Erik - TRO Cycling

18/08/2025

What?!? I got a podium spot at the High Cascades 100? Yea so that happened last month.

I went in feeling pretty good. I was thinking I'd have a better chance of a podium being in the 50-59 category now, but as it turned out the 50's top spots were faster than the 40's! Of the 72 in my category, I took second with a time of 7 hours, 41 minutes.

I'd say it was a good day for me, not the best. The biggest struggle for me was navigation (who would have thought). There were a lot of turns and intersections, and many were easy to miss. So I was constantly staring at my Garmin, making sure I was on course (still managed to miss 2 turns).

Aside from that the legs were good. They've been great this year, but good still got the job done. My bike was absolutely dialed (s-works epic evo with flight attendant), and that made the day so much fun. The bike rips!

I'd say the best part of this years hc100 was the months of training. I had everything pretty dialed and had some really great rides. The fitness just kept getting better and better the whole time, and that gave me a ton of confidence. I pretty much knew weeks before that it was going to be a good day.

I'm not sure what next but man that was fun!

02/08/2025

02/06/2025

Long z2 ride today to Idaho City. 110 miles out and back. Felt pretty good at the end, plenty of energy to hit the gym afterwards.

03/05/2025

The new kits are in!

04/04/2025

I've been working on a new build over the winter, and the last parts finally came in... these new Sram Motive XC brakes!

20/07/2023

That hurt. The High Cascades 100 this year was tough, and I haven't suffered that hard in years. Lots of factors - technical course, hot (2nd half), went out a little hard on the first big climb, hadn't sufficiently recovered from all of the training, and may have put too much pressure on myself.
I did this race last year, and felt good for most of it. There's always suffering involved, but not for most of it. I came in 4th in my age group, and I wanted to step it up a little more this year. So, I ramped up the volume 🙄. I knew I'd be pushing my limits, and wasn't sure if I could handle the planned 105ctl (at 48). But I wanted to try, because you don't know unless you give it a shot, right? It turned out that I either needed another week of taper or less overload.
So how it unfolded... I felt good early on. The first big long climb seemed to go great at the time (actually went too hard). And then things got technical. And then I crashed, couldn't believe it. I had gone years without an mtb crash, but this was the 2nd time in a month. Things continued to feel tough, and had unusually high fatigue starting around mile 35. At the mile 47 aid station, I knew what I was supposed to feel like - slightly tired but excited for more. This time was not like that. I was extremely tired... spent. And it was getting hot (my body responds terribly in the heat). I knew I was no longer in a podium position, but I just couldn't back off and not push. I had to do the best I could, even though it wouldn't be fun (it wasn't fun but also was in a weird way). I ended up coming in 8th (age group). Not bad at all considering. In the end it was an incredibly gratifying effort, and am humbly proud of that finish. Ultraendurance events will teach you something every time, highly recommend them!

30/04/2023

Lance Wong has (as Chris Horner would say) put on a show in 2023, and we're only 4 months in! In December he set out to have some fun racing and collect points towards a cat 1 upgrade (he hadn't been a cat 2 for thaaaat long). There isn't exactly a plethora of races during an Idaho winter to pull this off, so he traveled. And we're not talking about a race or two to a neigboring state. We're talking California 3x, Arizona 2x, and Utah. He had his share of adversity, but that stuff doesn't bother him. He crushed anyway. A highlight was a 3rd place finish at the Tuscon Bicycle Classic while sporting a Team California kit.
He got his upgrade, and in just enough time to enter his first pro race - The Redlands Bicycle Classic. Again, he had his share of adversity (including a seat post that wouldn't stay up during his first pro crit), and he finished the 5-stage race. These are the fastest dudes in the country. Thank you to for inviting him to guest ride.
Right on Lance.

24/01/2023

It's winter and maybe you're struggling with motivation to ride the trainer.

The struggle is real, and the cyclists who can overcome it are the ones who will be crushing in the spring.

Here's my top tip to conquer winter motivation issues:

👉Use the power of FEAR.

Did you know? As humans, we're actually more motivated by negation emotions than positive emotions.

So if you're trying to get motivated by thinking positively, flip it.

Rather than thinking of the benefits of riding the trainer AGAIN, consider the costs of not.

I use this strategy constantly. It's how I've been able to average over 150 hours a winter on the trainer for the past 5 years.

Be super dramatic in your thinking. The more dramatic, the more motivated you'll be.

Here's some neato examples:
😒The more rides you skip, the more likely you are to give up cycling permanently. Do you want to flirt with these consequences?

😒 If you skip this ride, you'll probably get dropped on the next group ride. You'll have to watch the group fade away at the top of the climb. Don't count on them waiting either.

😒 Skip this workout and your average speeds posted on Strava will be even more embarrassing.

😒If you don't finish these sweet spot intervals, your race results will be pathetic. You might get so discouraged that you'll DNF several events. Is that the kind of legacy you want to leave?

The next time you feel like watching Netflix instead of your trainer workout, seriously contemplate one of these scenarios.

I'd love to head how that goes!

Ride on!!!

21/01/2023

If you find that business trips keep undoing your fitness gains on the bike, here's a few ideas:

1. Plan a recovery week during your trip.
This is probably obvious, but so important. You can easily travel once a month without it impacting fitness. As long as you plan for it ahead of time, you can relax knowing you need the break anyway. Shoot for 2-3 weeks "on" before the trip.

2. Make your first 2-3 days back imperative.
Treat these as the most important days for training of the month. It's absolute critical that you get back into your routine as fast as possible. I see athletes take more than a few days to get back "into the swing of things", and all of these off days compound over time.

3. Avoid making up missed workouts.
This almost always backfires. It ends up leaving you with excess fatigue that you'll pay for later.

4. Ride the hotel stationary... for a really short time
Don't go crazy with it, 30 minutes is plenty. If you can keep consistent with an easy spin it's a win!

5. Prioritize sleep, especially on the last night.
This one used to get me, and I payed for it when I got home. It's so much easier to get back into the swing of things if you're well rested vs. trying to catch up on sleep.
Bonus - if you're traveling internationally (like Asia), start your home sleep schedule as soon as your meetings are over. I've found this works awesome, DM me for more info!

6. Plan your next block on your trip.
It's easy for your brain to switch 'off' from athlete mode. So remember what you're all about by planning your workouts/rides on your trip!

Scheduling around trips can get a little confusing. If you're ever in doubt, I'm happy to help!

20/01/2023

Make the most of your sweet spot workouts!

It's tempting to end your workout when you've completed it, but are you getting the most benefit if you've got more in the tank?

Try extending your time in sweet spot (roughly 88-92% FTP) as long as you can! Keep extending it longer and longer as your fitness increases.

18/01/2023

In 2012, a friend called me up and said "I just signed up for the High Cascades 100, now you need to sign up!".

I thought he was crazy, that race is a 100 mile mountain bike race, mostly on twisty single track outside of Bend, Oregon. It's epic.

I'm a sucker for crazy, so I signed up. I thought that if I had an impossible goal out there, it'd motivate me to train.

It certainly motivated me and I sure put in an effort! I worked my tail off, putting in as much time in the saddle as I could. I was "all in" for the better part of 6 months.

And then came the race. I finished... mid-pack at a time of roughly 10 hours flat. I was completely cooked.

Unfortunately, my enthusiasm and motivation for riding was cooked as well. I didn't enter another race for over 6 years.

Not good. I had totally burned myself out.

Fast forward to this past year, 2022. I signed up for the High Cascades 100 again. I was pretty confident things would be different this time.

Things were certainly different. Though I had aged into my late 40's, I took 2 hours off my time from ten years ago. I was just a minute off a podium spot.

The best part? I was fully recovered and riding again 5 days later, excited for the next event on my calendar.

That's an enormous difference. It's not like I wasn't trying 10 years previously either. James Clear is absolutely correct... "you don't rise to the level of your goal, you fall to the level of your system."

I see the vast majority of enthusiastic cyclists training and riding exactly how I did years ago. They put in the work and see "kind of" good results, and think they're at their limit.

In my "cycling training mastery" course, I share the system I use now (both for myself and as a coach). If there was ever a "transformational" cycling training program, this is it!

The last live version of the course starts soon, enrollment closes the 27th. DM me if interested!