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?

On my last post I told you how yesterday’s 8 hr in the saddle, concluding with both a Category 2 and a Cat 1 climb wasn’t really over after we stopped riding. The strength of our riding group was consistently Nina leading the way, and Jennifer brining up the rear. We all shared our time in the front pulling on the flat lands, but in the mountains, this is how it shook out. These climbs were no joke – each one taking 1 to 2 hrs …

After about 200 miles already under out belts, we started this stage with a level of cumulative fatigue none of us had ever experienced, and yet we were starting our first real mountain stage today. Nevertheless, the good Lord blessed us with another beautiful day of sunshine, and today we were determined to get ahead and stay ahead of the pros. The owner of the B&B washed our gear (an unexpected but delightful surprise), and we were ready to go. After not being able to find …

If you’ve watched Gomer Pyle reruns, you’ll know how to say that title with the right southern twang, and silly grin. Nina and I were nursing “would be” injuries today. The last blog I noted how Nina began to have severe knee pain at about 75 miles. She completed the stage but we were all worried about how to rest and recover it with a century required each day in front of us, and with climbing starting at the end of today’s longest stage. You can …

As I write this blog before breakfast on day two, my stomach is in knots and I don’t know if it’s nervousness in anticipation of the longest ride of my life (200km), or just a something I ate last night… but the travails of today will have to wait, I have yesterday to regale you with, and by the way, click here to see pics of each stage.

As many of you know from following our “tweets” on Twitter, we had a marvelous start to the first ever Giretto – timed to perfection to coincide with the 100th year celebration of the biggest cycling race in Italy, and Lance Armstrong’s first ever Giro d’Italia. Between not losing any luggage, and having a beautiful day to tour Venice, we were walking on air. Here are some pics from both the day off in Venice, as well as Stage 1.

You can probably figure out what the Training and Taper stands for, but Temptation… that one you will have to wait on till the end of the blog. Actually, I’m not sure either what the “temptation” is for, but it seemed like it would make the title more sexy – what can I say, the competition for readers in the blogger world is fierce, I’ve got to do something ☺!

Training with power is the ultimate way to insure your forward progress in cycling. While I am a huge supporter of heart monitor training, and I believe there is no more important training tool than a cadence monitor for both indoor and outdoor cycling, the power meter brings the best of all worlds together. With power we are measuring the “real work” we are doing, the actual energy produced by our efforts. After all, it isn’t how much our body is suffering (reflected by the heart rate …