1. Hey Coach – I am told by all my team mates that I am built like a climber, but I always have problems hanging with the group as soon as we hit the hills. What can I do to become a better climber?
1. you wana climb better? here’s the Meat protocol….now, keep in mind that i’m decidedly NOT a climber, but i’m also a svelte 195lbs. when i’m lean so i’m never gonna be. that being said, i CAN climb pretty well for a moose my size and this is how i suggest you tackle those vertical demons of yours: IN/OUTS: start with 1 minute in the saddle/1 minute out. maintain a 90rpm cadence in BOTH positions. you’ll find it hard to keep that high of a cadence when you’re up on the pedals but that’s exactly why it makes you strong. i suggest doing these on a climb of no more than 7% grade otherwise it gets pretty tough to maintain that leg-speed. your heart-rate should be a good 5 beats below your AT and you should do 6 of each to start. rather than upping the number of efforts, gradually up the time out/in. 1 min., 2 min., 3 min…..all the way up to 5 mins in/out. at this point you will no longer be “the little climber that couldn’t”.

2. Hey Coach – I am thinking about getting into racing this year, how should I train differently for road races –vs – crits?
2. road races are gonna have climbs….see above. also, the overall intensity of a crit is greater given the shorter duration and relative flatness of most crit courses. the aggressiveness and urgency to break away and get things done pronto makes the crit something that requires more intervals of a shorter/more intense nature. 2/1 intervals (2 minutes just sub-threshold followed by 1 minute of recovery) start with 6 and work all the way up to 10 of these babies during a workout. and haul ass about it fool, the crit season starts this sunday. word.

3. Hey Coach – I hear all this talk about base training. How long should I be in a base training phase? And when should I move into the 2nd phase?
3. depends on how long you’ve been pedalling but generally the Base phase of training is a 3 month affair of monotony and tediousness. three distinct blocks of 3 weeks of progressive mileage followed by a rest week….rinse, repeat 3 times through….yeah it suck the big, floppy donkey dong but it’s the foundation that all of your intervals/build/peak is going to be built on so suck it up and pay your dues. trust me, we will all know if you didn’t as the season progresses. don’t be THAT guy.

4. Hey Coach – Talking of socks, I have a fashion question for you. Should I be wearing the new Euro style (calf height) socks, or the standard ankle height socks?
4. you’re asking a trackie who is known for wearing NO socks so i will tell you purely based on MY aesthetic (which is the only one that matters anyways, so you asked the right guy). you got skinny climber legs? go short. it’ll make you look like some kind of intimidating daddy-longlegs on a bike. adding an optical extra 6 inches to your inseam always looks intimidating not to mention the fact that you’ll be shaving at least 2 grams off your legs….and that’s GOTTA make a difference on those 40km Dolomite passes we have in our california road races. conversely, if your legs are as big around as most peoples’ waists, rock the tallies!! it’ll make your already-fire-hydrant-looking pins THAT much girthier and intimidating. sitting on a dude who looks like he could kick in a safe is always gonna f*@k with your psyche….if you got the meat, rock the socks.

Now shut up and ride your bikes.

Coach-Meat