Velo Podcast

The gran fondo-style event has exploded in popularity in the last decade. Somewhere between a race and a group ride, it has an appeal to a broad range of riders. Some show up to race all-out on a challenging 100-plus-mile course. Others come to ride with friends and enjoy the accomplishment of a demanding and scenic route. The nice thing is there is no “right” way to do it. This style of event accommodates both riding styles. Now we’re seeing multi-day events like Haute Route that combine the challenge of racing (through timed segments) with the pleasure of a bike tour through some of the most scenic spots in the world. The question is: Do you train for and approach these events differently from a weekend race or group ride? More than a few of you have asked us that exact question, so in this episode we’ll try to give you an answer.In this episode, we’ll discuss: - What the experience of a gran fondo or Haute Route is like and why they are becoming so popular - The different goals and approaches riders will have at these eventsHow to train and prepare for both the one-day gran fondo and the multi-day Haute Route. Hint: When it comes to the training, it’s not as different as you might think. - The importance of pack skills and sticking within your comfort levelNutrition and hydration for the event (and why I love cookies so much) - Final preparation in the week leading into the eventStrategies for both racing and riding a fondo, as well as multi-day Haute Route style events Our primary guest today is master's world hour record holder and Haute Route ambassador Colby Pearce. He’s been on the show enough now that he needs no introduction.  Along with Colby, we spoke with Michelton-Scott’s Brent Bookwalter. Brent is an Olympian, a veteran of many grand tours, and the organizer of the popular Bookwalter Binge Gran Fondo. This year it takes place on October 26 in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. We also touch base with three-time gran fondo world champion Bruce Bird. If that title doesn’t impress you, you should also know that at the age of 50, Bruce finished 14th at Canadian nationals in the pro race. Bruce also organizes a worlds qualifier event called the Blue Mountains Gran Fondo in Ontario where both he and Trevor are from. This year it takes place on June 15 in Collingwood, Ontario. Now, prepare your cookies, let's make you fast!

Dwars door Vlaanderen was a thriller with Mathieu van der Poel stunning the WorldTour. We discuss the 'cross world champ who seems to have unlimited potential as a cyclist. We also talk about the crash in the women's race that led to a stoppage in the men's race. To better understand the dynamics at play, we hear from Ellen van Dijk, who won the women's race. She talks about why it's important to run the women's race on the same day as the men and the broader importance of the Flanders races. This episode of the VeloNews podcast is sponsored by Pactimo, who is kitting us out for our summer of gravel racing. Check out the Summit Stratos 12-Hour bibs we'll be wearing at Dirty Kanza 200 and other big events: https://www.pactimo.com/collections/the-12-hour-endurance-cycling-bibs-men-women?avad=219157_d15680ff9

With gusting winds and aggressive racing, this was one of the hardest editions of Gent-Wevelgem. We are on the ground in Belgium to analyze the action. Then, we hear from American Quinn Simmons who stunned the Belgians by winning the junior edition of Gent-Wevelgem. And finally, Hugo Coorevits, senior editor at Het Nieuwsblad, explains why cycling is so important in Flanders and how it is an integral part of the regional culture.

Deceuninck-Quick-Step dominated as Zdenek Stybar got revenge on Greg Van Avermaet. Wout van Aert wowed us with a second-place result. And Peter Sagan? What happened to him? We are on the cobblestones in Belgium, and racing is underway with the E3 BinckBank Classic. In the second half of the show, we hear from EF Education First sport director Andreas Klier an ex-pro who is a veteran of the spring classics.

Seven wins in 22 days ... That's a pretty impressive record for Julian Alaphilippe so far this year. Plus, he capped it off with his first monument classic win at Milano-Sanremo. We discuss the significance of his streak and how he managed to conquer some of the sport's top riders in Sanremo on Saturday. Then, we hear from American classics star Coryn Rivera. She discusses how she coped with the high expectations set by her stellar debut season with Sunweb and what we can expect from her in 2019. This episode of the VeloNews podcast is sponsored by Pactimo, who is kitting us out for our summer of gravel racing. Check out the Summit Stratos 12-Hour bibs we'll be wearing at Dirty Kanza 200 and other big events: https://www.pactimo.com/collections/the-12-hour-endurance-cycling-bibs-men-women?avad=219157_d15680ff9

Most modern training software is based on principles that Coach Connor fully admits he would use if he was developing software. Heavily influenced by coaches and physiologists, many training software developers knew what they were looking for and hunted for it in the data. One training package however, stands out from this. Xert was created by Armando Mastracci, who is an engineer first. While he came to understand the physiology, he started by simply looking for trends in the data instead of looking at the physiology. The result is Xert, a tool that has found unique trends which may seem unfamiliar to a physiologist, but are certainly compelling. At the heart of Xert is the notion of failure: the idea that we reveal our true fitness and our profile as a rider in the moments when we hit our limits at these points of failure. In this episode, Armando discusses how he was able to identify these moments of failure in athletes’ training rides, and then use them to create an athlete’s profile and help direct training. But before we dive into the conversation it is helpful to define a few terms that are somewhat unique to Xert and this conversation: First, Maximal Power Available. If you uploaded a workout to Xert, you’d see your normal graphs — heart rate, power, cadence, speed, and so on. What will be new to you is a line calculated by Xert called your MPA or Maximal Power Available. This is a second-by-second graphic of how much power you could produce. When you’re fresh, it’s equal to your sprint power. After a killer attack up a five-minute climb, it may not be much more than your threshold power. It is dynamic and it constantly changes over the course of your ride. We’ve already mentioned failure — it’s that moment when an athlete can’t go any harder. In Xert, it is the moment when your MPA line equals your actual power — meaning you are going as hard as you can go. And if the rider beside you can go harder, they will drop you. Finally, Peak Power, High-intensity Energy, and Threshold. All software packages have moved beyond FTP as the sole parameter used to define an athlete. TrainingPeaks uses a power duration curve. Neal Henderson talked with us in episode 33 about using five-second, one-minute, five-minute, and 20-minute peak power. Armando uses three parameters: 1) Peak Power: simply the power you can hit in a sprint when fresh; 2) High-intensity Energy: our capacity to ride above threshold, which is also often called Watt Prime; 3) Threshold: you know this as FTP. Xert uses moments of failure in rides and races to constantly adjust these three parameters. Our primary guest today is, of course, Armando Mastracci, creator of Xert and owner of Baron Biosystems. He is the original brain behind these concepts, but he has also brought in respected physiologist and owner of Pez cycling, Dr. Stephen Cheung, to interpret these trends from a physiological standpoint, making for a more complete package. Along with Armando, we speak with one of our favorite Fast Talk regulars, Colby Pearce, who needs no introduction. He shares his thoughts on this concept of failure. Finally, we'll touch base with Paulo Saldanha, owner of PowerWatts and coach of 2018 worlds bronze medalist Michael Woods. Paulo discusses lab testing in comparison to finding an athlete’s fitness on the road in slightly less structured but more competitive scenarios.

And the rich get richer... Team Sky managed to outdo itself with new sponsor Ineos, which is owned by a billionaire who's one of the wealthiest people in the world. We analyze the deal and discuss how this could affect the races. We also recap Paris-Nice, where there's more Sky news — turns out Egan Bernal is even better than we thought he was. And we discuss Tirreno-Adriatico and Adam Yates's very tough day on a time trial bike. Finally, we hear from Caleb Ewan about what to expect in this Saturday's first monument classic of the season, Milano-Sanremo. This episode is sponsored by Canyon, which provided us with its Grail gravel bike to take on last weekend's Land Run 100 race in Oklahoma. Learn about this innovative bike on Canyon's website: https://www.canyon.com/en-us/road/grail?utm_source=Velonews&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=Grail&utm_content=Grail

Mountain bike rear suspension technology has changed drastically in the last decade or two. Do you even understand how your bike works? Luckily, today we talk to Dave Weagle, father of the DW Link suspension design and a prolific engineer in the world of mountain bikes. He helps us understand concepts like anti-squat, anti-rise, and more. Things get a little nerdy, but don't worry, Weagle has a very common-sense approach: Ride a mountain bike, and if you like it, it is good.

At the start of this week, we were stunned to learn the news of Kelly Catlin's tragic death. The Olympic silver medalist and three-time world champion took her own life overnight on Thursday, March 7. In this podcast, we hear from her twin brother Colin, who remembers her quirky personality and her drive to be the best at whatever she set her mind to. Also in this podcast, we recap Strade Bianche and discuss Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico.

if you want to be at your strongest and, more importantly, if you want to ride a bike for a long time, off-the-bike, functional training is the work you can’t skip. Whether you’re 21 or 51, if you don't add strength and mobility to your routine, it’s going to come back to haunt you, as Trevor and our guest today will testify to. In episode 69, we take a deep dive into functional training… literally. Trevor and I both get down on the floor of the studio to do some exercises, all in the name of getting this important message across. We'll cover: - What is functional training? And why this buzz phrase is often misunderstood, and why cycling seems to be way behind the curve. - The two main benefits of functional work: improving your neuromuscular performance on the bike and preventing injury. - Why functional training and staying healthy aren’t simply a matter of stretching or picking up the periodic heavy weight. Proper movement and form are key. - Then, Trevor and I will get on the floor and embarrass ourselves for a bit. - Next we discus how to evaluate functional fitness and why you should consider having the help of an expert. - The importance of belly breathing. - How cyclists can succumb to the pitfall of less-than-optimal firing patterns and not even know it. - Finally, Menachem Brodie, our guest today, walks through six key exercises for cyclists. If there's one thing we hope you get from this episode, it’s to do these exercises several times per week. See the VeloNews website for details. Our primary guest today is the aforementioned Menachem Brodie, head coach at Human Vortex Training and a USA Cycling expert coach. Along with Menachem, we spoke with WorldTour riders Joe Dombrowski (EF Education First) and Brent Bookwalter (Michelton-Scott). Both riders emphasized the importance of functional work, even if it means spending an hour less on the bike. We also connected with Jess Elliot, the owner of TAG Performance Strength and Conditioning. She talked with us about how easy it is for athletes to fall into poor muscle firing patterns.