Alison's Powers - Featured Cycling Training Tips Blogger

5th Annual ALP Tour of Colorado

by Alison Powers
January 28, 2020

We would like to invite you to our 5th annual ALP tour of Colorado. A 3-day tour, in and out of Westcliffe, through some of the best scenery Colorado has to offer. July 18-20, 2020. (lodging starts on the 17th).

ALP Gravelpalooza Training Camp

by Alison Powers
January 28, 2020

Gravel riding and racing is here to stay. It's a friendly, inclusive environment, it's fun, it's beautiful, it's quiet, and it's off the beaten path.

This training camp will bring your gravel riding skills and fitness to a new level. It's an opportunity to put gravel riding miles in your legs, and improve your gravel riding skills and confidence and make new friends while doing so.

Want to Improve as an Athlete? Find Your Self Confidence.

by Alison Powers
January 10, 2020

"At a recent event, to talk about and grow women's cycling, I was asked what the biggest limiter I see that athletes have to overcome to achieve success. My thoughts went right away to things like; kids, a demanding job, lack of financial resources, living in a place that's challenging to get quality training, etc. But the more I thought about it, I realized motivation can overcome hurdles like these."

How to Get The Most Out of Your Off Season

by Alison Powers
September 30, 2019

Summer is winding down and many parts of the country have already seen a shift of weather, signaling the end of a long road season and for others the start of cyclocross season. Whether you take a break now from structured training and racing or do it after cross, it's important to get the most out of your off-season. This is where the biggest gains can be made.

SBT GRVL Recap

by Alison Powers
August 19, 2019

Since I didn’t post about Friday or Saturday, I’ll start there. Friday was a day off the bike. I packed, I worked, and I got ready to leave early Saturday morning. I do remember rolling and stretching in the evening.

Things You Won't Find on the Blog

by Alison Powers
August 16, 2019

I was talking to my sister and she was telling me how much she enjoyed reading the blog (yay!). I said, “you know what you won’t read in the blog is the fact that I’ve had diarrhea the past 1.5 days so I’m stopping all fiber now.

4 Days to Go!

by Alison Powers
August 16, 2019

In an ideal world, we make a plan and are able to follow the plan to a “T”. However, our bodies are not machines, and plans often have to be changed. In this case, I’m referring to a training plan.

The Final Preparation Begins

by Alison Powers
August 14, 2019

This close to a big event, it isn’t really about the bike or the training anymore. It’s about the preparation. Dialing in the final details that can make or break your race.

To Rest is to Recover

by Alison Powers
August 14, 2019

Not much to report on today. It was another rest day. As often seems the case, I was more tired today (2 days after the training block) than I was yesterday.

Groundhog Day

by Alison Powers
August 14, 2019

An early ski coach of mine used to always say, “at the end of the day, you are your own best coach”. I didn’t understand that. Did that mean he was a bad coach, or I needed to learn how to be a ski coach? I’ve come to learn that coaches are unique.

ALP Team MTB Ride

by Alison Powers
August 14, 2019

1 week to go! After months of planning, prepping, training, resting, eating, sleeping, the race is right around the corner.

8th Day

by Alison Powers
August 14, 2019

Since I have started this SBTGRVL blog, I have had 7 recovery days. Today is my 8th. I want this to sink in— in the past almost 3 weeks, I have had 8 days off. As I’ve described before, days off are not always rest days, but I want to demonstrate how important recovery is when training for an event (or just life in general).

40/20's

by Alison Powers
August 12, 2019

Today was an early morning so I could get to Boulder to meet and ride with one of my ALP Cycles Coaching athletes. He is a very strong rider and would be on a TT bike, so I needed to bring my ‘A’ game (that’s part of the reason I didn’t go longer yesterday).

Getting Dialed

by Alison Powers
August 09, 2019

Today was my last big/hard training ride before SBTGRVL. The last day to get everything dialed in. I tried a different approach with my dynamic warm-up and activation this morning. Since I did core yesterday, I felt pretty “activated”, but tight. I was worried that that would lead to a bike ride filled with back pain, so I rolled out (with the lacrosse ball) mostly my left side.

5x5's

by Alison Powers
August 07, 2019

What a difference a rest day makes. I felt a lot better today and was ready for some good training. I’ve mentioned in earlier blog posts that my training has been lacking anaerobic efforts, so today was another day to get those e

Unglamorous

by Alison Powers
August 06, 2019

There are days when a rest day and a day off are completely different things. Yesterday was a good example of just because you have the day off the bike (or away from training) doesn’t mean you had a rest day.

Rest Day?

by Alison Powers
August 06, 2019

There are days when a rest day and a day off are completely different things. Yesterday was a good example of just because you have the day off the bike (or away from training) doesn’t mean you had a rest day.

Hill Attacks

by Alison Powers
August 06, 2019

Yesterday, I blogged about how much sitting I do. Today felt like the exact opposite. The day started with coaching a 2 hour private mountain bike skills lesson. I very much enjoy this type of hands-on coaching and she was a strong rider so we got some solid pedal time.

Are the Legs Ready?

by Alison Powers
August 06, 2019

I woke up in the middle of the night worried about what I was going to do for hot water (coffee) and bathroom while in Steamboat for the race. I plan to #vanlife it for the race- a quick in and out trip with one night spent in Steamboat. But that one night is important and that one morning (race morning) is most important.