First, you must decide what is a win.

Finishing?

Beating you friends?

Reaching a new PR?

Breaking into the top 10?

Standing on the top step of the podium?

Winners know what winning is.

1.  Pick up a barbell that equals how much weight you want to lose.

Imagine tossing that overboard on your next climb, or hanging it in the back of your buddy’s jersey.

It’s a lot more than just the weight, it’s also all the resources that tissue is using – oxygen, nutrients, blood.  Think about that extra insulation on a hot day.

Getting your mind set on what that weight means is huge, and huge is not good.

2.  Weigh yourself daily.

Right after you get up, take care of business in the bathroom – pee, poop, cut your hair, trim your nails… get on the scale.

Look at that number.

If it’s higher than yesterday, what did you screw up on your diet?

If it’s lower than yesterday, what did you do right?

Track it daily in an app like Happy Scale.

You will know instantly what that milkshake at 9pm did to you.

3.  Do weight-based training… not weight training.

Climb hills often, and look at your times.

Do pull ups.

Thrashing your friends on a long, straight, slight down hill is not going to help.  Climbing with skinny guys helps.

Give your body reasons to be leaner.

4.  Eat real food, early.

Huge breakfast, good size lunch, puny dinner.

You know what eggs look like, steak looks like, tomatoes look like, bananas look like, avocados look like.

If you can’t identify the ingredients of what you are eating, it’s probably not real food.

Real Food + Real Early = Real Results

5.  Drink lots of water.

Most of the time you think you are hungry, you are really thirsty.

Drink early, and drink often, but don’t drink late in the day unless you want to get up all night.

Let’s set the table:  Chris Froome produces less power now than when he first joined the pro peloton.  Chris Froome demolishes the competition.  One reason (confirmable), he weighs 20 lbs less than he did in 2007.

…. now pass me the 85% dark chocolate.

My goal last year was to ride less, and get faster.

Mission accomplished.

My unwritten, back of the mind goal was to keep the riding around 10 hours/week.

Can’t say it was shocking that Strava had me down for 521 hours in 2015, but I was a little surprised at how spot on my estimate was.  Of course, that includes vacation weeks, sick days etc… but still…

10, is less than 12 and less than 15 and a lot less than 20.

Why 10?… because I have other things I want to accomplish… things that actually matter.  Not that being in great shape doesn’t matter, right?

How?… we’re talking how I got faster – I’ll be brief here, and more detailed later.

First, I rested more.

Second, I lost weight.

Third, I kept my equipment in great condition.

Fourth, I rode with faster (than me) guys.

Getting faster in less time is kinda like a giant ball of yarn, it’s gonna take me a bit to unravel it all… but I promise I won’t hold back, and I’ll keep sharing what works and what doesn’t work.

Sometime you just have to pick one.

Right now I pick to focus on MTB Marathon Champs.

I’m picking this over MTB XC Champs, Whisky 50, Leadville, all the road races… because, it’s the one I stand the best chance of winning. You have to pick one, or the training just isn’t good enough… quickly you become jack of all trades master of none.

You want a kit that’s as aero as possible… take advantage of these details on your next kit.

Hide your zipper in the Zipper Garage.  Don’t let that thing flap around in the wind, hide it.

Your Speed arm band provides excellent compression and an invisible air profile.

Stay cooler with our aerolite mesh side panels.

Your Speed leg bands keeps the your bib in place, provide excellent compression and an invisible air profile.

Keep your valuables locked up in the zippered pocket and you visible with the reflective aero cover.

We use this design to highlight the quality of our printing, notice how the design flows from Jersey to Bib.

… the design shows how well your panels will line up, across the pockets, across the zippers too.  This looks like a skin suit, but it’s our Speed kit.

For visibility on the road, we printed the butt panel or our Speed bib in our yellow.

Your friend finally got a bike and starts riding… to save his cycling life you must invoke Rule #1.

You could have a heart to heart over a latte, or just forward this email.

Secret rule number 1:  Never, ever, ever skimp on the bib!

You’re sitting on that thing… for hours!  Your bib must:

 be comfy, caress you, protect you,

through mud, rain, dirt and sun and sweat.

This is the union of all unions.

You screw up your bib choice and that union is gonna end quickly and ugly.

 Newbs don’t get this

They are so freaked out over Lycra they buy the cheapest thing possible knowing/thinking/hoping they’ll toss it after one ride.

Whoops… even cheapo bibs are so much better they keep wearing them, eventually wasting hard-earned dollars on chamois butter.

That’s not you.

You know better

You know quality bibs are the apparel equivalent of an outrageously expensive carbon fiber frame.

We have a team so thrifty, they buy the cheap jersey and come to us for the bib.

Why would you do that?

Because it matters!

Great bibs shouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg… they should just be great.

1. Your bibs should be made of Italian fabrics, they are the best.  The Italians are so into fabrics and fashion and cycling!  Don’t experiment, they’ve got it mastered.

2. Every single panel of the bibs you choose should be made of 100% polyester because polyester is the softest and most elastic of fabrics. And those panels need to be expertly cut every time and comprised of just the right polyester so you get the perfect amount of compression.  Plus, when you use polyester, you can print every single panel and create striking designs.

3. Your bibs should have a pad that fits like a loving glove, no matter how long you ride.  The pad should be anatomical perfection, and gender specific.  It should be stretchy.    And, AND!, the pad has got to be placed and sewn in the correct location.  Critical stuff here.  Get it wrong and you’ll look like a banana smuggler and feel a lot worse.

At the end of your ride, you must lovingly and thankfully step out of your bibs…

you might want to stay in them all afternoon…

Take a shower.  Clean up.

Wash your bibs inside out, so the print stays crisp.

Air dry your bibs after the spin cycle.

Take care of your bibs and they will take care of you.  Really.

Should you be having anything less than an awesome experience with your bibs, you may want to check out our line up.

We’ll make sure you feel as warm and cuddled as your bits and pieces will when you ride in our bibs.

May all your rides be comfortable!

PS… our latest kit, called Speed, could be just what your looking for.

It’s Tuesday morning, and it’s raining… and I stayed in bed and skipped the TMWC.

Now what if this turns out to really be an El Nino year?

1.  We’ll get all kinds of random training in, making us more like surfers who depend on good waves to surf their arms off and no waves to recover and wait for more great surf.

2.  We’ll have many days of hero dirt vs many days of moon dust.

3.  We might… just might… Man and WOman up and learn to ride with wet socks for more than 10 minutes because it’s Tuesday and that’s what we do.

Until next week… #nomatterwhat.

Well, hell.

Jeff, my great friend, riding buddy of 30 years, confidant and all around nicest person you’ll ever meet is in the hospital, under the knife…

50% of his bike-related hospital trips (6) have been on rides with me, two within 15 months.

%^&*, is about all I can say about this.

His wife is not happy, with either of us.  We’ll probably be banned from ever riding together again.  Can’t say I blame her one bit.

We’re just a couple of 53-year old knuckleheads… doing what we love.

This time we were on Tidal Wave, a rockin’ mountain bike trail with humongous banked turns and more than a few some what large table top jumps.

We had just watched what looked like a helmet mounted to a bike rip the course, getting massive air.  The kid was probably 10.  He even had a GoPro.

It looked so fun, “let’s just roll” the course.

It was fun.  Super fun.  Even when Jr took a tumble and shredded his kit it was fun.

We HAD to take a second run.  The park was closed, lifts were stopped.  We were the last kids on the mountain.  Boys being boys, we rode past the Do Not Ride Up Trail sign to the very top.  Epicness awaited.

I begged to rest for moment, to get some air in my sea-level lungs.  The locals acquiesced.

Fresh and ready, we entered the course slowly.  There was no jockeying for position, just a simple roll out and down the course with huge grins.

The builder of the course is a genius.  In no time, you get in a rhythm and quickly gain confidence and speed.

Zooooooooooom.

I waited at the bottom.  And waited.

I was riding backup.  It was very steep.

Matt rolled around a corner towards me.  He had started last.

Jeff was not good:  left clavicle in 3 pieces, right wrist in two pieces.

The long walk to the car, was long, too long.

Short drive to the hospital….

“Now the doctor came in stinking of gin
And proceeded to lie on the table
He said Rocky you met your match
And Rocky said, doc it’s only a scratch
And I’ll be better I’ll be better doc as soon as I am able.”

Rocky Raccoon – Lennon/McCartney

… heal fast my fast friend.

So, I’m going to write a book.

This topic has been burning and brewing for way too long.

The question I have right now is can I write the entire book while listening solely to Ted Nugent’s Stranglehold?

Kozo Shimano said, the problem with cycling is the engine is weak.

Ouch.

He was right. We are weak.

My motorcycle ripped. It had 50 horses.

We are clever.

On bikes we sprint faster than horses and soar like eagles.

Eat great. Get rest.

Take care of your engine.

1. 13 hours ago
2. Kevin Wayt Great race tonight TB! 11 hours ago
3. Kevin Wayt Wish I could sprint with you guys at the end…:-( 11 hours ago
4. Todd Brown PEDALindustries You can Kevin. We just need to work once it. I’ll show you a few tricks pre race next week.11 hours ago
5. Kevin Wayt Great! Can you lend me some power too :-) 11 hours agoRemove
6. Todd Brown PEDALindustries No. But I can show you how to get some power on your own and how to steal some from others (I guard mine like a squirrel guards his nuts – and it does take balls to have power). Sprinting is an art form, it takes a calm, calculating devilish will. To really do it right you must commit well before the race, you must be willing to vomit, be able to hold your breath until your ears hurt, be able to turn your legs over long after they have turned to stone, and and and and and and do all this with a Gatsby-foolish grin… top down and scarf blowing in the wind on a lazy summer day. Got it? Probably not… But you can have it.2 hours ago

(From TMWC FB Group Discussion)

Gabriel sent me a question about tonight’s crit – should he go and what should he do during the ride.  Dave and Ryan and the rest of ya feel free to jump in here:

Gabe it’s a great idea. I’ll be down there early. Warm up with me… in the meantime here are some basics to consider:

Always keep your fingers looped around the bars – thumb and forefinger should be touching in case you hit an unseen bump (learned this from the great Nelson Vails)

Never overlap wheels (learned from Experience)

Never stop pedaling – apply your brakes when needed but never, ever stop pedaling and slam on your brakes at the same time (learned from the legend Bob Bills).

Be vigilant – trust no one to be thinking or caring about you -> IQ decreases as race duration and speed increases.

Pay attention to wind direction – take your pulls when it’s time then get some shelter and rest.

… and remember, it’s supposed to be fun, so have fun!

“Never heard that before”…

I’ve heard that response to one of my ideas countless times.

This time, I had the idea to do a rolling road closure for our annual charity bike ride… like they do for funerals.

How cool would it be if we could do the TMWC with Sheriff’s escort for the ride?… I’m trying to make that happen.

Doing the unusual is never easy, but nearly always worth it.

Seems like everybody has something on sale this Memorial Weekend, and it’s got me wondering.

Are we putting things on sale because business is slow or because the particular product wasn’t a seller… in other words are we blowing out the crap, are we discounting our brand equity, is the sale sucking the sexy from our essence?

What would be a better way to reward our customers without using the word or concept of On Sale?

Would an email directly to our most rabid fans with this flavor be more effective…

Subject: We like you!

Hi SuperRabidFan, we know you love our gear because you buy a lot of it and we think you deserve X% off this Memorial weekend.

Here’s the new and cool stuff, and below are some things we need to move out for even more of the new and cool… the X% applies to your entire purchase – new and old.

 Thanks for being awesome!

Biggest hotel chain in the world? AirBnB

BIggest taxi company in the world? Uber

BIggest bike race promoter in the world? STRAVA

If I ride my bike today…

The wind will blow through my hair

The sun will shine on my face

My mind will clear

My body will rev up

I might:

Meet someone new

Get a flat

Have an encounter with a car

Slam on the brakes

Find a new path or perspective

Some things are given, many things are possible.

That’s life… on a bike.

It’s been years, no decades, since USA Cycling has made an exciting announcement.

A new CEO: YOUNG. ACCOMPLISHED.  Here’s to much success for Derek Bouchard-Hall.

After retiring from cycling in 2002, he attained an MBA from Harvard Business School and began a career in consulting with Ernst & Young in Boston and then with McKinsey in London. At McKinsey, Bouchard-Hall focused on designing and implementing change programs across a range of commercial and governmental organizations. He joined Wiggle in 2011 where he rose to assume leadership of the international business of the rapidly growing global online retailer.

read more

I don’t need to be the fastest guy on the ride,
I just want to ride with people that are getting faster.

All champions know exactly what they want.  They can see it, taste it, feel it, touch it, hear it.  What they want is crystal clear.

More importantly they know why they want it.

No matter how gnarly the challenge if the why is big enough, the how always presents itself.

When the champion arrives at the destination sublime satisfaction is there to greet, because the champion knows why it had to happen, had to be.

This TED talk is awesome.

If your training is pretty good, you will get dropped… and lose minutes, you won’t even be able to see the leaders.

If your training is excellent, you will finish in the middle of the pack… but you won’t be on the podium.

If your training is outstanding, if there’s nothing more to do, add or subtract… you could place, you might even win.

Road racing demands ALL you can do.