Performance Coaching

Register for Wednesday Workouts using the link below;

Register now for Early Bird savings to May 3, regular pricing after that.

Meeting in a central Vancouver location, you’ll enjoy a Coached led structured workout followed twice monthly by an adventure ride. Fitness and technique produces your performance in the sport and your ability to sustain for stamina.

How could this be fun? Take the guesswork out of your outdoor riding, coach is on hand with eyes on you! And besides, isn’t it always fun to give yourself a nudge, find out what you’re capable of?

Performance is a way to express your ability at a skill, how you can show ‘you got this’.  It’s neither speed or power although both happen just the same – what you do with it and how you use it is the focus of these summer Wednesday workout’s.

An adventure awaits on the bike; twice monthly will take you to places you haven’t ridden before! – these will be longer rides.

Limited to 10 riders

PHO, Sport BC, Cycling BC covid guidelines are in place – Health check required before your ride

Cycling BC membership; Cycling for All is the minimum.  That includes Sport Accident and General Liability Insurance (not limited to this clinic, covers you for all your 2 wheel riding).  Lots of discounts, bike insurance etc. Register here for Cycling BC license;

https://ccnbikes.com/#!/memberships/cycling-bc-2021-annual-membership-license

Session will be 1.5 hr – 3 hr.

The cost is $120/month, for 4 months. Workout details included, post ride summary will follow with lessons learned.

Early Bird; prepay for 4 months, discount $40.  

Coach Barb, hellenwheels379@gmail.com 778 837 0288

The fine print:  all weather, coach may cancel ride if conditions deemed unfortunate, no refunds, no exceptions.

As the days have become longer, so have our dreams of long rides, long distance training for the summer or for late summer events (fingers crossed). Endurance is the name for any event, ride, run that is performed over a long distance and may entail that an athlete take it to the limit of their endurance. You endure to the end, your limit.

Stamina though, is the ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort. You can see then why I prefer to train stamina rather than endurance.

This quote is from Matt Fitgerald, Triathlete magazine, and it echoes my sentiments and training methods;

For the triathlete; Alternating a long bike with a brick moderate bike with long run one weekend, with a long run, long bike, moderate run the next will progress your stamina. Changing up the pace during those as you become more specific with your training is a great way to find your pace strategy for different distances of endurance.

Cyclists; since cycling is less physiologically hard or has less fatigue associated with it, given a robust base, the opportunity for back to back longer rides is available to build both endurance and stamina. Alternating a harder high intensity ride with a longer lower intensity ride produces the adaptations to endure and to prolong your ability to ride at effort.

There are a few platforms to monitor your chronic load day to day; your acute load on any given day, and your ramp up rate of volume week to week. Those of you already using Training Peaks may recognize the terminology; Strava Premium also uses a solid data base to confer Fitness and Freshness levels based on similar intensity over time with the use of heart rate and power.

To summarize, progressive endurance and specific stamina rides will condition you to experience rather than ‘endure’ your long distance goals. It would be my pleasure to coach you on how to do so, contact me; hellenwheels379@gmail.com

According to the general cycle of an ATP (annual training plan), this phase started in mid January; the development of specific fitness and advanced technical skills. It’s the reason why pro teams hunt down under and the southern latitudes or head to places like Mallorca, Southern Spain and Provence.

In general, those of us who may be aiming for less lofty goals still plan for fitness to show up in the Spring Series, the UBC tri/duathlon and a typical Canadian ‘training camp’ in California or Spain, if you know the right coaches to work with!

Locally, we continue up to the first week of March with cross training; skiing, running, cross biking. Indoor riding is a must through this time of year.

Taking a short amount of time with specific high intensity rides is the way to stay on track and get the precise amount of zone training and continue to adapt systematically. You have a cardio/respiratory system and a skeletal system. That’s 3 different and very specific types of rides to give you the adaptations that will be there for you on the road.

As a coach, I look at your power output; but that’s all relative to how your heart rate responds and how your breathing can keep up. Aerobically, your power output correlates with heart rate. Do you know what happens when your system goes over the edge, the threshold? Find out, Gear Up in March; that’s the focus of this month.

What if…. you choose to be a better cyclist? What if …… you choose to make it happen, now? Where do you go? Will it happen in a spin class do you think? Or will it happen when you look for an expert, a coach, someone who knows what it takes both physically and mentally.

Choose a commitment to this year; to a coached program, a coached indoor workout series. What technique are you lacking, what position on the bike are you using, what is your pedal stroke efficiency and why would you care.

A few reasons why; to make it to the Haute Route and to finish it; to ride any fondo and enjoy the experience; to conquer alpe d’huez under an hour; to ride the Cypress Hill Climb Challenge without any fear that you won’t make it; to take on a provincial or national championship road race with confidence. Just to know that you know what you’re doing.

We would love to see you on the bike, riding with us indoors or out and have you join the cycling community.

It’s easy – take the first step – https://gearupkits.as.me/ and register for a pre-ride testing, a 10 pack (consult included) or a private session with either coach Barb or coach Joanie. See you then!

you know you have to do it, a longer ride on Wednesday complete with specific repetitions that will elevate your power profile in the 1, 3, 5, 8 minute region.

This has to be done with your best technique; if you think that can be done without having someone there to provide you with feedback, without a coach, then you will continue to get the same results as you did last year, the year before …… etc.

What is your obstacle to joining a coached ride? Think about it, your reasons, write them down! What could happen if you do?

Maybe that climb you always find is a problem, the time trial speed/power that eludes you, the pickup after corners, the ability to stay with a group, maintain a speed; I could go on!

Discover the 2020 you, a new decade and a new way of looking at your riding. It’s easy, register for Wednesday’s starting in January!