Question: I’ve missed out on the joy of cycling for eight long years, but recently I decided to do some serious riding. I’m finding it hard to control heavy breathing for the first 20-30 minutes of each ride. Is this normal? — Reggie W. Coach Fred Matheny Replies: It sounds like you’re simply starting too…
Question: I live in the western Mojave Desert near Edwards Air Force Base. The wind howls but there aren’t any hills. Is there a way to use headwinds to become a better climber? Also, how should I do recovery rides when the wind is always blowing? Finally, do you recommend that I use a power…
Question: I’ve used the tapering protocol you recommend in Basic Training for Roadies. It worked well. However, most of the tapering research seems to deal with the weeks before only one event. What if you have consecutive weekend events for two or three weeks? — Jimmy K. Coach Fred Matheny Replies: Good question. The answer depends on…
Question: I’m a reasonably accomplished velodrome racer but I want to switch to criteriums and road racing. I train on Wednesdays with Pete Penseyres’s group in San Diego. I suffer on the climbs but have improved. Would I be better off avoiding hills in midweek training sessions and doing flat, fast speedwork instead? My teammates…
By Coach Fred Matheny Earlier in this series on Allen Lim, we presented some of his quirky (his word) training approaches. Lim is an expert in physiology, human performance and sports nutrition. He’s the founder of Skratch Labs. Here are a few more of Lim’s eclectic training dictums: All of coaching boils down to instructing riders to…
