Masters Cycling Tips. Actually, these tips are good for any cyclist chasing performance gains

Full blog: https://www.evoq.bike/blog/masters-cycling-training 

Email: Brendan@EVOQ.BIKE 

Cat 4 Questions: https://www.evoq.bike/blog/cat-4-questions  

Master’s Cycling is an awesome group of athletes. Massive kudos to everyone raising families and running businesses yet still carving the time out each week to train.  

Whether you are completing your first Gran Fondo or going for a Master’s National Championship, YOU ARE AN ATHLETE and that’s awesome.  

While we often view the P/1/2 race as the big race of the day, Master’s 35+ and 40+ are a different beast. Not only do you have skilled racers that oftentimes are competitive in P/1/2 cycling races, but you have a pool of experience that sometimes doesn’t exist in the Elite races.  

This is obviously not always the case, but I first experienced this while attending the Southeast Regional Road Championships outside of Atlanta, GA.  

It was an amazing weekend because there were so many “adults” out there absolutely shredding, with really good race craft, and a respect for each other that we all had lives to go back to when the race was over.   

I was one of the babies, at 37 years of age then, and it’s so inspiring to see guys 5-10 years older dropping watt bombs and you’re feverishly throwing grenades back at their camp. FULL ON BATTLE ENSUED.  

While master’s cyclists often come to me and say, “Oh I won’t beat that PR from 7 years ago”, I laugh, and more times than not, we absolutely destroy it.  

How? The tools, cycling training techniques and computer algorithms that we have today are so much more effective that what was used 10 years ago, or when this cyclist was in their “hayday”.  

There’s also this idea that we are supposed to get slower. I’m not picking fun at the non-athletes, but look at our society. Many adults get slower because we add weight through poor dieting, we consume a lot of sugar and alcohol, and our lives our solely focused on our children; we forget to take care of our bodies and get fatter instead of faster.  

I truly believe you can be your Fastest Right Now.  

Here are my tips for all of us aging cyclists that still want to be fast!  

Continue Proper Training Schedules: Periodize and Rest  

Lift Heavy  

Keep The Cycling Training Intensity High  

Get Personal With Your Recovery Routine  

Eat Like An Athlete  

Range of Motion and Stretching, Queue Yoga!  

Be Competitive  

Crosstrain In The Non Race Season  

Have FUN!  

Your Tips I’m a baby master, what are your tips that you’d like to share? Please email me and let me know, and I’ll update the blog with some recommendations.