I just started a monthly coaching column in MTBRacenews.com. This most recent entry is about the transition from the end of the cyclocross season to the beginning of the road or mountain bike season. It was posted a few days ago so you’ll have to scroll down. Enjoy! www.MTBRacenews.com.
Alison
I’ve got two bikes for sale on Ebay; a Santa Cruz Heckler free-ride bike and the Black Sheep/Santa Cruz cyclocross bike I won the 2003 National Championships on in Portland, OR. Both bikes are in great shape. The cross bike was only raced one season. It was built by James Bleakley of Black Sheep out of Ft. Collins. I had it painted to look like a Santa Cruz. Unfortunately the paint job on the bike wasn’t a very high quality so there are lots of chip marks. The frame is custom titanium with Shimano parts. I bought the Heckler in Feb of 2004. It was my “downhill” training bike used in Moab, UT to improve my skills for the upcoming season and Olympic Trials. I absolutely love the bike and the only reason I haven’t ridden it is because LUNA is sponsored by Orbea. It also has the Maxxis 2.4 ADvantage tires that I personally designed myself. If you look at the side tread you can actually see the letters A and D. They are a great tire for Moab. Even though this is a free-ride bike, it is set up as more of a cross country bike. It has lots of travel and suspension, but not the huge weight of more traditional free-ride bikes.
Check out the two links.
I am also including a signed Team LUNA jersey for the lucky winners of these two bikes.
Good luck and have fun. And spread the word to anyone else that might be interested!
Cheers
Alison
Alison and husband Greg training in Moab, UT.
Alison racing the 2003 National Cross Championships
Alison winning her 6th national title
Sick and tired of trying to train in the winter? It’s cold, cloudy, snowy, and you have little motivation to ride (or at least we do). In this latest edition of Tips From a World Champion, Alison shares the ways she keeps winter training exciting. The written article below is all about how to keep the dreaded trainer exciting. Enjoy and good luck!
Learning to Love the Trainer
Staying fit throughout the winter can be a challenge, especially if you’re trying to ride your bike. We all love hiking the Incline and backcountry skiing, but if you want to race this coming spring, you really need to spend time on your bike. And with the cold temperatures and snow on the ground, that can mean time on the trainer.
Aaaah the dreaded trainer. There are some easy things you can do to make riding the trainer tolerable, if even enjoyable. First, I recommend riding the trainer in front of your TV or laptop. Watch an action-packed movie that will keep your attention. No love stories. Next, have a purpose when riding the trainer. Even if you are supposed to do a 2hr endurance ride, you can still spice things up to keep it interesting. For example, ride for 10 minutes at a cadence of 50rpms. Then do 10 minutes at a cadence of 120rpms. Then ride for 5 minutes standing up. Then ride with one leg. Switch to the other leg. Before you know it an hour has passed. The third thing I recommend is breaking down your ride into one hour segments. Don’t jump on the trainer thinking you’re going to do a 3hr workout. It won’t happen. Instead, start your ride and only focus on the first hour. Once the hour is up, get off the trainer and stretch, go to the bathroom and have a snack. Then get back on the trainer and focus on riding for another hour. When that second hour is up, get off and do the same thing. I’ve used this technique for a four hour trainer ride. Call me crazy but it really works!
Riding the trainer is never going to be as fun as going outside, but for those of us that sometimes have no choice, riding indoors can still be a great workout. It’s all in the attitude. Figure out a way to make it fun and you’ll get a heck of a lot more out of your workout.
Happy trails!
Alison
For all of you who have been asking for an Endurance-specific program – here it is! We’ve just added our second Endurance program, which is aimed at events from four to six hours long. It is also great for folks that want to do longer events but don’t have the time necessary for our eight-hour-plus program! You can check out a free sample by going to our homepage and following the links from there.
Here’s the latest Tips from a World Champion. In this edition, Alison talks about and demonstrates how to ride steep climbs, and also how to get started on a steep climb if you’ve stopped. Check it out!
