Executive Summary
The graph above demonstrates the effectiveness of training both indoors and out. A full 75% of my training for the Dirty Dozen was done inside – focusing on both Heart Zones@ training above threshold, as well as power exercises on the Keiser m3. Once per week, rides were done locally to continue with the same approach outdoors, and every 2 weeks a portion of the actual DD hills were ridden to test and validate our methods. The efficiency gains garnered through training this Cycling Fusion™ way …

I know that Indoor Cycling is meant to represent Road Riding for the most part, and I love riding my road bike…but to tell the truth, I secretly feel like Mountain Biking is more fun (not much of a secret now, I guess). I always feel like I’m a little kid when I get on a mountain bike; it’s just a joyous experience. However, a steady diet of MTB can be kind of rough on the body, not to mention the bikes. Hence, I started road riding …

As shown in the last post, I’ve been able to manage a slower speed, thus reducing the required Watts/Lb for the Dirty Dozen. However, I still need to be able to train at significantly high power levels for the number of minutes each hill will require at those lower speeds. Having excellent recon on these climbs from our filming last year with Global Ride, as well as some training rides, I now have reliable % grades and distances to simulate the training indoors. But… will the Keiser …

As I begin writing I’m looking at the title and I’m compelled to mention the obvious. What ever happened to riding for the fun of it? Does that go without saying? Perhaps, but it should never go without. The day riding stops being fun, when all the smiles turn to grimaces, and the thought of a hundred different ways to spend time on 2 wheels doesn’t put a spring in my step will be the day to move on to the next obsession.

It stands to reason that if you follow a proven, methodical training plan, you should see results. Those results should be measurable objectively and felt subjectively. Since opening Global Ride Training Center, I’ve been following steady Heart Zones® and Cycling Fusion Power training routines. Results translated to doing the Giretto in 2009 (4 back to back stages of the Giro – over 400 miles and a ton of climbing in the alps) with 85% of that training indoors. Not just my results, but results abounded all …

Sixteen weeks, countless hours on the bike, more Yoga & Pilates than I thought I’d ever see, and all the 40+ VO2 tests later, the results are finally in. The Winter Training program based on Cycling Fusion Training principles, at Global Ride has produced results that have exceeded even the most ambitious expectations set. These results were not relegated to just the first season participants either. From our newbies to our experienced racers, the numbers prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that This Stuff Really Works!

This is Erika Smith.  She understands that if you can measure something, you can improve it.  She  built a device to prove it.  Doesn’t she look wonderfully geeky?

So finally after about 7 years of road riding I can stop avoiding the phrase “I’ve never crashed on my road bike”. Saying that would be the kiss of death, and a sure fire way to “fix” that statement. I managed to make my road crash look more like a MTB crash (check out the mud on my left side). I’m tossing this one into the category of Too Much Testosterone. Yeah, it was my fault and entirely avoidable.

These are the words that rung in my head just before we headed out the door, helmet & gloves on, bikes ready to roll. My 19 year old daughter had a simple goal a few months ago – to lose weight and get in shape (sound familiar?). She had done a good job on her own, but hit the proverbial “wall”… little to no additional progress. I knew that if she was going to take it to the next level, she needed to have her sights set …

To all my Spinning® buddies and fanatics out there, don’t get too excited. I have nothing but kudos and good things to say about Spinning®, and have huge love for what Johnny G did to bring indoor cycling “to the masses”. Frankly, if it wasn’t for his work in the 80s, we would probably still be fighting to build the “perfect trainer” while a stationary bike is simply the perfect solution for both the class environment and introducing folks to cycling for the first time. If we …