After competing in Costa Rica’s La Ruta de Los Conquistadores—my last major race of the 2009 season—I took a 10-day break from riding. I enjoyed restful time at home, a bit of trail running and a Thanksgiving road trip with my wife, Erin, and our 9-month-old, Conrad, to visit friends and family.

Now, with next season’s racing months away, my training goals are to balance out my fitness and keep my aerobic system up to par. It’s also time to prepare for the demands of the season ahead by boosting my muscular endurance, strength and speed: for this I incorporate weight lifting, core workouts and balancing exercises in the gym. I also accomplish many of these goals while having fun on the local Tuesday Night Fix Gear Ride.

I was really excited after winning the Mohican 100, not just because I battled against a tough lead group including six strong competitors for a win of mere seconds, but because I had the first power file from a winning 100-mile mountain bike race.

When I looked at the file, I scratched my head. Wow, the race file itself looked a lot like a six hour and fifty minute cross country! There were many surges and coasting, but the power was more sustained on the uphills than in a pro cross country race.

USA National Champion of Short Track Cross Country and Marathon Mountain Bike, Jeremiah Bishop has the experience to take power-based training and turn it into race winning performances. Working alongside his coach Hunter Allen, Jeremiah has used power-based training to prepare for and win Olympic-distance cross country, short track, marathon mountain bike, 100-mile, multi-day stage races, road racing and cyclocross events.

Training with the PowerTap SL 2.4 Disc Brake Hub System has been a powerful tool for me to target my training in ways like never before.

Because of the explosive nature of mountain bike racing, using a power meter is the best way to gauge and focus my efforts. Training with a PowerTap SL 2.4 Disc Brake Hub System on my mountain bike has allowed me to target specific training goals that were never possible with a heart rate monitor or even with a road PowerTap.