enjoy riding my bike more. I don't want to suffer all the time.