The question of coaching and being coached often comes up with women mountain bikers when they set their sites on training for a race or event. Below ALP Cycles founder and coach Alison Powers and Mtbracenews.com professional mountain bike racers … (read more)
The final topic in our series of ‘what ability to focus on for the various disciplines of racing’ will look at what ability is most needed for stage racing. Off road stage races come in many different varieties. From … (read more)
Question: I notice the pros spend a lot of time pre-riding courses for really important races. What are you thinking about or focusing on as you pre-ride the course?” Answer: Pre-riding the course at a big race is an important … (read more)
Question: I have a hard time fueling adequately in cross country races since they are so intense. It is hard to get enough water and calorie intake. How can I work on this? Is it ok to go into deficit … (read more)
Question: I am going to do my first 5-day stage race this year. Aside from actual bike training, what other preparations should I be focusing on to make it through the 5 days of racing? Answer: That is super exciting, … (read more)
Question: I plan on adding a few ultra-endurance races to my calendar this year – two 100 milers and a 100k race. I have only raced XC races as a Cat 1 racer. I have heard that many of the endurance … (read more)
Continuing in our series on what ability to focus on for the various racing disciplines, this week’s column will look at the most important ability to train on for racing enduro. Enduro is a relatively new discipline in mountain … (read more)
Question: My race season this year is going to entail a lot of travel with overnight stays. What suggestions do you have regarding preparations for all the travel to be able to be at my best for race day? Answer: … (read more)
Question: What skills do you often see lacking in mountain bike racers at the expert/pro level that can keep them off the podium? What drills would you give to address those short-comings, and are they best addressed in the … (read more)
Question: I absolutely hate riding a trainer and I don’t own a fat bike yet. Where I live where there usually are at least 4-5 weeks over the winter that I can’t get any riding in. Do you have any suggestions … (read more)
Question: In your last column, you gave advice on buying a power meter to use for training on the mountain bike as well as how to set up training zones. Is training with a power meter similar to training with … (read more)
Question: What is the most important ability to work on for endurance racing? What is the focus for training and why? Answer: This is the second part of our discussion on important abilities to train for various mountain bike race … (read more)
Question: After having a couple months off from structured training, I now am starting to get back at it. My season starts in April with mostly XC races and some endurance races later in the year. What should my first … (read more)
Question: I’m a Cat1, 40+ racer. Now that it is the off-season and daylight is dwindling, what is the ‘minimum’ amount of riding/training, I can do in a week without suffering too much fitness loss? Should I still be doing … (read more)
Question: Now that it’s the off season, I’m thinking about what changes I can make to have a better race season next year and not just in terms of specific interval training. I found that I am getting fatigued too … (read more)
Question: I want to start training and racing with a power meter on my mountain bike. What do you recommend for a power meter and how do I establish my training zones using the power meter? Will I need a separate … (read more)
As mountain bike racing becomes more diversified it has become increasingly more difficult to excel at multiple disciplines throughout the course of a season. So we asked elite Carmichael Training Systems coach Andy Applegate to break down four of our … (read more)
Question: “A month out from the beginning of my race season as an expert/open rider focusing mostly on XC and some 50miler/100k races, what should I be aiming to achieve in my workouts?” Answer: Sounds like you are in for a … (read more)
Question: My race season is stacked with great races early on that I want to do but it would mean racing 9-10 weekends in a row. Is that doable or just stupid? If I do race that many weekends in … (read more)
Question: I work four 10 hour days, Mon-Thursday, and find it hard to get good workouts in on my work days. How can I structure a training plan to get me race ready for XC and 50 miler races next season? … (read more)