10 tips to Improve your Off-Season Training

Here are a few personal tips I've collected over the years of training. These are pretty much my insider tips, not collected from anywhere, but rather what I implement to get through the cold-weather.

1. If your hands get cold pretty easily and quickly on a ride, apply moisturizer before you put your gloves on. Usually your hands are dry during the winter and the moisturizer also helps to put a little extra barrier between your hands and the cold.

2. Use duck tape cover the vents on your shoes. Most shoes are made for mid summer riding. Apply some duck tape to cover up those vents and your toes will stay nice and warm.

3. Keep your neck warm. I've found if I keep my jersey zipped to the top or my fleece jersey zipped up, no matter how cold it gets if my neck stays warm, my core stays warm, and that means my hands will stay warm.

4. Break up your trainer routine. Split your hour into 3 20 minute sections. Jump off the bike wipe down, get a drink and stretch. Helps keep your head fresh.

5. Undecided if you should ride outside cause it's cold? Warm up on your trainer for 20 minutes, hit the road for as much as you can bear, and cool down on your trainer. Will help flush your legs and warm you back up. The added benefit is getting the extra time.

6. Short on time or unsure what workout to do? Hit the "Sweet Spot". High z3, low z4. Most bang for your buck.

7. Make the call. Call up a group of friends to ride together. When the weather is cold, having a few people to ride with helps with the motivation. Or if its too cold, have a trainer party! Really helps the time pass much faster with someone to converse with.

8. Can't bear another day on the trainer, haven't been outdoors in weeks? Go for a walk, or spend the time stretching and catching up on personal stuff. Refresh your head, because if it isn't in the game, chances are your workout will be poor. Take the day off and come back strong and ready to fight.

9. Don't take your water bottle for a ride! Just because its cold doesn't mean your body isn't utilizing the fluid in your system. Stay hydrated and drink your water/energy drink. If you are afraid it is gonna freeze, stick it in your pocket under your outer layer.

10. Set goals and plan your season. Schedules should be coming out and it's time to focus on what you need to do. Having a plan can help you get out the door easier. Nothing gets me more revved up than going out for a long ride and having to endure terrible weather. I look at it as a personal challenge. I imagine my competition sitting on the couch stuffing their faces with potato chips while I'm fighting the elements. It gets me super motivated and excited to now I'll be prepared when it comes down to racing in poor conditions.

Epic Peaks Athlete Sarah Miller Takes 1st Podium!

Congratulations to Epic Peaks athlete Sarah Miller of Arkansas. Taking 1st place in the Female Solo category at the Bad Moon Rising 6 hour race in Berryville, AR. The race was held at night in sub-freezing temps. Sarah's finish was good enough to put her 2nd Overall !! in the Solo Field.

Congrats Sarah!!

National Ultra Endurance MTB Series Tentative Schedule

A tentative schedule for the 100 miler series has been released

Cohutta 100 Tennessee April 19
Mohican MTB 100 Ohio June 7
Lumberjack 100 Michigan June 14
Breckenridge 100 Colorado July 19
Wilderness 101 Pennsylvania July 26
Fool’s Gold 100 Georgia August 16
Shenandoah 100 Virginia August 31
Tahoe-Sierra 100 California September 6

Best 4 out of 8
All ties broken at the final event

More Info Available here

Looks like it's time to start dialing in those training plans!

Training with Limited time

Last night I took part in an online Webinar given by Hunter Allen; Here is my re-cap.

Training with limited time is an issue faced by the majority of amateur cyclists. There are only so many hours in the day and we have other primary responsibilities to take care of (Family, Job,Prior Commitments, etc). So, how does one train effectively with less than 10 hours per week?

First, you need to create a balance. Start with clear, specific and measurable goals. "Getting Faster" is not a clear goal. "Improve Functional Threshold Power (FTP) by 15% by March 1st", is a great goal. It's to the point, is specific and measurable by the date and testing. Secondly, let your family and circle in on your goals. Explain to your significant other that, Race X is very important to you. Bring them onboard and discuss with them the importance of your goals and the steps you are taking to achieve them.

Secondly, you need to optimize your time. Plan ahead for your rides. Have your water bottles filled and waiting for you in the fridge. Have the tires pumped and the bike lubed and ready to go. Have you kit and shoes ready. You'd be amazed at how much time can add up when you are searching for your shoes, pumping up tires and filling waterbottles. Truly limited on time, use the trainer. You can get out an effective workout in a shorter amount of time as your are forced to pedal for the entirety

Have a plan of action and a purpose to your training. If you are using a power meter or heart rate monitor you should have established your training zones using a monthly test. It's important to know your training zones and how they and what they affect during your training. Listed below are the Coggan Training Zones




Once you have your training zones established, know what you are training for. If your goal requires you to be a top climber, there is no sense in going out and training at time trial efforts. Go out and bury yourself on the climbs. Once you have the prerequisites down that your goal requires, train them! There should be no easy days. If you are limited on time, take a day off and bank that hour that you were going to use for recovery and add it to one of your training days. On the weekend it is much more effective to do one "big day" (4-6 hours) rather than to split up the days. So if you are forced to do chores on Saturday, don't fret about not being able to train. Get out and do a big day on Sunday.

Unsure of what you should be doing in training, head for the "Sweet Spot". Spending time at Upper Zone 3/Lower Zone 4 is one of the most effective ways of increasing your FTP. Sweet Spot is similar to tempo training, but these workouts should put you right on your limit. You should be riding almost to the point of exhaustion, hammering along and having to down a red bull to make the last hour home.




For mountain bikers, keeping the skill levels sharp is important also, so spend at least half of your time off-road working on your technique. Use the road bike to do specific workouts, especially FTP workouts.

An effective training plan can be written and goals can be achieved even for time stressed cyclists.

2008 National Mountain Bike Series Schedule (Unofficial)

March 29 - March 30, 2008 Fontana National - UCI XCO C1

Southridge Park

Fontana, California

XC/DH/ST/4X/Super D



April 5 - April 6, 2008 NOVA National - UCI XCO C1

McDowell Mountain Regional Park

Fountain Hills, Arizona

XC/ST/Super D


May 17- May 18, 2008 Firestone National – UCI XCO C2

Ted Chamberlin Ranch

Los Olivos, California

XC/DH/DS/ST/Super D


June 28 - June 29, 2008 Deer Valley National - UCI XCO C1

Deer Valley Resort

Park City, Utah

XC/DH/DS/ST/Super D


July 5- July 6, 2008 Showdown at Sugar National

Sugar Mountain Resort

Village of Sugar Mountain, North Carolina

XC/DH/DS/ST/Super D


July 12 – July 13, 2008 East Coast National

Windham Resort

Windham, New York

XC/DH/DS/ST/Super D

August 16-August 17, 2008 Snowmass National

Town of Snowmass Village, Colorado

XC/DH/ST/4X/Super D


August 30-September 1, 2008 National Mountain Bike Series Finals – UCI XCO C2

Tamarack Resort

McCall, Idaho

XC/DH/4Xor DS/ST/Super D

Hot August Nights 24 Hour Podiums for Epic Peaks Athletes

Super Congrats to Epic Peaks Athletes for their Podium finishes at the Hot August Nights 24 hour race in Bolton, Ontario.

One of the Largest 24 hr Race Events in North America.

Mark Hartman turned an incredible 21 laps (204 miles) and took 2nd place in the SOLO division!!!! Casey Conte and Matt Hanggi were part of a 4 man team that won there respective age division and were also part of the American Podium Sweep (2nd going to another Park Ave team and 3rd to a CNY Dirt Team. Awesome Efforts, Congrats to you!!

Epic Peaks Athletes Snag Several Podiums at Suicide 6

Epic Peaks Athletes raced hard and took Several Podium Positions at this Weekends Suicide Six race in Honeoye, NY.


-Mark Hartman and Casey Conte take the Overall Team DUO Victory with 9 Laps


-Suzanne Hartman and Taylor Crow finished 2nd in the Mixed DUO with 8 Laps


-Jeremy Haskins and Ed Schaefer took 2nd in 30 and Under DUO with 7 Laps


-You Very Own Epic Peaks Coach Takes 1st in the < 30 SOLO (3rd Overall)


CONGRATS! Great Riding!!