Alison's Powers - Featured Cycling Training Tips Blogger - Pactimo

The Importance of Strength Training for Cycling

by Alison Powers

As cyclists, we like to ride our bike. We like to be outside, we like the endorphins that come with pushing our bodies for minutes to hours at a time. We like the freedom that bikes provide us.

The Power of the Off Season

by Alison Powers

For most of us, 2020 has been a year long "off-season". Most races have been canceled, and personal and athletic goals have shifted. But, I would not call what most people did this year an "off-season". Some of you were training harder and with more quality than you ever have. Without races, we have had an 8 month training season.

tag(s) Coaching Training Tips

Gravel Tires - A Need for Speed

by Alison Powers

A few weeks ago my friend quarantine teammate, ALP athlete, and ALP designer Daphne, and I did a fun and interesting test. We did this test because the past few times we had been riding bikes together, she was dropping me on the downhills; fairly hard and I wasn't just sitting around coasting.

tag(s) Gravel Racing Tips Training Tips

Cyclocross Preparation: To Run or Not to Run

by Alison Powers

Come Cyclocross season, or during the lead up and build to CX season, we are often asked about running. Should our athletes run in preparation for CX? The short answer is - yes. But, it's not that cut and dry.

tag(s) Coaching Cyclocross Training Tips

SBT GRVL: Training with 40/20's

by Alison Powers

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).

tag(s) Events & Races SBT GRVL Training Tips

SBT GRVL: The Dreaded 5x5's

by Alison Powers

Triple national champion Alison Powers prepares for the premier Colorado event SBT GRVL, a 141-mile race with 100 miles on dirt/gravel roads.

tag(s) Events & Races SBT GRVL Training Tips

SBT GRVL: A Day for Hill Attacks

by Alison Powers

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.

tag(s) Events & Races SBT GRVL Training Tips

SBT GRVL: Are the Legs Ready?

by Alison Powers

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.

tag(s) Events & Races SBT GRVL Training Tips

SBT GRVL: Rest then Go Big

by Alison Powers

The best 3 days on a road bike every year. This year, I was a bit selfish and scheduled the Tour exactly 3 weeks out from Steamboat. Three weeks out from an event is a perfect time to do a big training block.

tag(s) Events & Races SBT GRVL Training Tips

SBT GRVL: A Day of Pedaling

by Alison Powers

Triple national champion Alison Powers prepares for the premier Colorado event SBT GRVL, a 141-mile race with 100 miles on dirt/gravel roads.

tag(s) Events & Races SBT GRVL Training Tips

SBT GRVL: Aspen to Carbondale

by Alison Powers

Day 2 of our annual tour of Colorado went from Aspen to Carbondale by way of Maroon Bells and Ashcroft; two amazingly beautiful climbs. I was support and van driver today (coaches Paddy, Brie, and I take turns driving the van and riding). Because we had 2 out and back climbs, I was able to squeeze in a little riding between van stops. I was tired today but felt surprisingly better than I thought I would after yesterday.

tag(s) Events & Races SBT GRVL Training Tips

SBT GRVL: Ride at Other People's Pace

by Alison Powers

I have a small group of friends who are also “in training”. Among other races, both are racing SBTGRVL. Every couple of weeks we get together and ride. I very much like these rides as they let me pick the route (usually very hard), and they are mostly ok with my “no phaffing” philosophy (No B.S.- let’s ride and then get home to work and take care of dogs).

tag(s) Events & Races SBT GRVL Training Tips

SBT GRVL: Mental & Physical Rest Day

by Alison Powers

After 5 days of riding, I was ready for a break (more mentally than physically). I mentioned in Day 1's blog that I have no plans to pre-ride the Steamboat course. So, today I took the time to get to know the course.

tag(s) Events & Races Recovery SBT GRVL Training Tips

SBT GRVL: Training On The Flats

by Alison Powers

Today's ride goal was 2 intervals to the Portal (the flattest road around here). The goal was steady/hardish riding. I wanted the second interval to be just as fast as or faster than the first interval. Each interval was ~28min and the second was far more uncomfortable than the first (a sign that this was good training for my body).

tag(s) Events & Races SBT GRVL Training Tips

SBT GRVL: A happy bike racer is a fast bike racer

by Alison Powers

While playing and having fun on bikes isn't necessarily the best for headspace and staying happy; which in my mind is more important than forcing a "training" ride or intervals. A happy bike racer is a fast bike racer.

tag(s) Events & Races SBT GRVL Training Tips

SBT GRVL: Some MTB Training

by Alison Powers

A last-minute MTB skills clinic cancellation (I coach/teach a small group, private, big group skills clinics) meant I had a surprise free day. I was still jonesing to ride my MTB and after a rest day yesterday, I was feeling good and motivated to ride.

tag(s) Events & Races MTB SBT GRVL Training Tips

Summer Cycling Motivation

by Alison Powers

It’s finally summer time. The weather is nice and the days are long. However, for many bike racers, June is a tough month, motivation wise. Early season races have come and gone, goals have either been met or not quite achieved, you pretty much know how your season is going to turn out.

tag(s) Coaching Motivation Training Tips

Race Winning Intervals

by Alison Powers

"Looking for a workout that will help you win a bike race? Look no further than Race Winning Intervals. These intervals will help you attack and get off the front of the race, then be able to stay on the gas to stay away, and finally, sprint for the win. After a good warm-up you will do 4 intervals of 3:40 min."

tag(s) Coaching Training Tips

The Art of Being Prepared

by Alison Powers

The art of being prepared comes down to one thing - no surprises on race day.

Preparing for race day is more than training and recovery. Success on race day requires precise preparation. This means the things you can control should be dialed in, ready, and give you confidence to have the best performance possible.

tag(s) Coaching Training Tips

Training to Train

by Alison Powers

Two weeks ago, while in Leadville for ALP Cycles Racing's Winter Training Camp, a few of the riders asked me if I had started to train yet, and if so, how it's going. A bit of history here: 3 months ago, I signed up for the 141 mile Steamboat Gravel race in August. My reply to the if I had started to train or not question was, "I'm more in the training to train phase. Meaning I have to get my body back to a place where it can handle a training load required."

tag(s) Coaching Training Tips

Race Day Head Space

by Alison Powers

In order to reach peak performance during competition, our bodies and minds need to be prepared and ready. What goes on between our ears leading up to the competition and during competition can make or break the result.

tag(s) Coaching Racing Tips Training Tips

Preparing for the World Championships

by Alison Powers

"Preparing for the World Championships feels like preparing for any other race. Only this time I traveled to Europe about 4 weeks before and raced 2 stage races equaling in 10 race days over 11 days total. After that block was finished it was about some recovery and then back to work continuing to build over the remaining two weeks."

tag(s) Coaching Training Tips

How Long Between Workouts Should I wait Before Doing Another Hard Workout?

by Alison Powers

The most important aspect to riding and racing success is hard training. The second most important aspect to riding and racing success is recovery; for you can’t ride hard, unless you are rested and ready to do so. But, how do you know when you are rested and ready to ride har

tag(s) Training Tips

The Art of Being Prepared

by Alison Powers

The art of being prepared comes down to one simple thing—no surprises on race day.

Preparing for race day is more than training and recovery. Success on race day requires precise preparation. This means the things you can control should be dialed in, ready, and give you confidence to have the best performance possible.

“Fail to prepare and prepare to fail”—famous quote by someone who inspires people to get their sh*t together.

tag(s) Coaching Motivation Training Tips

A More Complete Cyclist

by Alison Powers

If there was one magic training tool that you could do to become a better, faster, and more confident cyclist, would you do it? For most of us, the answer would be 'yes". Unfortunately, not very many people do this one thing. What is this one magic ticket? Improve your bike handling skills. While training, most people are focused on how many watts they are pushing instead of how many times they brake through a corner. Being able to carry speed through a corner or sit in the draft of a peloton is free speed. No intervals or recovery days are needed for free speed.

tag(s) Coaching Training Tips

Quality Over Quantity

by Alison Powers

For most of us, we don’t have 15-25hrs each week to train and ride our bike. We have to make the most of what time to train we have. For this reason each training ride or workout session must be quality. The secret, then, is knowing if your ride or workout really was good quality, or if you were just going through the motions.

tag(s) Coaching Motivation Training Tips

Turn Strong Into Powerful

by Alison Powers

Over the past 4-6 months, many of us have spent time in the gym, or home gym, strength training. We're making our cycling bodies strong, well rounded, and ready to hammer out a strong and long lasting cycling season. However, no matter how strong you are in the gym, it doesn't necessarily translate into a fast bike rider. In order to make that strength transition to the bike, you need to transition those strong muscles to powerful and quick muscles.

tag(s) Coaching Motivation Training Tips

Strength Training, Cyclists & DOMS

by Alison Powers

After spending 4 hours re-creating our Off Season Strength Program last month, I was sore. My glutes, upper back, and hamstrings all had signs of DOMS. DOMS (Delayed onset muscle soreness) is a common result of physical activity that stresses the body...

tag(s) Coaching Motivation Training Tips

Gain Fitness and Burn off Holiday Cookies with this Holiday Workout

by Alison Powers

Here in Colorado, our winter weather is sometimes not conducive for a big 'burn lots of calories' ride before eating a holiday dinner. For those that like to ski and/or play in the snow, winter weather is great for them. For those of us who prefer to ride our bikes over the holidays, snow and cold is not so great. The good news is you can have your pie and eat it too, thanks to a high quality trainer workout.

tag(s) Coaching Training Tips

T.R.U.M.P Workout

by Alison Powers

Here at ALP Cycles Coaching, we decided to use this opportunity to create a new workout. Just like President Elect Trump, this workout will take you by surprise, kick some butt, then leave you feeling mentally and physically drained.

tag(s) Coaching Training Tips

High Performance Camp Recap

by Alison Powers

As coaches, we continually look for ways to make our ALP athletes better, faster, stronger, and more knowledgable. We want them to be the best athletes they can possibly be.

Personally, when I think back to my racing and training career, I wish I had known many of the things I now know as a coach. So, that lead me to think of ways we can teach our athletes this 'high performance' knowledge so they can raise their game to the next level. With some brain storming we came up with a new training/learning/teaching camp. The ALP Cycles High Performance Camp.

tag(s) Coaching Training Tips

Cyclocross Skills, Drills, and Challenges

by Alison Powers

Wednesday was our monthly ALP athlete ride and it was all about cyclocross (CX). In last week's Blog Post Friday, ALP Coach Alison Powers, wrote about how 50% of CX racing success (or lack thereof) is solid bike handling skills. We put that to practice, broke down individual skills, and worked on several important CX specific drills.

tag(s) Coaching Training Tips

2017 Climbing Challenge Results

by Alison Powers

Our 4-day Climbing Challenge has come to an end. The Challenge was just that, it was challenging and hard. The 4 days of climbing over and over again, on top of our Saturday ALP Ride got people out of their comfort zones.

tag(s) Climbing Coaching Training Tips

CX is Here. How to have Success the Entire Season

by Alison Powers

Bikes and equipment have been dialed in, training has been completed, and now it's time to race. Not so fast. Energy management and skill building must be thoughtfully planned out and constantly worked on to ensure an entire season of success.

tag(s) Training Tips

High Performance Camp

by Alison Powers

As ALP coaches, we continually look for ways to make our ALP athletes (ALPletes) better, faster, and stronger. We want them to be the best they can possibly be. Personally, when I think back to my racing and training career, I wish I had known many of the things I now know as a coach. So, that lead me to think of ways we can teach our athletes this 'high performance' knowledge so they can raise their game to the next level. With some brain storming we have come up with a new training/learning/teaching camp.

tag(s) Training Tips

Minimal Time, Maximum Reward

by Alison Powers

Two 45-minute interval sessions to fit into your busy life by Alison Powers, ALP Cycles Coaching Summer is here. The weather is good, the days are long, and we’re itching to ride our bikes. However, summer also means there is a lot of things going on, things to do, places to take people, etc. Because […]

tag(s) Training Tips

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