Power Plus+ Cycling

08/10/2020

Interesting.........doesn’t appear to be a consensus about how to approach base layers in hot weather. I’m in the camp of using a jersey that’s designed with very hot temperatures in mind and no base layer. How about you?

Should you wear a base layer under your jersey in summer as well as winter? We quiz the experts – and start a heated debate

08/07/2020

Pretty timely article given the week I’ve spent riding in the heat and wind of the Canadian Prairies.

Your body will do all it can to stay at a stable temperature when it's hot or cold, but cycling has other ideas

08/05/2020

After a couple of days of experiencing the heat and further dehydrating wind on the prairie roads of Saskatchewan, I thought this would be a timely post. Sufficient hydration is for everyone - not just those who are working out and clearly losing fluids via sweating. As the article below points out; effective hydration is a key component in weight management as well. And there are more ways than just gulping down water to maintain hydration - water rich foods are a great component in your hydration strategy as well.

On the bike, in weather like I’m experiencing here, I use a combination of electrolyte powder (after much experimentation I now use the new Amped Hydrate as it agrees with my stomach, isn’t sweet at all, and by experience, provides the electrolyte balance my body needs to avoid cramping. When it’s super hot - 35°C and above - I’ll also carry salt tabs (I use NUUN) on longer rides as well.

With summer just around the corner and many of us pursuing a healthy and active lifestyle, staying hydrated is key. Our bodies are approximately 60% water, so the fluids we ingest play an essential role in our energy production, our exercise performance, and even our feelings. Generally speaking, he...

08/04/2020

Dropped Josh off at his camp in Wilcox and pulled the bike out for my first ever ride in Saskatchewan ( at 62 yrs young!!). Just me, my shadow, the WIND 💨, the sun☀️, some timely “signs” and your typical prairie real estate🌾💙🌾 💨 🚴‍♀️🥵

07/30/2020

Are you cycling to lose some weight? Pounds not melting away as quick as you’d like? Hit a plateau? My ride this morning reminded me of a couple of things that might help you out

🔹one of the keys to losing weight while doing any endurance sport is to teach your body to burn fat for energy. This might sound obvious but if you have a high carb eating style (even if you don’t) your body will always go to the easiest energy source first - stored energy from carbs / recently ingested carbs.
🔹first way to teach your body to burn fat is to ride fasted which will mean you’re body will begin to burn fat once that carb store is empty. But no gels, no sugars / carbs of any kind while riding
🔹 second way - and illustrated in my screenshots of today’s workout - is to use a couple or three short “all-out / hard as you can” efforts in warmup to blow through that carb storage asap. Those two innocuous looking sprints were around 200% of threshold for 30 sec each (ie 🤮type effort) and for sure depleted my carb stores plus I rode the rest fasted, not eating until close to noon.

Try it out if you’re struggling (and don’t undermine your efforts by what you eat or drink after the ride 😬)

07/30/2020

Reminder for this Thursday.........

07/24/2020

Ride data can be uploaded manually to, for example, Training Peaks via the method noted in this article😊🚴🚴🚴

All Garmin systems, including Connect, have been down for over 24 hours

07/20/2020

Just change “swimmers” to “cyclists” (or runners or triathletes...). A really informative article for anyone looking to move away from animal based proteins but worried about impact on performance. Lots of associated nutrition benefits by moving to plant based also - complete vitamin complexes for one (whole - ie all the vitamers for the particular vitamin).

Protein intake is critical for swimmers. Here are five plant-based protein options that can serve as a replacement for meat.

07/17/2020

Yesterday’s interval workout. Russian steps and a pyramid up to FTP / VO2 Max + levels. Yielded a pretty classic “polarized training” profile with less than 10% of the time spent in that “junk” zone, zone 3, with the bulk of the time in zones 4, 5 and 6 and recovery zones 1 and 2. The term “junk miles” referring to Zone 3 is curious to me - I totally get this terminology for racing cyclists as much of a race is spent in either the very high end of recovery / cruising in the bunch. But I’m thinking for triathletes Z3 and low Z4 efforts are by far the norm so not junk at all. What do you guys think? Which zones do you spend most of your training time in?

07/12/2020

This morning’s workout on the indoor trainer. 94% of FTP for 90min to simulate the typical longest climbs in Haute Route or Tour Trans Alp. Happy with the result; best 90min wattage since 2016 training for HR Alps and 4th best since I started measuring😊. Goal for this time next year is i) have a w/kg of at least 4 so 280w (current FTP) @ 70kg or 295w @ 73kg (current weight) or somewhere in between, ii) have capacity to ave 90% FTP watts for 1 - 1.5 hr x 3 representing 3 climbs on the toughest stages..........

07/11/2020

My name is Brad, Canadian, and I’m a 62 year young competitive cyclist who raced on the track in the mid to late ‘70s, lived during that time in Northern California, Holland and Belgium “chasing the cycling dream”. Didn’t want to succeed by chemical means so came back, got a degree and worked in oil and gas for 36 years until early 2016 when I was made redundant. Joined my wife in our little health and wellness venture, did a few modules in the Canadian cycling elite coaching stream. Now I compete in events like Haute Route and Tour Trans Alp - week long stage races through spectacular mountain terrain in France and Italy. Nothing particularly unique about all of that I guess except that over the last 13 years I’ve done over 80% of my training indoors on a computrainer, using my on bike power meter and Garmin heart strap for the main metrics. A combination of cold / snowy winters, work, busy with the kids & family plus the opinion that the interval training I do indoors is far more effective than outdoors....... So I guess you could say I’m a bit of an expert in the time and weather challenged cyclist category. I’ve put my personal experience with various coaches and programs over the years, to good use primarily in training myself but also helping a number of others who compete in those stage race type events. The photos are of my “Gain Cave / Pain Cave / Hells Kitchen” - take your pick; plus this morning’s training...........😊

10/04/2019

Pretty much ideal base ride as far as HR zones are concerned (and cardiovascular fitness is the aim of base, right?). Did 30min of core and resistance ahead to warm up. Now it’s time to try the new post workout stuff I’ve got - totally different than any other post workout product I’ve seen.........Stay tuned!