Morning all,

Decided I want to get a lot more serious about riding in the new year with the view of spending 2017 focused on riding and even taking a step back career wise to allow time for this.

I often read about “junk miles” and I’m keen to avoid making mistakes in my training.

No goals in mind other than to get in the best condition I’ve ever been in and maybe think about some racing in 2018 when I know where I’m at fitness wise after a year of proper training.

There’s a lot of information and coaches out there for strength and lifting type training but I’m struggling to find someone who’s a cycle fitness coach.

Having someone else who’s highly experienced dictate mileages and intensities and diet etc will add to motivation in my head so I’m keen to draft someone in for this job.

Can anyone make any recommendations?

Thanks in advance

Never heard of them

Are we talking road? Are you a club member?

My club organises structured training sessions with a professional coach. It’s as a group so works out cheap at about £2 each session (although obviously you don’t get too much personal attention)

It really helped with my speed and fitness when I actually took it seriously (which it sounds like you will).

No I’m more talking mtb. I ride some road at the min just to get some extra miles in but I’m after getting quicker on the mtb.

I ride in a couple of mtb clubs/groups but want to keep any coaching outside of those as they are pretty social groups.

Faster on the mtb come 2 ways, fitness is part of it but skills mean you can use the fitness more effectively.
There are a heap of online programs around, for example sufferfest now do xc mtb programmes to kick on through the winter with yoga and strength stuff chucked in. Probably best to post locations as you might want to have some specific suggestions

Do you have a power meter or willing to get one?
Do you need face to face time with a coach, or remote/online ok?

There’s a coach finder option on Training Peaks.
Dirt School do private consultations where you can get them to some skills coaching and give some training advice, and also a range of full blown options in both skills/fitness departments.

What is your budget?

My son uses Epic Coaching I would have no hesitation recommending them.

Email me if you want any more details.

I use these guys – Melissa is really switched on and a very handy racer herself.

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Race next year. Youve got several months to get fit and it’ll mean you see improvements early on. If you wait 18 months until you’re at peak fitness you risk getting demoralised IMO, and if you’ve not really raced then you’ll spend time making mistakes. Mountain bike racing isn’t just fitness, and unlike the road a decent season may only compromise 10 events or so.

Far better to have some experience under your belt and work your way up the field. Rather than expecting to come in at the top. What sort of events are you thinking? XC, marathon, endure?

Rob Lee and Ben Thomas are both excellent coaches and top athletes. Shout if you want contact details. Don’t be afraid of trying a few I’d say, they’re not all the same, and it’s not a given you’ll get on with all methodologies and personalities.

wot nick said. If you fancy racing, go racing! It’s fun wherever you finish, and it’s fun improving. I’m not a serious racer, but reasonably (recreationally) fit. I turn up to a few events each year, bust a gut and finish where I finish. If I finish top 2/3rd, it’s going to hurt just as much as finishing top 1/4. The fun’s in the riding, and the satisfaction’s comes from and pushing yourself doing as well as you could. And longer term, I’d much rather go from lower finishes to higher finishes as my fitness, skills and racecraft improved, than spend a season training and then have a consistent year of top 30 finishes.

And I bet you race experience would be much more valuable to your coach for informing how they tweak your training, diet, fuelling, pacing than just looking at how you get on on training rides.

I would also suggest racing next year. If you are already relatively fit, then your training will need to be pretty specific to make the most effective gains. If you do some races you will get a clearer view on where your weaknesses are, and can focus on these.

http://point1athletic.com/about/

Torq – Mat and his team are brilliant even for a duffer like me.

I had thought to write Duple but it would be lost on you young uns.

What sort of racing?

Alan Milway if more of a gravity bias.

No goals in mind other than to get in the best condition I’ve ever been in and maybe think about some racing in 2018 when I know where I’m at fitness wise after a year of proper training.

I’d set some firm objectives first, or at least expect any decent coach to help you formulate them. Only then is a coaching going to be helpful. You don’t need a year of training to go racing. You might need a year (or more) to become competitive! Try a couple of races, you might hate them 😉

BC Level 3 MTB coaches can provide individualised training plans for off-road and will focus on racing. Most of the fitness stuff is standard for road and off road. The skills training is another matter – and normally the one that gets overlooked for road and off road.

I have used a few but found DigDeep Coaching to be fantastic. Speak to Dan Fleeman there, Dan is an EX-Pro roadie but also raced MTB XC for a few years so understands the demands very well.

BC Level 3 MTB coaches can provide individualised training plans for off-road and will focus on racing.

+1

I use Torq and try to intelligently analyse my progress and performance based on the things I learnt from them.

What NJee said – it really is a journey of which fitness is only a part. To line up on the front row and race with a chance of a podium takes time and racing experience way beyond 18months training.

Mine has been a 3year journey (and it’s not over yet if I want to move from a chance to actually getting on aforesaid podium) of which actual racing was probably the major part. If anyone offered me the chance to take time to train more I’d say I’d like it now not 3 years ago.

You tried reading any Joe Friel material and self-coaching? It’ll save you the £100 a month proper coaching is likely to cost you (at a minimum)

Otherwise, BC Level 3 is a good recommendation – if you can get a Level 3-in-training they have to work with a rider for a season to gain their accreditation from what I understand, so that could be a win-win.

You tried reading any Joe Friel material and self-coaching? It’ll save you the £100 a month proper coaching is likely to cost you (at a minimum)

I’m as big a fan of the Training Bible as anyone, and for sure you can gain a huge amount of knowledge and make yourself a pretty good plan. However, it takes a few seasons of trial and error to really understand some of the principles, and also to learn how your body responds.
I like to think i’ve done a pretty good job of self coaching given a somewhat defective body as a starting point, but there’s definitely times when a coach would have (and still could be) a benefit. I just personally can’t justify the ~£100pcm for the level i’m at.

But there are some ways in which it can’t replace a coach:
It doesn’t cover training for endurance events well.
It doesn’t have a great workout library, and also doesn’t explain training multiple energy systems within the one workout (something you see pop up fairly regularly in power analysis of pro’s training).
It doesn’t have the ability to monitor your progress and make alterations.
It can’t use years of experience (until you’ve done them) to identify patterns that may be going right/wrong.
It won’t give you a phone call at 8pm on a Thursday night to tell you what a slacker you are and to apply Rule#5 if you want to make progress.

Even if you decide not to use it,I would recommend buying Joe Friels MTB Training Bible. Like the original Bible, it is actually a workbook that takes you from where you are right now to having a whole season of racing and training scheduled in to pretty much hour by hour what you’ll need to be doing.

Some of the nuanced points are actually written so casually that it’s easy to miss. Often I’d read a seemingly contradictory point elsewhere, then go back to the relevant chapter to find that actually Friel had mentioned it and explained the reasons for doing it one way or another.

It’s as flexible as you want to make it (after all, they’re your goals) and it’s quite simple to mix and match workouts with other sources. Contrary to what Fifeandy said, I think the scope is there to construct multiple-system workouts (and indeed on some days he will list up to 8 to choose from) but you sort of have to do the thinking yourself using the principles he’s outlined.

If you don’t like it, it’s high enough to use as a make shift wheel-riser for the Turbo 😀

no idea whats good and what isnt but one of our “elderly” (just incase he reads this) signed up with mountain goat coaching. We hardly see him any more as hes too busy off winning stuff. The difference was unreal but i understand that theres some commitment required from your side (and hence why its no good for me). worth a look i reckon.

For for MTB the skills side is important so I would pick someone within travelling distance who you can do some face to face work with over the year

You also need to quickly establish a relationship, they will be asking you to commit to a programme and if you believe in it it’s easier to make the sacrifices

If you are in North Yorkshire Mark Grange is worth a try http://www.velocoaching.co.uk

yes, alex welburn he is a coach for transition cycle coaching. raced for bc in mtb and cx, currently right up there with the uks best xc racers and doing his masters in sports science.top bloke!

Definately agree you need to set goals and race next year or else training is dull as dishwater.

Don’t underestimate the mental toll of training hard, it’s not just the training, it’s making sure you have enough protein to maximise recovery (I get highly stressed if I don’t have protein within half an hour of finishing a hard session), avoiding getting ill and being a slave to antibac gel etc etc. Doing all that without short and mid term goals would be brutal IMO, maybe not achievable.

You can get really good individualised online coaching from tony at http://www.flammerouge.je for really a lot less than that.

Worth a look on there for the fact sheets alone.

a good coach will work and talk with you to plan the seasons training and racing.imo the best bang for buck you can spend in cycling.it can take you a long time to figure it all out for yourself, which can become fustraiting. make sure you have no contract, give it 3-4months of hard work and then decide for yourself if you feel you have made gains

Some really good advice here in about 20 posts. I’m about to start my 3rd year of serious racing and as above:

a) Just race and learn people/grid/what it takes/yourself/skills/rules
b) It does take time for most poeple
c) You do need to learn and ride to your strengths and weakness
d) +1 for Joe Friel and the nuances particulaty about racing & trainings schedule, ilnness & age – I reckon I’ve come on 10% recently when I actually put that advice into practise although it took a while for me (stubborn).
e) +1 for the mental stress of training. You need to try hard to stay motivated and not skip session. Today I did my hardest session, nearly puked twice, didn’t want to start and felt quite bad when I finished. But the mental fortitude to keep going amongst all that is a slightly lower level than that needed during racing 😀 you need to suffer.

I’m tired of training at the moment, but I know I’ve made gains. I go into Christmas drinking & stuffing my self silly, then 6 more weeks of working to drop 3lbs and toughen up – I’m looking forward to getting stuck in during Feb at the first race!

@Crosshair:
Not sure what edition of the bible you have, but mine has a little box that says; ‘Workout options listed by code (select only one)’. Which to me is a pretty clear instruction to not mix within one session.

It is a book that i come back to time and again though.

Fully agree with Ferrals and Kryton in that it can be quite mentally punishing training for extended periods. Definitely plan for some races/events (even if its something less hardcore like MBO) to keep you motivated, and plan 2-4 weeks of downtime every 6 months or so.

@Fifeandy- I have the MTB Training Bible published in 2000.
Will post a pic later when I find a file hosting site that works 😀

Combined with a paragraph about creating your own workouts, I think you can do whatever you feel necessary for each workout.

https://www.dirtschool.co.uk/personal_training/personal-training-plans/

These guys can do the skills and fitness side, might be worth a look?

crosshair – Member
@Fifeandy- I have the MTB Training Bible published in 2000.
Will post a pic later when I find a file hosting site that works

Great, thanks for the info. There’s clearly a difference there between the cyclists bible (2009) and mtb bible (2000).
He’s just released a totally new version of the Tri bible, and according to his blog is in the process of re-writing the cyclists bible with an ETA of Nov’17.

Guess it may have to go on next years xmas list 🙂

I use AQR Coaching run predominantly by Kate Potter. Kate looks at more than just the fitness side, she will cover nutrition and wellbeing if that’s also what you’re looking for. It’s really flexible and what I particularly like is she listens to you and adapts your training accordingly for your life situation. Compared to some other UK coaching companies the value for money is exceptionally good. If you have any equipment (bike!) issues then Ian Potter can assist. I’m really grateful that Kate was able to work out from my descriptions of how I was feeling that I had a vitamin D deficiency; eventually confirmed by an initially non-believing GP as a severe case.

I have previously had coaching from Torq and whilst it did get me fitter and faster I found it to be very repetitive from one year to the next and never really felt like I was entirely being listened to, although that may have changed more recently.

I use AQR Coaching run predominantly by Kate Potter. Kate looks at more than just the fitness side, she will cover nutrition and wellbeing if that’s also what you’re looking for. It’s really flexible and what I particularly like is she listens to you and adapts your training accordingly for your life situation. Compared to some other UK coaching companies the value for money is exceptionally good. If you have any equipment (bike!) issues then Ian Potter can assist. I’m really grateful that Kate was able to work out from my descriptions of how I was feeling that I had a vitamin D deficiency; eventually confirmed by an initially non-believing GP as a severe case.

+1 to all of this. I used Kate in 2015 and successfully achieved my goals for the year. Had a year off last year but will be starting again with Kate in 2017.

Only just had chance to check back on this thread properly.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations so far and for taking the time to reply. I’ll have a look at the different coaches recommended so far.

A few questions people have asked me overlap so to answer in general, I’m no way near race ready at the minute in my opinion hence wanting to get a year of hard training in before deciding on some races and even what to race if I feel like it. It’s more about making the most gains in the next year that are possible.

The coaching idea is to take the complications out of it for me, I’ve got jo friels book on heart rate training and found it really complicated.

Thanks again for all the suggestions so far, will look up the different options.

+1 to just getting out there and racing regardless of fitness, the value of the experience you’d gain in a year is huge even if you finish near the back.

A few questions people have asked me overlap so to answer in general, I’m no way near race ready at the minute in my opinion hence wanting to get a year of hard training in before deciding on some races and even what to race if I feel like it. It’s more about making the most gains in the next year that are possible.

Why waste a year training with no goals? Pick some races then get a coach and a plan then train your ass off and race. You’ll then have some idea of your potential/ability vs your goals. You might find that if your goal is a podium place you are so far off the pace no amount of training will get you there. On the other hand you might get close and you’ll have a good idea of your strengths and weaknesses and how you could train to maximise former and minimise the latter to get your there.

I used this guy for a couple of years with good results. Here’s ex British cycling and coaches both road and mountain biking. You don’t have to be local as he’ll coach you remotely.

I get my coaching from Neo Pro at the moment, which is the U23 branch of Transition Cycle Coaching. They’re online based, so you’ll get set training and feedback on Trainingpeaks, which sounds like it might be a bit detached, but I find I can get in touch with Alex (the MTB performance director, and a top 5 UK elite rider) by text or facebook and get a reply straight away all the time. So if I’ve got any questions or issues with the training I get an answer straight away.
I’ve had a different coach every year for the past 4, and Alex (/Transition/Neo Pro) is the first one I’m going into a second year with, I think that says a lot!