FasCat Cycling Training Tips Podcast

Zach Gregg has twice won the US time trial national championship and currently races for the UCI Pro Continental team Project Echelon. But getting there took plenty of work and involved a few lessons learned the hard way. On this podcast, Zach shares five lessons that apply to all cyclists, plus plenty of tips on how to constantly improve - even when it feels like you're not improving! Use the code 25podcast to save 25% your subscription to Optimize, your year-round training solution that includes unlimited training plans and data visualizations of your training and recovery.

Travis McCabe didn't want to work manual labor for his dad as a career, so he made a plan to be a bike racer. It took a few years, but through hard work, self-education and coaching, he made his way into the pro ranks, eventually earning two national titles and a spot on the WorldTour. As fate would have it, his entry into the WorldTour came in 2020, the same year Covid rocked the world. On this podcast, McCabe reflects on how he succeeded, the highs and lows of pro racing, and the lessons and fun he enjoys sharing with cyclists today. McCabe now works at Ventum Bikes, which recently partnered with FasCat Coaching to elevate your cycling experience through excellent gear and professional training. Subscribe to the FasCat Optimize app now for unlimited training plans and access to exclusive deals on Ventum Bikes. Use 25podcast here for 25% off your first month or start a FREE 14 day trial from the app or google play stores  

How can I break up big rides into chunks? What power meter do you recommend for gravel? How can I follow a training plan when traveling for work? These and many other listener questions are answered in our 24th installment of Ask A FasCat. Other subjects include improving sprinting and attacking power, periodizing for ultra-endurance events, doing power-based workouts on mountain bike trails, the difference between OTS and TSS, riding the entire Tour de France route as an amateur (!), and more. Tune in for a good one, and don't forget to update your Optimize app for the latest and greatest data visualizations!  

SBT GRVL is one of the biggest and most important gravel races in the world, and FasCat is all in on this beautiful event here in our Colorado backyard. In this episode, FasCat founder Frank Overton is joined by Ben Delaney who won the 2022 SBT GRVL Blue event to talk about all things SBT GRVL - including FasCat's SBT GRVL training plan in Optimize and the SBT GRVL training simulation ride we are hosting August 5th in Boulder, Colorado. Get on Optimize today with your 14-day free trial, and if you're doing SBT GRVL, get on our SBT plan that starts July 10.

The Leadville Trail 100 MTB is — to use an overused but perfectly apt word — epic. 105 miles of racing that starts above 10,000 feet of elevation and climbs nearly 12,000 feet. That much elevation affects and informs so many variables for racing: power, breathing, headaches, weather, recovery, eating, sleeping, and more. Joining Leadville big-buckle owner Ben Delaney on this podcast is double big-buckle owner Coach Isaiah Newkirk to discuss how riders can prepare for the myriad challenges of this special race. (At Leadville, you get a big belt buckle if you finish under nine hours. A finish time of under 12 hours earns you a small belt buckle.) 

'Serious training' is sometimes perceived as doing nothing but power-based intervals, and those are important! But being able to drive a bike - in a bunch, over terrain, around corners - is also vital. And just like practicing intervals will build your strength, practicing skills will build your competence and your confidence. On this pod we talk about skills you should practice across road, cyclocross, gravel and mountain bike. Joining Ben Delaney on the podcast to preach about what we should practice is Coach Andrew Giniat, a man who practices what he preaches.

Everyone wants to improve, and there is more than one way to do so. At FasCat, we have two primary (and time-tested) methods. One-on-one coaching is the gold standard. And our training plans have worked well for thousands of athletes for many years. Plus, now that we have integrated those plans into our Optimize app, you can use your data to track your progress, training stress, recovery, and more… and coach yourself in a fun, flexible, and data-informed manner! The six primary methods of coaching are: Hire a coach Follow a training plan Self-coach Leverage your data Follow a training plan, and self coach by leveraging your data Just ride - sometimes hard, and sometimes easy  Here, we’ll go through the pros and cons of each of these, and then really dig into number 5, how you can coach yourself using our training plan inside the Optimize app that makes your data actionable and gives you access to our coaches! Start your free, 14-day trial of Optimize  

Training only by zones is a sure-fire way to kill the joy of cycling and your very will to ride. Training by zones is extremely effective, and at FasCat we recommend it for about half your rides.  But for the other half of your rides, zone-based training is dead.  We dig into all the details on this podcast with Ben Delaney and Coach Ricky Arnopol, who knows a thing or two about the right way and the wrong way to train for both maximum physiological adaptations and also for what is mentally sustainable in the long term.  

What and how much should you eat before, during and after training rides and races? It’s a simple question, with a lot of devils in the details. On this podcast we dig into those details with FasCat Coach Sierra Sims, who has ridden and raced all the things on all the bikes - mtb, road, gravel, bikepacking - and like all of us she loves to eat, too. We talk about what your body needs for different durations and intensities, and also practical considerations for what you can actually wolf down during a crit or a long gravel race or a technical mountain bike event. Some rules of thumb for events: < 2 hours: 45 g of carbohydrates per hour (~ 180 calories/hour) 2-5 hours: 30-60g carbohydrates per hour (120 - 240 calories/ hour) 5+ hours: 60-90g carbohydrates per hour (240-360 calories/hour) for long, high intensity efforts, try to eat something every 30 minutes  

FasCat is officially 20 years old this month, and on this two-part podcast, we’re taking a long look back at the pivotal moments that formed the FasCat community.   From pioneering work on training with power to discovering that Subway’s microwaves can screw up your indoor training classes, there are all sorts of good stories in the annals of FasCat history. So many stories, in fact, that we are making this a special two-episode series.   The first podcast took you from 2003 to 2013, and this podcast brings you from 2014 to the present day.   Many things have changed in 20 years, but the one constant has been FasCat's dedication to innovating science-based ways to make you faster. Thank you for joining us on this ride.