This versatile song can play many roles. I love to use it as a warm-up, but it also works beautifully in the middle of your ride as a gentle climb, a slight headwind, or a moderate-energy flat road. Wherever you place it, her haunting, otherworldly voice has a way of drawing you in and making even the simplest stretch of road feel deeper, more mysterious, and more meaningful.Read more…
We’ve provide you with a detailed class profile for you to conduct your own MAP (maximal aerobic power) ramp test, including the protocol, the coaching, the music, and a downloadable spreadsheet which will estimate FTP and your riders’ power training zones. This is a viable alternative to the 20-minute FTP test, which requires a solid understanding and ability to pace one’s effort. Pacing isn’t an issue with this test.Read more…
You’ve coached your riders to understand the benefits of establishing a benchmark metric known as functional threshold power, or FTP, a number around which they can set their intensity. You’ve used one of the recommended methods to determine FTP. Now what do you do? How do you provide each rider with their zones?Read more…
I was asked about riding with one arm held out to the side to ostensibly work the core. This, and all versions of one-arm riding, is one of those techniques I call #FakeMoves. Yup, that’s a new hashtag I want you all to start using when the technique is nothing but fluff and has no benefit! Read more…
Without question, music is an essential component of what makes indoor cycling so successful and fun. FTP field tests have a unique requirement and require high-energy, rhythmic tempos that help you turn the pedals in the range of the mid-80s to mid-90s rpm. We’ve got two Spotify playlists with over 200 songs—one with electronic genres and the other with rock, alternative, indie, and hip-hop tracks. There is a playlist with high-energy songs for shorter 3-minute FTP tests. Plus, we provide three full Spotify playlists for your FTP tests. We’ve got you covered!Read more…
Training with power is the best way to set benchmarks, determine workout intensities, and measure improvement. When you are ready to start leading 20-minute FTP tests, we’ve got everything you need in this Coaching Play by Play. It contains information on how to prepare your riders for FTP tests, what elements you should control during the test so it is reliably repeatable, the protocol to follow, and minute-by-minute motivational cues to coach your riders through this challenging event. Read more…
This course/profile consists of early rolling hills, followed by a fast flat segment with a paceline. Then, riders greet a big climb—and that’s only the first half! The second half is three circuits over another big climb before you get to pull on the World Championship rainbow jersey.Read more…
In this chapter, I provide a sample time table of six to eight weeks with programming ideas for gradually increasing the length of the intervals and teaching riders to understand pacing. By the final week, your class should be ready for their first FTP test!Read more…
Today we lost Ed King, the guitarist for the iconic southern rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd. He’s the one whose voice can be heard counting down at the very beginning of their most famous hit, “Sweet Home Alabama.” Here are a few tracks you can sprinkle into your playlists as a tribute to one of the more recognizable southern rock groups in the country.Read more…
The Queen of Soul has left this world. Here is a Spotify playlist and a selection of some of our favorites and what to do to them in your Aretha tribute ride. Read more…