After 37 years of waiting we finally have another Triple Crown Winner. I love horse racing, the beauty, the grace and the power of these animals is intoxicating. Over the last 37 years there have been many horses that have won 2 of the 3 Triple Crown races, but they have no one has been able to pull off the trifecta. The fact that so few horses have been able to win this coveted award is what makes this year's Triple Crown winner, American Pharaoh, so special and I've decided to immortalize this year's event in a cycling video.
I'm lucky enough to teach at many different facilities and all but one of them have bikes with power. The beauty of power is that every interval can be turned into a race. You can compete against your FTP (Functional Threshold Power), your previous interval's average wattage or just about anything you, as the instructor, can dream up. The first two Triple Crown races, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, take about 2 minutes for the horses to complete and the third race, the Belmont, is a bit longer and takes about 2 minutes and 30 seconds to finish. These 3 races fit perfectly into a 3 interval set. For the first interval I have my participants ride to the Kentucky Derby video which takes 2 minutes and 3 seconds to complete. At the end of this first race participants get a 30 second recovery, I also have them take note of their average wattage. For the second race, the Preakness, which will take 1 minute and 58 seconds to complete I ask my riders to beat their average Derby wattage by at least 1 watt. The Preakness is followed by another 30 second recovery. Now it's time for the Belmont and a chance to win The Triple Crown. This race is going to take 2 minutes and 26 seconds. I tell my class that if they can complete the Belmont with the same average wattage that was ridden for the Preakness they will be the Triple Crown Champion.
Now let the races begin!
Check out my Triple Crown Video with embedded soundtrack
No more hunting for new music or counting out cues to develop your ride profile. Here is your ready to ride profile for a fully choreographed ride, that can be displayed from your phone, or printed out onto cue cards for your class. This ride is timed out, down to the second, to make your life as easy as possible!
Tommy Taylor with professional cyclist George Hincapie
Finding a sub for your typical Indoor Cycling class can be a real challenge at times… finding someone qualified to coach a room full of experienced cyclists and endurance athletes expecting a Performance Cycle class can be nearly impossible. Impossible that is unless you happen to be friends with a popular, local cycling coach like my friend Tommy Taylor 🙂 Tom agreed to coach this week's Performance Cycling class for me, while I'm in Phoenix for a family wedding!
This week's class profile is a repeat of week one – which was very well received by my athletes – Coach Troy’s Spinervals Competition 22.0 — Time Trialapalooza. This week will be different with many now having a true understanding of FTP after our assessment last week! Tom is a believer of the “Best Effort” I include in every class to give everyone a baseline wattage to work off of = no one is sitting there wondering; “what the heck is my threshold you're telling me to work below, @ or above?
Class length 75 minutes + Cool Down
Warm Up — 10 minutes. 5 minutes of gradual increases in wattage. During the second 5 mins. we’re finding the wattage where everyone is first noticing a change in breathing; VT1 / Aerobic Threshold = the top of the Recover Zone shown above. This establishes a rough understanding of a base wattage that we use throughout the rest of class.
3 x 30 sec. Hard / 30 sec. Easy – Openers to AT/LT. I cue these by first having everyone find the amount of load @ 70 RPM that has them feeling they should (not just could) come out of the saddle. The 30 sec. Hard is then simply accelerating to 90+ RPM which results in some pretty impressive power numbers. The 30 sec. Easy is back to 70 RPM — many will stand during the Easy portion.
2 minutes rest – I encourage riders to focus on their recovery. Once they feel calm in their breathing, bring back the Base level work wattage.
20 min. Tempo — Here I included a 4 min. “Best Effort” to establish a benchmark PTP Personal Threshold Power (top of the Perform Zone) or ride at 110% of FTP if known. It’s very helpful to riders to have that understanding of their personal upper wattage number. The “Best Effort” Threshold # + the Base Threshold # we found earlier form the three Power working zones I use in class.
– 1 min. build at preferred cadence (suggested as 85-95 rpm) — press the Stage Button to reset the averages.
– 4 min. “Best Effort” This should hurt, but be do-able. I ask everyone to observe their average at the end and then…
– 15 min. reduce effort slightly (15% — 20%) and maintain wattage in between the two Thresholds.
I have everyone note the combined average, over the full 20 minutes, at the end of this effort. I’ll use this wattage in the Tempo Intervals to follow.
5 min. Rest — Once breathing calms we bring back ~ Base Wattage and ride out of the saddle for a break.
15 min. Tempo — Quickly establish the average wattage from the 20 min. Interval. > Stage Button and then maintain. You may want to offer slight changes in cadence & load, while keeping wattage = to the initially established #.
5 min. Rest –
10 min Tempo — Time is shorter… so we should be able to work a little harder. Again quickly establish the average wattage from the 20 min. Interval + (if possible) add 10-20 watts > Stage Button and maintain
5 min. Rest
5 min. Tempo — What have you got left? I’ve got a really competitive group and although I heard some grumbling, they all appeared to push this 5 minutes at (some above) their PTP / FTP
Cool Down
Here’s my Playlist from week one's class in Spotify and Deezer – all are 10 minute+ songs. As this is a timed class, I don’t worry about trying to match the efforts to the music.
With CEU credits being given, and accomplished indoor instructors being challenged, educated and motivated to train with power… I can confidently say we have the real deal. We spent 6 hours off the bike exploring the foundation, science and practical tools of Power Training, and 2 hrs on the bike putting theory into practice. Those that are fortunate enough to have power bikes to go back to, have not merely a few more arrows in their quiver, they have a whole new quiver. The others will have to do the work of change agents, and try to motivate their clubs to action, or find other places to train and/or teach.
With this post, I will begin a weekly posting of the bulk of what I covered in one intense day (as well as embellishments along the way). If you follow along, you’ll get “powerized” over time. As a member of ICI/PRO you will also be permitted to download a host of tools week to week, that I charge for on my Cycling Fusion site. This is part of the ICI/PRO pledge to provide value for your membership. As we move into the Winter months, we will switch to more Heart Zones training, but power will never be far behind.
Let’s start with the basics: What is Power, and Why Should I Care?
What is Power?
In cycling, (indoors or out) it is simply the product or combination of the torque applied to the crank arm, and the RPM or cadence of rotation; think resistance and cadence combined. It is measured in Watts, as the product is indeed energy, and it is manifested as speed — the more power you apply, the faster you will make the bike go. ICI/PRO Members continue reading here.
No more hunting for new music or counting out cues to develop your ride profile. Here is your ready to ride profile for a fully choreographed ride, that can be displayed from your phone, or printed out onto cue cards for your class. This ride is timed out, down to the second, to make your life as easy as possible!
