Download this new CycleOps Power wallpaper to add a little motivation right to your desktop.

The guy on the horizon isn’t a cyclist. He’s a victim.

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by Joao Correia

There are a lot of professional cyclists out there that nobody has ever heard of and I am no different. But I am probably one of the unlikeliest stories in the European peloton this year. The main reason is that I am just like you. Up until December 1st I manned a desk like most of you and cycling was a passion (more like an obsession) but like most of you it had to be balanced with a career and family including kids. Many nights and especially in the winter I’d get home late at night and hit the trainer. Sound familiar?

Although I had raced when I was younger at the age of 21 in 1996 I decided to stop racing and concentrate instead on my studies. After graduating college I went into the cut-throat world of publishing in New York City and began to work up the corporate ladder. Because I worked in advertising a big part of my job was entertaining clients and there were many, many nights that ended in big dinners with lots and lots of wine (I’m not complaining here). After a few years of this and not doing much exercise I ended up ballooning up to 205 pounds (5’9”). Then one day I took a job at Bicycling Magazine as the Advertising Director and reconnected with the sport. At Bicycling we do a lot of business on the bike so after hearing “You know for a fat guy your not bad” a few too many times I decided to start riding again.

I was doing a Granfondo in Italy in May of 2006 when an important client of mine asked me if I had ever raced. I said yes but that was a long time ago and he suggested that I get back into the sport. You never quite loose it he said. That was the final push that I needed and I made a promise to myself that if I could ride 3-4 times per week for the rest of the year then in 2007 I’d get back into the sport. And so the adventure began.

In October of 2007 I visited Dr. Max Testa at TOSCH in Salt Lake City to do some testing so that I could start training seriously. The goal of the test was to set my baselines and sketch out a training program based on power. In that first test I had a body fat of over 20% and was technically considered obese. Although the Vo2Max wasn’t terrible the fact that I popped at 300 Watts wasn’t that great and I like to joke that I am the first athlete in the history of cycling to have a negative w/kg ratio. Max drew me up a training program designed with my schedule in mind mostly relying on a 1-1:30 hours of trainer time at night and sent me on my way.

Although people have often asked me if it was hard to get back into shape, the answer really is that if you have determination and are good at scheduling a little time to train that you can pretty much get back to at least 80% of your potential within a few months. Because I lived in New York City and the winters are hard I did most of my training on a trainer but what I found out was that with the trainer an hour or an hour and a half of structure can be like two to three on the road.

After about six weeks I went back and re-tested with Max and although I didn’t do a Vo2Max test I did do a lactate test and saw that I had improved about 20%. Most of that was due to the fact that I was training in the right power zones and with the training I was able to increase my ability to handle the power in those zones. By focusing on threshold work I raised my threshold and laid the groundwork for harder training in the Spring.

In my first season (2007)after starting to train I raced as an amateur in the US doing a few of the NRC races. During the 2008 and 2009 season I rode for the Bissell Pro Cycling Team while still working. The biggest difference between 2007 and 2008-2009 was that I was doing bigger and better races. My job didn’t change, in fact as many of you know by your own experiences it only got harder. I still had to balance family and kids so the training was pretty much the same. Mostly trainer at night in the winter and when the days got longer I was able to do longer hours. Some weeks were great and some weeks because of work and family responsibilities were almost nonexistent on the bike. The key is to just pick up from where you left off and keep moving forward and training from where you left off.

Now of course things are a little different. Cycling has become the job so I can train as much as I need to and after training it’s important to rest (that’s new for me) to recover for the next day. The improvements I’ve seen since I’ve starting training full time has been significant but not as significant as the improvement I saw when I first started training in those first six weeks of training with power. Thanks for reading this post and hope you come back to share in this adventure with me. I’ll be sharing some power files from training and racing so that you can compare them to your own training and racing files.

Keep up with Joao Correia on his blog (www.joaoisme.com), Twitter (@joaoisme), and YouTube (www.youtube.com/joaoisme).

Download this new CycleOps Power wallpaper to add a little motivation right to your desktop.

Stop measuring power by the puddle under your trainer.

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Join us for a Webinar on February 4

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/111573315

This webinar is geared to anyone looking to learn more about using a PowerTap on their bike in order to take their cycling capabilities to the next level! However, there will be a focus on triathletes of all abilities and how this awesome technology could benefit you in 2010.

Coach Angie Sturtevant will guide you through the following topics:
-What Is Power?
-Power to Weight Ratio
-The Kilojoule
-Power vs Heart Rate
-Benefits of Training With Power
-Power Applied to the Principles of Training
--Overload & Recovery
--Progression
--Specificity
--Individuality
-Power Testing
-Power and Racing Triathlon
-Power Based Workouts

In only an hour we'll just be scratching the surface of all that surrounds training with power, but that just means you'll have to join us again in the future! We welcome feedback and questions for this presentation as well as recommendations for future training events and webinars.

Learn more about Coach Angie at http://www.saris.com/t-angieBio.aspx.

Title: Training with Power for Triathletes
Date: Thursday, February 4, 2010
Time: 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM CST

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

Until now, most indoor cycles have employed a fixed gear drive train that links the crank and pedals directly to the flywheel so when the flywheel is in motion, the pedals are as well. For 2010, the CycleOps Pro Series indoor cycles are changing this by introducing freewheeling technology in the Pro Series indoor cycles.

This is an important benefit for both serious outdoor cyclists and for fitness riders at clubs and at home for several reasons. For one, once the flywheel is rotating on a fized gear indoor cycle, it is actually does much of the work for the rider and promotes an unnaturally high cadence. Because the flywheeling effect causes a rider’s legs to spin much faster than they could otherwise maintain at even low resistance, it stresses the joints and increases the likelihood of injury while providing less aerobic benefit. Additionally, in the event that a rider loses contact with the pedals, he or she runs a high risk of being hit in the leg by the still rotating pedal.

The freewheel drive of the new CycleOps Pro Series Indoor Cycles more closely replicates the feel of an outdoor bike. Because the rider has to supply all of the power (unlike on a fixed gear bike), he or she is more attuned to the relationship between pedaling effort and resistance. By pedaling harder at a more realistic cadence, he keeps his heart rate up and better develops leg strength. With a lower chance of injury and greater aerobic benefit, CycleOps’ new Pro Series Indoor Cycles offer a major advantage to dedicated competitive and fitness cyclists.

Learn more about the CycleOps Pro Series Indoor Cycles in this video featuring Robbie Ventura:

It is that time of year again - time for falling in love all over again with indoor cycling. Living and training in Missoula, Montana, I utilize indoor training year round. During this time of year, I am fortunate enough to be able to train with a Cycleops PowerBeam Pro about 5 days a week.

This time of year I am focusing on building a strong base through strength and conditioning. One of my favorite workouts to build leg strength that I do this time of year is an over-gear seated effort. Riding at lower RPM's (50-70 rpm's) produces a lower heart rate at an aerobic effort. This is the key to efficiency. My coach, Matt Dixon, gave me the following workout on Saturday to help build strength and endurance while using the aerobic energy system.

The following session is 2.5 hours. The goal of the workout is to keep your heart rate in "zone 2" - no more than 75% of your max heart rate.

Workout

Warm up:
40 minutes build by 10 watts every 5 minutes. End the warm-up in "zone 2" heart rate.
5 minutes easy

Main Set #1:
Repeat 4x through
(5 minutes at very high cadence (100+ rpm)
4 minutes at tempo/race pace cadence (90 rpm)
3 minutes at low cadence (60-70 rpm)
2 minutes at really low cadence (50-60 rpm)
1 minute recover at regular cadence)
End with 5 minutes easy

Main Set #2:
30 minutes aerobic TT effort with tempo/race pace cadence (90 rpm)

Cool down
10 minutes and include 5x1 minute single-leg drill

Don't forget to drink lots of water, have some good tunes on hand, and remember that riding indoors in the winter makes for a great Spring/Summer of racing. Best of luck!

Linsey Corbin

The last newsletter provided 8 gut buster Hour of Power workouts that were favorites of my clients. Here are more of their favorites, guaranteed to make your winter carpet criteriums effective and fun.

10 Minute Low Cadence with Squat Holds

Mark is a serious bike racer, spending most weekends during the season hammering criteriums and powering road races, where both repeatable and sustainable power are critical. Due to a time-demanding career, he’ll often use the trainer for his short sessions, to ensure he gets the most quality out of his training time. It’s on the bike, warm up, blam out the workout and cool down, in about an hour. “I like the 10 minute low cadence with squat holds, session. I love this type of work during this time of the year. I consider it the ‘putting more torque under the hood of a diesel’ session, while increasing power at my Zone 2/3 and threshold and more power while cruising”.

For the workout, warm up at least 5min in Zone 1. Then do 10 minutes progressively increasing gears from a cadence of 70 until I reach a 60 rpm cadence. Spin the legs out briefly, then jump off the bike and do a squat hold until failure. Shake out the legs and repeat the squat hold until failure again. Now hop back on the bike and ride 3-5 minutes easy & then repeat 10 minutes low cadence progression and squat holds, for a total of 3 to 4 times. “This type of workout is perfect for building force development and breaking up the basement doldroms. Just when I start to get bored and drift, it is time to hop off the bike do the squat holds and get back on the bike and into the next 10 minutes. Before I know it I have got an hour under my belt”.

Ascending Pyramid

John is a serious triathlete, focusing on his weakness of racing on hilly courses. Here is his favorite indoor strength builder, which is done on the bike and treadmill, done as a brick workout. “I really struggle with this workout, but I am struggling because it is what I need to work on most. But, I’m getting better at it and am even developed the strength to push a bit harder at the end of each interval. Can’t wait for the ice and near zero temps to go away, so I can test my strength on real hills outside.”

Warm up on the bike in Zone 1. Then do an Ascending Pyramid of work for 2:00; 3:00; 4:00 and 5:00, with 2:00 recovery in between each. The work effort is done at the highest load/biggest gear that you can hold at 60 rpm. Noodle the legs in Zone 1 for a few minutes and then hop off the bike, making your way to the treadmill. Repeat the same ascending pyramid focus. The work effort on the treadmill is done at the highest grade you can sustain for the duration. Finish on the bike, repeating the ascending pyramid. You can also repeat the treadmill work if time permits; otherwise cool down.

Criss Cross Threshold

Dan is all about the Criss Cross Threshold workout. “I love this session because time goes by really fast and it boosts my threshold. Plus, I can easily do this session outside on the road too.”

Warm up at least 10 minutes and then ramp yourself up gradually to 75% of your threshold power over the course of 10 minutes. Now do a 7 minute Criss Cross Threshold interval as: 2:00 above threshold; 1:00 at 80-85% threshold; 2:00 above threshold; 1:00 80-85% threshold and 1:00 above threshold. Then ride easy 5min and repeat for a total of 3-5x, based on time available.

30 Second Efforts

Robert is a serious cyclist that wants to build his repeatable raw power. “I do much better doing the 30sec efforts indoors, as I have a controlled environment and I can catch up on my taped TV shows of SouthPark, which Angie got me hooked on. This session is very challenging, but the results of power and speed motivate me to push through the pain. The SouthPark episodes keep me amused through the pain too.”

This session is based on work intervals with only 30 sec of rest in between. You begin by doing 30 sec efforts, but over time (weeks/months) you progress to 45 seconds and then 1:00. Warm up at least 10 minutes.

Do as many repetitions as possible of 30 sec of all out work (not so hard that you can’t finish the 30 sec) and 30 sec rest, without hesitation, shooting for 10 total. No worries if you cannot do 10 in a row at first. This is merely your goal to shoot for. The first few are going to feel much better than the rest, as the fatigue of repetition will set in. Afterwards, ride easy. You can then throw in a few more efforts if you really want, but it’s not necessary. Repeat every 10 days. When you can do 10 in a row, change the timing to 45 seconds. When you can do 10 of those in a row, then change it up to 1:00.

Stomps & WindUps

Mike likes working on building his quick snap with this session of Stomps & WindUps. “I do this session for 90 min to make sure I keep my stamina during the winter months, since I am not riding outside. I also like this session because each effort is more than the previous, so I am developing the ability to work harder after I have worked hard. I ride with a timer, which is set to go off for each wind up.”

Warm Up for 10 minutes and then do 4 x 5 minute efforts as follows: 10 seconds of stomping hard on the pedals and 20 second of easy pedaling, repeating without hesitation for the whole 5 minutes. You’ll need to add active recovery in between each 5minute effort, for 3- 5 minutes. With each set, shoot for a bit higher power output than the previous. Then for the rest of the ride, incorporate 10 wind-ups with at least 5 minutes in between each. To initiate, shift to a bigger gear and unleash an acceleration out of the saddle for 10 seconds. Again, try to shoot for a bit higher power output with each. Be sure to cool down a while before ending your session, as they’ll be a lot of toxins to flush out!

1x5 2x10 Workout

Tom likes doing workouts that don’t require too much watching the clock. “I like longer efforts, as it is easier to time when on a trainer. I don’t want to time out short :30 or 1:00 time periods. Instead I like working with 5:00 and 10:00, as it is always easy to tell where you are, on the clock. Plus, those longer efforts are conditioning my aerobic system, which is the footing to everything I do.” This is his favorite, which I call the 1x5 2x10 WorkOut. After warm up, do 1 x 5:00 effort in Zone 3-4, progressively increasing effort for the duration. Then ride easy at least 5:00 and do 2 x 10:00 in Zone 3, progressively increasing effort for the duration. Take 5-10min easy in between. Use various ways to work the effort. In this case, Jeff focused on keeping his cadence above 85 rpm, as this is his weakness. You can change it up, preferably focusing on your weakness.

Progressive Sweet Spot Challenge

Jen likes to compete with her fatigue levels. She does the Progressive Sweet Spot Challenge for just that reason. The goal is to begin at 101-105% of threshold power and hold as long as possible, dropping back a few watts as fatigue sets in. She continues to hold the efforts as long as possible over the course of 45-60 minutes. At the end of the duration, she finishes with 3 x 4min Zone 1 & 4min Zone 4, then cooling down.

Between the two articles, that gives you 15 indoor cycling workouts, assured to boost your fitness and performance goals, in lieu of just dumping buckets of sweat all over your basement floor. These workouts came from input from some of my clients, as their favorites. Now it’s your turn. In the last Newsletter, I asked for input from you, regarding your favorite music and/or movies to motivate you while on the trainer or indoor cycle. Here are your responses. Thanks for sharing.

• There were a lot of shout outs for riding to Robbie Ventura DVDs, Tour de France, Lance Armstrong , Giro, Hell on Wheels and Ironman videos. Seems the clear winner in motivating the masses is watching the real deal and seeing other’s suffer.
  
  
• Jason Bourne, Indiana Jones and Gladiator were big winners in the motivating movie category. Maybe Harrison Ford, Matt Damon and Russell Crowe could star in Robbie Ventura’s next training DVD’s? Other movie/tv shout outs went to Jurassic Park, The Natural, Air Force One, Star Trek, Lost episodes, Hoosiers, Transformers, Running on the Sun, Pirates of the Caribbean, Glee episodes, Fire Fly, Serenity and football games.
  
  
• The music list is quite long, and surprisingly there were no duplicates. The list includes: Free Bird, The Sound Track to Hell on Wheels, Radar Love, Sweet Emotion, Stronger by Kanye West, Hurt by Nine Inch Nails, Limp Bizkit’s Breaking the Habit and Rollin, Stairway to Heaven, Blind by Korn, Tequila, Get Fly, Jessica by the Allman Brothers, With or Without You & Beautiful Day by U2, Thunderstruck, Lose Yourself by Eminem, Painkiller by Judas Priest, Heaven and Hell by Black Sabbath, 16 Tons by Ernie Ford, Clapton’s Cross Roads, Sharp Dressed Man, Take Me Higher, By the Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lair, Animals by Nickelback, Take My Picture by Filter, Hey Jude, Get the Party Started and Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood from the Kill Bill Soundtrack.
  
  
• While many thrive on music and movies for motivation, some riders stated they don’t watch movies or listen to music, as it takes the focus away from riding. Others were simply happy using the PowerTap as a training partner and doing tests to keep them motivated.
  
  

Provided by Angie Sturtevant
CycleOps Power Fitness Education Director & Master Training Specialist
Owner of Specialists in Sports Performance

by CycleOps Powered Athlete Jeremiah Bishop

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.

Early winter is also the time to shake things up a bit by doing some cross training. The best part of this training is it’s pretty fun, flexible and not too grueling.

I don’t do a lot of cross-country skiing, so I’m not very graceful. But, tempted by eight inches of fresh snow, one of my training buddies and I made the best of a recent storm and headed to the nearby mountains where even deeper snow and vast trails waited for an adventure.

Cross-country skiing is not what you’d normally do with a PowerTap, but why not? So, when I suit up to hit the snowy trails, I bring my PowerTap CPU along.

Since most of my training is on the mountain bike, I set up my PowerTap head units to record heart rate data. This setup comes in handy when I hit a killer hike-a-bike section on the trails: my PowerTap keeps recording my heart rate data even though I’m off the bike. It’s also great when I want to record heart rate on a trail run, cross-country ski adventure or something intense like holiday shopping. But seriously, I keep my training data current despite a reduced amount of on-the-bike training by using heart rate data to calculate my training stress score (TSS). It’s a pretty simple way to keep tabs on my fitness, but it works very well.

After the holidays, it’s back to the training grind. But for now, my focus and goals are fun and refreshing. My next challenge is to attempt run the mountainous 26-mile Wild Oak Trail by mid January. Wish me luck!

I wish you a healthy and happy holiday season. Enjoy everything in moderation – training included!

- Jeremiah

Download this new CycleOps Power wallpaper to add a little motivation right to your desktop.

This is where you win races that don’t start for six months.

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The Holiday Season is upon us. Although a time of peace and joy, it is also a time of cookies, candies office parties, family travel and inclement weather. All reasons to over eat and having to ditch your riding time resulting in incomplete workouts and extra pounds of non-functional weight. This is a great time to bring out the trainer or indoor cycle and incorporate some gut-buster carpet criteriums, studio stage races, garage grinders, basement bursts….whatever you call them. With limited time and extra calories to burn, you can effectively expend the most amount of energy in an hour or less, while also reaping the benefits of positive physiological adaptations.

While I prescribe numerous indoor workouts to my clients, I decided to ask them which workout was their favorite to do on their indoor ride. Since there were so many responses, I’ll break this up into two articles. In this first edition, I give 8 responses, along with the workout in detail, so you can reap the benefits of an Hour of Power. In the second edition, I will give the rest of the favorite workouts, plus I will reveal your favorite ways to pass time while riding indoors. Read on to get the workouts and be sure to submit your responses too.

Chad likes the 15-5-15-1 Threshold Booster session. “This workout is really good as the goals for each interval are solid goals based off of a good 10min peak power test. Any workout that has goals that are realistic but tough, are good”

Warm Up in Zone 1 (easy).
Based on a 10 min Power Test or your 10 Peak Power Value, do 4 intervals at a percentage of your test/value results. Take 5min rest in between.
Interval #1: 15:00 @ 80%
Interval #2: 5:00 @ 90%
Interval #3: 15:00 @ 80%
Interval #4: 3-6 x 1:00 @ 101%+ with 1:00 rest in between. Attempt to build each effort, by increasing watts just a tad more than the last.
Cool Down in Zone 1 (easy)

Adam loves to do StepUps, as “it is entertaining (I get bored easily) and it works through my aerobic system from low end to ceiling, liberating my fat cells (many) along the way”. This session can have any starting point, but Adam “likes to start at the low end of Zone 2 and work his way up to threshold power. “I like to use my low end Zone 2 as his recovery intensity, which challenges my aerobic system a bit more than if I ride an easy Zone 1”.

Warm Up Easy Zone 1
3 x 15:00 gradually stepping up from low end Zone 2 to threshold power. Begin at the low effort and every few minutes step up to a higher effort over the duration of 15:00. Be sure to hit threshold by the end of 15:00. You can get there sooner if you prefer, giving you more time to sustain at the end. Immediately afterward, step down to the low end of Zone 2 and begin the step up process again. If you have additional time, add additional step ups, based on the amount of time you have left to spend some energy.

Carmen & Rick spend their hour of power together in the basement, motivating each other as needed. Carmen’s favorite workout so far is the 20/5 threshold session. “I like how time goes by quickly in the last part of the work out and that I can feel an improvement from week to week”. For Rick, “I like the Bike Circuit Workout, which is a combination of low cadence force work on the bike, mixed with off the bike leg work”.

20/5 Threshold Session
This session is based off of Threshold Power.
Warm up Zone 1 Easy.
20:00 @ 80% (as fitness increases, increase to 85%, 90%, 95%)
4 x 5:00 easy and 5:00 @ 85%, repeating without hesitation. (as fitness increases, increase to 90%, 95%, 100%) Ride remaining time easy and cool down.

Bike Specificity Strength Circuit

Warm up on the bike easy Zone 1.
Then do an 8:00 force intervals interval as:

• 2:00 gradually building to highest load you can sustain at 70rpm
• 1:00 standing in that same gear (change cadence as needed)
• 2:00 back to the saddle in biggest load you can sustain 70 rpm
• 1:00 standing in that same gear
• 1:00 back in the saddle in that same gear
• 1:00 spin legs out easy, easy, easy. That is a total of 8:00.

Then, hop off bike & do as many walking lunges as possible for 1:00. If you do not have space to walk the lunge, just do them in place, but make sure you are always switching lead legs. Then hop back on the bike and spin the legs out easy for 3:00. Now REPEAT the 8:00 force interval and lunges for a total of 4-6x, or as time as time allows. Finish with an easy cool down on the bike.

Mike’s favorite session is the 3:00 Repeatable Power Efforts. “I call this my love/hate workout. I love to hate these. They are tough, but I spend a ton of energy and I get the benefit of repeatable power, which will help me in my future criterium races. They do hurt, but they hurt so good. I like it so much that I often throw in a few extra.”

Warm Up Easy Zone 1.
3 x (3x3:00X1:00) efforts with 1 min rest in between, and 2:00 complete rest between each full set.
Ride your first 3x3:00 efforts at a high cadence of 85+ in Zone 3 in a gear that doesn’t cause fatigue. Do not change gears during the effort. Perform your second 3x3:00 efforts in a bigger gear, still trying to work at 85+ rpm. The intensity will feel harder. Do the third 3x3 efforts in a bigger gear yet, still trying to keep cadence at 85+ rpm. This will feel very hard. It is likely that the cadence will drop as you near the end of the 3min, but battle to keep it up. Ride remaining time easy.

Shelly prefers the Descending Pyramid Workout. “I really dig these because the time gets shorter as duration goes on. It is amazing how doing the shorter duration of the same effort can be just as hard as holding for a long time, when you are fatigued. I love to listen to Alice in Chains, Godsmack and as odd as it sounds…Hans Zimmer movie themes when I’m riding, for motivation to kick through these”.

Warm up easy.
Do a descending pyramid of intervals, starting with 20:00 and working your way down, by cutting the time in half. This is 20:00; 10:00, 5:00, 2:30; 1:15; :45 Incorporate 3-5:00 of recovery in between each. Decide the effort you will repeat, having it be as near your 20:00 peak power value as possible, with a goal to bump it up a bit each time. Thereafter, cool down. If you have time constraints, stop after the 5:00 effort.

Bob is a triathlete that totally loves doing bike/treadmill sessions. “This workout is a short brick workout, burns lots of energy and works both my cycling and running muscles. Plus it kicks my butt in a really short session.”

After a good warmup on the bike, build to 50 rpm in a big gear for 1 min. Without changing gears, increase cadence to 60, 70, 80 over the coarse of 1:00; THEN without changing gears, stand and accelerate :15 THEN spin easy 2:00. Next do 3 x :90 fast cadence in big gear with :90 easy spin in between. Spin your legs out easy for 3-5:00 and hop off the bike, quickly changing into your running shoes. On the treadmill, you will basically repeat the same focus. Put grade around 7-10% at slow pace. Increase pace over the course of a minute, adding an additional :15 sprint afterward. Then walk/jog easy 2:00 and do 3x :90 at that fast pace/grade & :90 recovery, 3x. Walk easy 3-5 min and jump back on the bike. Repeat the bike/treadmill as time permits.

Lastly, my personal favortie is the short, sassy intervals. These are guaranteed to take me to the dark side. They are very short and intense efforts of 30s, 20s, 10s and 5s, with at least 5:00 rest in between.

Take a nice long warm up. Then do:
2 x 30s; 2 x 20s; 3 x 10s; 3 x 5s . Your effort is at your hardest effort. You can use your peak power values for the same duration, as your carrot to chase if you want Ride the rest of the workout easy.

That gives you eight gut-buster carpet criterium workouts that you can do in a short amount of time on your trainer or indoor cycle. You’ll burn lots of energy and achieve the benefits of aerobic conditioning and boosting threshold and VO2. If you don’t have motivation from a riding partner, like Carmen & Rick do, all you need is some kick-butt music or a great movie to keep you motivated. I personally need a fast paced movie or one about riding bikes, to keep me entertained. My personal favorites are Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, American Flyer and Breaking Away, The Italian Job, James Bond, Indiana Jones or Gladiator…but that’s just me.

What about you? In a couple of weeks I’ll have part two of this article, providing more studio stage races. Send your responses by January 6th stating the answer to the following questions. I’ll publish the results in the next article.

1. List your top 3 favorite movies to keep you motivated while training on your indoor cycle or trainer?

2. List your top 3 favorite songs to keep you inspired while training on your indoor cycle or trainer?

Follow this link to submit your responses.

Provided by Angie Sturtevant
CycleOps Power Fitness Education Director & Master Training Specialist
Owner of Specialists in Sports Performance

In this video, Robbie Ventura from Vision Quest Coaching talks about functional training for endurance athletes. What is it, and why should you do it?

©YndeCam

CycleOps Powered Athlete Jordan Rapp recently won the 2009 edition of Ironman Arizona, but he was competing for more than just personal glory. Jordan was on a mission to raise money for World Bicycle Relief, an organization that provides bicycles to students in Africa. According to Rapp's blog, students in rural areas of Zambia walk up to 4 hours to school. World Bicycle Relief aims to help these kids by providing bicycles to ride to get to school more quickly. CycleOps took some time to talk with Jordan about his fundraising efforts and what motivated him to embark on this mission.

CycleOps --How did you get involved with the World Bicycle Relief?

Jordan-- SRAM asked any sponsored athletes who'd be at Interbike if they would volunteer an hour at the WBR stand. I knew nothing about the project beforehand, but I read up on it prior to the show. It seemed like a great project, and when I got more information from Chris Strout and Katie Bolling during the time I spent with them handing out promotional materials, I became even more interested. I love the idea of helping someone directly. I think that charities like the Red Cross or Livestrong are fabulous, but I really connect with the idea of directly impacting an individual by empowering him or her. It's very tangible. I call it the "teach a man to fish" approach.

CycleOps --What made you decide you wanted to raise money for it in conjunction with Ironman AZ?

Jordan-- Professional triathlon is a very selfish and solitary endeavor, and I mean that in the best way possible. It's not a negative thing. Just the reality of it. I can't give in a big way financially myself. And the race itself is not a great platform either. So doing the fundraiser beforehand seemed like an ideal way to get involved. I proposed my raffle idea to Katie, who gave me the tools with Kintera to get it started. I thought it would be a great way to finish the season. I'd already achieved my goal for the season at Ironman Canada, so this was a way to focus on something more than winning just for myself. It was something for me to focus on and strive for that was about helping other people, which was really rewarding and also motivating.

CycleOps --Did you think about the cause during the race? How did it motivate you?

Jordan-- I thought about it a lot during training. Especially on crappy days where I thought about how much training I had done and how nice it would be just to take it easy. During the race I used it at some points where it was really starting to hurt to keep me focused. When I wanted to slow down, I thought about the bicycles I'd promised if I won. And that helped me tough it out. Seeing Rudy Garcia-Tolson, who has done so much for CAF (Challenged Athletes Foundation), was a good reminder about the power of performances to inspire. Rudy was kicking butt for CAF. And I needed to do the same for WBR.

CycleOps --What was it like crossing the finish line?

Jordan-- It's surreal. There is huge relief to be done. But that moment in the chute before the line is a total rush. You never want it to end. You feel like the king of the world.

To learn more about Jordan Rapp, visit his blog at blog.rappstar.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/rappstar.
To learn more about his fund raising for World Bicycle Relief, visit his page at kintera.org.

In early 2010, when Joule graces us all with its presence on our handlebars there will be a much improved PowerAgent for us all to enjoy. PowerAgent is still the easy-to-use and free training companion, but it’s been beefed up with some great new features. Here are some of the key, new elements:

• •A host of new metrics shown in the Activity Detail Summary, such as Training Stress Score (TSS), Normalized Power, Intensity Factor (IF) and many, many more
• •Convert an outdoor ride to a workout for the PowerBeam Pro trainer and new 400 Pro indoor cycle
• •Temperature and elevation shown on Activity Detail graph (with Joule/Garmin only)
• •Plot data on the Activity Detail graph by distance or time
• •Upload rides to Twitter, TrainingPeaks and 2Peak with a single click
• •Unlimited users

Below is a preview of the ride summary screen.

PowerAgent 7.5 is scheduled to be released early in 2010. As soon as the new version is ready for download, we will notify our readers through this newsletter and on our website.