Crank Cycling

A key component to having a good race is having a tried and tested routine that you stick to. You will have some pressure and stress while trying to accomplish your goals. So it is important to feel comfortable leading into the day of your race. You already must be a disciplined individual to prepare physically and mentally for your race. Taking that discipline and utilizing it for your race day prep is important.

Pick a routine that you know works. Try to sleep the amount of time you normally when training. If your race is on a Sunday don’t add tons of extra chores around the house Saturday. You and your coach have done efforts that should mimic your event. Pick foods that you have eaten before these hard efforts and that you know sit well in your stomach. All testing of new foods should be done during training, months before your event. Give yourself extra time during preparation. Plan for everything to take longer and expect that you will need that extra time.

Because competition is stressful physically and mentally it is important to not add any extra stress. Make sure you are comfortable. Plan your meals ahead of time. What will you eat the day before and the day of (pre and post event). Choose the clothing you will wear to your event, during your event, and after your event. Make sure your equipment is the way you want it. Do you always use red TT bars at a time trial. Make sure they are on your bike not your workbench.

Just like discipline in training discipline in preparation is very important. Practice your preparation. You will most likely have similar events leading up to your peak event. Try new things months in advance. Repeat what works, and right it down to review later. Repetition is key to dialing in your routine. Finally if its not broke don’t fix it.

It is always important to remember life is not perfect. Things can go wrong. We all have had mechanical at inopportune moments or forgotten a helmet. If your are having a challenges here are a couple things you can do. Take a deep breath, ask for help. If it can’t be helped let out your frustration out and than let it go. It is very important as an athlete to have multiple goals. Pick two or three races you want to do well at. Then choose multiple metrics to measure your success. There is almost always a success in your performance.

If you want to take your training to the next level, let the coaches at Crank Cycling know. We can help you meet whatever training goals you have!
See you on the road,
Coach Jesse Eisner

It is essential to know your strengths and weaknesses before adding specificity to your training plan. There are two common approaches, 1) further develop your strengths, and 2) focus on your weaknesses. Riders training to their strengths dedicate time and energy where their skills and abilities already lie; others, focus on their weaknesses in order to develop a well-rounded set of abilities. The Crank Cycling Climbing Camp can help both types of riders.
The Crank Cycling Spring Climbing Camp is where a dedicated rider can harness the power of specificity in order to achieve new levels of performance. After determining a focus area and attaining a base-level of cycling fitness, adding training specificity complementing and stretching your abilities is the next step. If you are a climber, more climbing and specific gradients that mimic upcoming events, including appropriate duration and intensity, is essential. Planning on competing in a century race with a 3-mile climb? If so, then you will want to reflect that exact effort in your training. Do you have upcoming touring century rides? The first goal for specific training is to start with duration barely exceeding your existing limits. To maximize your training, the goal is to incrementally extend that duration until reaching the desired effort level for a given event. Accurately answering the following questions will effectively shape your training program:
1) Does the event have repeated efforts such as a circuit race?
2) Is the event a point-to-point event with continuously rolling terrain?
3) Are there repeated climbs?

After these efforts are added into your training plan you can take specificity a step further
by adding continuous blocks of the chosen discipline to stimulate further adaptation—a training camp is a perfect opportunity for this. Training camps can be as simple as a long weekend with multiple days of riding, or as intricate as choosing multiple specific climbs over 3 to 5 days while maintaining specific power or heart rate output.
Crank Cycling just completed a spring climbing camp in some of the most challenging and beautiful terrain in Southern California. For three days riders enjoyed a FULLY-SUPPORTED experience including a follow-vehicle, food, drinks, spare clothing, mechanical support, expert coaching, and evaluation. Riders climbed over 21,000 feet, sped down winding descents, and pushed themselves to new levels—all developing their riding skills and pushing their physical limits.

“It felt like I was on a 3 day vacation, except I was never more than an hour away from home. I got to push my body over some of the most beautiful climbs San Diego has to offer, while feeling very “pro” the entire time. There is nothing more relaxing than knowing you have a support vehicle near you at all times. A raise of your hand gets you anything you need, water , food, a jacket, a wheel change, sometimes just a word of support, or the directions to your next turn. I will be the first to sign up to Crank Cycling’s next climbing camp!” ~Jose Cepeda~

Summer Climbing camp

Jose and Coach Jesse

Coached athlete Justin Farrar

If you want to take your training to the next level, let the coaches at Crank Cycling know. We can help meet whatever training goals you have!

See you on the road,
Coach Jesse Eisner

In order to hone your cycling skills it is important to practice them in a controlled environment. This means you should practice riding fast, cornering, and riding in groups. Creating a controlled environment is the hardest part of practicing these skills. To do so you need a safe place to ride and at least one experienced rider who has mastered all of the skills being practiced. Crank Cycling Coaches can help you do this.

Do you want to cruise through the field of riders and find the sweet spot in the peloton? Do you want to slide into the draft and reap the benefits of others’ hard work? Would you like to glide through corners at high speeds, not hitting your brakes and not having to over-analyze the word Apex on google search for hours? Do you want to make it over, through, and around obstacles and hazards without worry?

Would you like to keep up on the local club ride without being afraid of riders coming too close to you, or the constant thought of being dropped and not able to catch up at the regroup spot?

All of these things can be accomplished and your mind can be set at ease with some classroom instruction and on-the-bike practice. Come to Crank Cycling’s bike-handling and group riding skills clinic on April 16th, presented by Crank Cycling Coach Jesse Eisner. Jesse is a USA Cycling Certified coach and veteran racer with 2 decades worth of riding and racing experience.

See you out on the road,
Coach Jesse

Link to sign up

http://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ws.asp?studioid=7102&stype=-102

What are you capable of doing? Most athletes do not know what the top of their peak performance can be. One of the hardest parts of training is objectively viewing your own performance and determining whether your efforts are adding to a progressive or regressive state. We, as finite beings, are for the most part incapable of training to our personal best without some outside perspective. Productive training consists of disciplined efforts performed on a razors edge, trying to push beyond our current limitations to achieve what may seem impossible from the outset. We most often find what we are capable of doing by pushing beyond our current limitations to the point of failure. Failure is not a bad thing. Failure shows what our weaknesses are and points us in a direction in the pursuit of improving our performance.In a recent conversation with one of my clients, he shared that he thought he might be doing too much and was probably not capable of attaining some of our midterm goals. We discussed the workouts he had completed and his overall recovery.

Here are some important questions you can ask yourself to make sure you are not over training: Am I able to do and complete my workouts correctly? Am I recovering on my rest days? Am I staying healthy (not getting sick)?   This is where a power meter can be quite useful.   If an athletes is feeling good, but the power keeps improving, we know that the athlete is not over trained.

So objectivity will help us to determine our training progression. Pushing beyond our seeming limitations reveals our true limitations, and failure is just a learning tool.

All of these elements can be more easily attained when consulting with a coach. Crank Cycling coaches will help you to do all of these things. Give us a call! Let’s sit down and discuss how we can help you to assess your capabilities.

See you on the road,
Coach Jesse

If there are not at least 30 women at the Red Trolley this year, there will be no women’s race in 2012.   Last year, after the 7th annual Red Trolley Classic, I wrote about how  it costs $10,000 to put on a simple industrial park criterium.    When you break that down, we are looking at a costs of $1,000 dollars an hour.   We’ve already written about how the SDSU cycling team and I lose money all morning during the collegiate categories, as they have a lower entry fee and relatively small fields.       While these fields are small, they are still larger than the Womens’ 1-3 field.  When you have 10 riders paying an average of $27 a piece, the revenue coming in is less than $300.  That means we are running at a loss of $700 that hour, and that is after losing money all morning with the collegiate races.   I would love to support women’s racing, but neither I, nor the SDSU team can  afford to do it with money directly out of our own pockets.    The profit margins are very slim at this event, and the risk of losing money is very real.    That is why we have made the decision that of there are not at least 30 women at this years race, we have no sane choice other than to cancel the  women’s race in 2012.   So women… encourage your fellow racers to come out  and race.  We  really want to see you  again in 2012.

If there are not at least 30 women at the Red Trolley this year, there will be no women’s race in 2012.   Last year, after the 7th annual Red Trolley Classic, I wrote about how  it costs $10,000 to put on a simple industrial park criterium.    When you break that down, we are looking at a costs of $1,000 dollars an hour.   We’ve already written about how the SDSU cycling team and I lose money all morning during the collegiate categories, as they have a lower entry fee and relatively small fields.       While these fields are small, they are still larger than the Womens’ 1-3 field.  When you have 10 riders paying an average of $27 a piece, the revenue coming in is less than $300.  That means we are running at a loss of $700 that hour, and that is after losing money all morning with the collegiate races.   I would love to support women’s racing, but neither I, nor the SDSU team can  afford to do it with money directly out of our own pockets.    The profit margins are very slim at this event, and the risk of losing money is very real.    That is why we have made the decision that of there are not at least 30 women at this years race, we have no sane choice other than to cancel the  women’s race in 2012.   So women… encourage your fellow racers to come out  and race.  We  really want to see you  again in 2012.

Race season is fast approaching, here in SoCal.  Riders are getting serious, and so are the rides.   Riders are out there doing intervals, staying focused, and looking forward to race day.  There is one important thing to remember through all this, and that is to have fun.    The video below is of Thor Hushovd and Mark Cavendish sprinting for the   “King of the Mountain” line on top of Mt Ventoux.    Both men are obviously way of the back of the leaders in a groupetto, and  the  big smiles on their faces let you know that these guys are having fun.     Here you have two fierce competitors and professional cyclists on the secons to last day of a 3 week grand tour, and they are still enjoying themselves.    Enjoying themselves  is something that even amateur cyclists some times forget.     We do this sport to push ourselves, to stay fit, to be competitive, and to have fun.       Next time you finish that city limit sprint, the grueling climb, or that industrial park criterium, think of the grins on the faces of these 2 pro racers, and remember to have fun.

Race season is fast approaching, here in SoCal.  Riders are getting serious, and so are the rides.   Riders are out there doing intervals, staying focused, and looking forward to race day.  There is one important thing to remember through all this, and that is to have fun.    The video below is of Thor Hushovd and Mark Cavendish sprinting for the   “King of the Mountain” line on top of Mt Ventoux.    Both men are obviously way of the back of the leaders in a groupetto, and  the  big smiles on their faces let you know that these guys are having fun.     Here you have two fierce competitors and professional cyclists on the secons to last day of a 3 week grand tour, and they are still enjoying themselves.    Enjoying themselves  is something that even amateur cyclists some times forget.     We do this sport to push ourselves, to stay fit, to be competitive, and to have fun.       Next time you finish that city limit sprint, the grueling climb, or that industrial park criterium, think of the grins on the faces of these 2 pro racers, and remember to have fun.

I personally have been using power meters since 2002, and I love to use power meters to coach athletes. I’m kind of a science geek and I love to crunch the numbers and evaluate the data. I also love that fact that the power data can enhance or even tell a different story from what the athlete conveys. Power meters give truly objective and accurate information that can’t be obtained any other way. They let us track progress more accurately than any other method, and they help us dial in an athlete’s effort level to ensure an efficient use of time, as well as determine when “enough is enough.” There plenty of resources out there on training with power, and there is ever more powerful software available to analyze, evaluate, and plan training. These are all powerful tools, that help athletes track and attain higher levels of fitnes, as well as help coaches communicate and track their athletes better than ever. The problem comes when athletes and coaches become too reliant on the power meter.

The training and coaching of an athlete is not just a simple recipe or formula with predetermined inputs and outputs. Every athlete is different, and every athlete’s response is going to be just a little bit different. An athlete needs to be viewed as a whole organism, not just a set of power data. In fact the subjective feedback from an athlete is every bit as important as that power data. I think some athletes and coaches easily forget that. They just want to open up a book, take training plan from the book, and adjust it for the athlete’s power numbers. It is easy to get caught up in all the charts, graphs, and information that today’s powerful software provides, but all those charts and graphs just don’t tell the whole picture. I would argue that power data in isolation can even confuse the issue. For example in riders look at their power meter data along with a chart that says they are in a Cat 1 range and get frustrated because they are still a Cat 3.

How and athlete “feels” is every bit as important as what that athlete does. In fact there are several athletes I have been training for years that don’t use a a power meter, a heart rate monitor, or any piece of electronic equipment on their bikes whatsoever. We train primarily using RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion), or how an effort feels, and these athlete have reached many of their goals, as well as put wins on their palmares. Power meters have their place. And if i had my way, most of my athletes would train and race on them all the time. But power meters aren’t for everyone. Price, functionality, and even all of that information makes powermeters and training with power undesirable for some.

For those that don’t want to train with power, RPE works just fine. I used to rely heavily on heart rate monitors for athletes without power meters, but now I’ve gone the other way and prefer to use just mostly RPE. Heart rate data can simply change so much from day to day, and RPE conveys both what I want from the athlete, as well as what the athlete should do much better than heart rate.

Power meters have their place and many coaches and athletes love to use them, but they are by no means a requirement for success. Coaching and training is more than just looking at power numbers, and the entire experience of the athlete needs to be taken into account. Rate of perceived exertion and how an athlete feels is just as important as power numbers, and many coached athletes are successful using nothing more than than their own perceptions and some feedback from their coach.

Use the comments section below to tell me what you think.

I personally have been using power meters since 2002, and I love to use power meters to coach athletes. I’m kind of a science geek and I love to crunch the numbers and evaluate the data. I also love that fact that the power data can enhance or even tell a different story from what the athlete conveys. Power meters give truly objective and accurate information that can’t be obtained any other way. They let us track progress more accurately than any other method, and they help us dial in an athlete’s effort level to ensure an efficient use of time, as well as determine when “enough is enough.” There plenty of resources out there on training with power, and there is ever more powerful software available to analyze, evaluate, and plan training. These are all powerful tools, that help athletes track and attain higher levels of fitnes, as well as help coaches communicate and track their athletes better than ever. The problem comes when athletes and coaches become too reliant on the power meter.

The training and coaching of an athlete is not just a simple recipe or formula with predetermined inputs and outputs. Every athlete is different, and every athlete’s response is going to be just a little bit different. An athlete needs to be viewed as a whole organism, not just a set of power data. In fact the subjective feedback from an athlete is every bit as important as that power data. I think some athletes and coaches easily forget that. They just want to open up a book, take training plan from the book, and adjust it for the athlete’s power numbers. It is easy to get caught up in all the charts, graphs, and information that today’s powerful software provides, but all those charts and graphs just don’t tell the whole picture. I would argue that power data in isolation can even confuse the issue. For example in riders look at their power meter data along with a chart that says they are in a Cat 1 range and get frustrated because they are still a Cat 3.

How and athlete “feels” is every bit as important as what that athlete does. In fact there are several athletes I have been training for years that don’t use a a power meter, a heart rate monitor, or any piece of electronic equipment on their bikes whatsoever. We train primarily using RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion), or how an effort feels, and these athlete have reached many of their goals, as well as put wins on their palmares. Power meters have their place. And if i had my way, most of my athletes would train and race on them all the time. But power meters aren’t for everyone. Price, functionality, and even all of that information makes powermeters and training with power undesirable for some.

For those that don’t want to train with power, RPE works just fine. I used to rely heavily on heart rate monitors for athletes without power meters, but now I’ve gone the other way and prefer to use just mostly RPE. Heart rate data can simply change so much from day to day, and RPE conveys both what I want from the athlete, as well as what the athlete should do much better than heart rate.

Power meters have their place and many coaches and athletes love to use them, but they are by no means a requirement for success. Coaching and training is more than just looking at power numbers, and the entire experience of the athlete needs to be taken into account. Rate of perceived exertion and how an athlete feels is just as important as power numbers, and many coached athletes are successful using nothing more than than their own perceptions and some feedback from their coach.

Use the comments section below to tell me what you think.