Contributed by O2fit-athlete, and Audi Team member, Michael Williams. Read on…

My love of competing on my bike began at the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix (1975), when I borrowed my sister’s Schwinn Varsity to enter the race.  At 13, I entered and finished second place in my first criterium.  I thought “How cool is this?”  But, my sister reposed her bike and I was afoot again until I could buy my own bike, many years later.

Fast forward to the mid 80’s.  A friend was doing triathlons and I thought that looked like fun, so it was time for a “real” bike.  I loved that bike, loved training, and competing in triathlons.  My swimming resembled beating the water into submission, the running I maintained my position, but, it was cycling where I was able to “Seek and Destroy”  (In my mind at least).  So road racing ended up being my sport of choice.

I trained with a good friend, and my cycling mentor (geek), who studied, and planned our training sessions and strategies. He did all the research and I was his workout buddy; following his lead.  That worked great at getting me some pretty good, and consistent results.

Then life came along.  Getting married and children!  I gladly stopped pursuing racing to enjoy the family!

Still biked – mainly for fitness.  I was fortunate to fit in a few races, at best, one a year – most of them MTB races.  I gravitated to endurance racing, a few 24 Hour races, (4 team, 1 solo), and a few 100 milers (5x Leadville finisher) with the family as my crew.  By then my ‘cycling coach’/friend had moved on and was not longer there to tell me what to do.  I 100% winged it!  There were decent results, but knew that I could do better.

Now the kids are off to college and I can spend a little more time on the bike.  Still just doing a little bit of ‘this’, with some of ‘that’ thrown in.

I met Julie Young at the Tahoe Trail 100 course preview ride. She had known a few of my cycling acquaintances, which got us talking before and after the ride.  Some encouraging words were said, and that is when I knew it was time to get some “Real” coaching.

I look forward to Julie’s experience and knowledge, which now gives me a systematic and logical approach to time on the bike instead of the old guessing game. Maybe I’ll see you out on the road, or, up in the hills.

Michael Williams

This blog post comes from, Silver Sage Sports and Fitness Lab sponsored, Sugar Bowl Elite Team member Spencer Eusden with insight into how he and teammate Emily Blackmer are preparing for the final SuperTour races of the year. These races will be help in the end of March in Craftsbury, Vermont and are some of the most competitive races held in the United States each year.

While the elevation, between 6,000 and 7,000, at which we normally ski is great for bringing us lots of snow, it can make it difficult to race well at sea level. Lower levels of available oxygen at altitude make the same pace take a greater physiological toll than at sea level.  Consequentially, our training pace at altitude is slower than it would be at sea level. However, when we go back to race at sea level, in order to be successful, we race at a pace significantly faster than we are used to. Here are a few of the things Emily and I have been doing to prepare our bodies to move fast in the upcoming races in Vermont.

Speeds:

Short sprints are a great way to practice moving quickly without overly taxing your body. We have been including sets of 10-20 speeds into two of our workouts each week to improve efficiency at high speed. This past Tuesday I did the following workout skate skiing at Royal Gorge.

Warm Up: Ski easy for 20 minutes then do three 10-second speeds of 70%, 80%, and then 90% of maximum speed.

The Workout: 20 speeds that are 10-15 seconds long with at least 2 minutes of recovery between each speed. I like to break the speeds up into sets of 5-8 with 7-10 minutes of easy skiing in between each set. This time I started with 8 V2 speeds on flat terrain. Then, after skiing for 8 minutes easy I did 6 uphill V1 speeds. I was feeling a little tired after the uphill speeds so I took 12 minutes of easy skiing before the final set of speeds. I finished the workout with six 15-second speeds on variable terrain where I would have to change technique at least once.

Cool Down: Ski easy for 20 minutes. Change into dry clothes and eat a snack once you’re finished.

Intensity Training

We normally do intensity training once or twice a week between races during the winter. When prepping for races at lower altitude, we often keep the number of intensity sessions the same, but adjust the workouts slightly to promote a higher pace. Typically this means that each interval is shorter and the total amount of interval time is lower, but the effort of each interval is 95-100% effort. Below is a workout we did with the rest of the Sugar Bowl Nordic Team as they were prepping for Junior Nationals next week.

Warm Up: Ski easy for 25 minutes then do a three minute long interval just below your lactate threshold, or about 80% of max heart rate.

The Workout: 5-8 one minute long intervals with 2 minutes recovery. Each interval is a maximal effort. We chose to do this workout over rolling uphill terrain and start each interval at the same place. This way we could gauge how much distance was covered in each interval from one to the next. I left my drink belt at the end point of my first interval as a reference point. In the range of 5 to 8 intervals, we continue until the distance we cover during the interval drops markedly from the previous one.

Cool Down: Ski easy for 30 minutes. Change into dry clothes and eat a snack once you’re finished.

By including more speed sessions in our normal training and adjusting the types of intensity sessions we do, we are better able prepare our bodies to move at the faster speeds we see at lower elevations. You can follow the Sugar Bowl Elite Team as we race later on this March on our blog (sugarbowlnordic.blogspot.com).

Contributed by Heidi Littenberg

The Reno Wheelmen/Women just completed two days of focused training in Auburn, California.  Thirteen riders, including several from Project Hero City of Reno, headed over the hill to spend two days learning from Silver Sage Sports and Fitness Lab Director, and O2Fitness Head Coach, Julie Young.

I have to start with the weather!  We kept counting our blessings that after the prior weekend’s rain and snow in the west, how lucky we were to hit the perfect weekend – sunny with highs in the 60s and 70s!  You can’t get better weather than that.  There’s nothing like green, rolling hills, and mostly rural roads with amazing scenery to lift the spirits after a couple months of gym workouts and riding on the trainer.  There were lots of smiles, despite all the hard work being done by all the riders.

The mild temperatures made it possible to have plenty of Julie’s patented chalk talks, so everyone could get the most out of each session.  She went over the key purpose of each workout and answered questions, so riders could focus on the task at hand with a great foundation of

Proof there’s no such thing as packing light!

We rented a team house in the Loomis area, which made it possible to ride to most of the training venues.  The location gave us the perfect place to settle in and have a great base of operations (possibly complete with poltergeist).

Day One – Sprints

Day one started with a sprint workout in the English Colony area.  Julie’s intimate knowledge of the roads meant we had a nice circuit for training with some gentle rollers for a bit of extra challenge – not just your flat loop around Air Center!  Each loop included two sprints, which challenged our ability to recover from hard efforts in bigger gears.

A group chalk talk about sprinting and apexing turns.

The two-and-a-half hour session included solo sprints, as well as double and three-person team lead outs.  Several riders hadn’t raced before, so they were able to pick up new skills, like drafting and how helpful it can be under any circumstances.  Riders also learned about apexing turns and the benefit of riding intervals at higher intensity levels.  We finished up with some rolling climbs up toward Auburn and back to the group house.

In the afternoon, we did a one hour active recovery ride as the sun was setting.  Despite already being tired from the morning workout, everyone enjoyed the spin and its positive effect on our tired legs.  We all felt sluggish at the start, but quickly realized how that quick spin helps the body recover.

Post-ride, we enjoyed the ability to eat an awesome potluck dinner for complete refueling.  Cyclists are often great cooks (or we can shop well!) and this group was no exception.

Day Two – Hill Repeats

We needed Saturday night’s dinner and Sunday morning’s breakfast as fuel for Sunday’s hill repeats.  Baxter Grade, just north of Auburn, is a local classic.  It works well for approximately 10-minute intervals with a variety of power outputs easy/hard, easy/hard).  The legs and lungs have to adapt to the changes in pitch in the road.  Five times up and down made for jelly legs, but having people around to offer encouragement was the kicker that got us all to the top of that fifth repeat.

The first hill repeat on Baxter Grade, when we were full of energy!

Several of us skipped some major Sunday sporting event for an hour of active recovery later in the day, including a tour of Itchy Acres (my new favorite name for a rural/suburban housing tract!).  Another great sunset was on tap, along with more incredible, green scenery.  It’s amazing how beautiful that color feels when you live in a desert.

Key Takeaways

It’s amazing what a weekend camp can do for your riding.  Personally, I needed a reminder about why I love cycling so much.  I got that reminder from riding with great people in an amazing location that has world class terrain for cycling.  I also got that lift from feeling my body riding and recovering better than I thought it would.  There have been days over the winter that I couldn’t train as much or as hard as I wanted to, so feeling reasonably good after two days of pummeling myself was a nice surprise.

Riders also learned about more than just the physical benefits of doing intervals.  We definitely discussed their cardio and strength aspects.  But, Julie’s coaching includes so much more, like focusing on pedal stroke efficiency.  She makes it clear that you can’t just mash the pedals or “phone in” the workout and expect to gain much benefit.

 Lots of smiles after the LAST hill repeat on Baxter Grade!

Another rider mentioned how much she learned about the importance of a great bike fit and position on the bike for optimal use of large muscle groups (hear that, glutes?).  It’s easy to talk about it, especially if you’re a devotee like I am.  However, it’s an awesome thing to witness when someone else really feels that “I got it!” feeling for the first time.

In addition to details like these, a training camp really helps with the mental aspect of the sport, like applying what you’re doing to real-life situations (racing, riding centuries, etc.).  This helps us remember why we’re training in the first place.  That “aha!” moment gives each workout so much more oomph!

Finishing up strong with a nice group ride.

Finally, a camp can help you push yourself through those last couple of painful pedal strokes at the top of the last hill repeat when you’re beyond tired.  Hearing others cheer you on and hearing Julie’s voice from behind you when you’re just about to fall off your bike… those things can help you finish that last 100 meters strong and with purpose.  That’s when training really pays big dividends.

Obviously, I’ll close by saying that if you have the opportunity to take part in a couple of days of intensive training with Julie, DO IT.  We all have those moments where we might be intimidated to dive into that pool, but it’s so worth it.  Like she said, “No one wins hill repeats!”  Camps like these aren’t about that.  They’re about pushing your own personal limits and finding out what you’re capable of.  That, to me, is time well spent.