Coach John Hughes

By Coach John Hughes This column is about hydration during rides not throughout the day. My client Jack was on a fast cross-country tour: 2750 miles in just 20 days. Seven days into the tour he started riding poorly although he had plenty of training miles in his legs.  His buddies noticed he wasn’t urinating at the rest stops and said he was getting dehydrated. Even … [Read more...] about Anti-Aging: Why “Drink Before You’re Thirsty” is Dangerous

By Coach John Hughes Joe Lowry writes, “I’m 64 years old, in good health and have been physically active including riding bikes off and on my entire adult life. I have been riding for about two months and built up to riding 28 miles at an average speed of 14.5 mph.  I ride the long ride 1 time per week with shorter rides of 15 to 20 miles 2 times per week at the … [Read more...] about Anti-Aging Ask the Coach: How to Train for Endurance

By Coach John Hughes I recently watched a flat stage of the Tour de France. 40C (104F) and the tarmac was softening. As if racing in the heat weren’t enough, the sticky tarmac makes the racing harder. The highs have been around 100F in the Denver area. We start our rides at 7 a.m. when it’s in the low 70s. The pros start in the afternoon! Looking back the race was decided … [Read more...] about Hydrating Like the Pros

By Coach John Hughes When I started racing ultra-distance in the 1980s riders were just starting to use heart rate monitors.  Now they’re ubiquitous.  Healthline just published a review The 10 Best Heart Rate Monitor Watches of 2022.  Some of the fancier so-called smart watches give you training zones based on your maximum heart rate. Walk into a gym and … [Read more...] about Anti-Aging: Max Heart Rate – A Coach’s View

By Coach John Hughes Riding like the pros means climbing better you did than last year. Or increasing your cruising speed. It doesn’t mean averaging over 40 km/h (25 mph) for a multi-hour ride. Or having a killer sprint. Although most of us don’t race and don’t use power meters, we can learn from the pros. My wife and I enjoy watching the recap of the Tour de France each … [Read more...] about Anti-Aging: Ride Like the Pros – Train in the Sweet Spot