by John Verheul 

The Jeremy Powers Cyclocross Camp starting August 12th is unique in several ways:

First, it’s in August! 4-6 weeks before the ‘cross season. The benefit here is that you can learn all the skills, get your bike set up, see what you need to do for training, and then you’ve still got time to really get all that stuff settled and in order before the racing season starts.

Second, we’re doing bike fits! In the past, folks would just show up at a camp or clinic on whatever, and we’d try to make sure they were on an adequate setup, but here we’re really going to do full fits – the kind of fit you’d travel hours and plunk down good money for. Proper fit and setup are so crucial in cyclo-cross.

Third, J-Pow!!! Jeremy Powers is not just one of the top ‘crossers in the country, he’s also a dynamic leader who brings a wealth of experience and energy to everything he does. Jeremy has been working various camps and clinics for the last several years, and has shown he really knows how to connect with people. I guarantee you will not just come away knowing more from your time with Jeremy, you’ll be SO EXCITED for the season to start. His enthusiasm is contagious, you won’t be able to help yourself.

Finally, you’re going to get a true diversity of experience serving you.

Boulder Cycle Sport (BCS) is one of the premiere shops in the country, the staff there are all very ‘cross knowledgeable. They can tell you exactly what you need to really optimize your rig, and by working with them and getting set up in August, you’ve got time to get everything together. No more wondering if those mud tires will be available in time for the first wet race weekend.  BCS owner Brandon Dwight is an elite ‘crosser and multi-time national champion.  Frank Overton and FasCat Coaching have a truly unique performance center in Boulder, with unparalleled training expertise all under one roof.   I bring the experience of having coached world class athletes like Jeremy Powers, Danny Summerhill and Marc Gullickson, in addition to national champions in various age groups, and multiple U.S. World Championship team members. I’ve also been running ‘cross camps and clinics for the last decade, and have continually enhanced and improved the way I approach teaching the sport.

In short, you’re going to get a turnkey solution:

1. Skills practice: check

2. Cyclocross bike fit: check

3. Equipment check

4. Jeremy POWERS: check CHECK!

5. Custom 12 Week Training program: check Check CHECK!!

This Cyclocross camp has everything you need to make your 2011 ‘cross season a huge success! You’re going to get it at a time of year that’s early enough to really work for your training plan and practice the skills, but also close enough to ‘cross season that you’re not going to forget what you learn. As an added bonus, you’ll meet more people who are as passionate about ‘cross as you, you’ll get some great meals in Boulder, and you’ll be super-amped to get ready for the 2011 season!

To reserve your spot call 720.406.7444, stop by FasCat or click the sign up button to the right.  We look forward to launching your 2011 CycloCross Campaign!!             

Who: FasCat Coaching & Frank Overton

What: A mock 40k time trial to prepare for the follow week’s Colorado State Time Trial Championship

Where: At the State TT course, just north of Denver Internal Airport; Race Flyer & MAP

When: Saturday, June 4^th, first rider off at 10AM

Why: The State Time Trial is new this year and every competitor wishing to do well in the State TT needs to know where he or she is on the course at all times.  Knowing how far you are away from the finish line is absolutely critical to pacing your best effort and producing your best time.

Also, in Colorado we have not had any time trials longer than 26.4 kilometers (Haystack). The Cherry Creek course is only 15 k’s.  A 40k TT is a much different effort  than a shorter time trial.  Athletes need to race this distance and duration in order to prepare optimally.   By ‘racing’ a 40K TT the weekend before the State TT you’ll be able to prepare physiologically and mentally.   This is also a good opportunity to go thru your warm up routine and see the course for yourself.   Plus a chance to dial in your aerodynamic equipment like wheels, helmet, skinsuit, etc…

The first rider is off at 10AM, but we’ll be in the parking lot at 8:30 with a tent, a cooler, ice and a warm up area.  Warm-up and time trial advice & coaching will be provided onsite.

Riders will receive their ‘start time’ when they arrive but we’ll go off in 30 second intervals starting at 10AM.   I don’t expect start times to exceed 10:15AM.

The course will be open to traffic but we’ll put out cones at the turnaround and have the start and finish marked.  Riders will be expected to keep track of their times with their powermeter or cycle computer.

Power Data can be analyzed afterwards if your email Frank your file or if you stick around afterwards.

Please RSVP or send questions to frank@fascatcoaching.com

by Frank Overton

Last week I had the pleasure of analyzing power file from UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team’s Rory Sutherland as he raced the 2011 Tour of California.  Dirk Friel Co-Founder of TrainingPeaks made the logistics of me analyzing the files in Boulder as Rory race in California easy thru TrainingPeaks and the modern marvels of an SRM PowerMeter.

The best part of all, was that Rory is not only a great athlete but he was THE leader of the team and was going for the general classification win.  This meant several full gas power outputs during critical stages of the race.  In the end, the Tour of California GC came down to 3 specific power outputs:

1. The climb up Sierra Grade Road, in stage 4 (18:02)

2. The Solvang Time Trial, stage 6 (31:35)

3. The climb up Mount Baldy in stage 7 (27:05)

In all total, Sutherland spent 76 minutes & 42 seconds “going full gas”.  By full gas, I mean going as hard as he could.  These are the moments in a bike race on a climb or in a move where the race is won or lost because time gaps open up.    By analyzing the power data, we are able to see how the results for racing for a total of 23 hours, 46 minutes & 41 seconds over 589.9 miles are determined in 5% of the total race time going full gas.

So after all of this (TSS, kiloJoules & Duration):



And these specific power outpus:

The Tour of California boiled down to a 30 minute climb up Mount Baldy for Sutherland.  He made 5.1 watts per kg for 27:05 but lost 2 minutes & 34 seconds.   Had Sutherland been able to make 5.4 – 5.6 watts per kilogram he likely would have lost less time if any to Horner & Levi and maintained his podium placing for the general classification.

Summary

To be competitive in the general classification at the Tour of California one needs to be able to climb & time trial.  Pretty simple huh?  I would also add be able to make power under a heavy training load.    In other words, be able to throw down some wattage after riding alot.  Sutherland belted out 6.3 w NP/ 6.1 w AV per kilogram of body weight up Sierra Grade Road after he had already ridden 3,237 kiloJoules.  And he wasn’t exactly coming off a rest day – this was after 2 previous stages.

The same goes for the Solvang Time Trial where Sutherland had to compete after a 322 TSS stage 5.  Granted all the other riders had to complete this stage as well.  Similarly, Stage 7 all came down to Sutherland’s power to weight ratio up Mt. Baldy.    But this climb came after RadioShack had dulled the entire peloton’s legs for 3 hours & up over 8,600 of climbing.    By the time Sutherland got to the decisive moment for whether or not he was going to podium at the Tour of California he had already spent 2 hours riding threshold wattage.

There are two takeaway points that you can apply to your training:

1. Train full gas at specific power outputs that replicate the demands of your racing

2. Go one step further and work on going full gas after having ridden several thousand kiloJoules or trained hard the previous days.

To read the individual power analysis of all the stages of the Tour of California please visit our friends over at VeloNews.

by Frank Overton

The Tour of California holds a special place in our heart because we have helped many of the riders train specifically for this race.   I’ve done Pro Team training camps in Solvang, ridden the time trial course and we’ve even had a FasCat Tour of California Camps.  From coaching, to motorpacing and even supplemental oxygen we’ve seen first hand how hard these guys train for this race.   Most recently in the past 4 weeks we’ve had the pleasure of helping several aspiring Tour of California athletes.

For starters and for obvious reasons we are rooting for our very own,Tom Zirbel – especially during the Stage 6 Solvang Time Trial.  I’ve known Tom for a long time and have seen his form come on before races and he’s flying right now.  Just last week he scorched one of our local MotorPacing loops at 35.2mph!   That was a personal record for him and of note even faster than 2009 in the weeks before he got 4th at World’s in Mendrisio, Switzerland.

So on behalf of all the coaches and Tom’s FasCat Athletes – good luck Tom!!!

Next up would be Greg Henderson of  Team Sky.  Greg spent 4 weeks training in Boulder following the Spring Classics and frequented FasCat for supplemental oxygen training.   Gregg used the O2  to simulate sea level conditions and make sea level power output.   Live high (Boulder @ 5,430 feet) and train low (sea level) with “the gas”.  He even brought in his personal BT trainer so he could try to rip the cranks off.

Greg single handily drained an entire E Size Oxygen tank (pictured right) over the course of his workouts.   Strength intervals, threshold work, Tabatas and 1 minuters to name a few.  If anyone wants to know why the Pro Tour riders are so fast, it’s plain and simple: they train harder and longer than everybody else.  It was a pleasure & an inspiration having a consummate pro rider like Greg come in and show us what hard training really was.

Speaking of training hard, former green jersey winner, Baden Cooke of the Saxo Bank team came in and redefined hard. Tabatas with supplemental O2: 3 sets of 10 x 40 sec ON 20 sec OFF.     Baden told me he was around 480-500 watts for each interval.   To sit there and listen to him huff & puff, strain and suffer was awe-inspiring.

Our underdog Tour of California rider is FasCat Athlete, Jim Stemper.   I’ve been working with Jim Stemper for the last year and a half and he’s only getting faster.    This will be Jim’s first Tour of California but he’s been preparing for the race since January with lots of long rides, motorpacing sessions, and threshold climbing intervals.  For you power based impulse response performance model fans (TSTWKT) his CTL post Tour of the Gila was 138 and now after his taper his Training Stress balance (TSB) is +42.   His power at threshold has never been better and he spent many many kilometers off the front at his last Gila. All good signs.  In the last stage of Redlands Jim nearly won the stage with a late race attack.   Here’s to Jim making a break or two and riding with the big boys.  Jim is our pick for the Breakaway from Cancer Most Aggressive Rider Jersey.

Former FasCat Athlete & Coach plus all around great guy, Frank Pipp is riding better than ever.  Last week he got “w” for the GC at the Joe Martin Stage Race and the race before that he won the difficult Inner Loop Stage 2 of the Gila.   I’ve never known Frank to train indoors much but this year he logged some serious chamois time in front of our big screen while it blizzarded (yes, that’s a real word) outside.  Maybe it was motorpacing at mach speed or him optimizing his recovery using our NormaTec MVP “Space Legs”.    Either way we are rootin’ for ya Pipp!!

Lastly here are some pics of Jelly Belly & BMC riders Will Dickeson & Timmy Roe performing intervals using “the gas”.

Good luck to you guys and we’ll be rootin’ for you!!!  Finally, these services aren’t just for the pros – they are available to all FasCat athletes and anyone who wishes to schedule an appointment at the Performance Center.

We’re proud to announce that we’re expanding our coach led, skill based group rides for the 2011 season.  Follow us on Twitter @FasCat for daily updates, ride routes and more information.

Tom Zirbel’s Tuesday 5:30 PM, Cat 3/4/Collegiate Ride

The Tuesday night ride is back for another season, led by Coach Tom Zirbel. A good fun chance to work on pack skills, pacelining and some hard efforts

Jon “Teton” Tarkington’s Thursday 6:30AM Working Mans  Masters Cat 3/4 Ride

Begin’s the first Thursday in may! An early am ride for those that have a work & life schedule.  Talk tactics, work on skills & I’m sure Jon will throw some intervals in there for ya.

Jason Hilimire’s Thursday 5:30 PM Sport/Expert Mountain Bike Ride

We’ll hit the local trails around Boulder from FasCat and occasionally meet at a drive-able trailhead (Heil or Hall Ranch).  You’ll get a chance to work on Singletrack skills, off-road handling and play in the dirt.

Mahting Putelis Saturday 10 AM, Cat 4/Beginner Ride

A nice opportunity  chance for new riders to get their pack riding skills down in a low key environment and have some fun.

Alison Power’s Tuesday Women’s Skills Ride

TBD-Temporarily on hold until Coach Alison Powers heals up!

A women’s only ride Led by Coach Powers.  Focusing on bike racing & pack skills with a lady’s flair.

All our rides will be coach led, skills focused and the terrain will dictate intensity.  Follow us on Twitter @FasCat for daily updates, ride routes and more information.  Each ride will have similar ability level riders for a challenging yet realistic group ride environment.   We will ride hard up the climbs but we’ll regroup at the top so everyone can continue without being droped.  We will meet at FasCat for all rides (unless specified) and leave promptly at the start time.

Looking forward to seeing you here for the rides!

**Please have your bike in proper working conditions, spare tube & pump, essentially need to be self-supported

by Frank Overton

To kick off 2011 we are rolling out the first round of our 8 week indoor cycling classes starting Tuesday January 4th.   We are excited and  I have summarized the merits of our program by the following categories:

1.Coaches

2.Training

3. Equipment

4. Schedule

Our Coaches:

FasCat has some of the finest coaches around and they all want to help you achieve your goals. During the class expect your class coach to come over to monitor your power output, heart rate, cadence and rate of perceived exertion and offer you encouragement.

For time trial training, FasCat has two of the very best in the business; Tom Zirbel & Alison Powers.   Tom has finished second in the USPRO Time Trial twice and finished 4th in the WORLD Championships in 2009.  Similarly Alison, won the Pan Am Championships in 2007 and the US Time Trial in 2008.  She’s won the NRC overall by virtue of her time trialling prowess.   Tom & Alison both can help you improve your TT’ing during our indoor cycling classes.

For Mountain Biker’s Jason Hilimire is leading the charge for FasCat.  Jason has written a couple of popular power based mtb specific training tips (Bike Radar tip here + Singletrack.com tip here & here ) and will put those principles into practice during his 9am Saturday class.

Jon “Teton” Tarkington has won nearly a bazillion Pro 1/2 races here in Colorado over the last 10 years and has knack for a “this just works” common sense to coaching.  How to win races + common sense coaching make up Teton’s 6:30am Thursday morning class.

Coach Frank (me) handles a lot of the one on one drop in classes but new for 2011 is offering a Wednesday morning 6:30 am class.  Show up early, jam out a workout & move on with your busy day.  Possibly by way of Amante Coffee next door!

The Training:

The class curriculum will be all about improving one’s aerobic endurance aka “base”.    From January thru March most cyclists in Colorado should be concentrating on improving their aerobic endurance.  Therefore our indoor cycling classes will concentrate on improving aerobic endurance with fun and highly productive  intervals such as TEMPO & Sweet Spot work.   A big “base” with plenty of advanced aerobic endurance this winter ultimately goes toward raising your Functional Threshold Power (FTP).  We’ll measure your FTP with a 20 minute “Field Test” in week 1 and then again at the end of the class in week 8.

If you really want to nail your Functional Threshold Power (and avoid a 20 minute all out effort) we are offering $150 Maximal Lactate Steady State Test for anyone who signs up for an 8 week class.

Now I am not going to tout that our athletes will experience an increase in their FTP of 10% on average because a lot more goes into that the 6 other days of the week.    What I will guarantee is that we’ll coach you thru a productive workout at precisely the right intensities that you can take out onto the road to train with in-between classes.  If you want our help with the other 6 days, let’s talk; we can roll you into an affordable coaching plan or training program.

Our Classes:

All of our classes are power/wattage, heart rate based and are coach led.  As mentioned, our coaches will coach you during your workout and afterwards we’ll download your very own power data for analysis.  Do you have a TrainingPeaks account?  Perfect, we’ll upload your data for you to share with your coach or to see your numbers.

During our first 8 week classes of 2011 athletes will primarily be performing advanced aerobic endurance.  You will not be doing any anaerobic work or full gas sprints – that’s not very appropriate for the early part of the winter.   We’ll save that for March & April when it’s closer to go time.

To break up the monotony of the same ‘ol workouts we are big into variable power outputs.  Sweet Spot Bursts, Criss Crosses, Jumps, pedalling drills and a few other diversions will mimic the power demands you’ll face out there on the road/trail.    To spice things up even more we are big fans of the SufferFest for a fun workout set to current UCI race footage and upbeat music.

Our Equipment:

All of our trainers and bikes are equipped with PowerTap technology, accurate to +/- 5%.  The Powerbeam Pro is our weapon of choice.  It has a large flywheel for a road like feel that’s superior to the smaller Computrainer flywheel.   When the resistance increases, the rider does not get bogged down nor is forced to mash and drop their cadence.

To record the workout data just like a road bike powermeter, we are using the Joule 3.0   Like it’s smaller 2.o cousin seen on the handlebars of the Cervelo & Livestrong teams.   The Joule 3.0 controls the resistance or wattage of the PowerBeam putting the athlete in control of their wattage.  Similarly we, as coaches can use the PowerAgent software to create courses by the percent grade hill.     Want to do tempo intervals up to WARD?  Yeah, we can do that with the Joule/PowerBeam setup.   Want to practice your TT pacing on the Lyons > Boulder TT course?  100% possible.  The sky’s the limit.

And as mentioned above, the Joule is compatible for downloading your power, HR, cadence, everything data into TrainingPeaks or WKO+ for post ride analysis by us, you or both.

Did I mention that everything is wireless?   Yes, thru ANT+ Sport technology you won’t trip over any wires or have to plug in.

Class Schedule:

“Morning, Noon & two classes after work” – that’s our class schedule slogan.  We choose a 6:30am time slot for the early birds.   A noon class for the lunch riders, and a 5:30 or a 6:45 for those athletes who have kids and/or  work nine to 5.   If athletes want to use our equipment in-between our classes offerings, that’s cool too.   Say its blizzard’ing outside on a Friday and you have some tempo intervals to knock out: come on in.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursday are the primary training days in a normal training week.  Mondays are usually off and that’s no exception at FasCat.  If the weather is bad we’ll open up more classes, especially on the weekends.

To sign up you can go online, call 720.406.744, or come into FasCat.   Happy New Year and we look forward to making you faster in 2011 !!

by Tom Zirbel

Happy Holidays Everyone!

In the spirit of the Giving Season, we here at FasCat have set up a fundraiser for Trips For Kids for this Saturday, Dec. 18^th.  We are offering two indoor cycling classes on Saturday at 9:00am and 10:15am.  The classes will be bumping with good music, HD cycling videos, and coach led, power-based workouts led by yours truly.  The classes are $20/person and 100% of that will go directly to Trips For Kids Denver/Boulder.

As some of you know, I’ve raised money for TFK in the past through my Bailey Hundo fundraising effort.  I really believe in their mission of exposing underprivileged kids to the joys of biking and outdoor trips.  Some of these urbanites have never even been on a mountain bike trail before hooking up with Trips For Kids.  Another thing that I like about this program is that it’s run by people who truly care and know how to stretch every dollar to the maximum benefit of the kids.  Our donations do make a difference!

So sign up for a class, spread the word to all your cyclophile pals, and/or stop by the FasCat Performance Center to make a donation.  We only have 14 stationary trainers and 4 indoor cycles for each class and we’d love to pack the house, so if you’re planning to do a class please RSVP so that we don’t overbook.

But wait, there’s more!!  Every person who signs up for a class and/or donates at least $10 to TFK will be entered into a raffle to win a FREE bike fit or lactate threshold test or 1 month of personalized coaching (winner’s choice).  What are you waiting for?  Act now and we’ll throw in FREE shipping and handling!  Hahahaa.

So yeah, good deal for a good cause – now let’s raise some serious flow!

Tom

by Frank Overton

When I was putting together the Performance Center, offering bicycling fitting services was a no brainer.  For years as a coach, I have been the point person/first of contact with questions like, “my knee hurts, what should I do?”.  Lots of times I can just look at an athlete on the bike and notice how their right knee moves laterally at the top of your pedal stroke or see how crooked they are from riding behind them.

Having sat in on dozens of fits from the best here in Boulder like Dr. Andy Pruitt of BCSM and Todd Carver of Retul I knew we had our work cut out for us in setting up a quality value added biomechanics lab.  I talked with a number of fitters, visited other facilities and heavily researched our options.   In the end, the overwhelming consensus from experts was that a good fit came down to fitter and their experience & qualifications.

Enter Ann Trombley into the FasCat fitting equation.  I recruited Ann to perform our bicycle fits because she’s been fitting cyclists for years , has a masters degree in physical therapy and is a great physical therapist & cycling coach.    As an athlete, has raced mountain bikes at the highest level of the sport, even representing the United States at the 2000 Olympic Games.   After she ‘retired’ she continued to dominate the local road and cyclocross scenes.

Our bicycle fitting “tool” of choice is Dartfish.   You may remember our Cyclocross Skills Practice Video.  Dartfish is an amazing piece of software that allows the user to slow down athletic movements to let the user and athlete see subtle movements that wouldn’t be evident otherwise.  Even better, we have a 40inch flat screen for the athlete to see themselves during the fit.  So without further ado, I present an video of Ann using the Dartfish video motion software.

Bear in mind that prior to this video, Ann has already seen the rider on a table for a physical therapy evaluation.    This includes but is not limited to hearing about aches and pains, assessing the rider’s flexibility and using that knowledge during the bicycle fit.

So there you have it, a description of the FasCat performance bicycle fitting: a blend of new “skool” technology with an experienced old “skool”  fitter.   Plus Ann is also a physical therapist!   The best of both worlds.