By Peaks Coaching Group Master/Elite
Coach Earl Zimmermann
Racing your
bike is a blast especially on a team: weekend team rides, racing together,
training with others instead of just by yourself. Sounds great!
If it only worked that way in real life. What really happens is that sometimes
teammates won’t join a team ride because it doesn’t follow their coach’s planned
workout for them. Then due to work/life
schedules you may train solo, but are you sure you are spending enough time in
each zone to improve race fitness? Ultimately, the race strategy doesn’t go as planned,
with only one or two finishing the race in the top 10. What’s the alternative? Having a team coach. A team coach can make a
huge impact on increasing the success of the entire team.
For the past three years, I’ve
coached a team out of Northern California while living in Seattle. Yes, remote coaching does work. Prior to team coaching, these guys had been
through it all. Constantly training too hard
thinking if their legs didn’t hurt after a workout they didn’t train properly. This led to legs blowing up during a race and having
to be off the bike. Letting race anxiety
get the better of them by putting out their best numbers in the first 20
minutes, and not having any legs to contest the finish. Most experienced some type of cramping while
racing, but most of the time not while training. By the second year of team coaching, they were
firing on all cylinders with more teammates on the podium, winning Best
All-around Team Cat 4 35+, and this year they won the Red Kite Ominum Top Team
award!
There were
some challenges during the first 90 days of team coaching adapting to a
“different” way of training. We were working
with a core group of six, and sometimes up to 10 athletes. Each of them use a Training Peaks Premium
account, receiving four key workouts per week to develop specific physiological
systems. With their first race in
February, I added more intensity during the winter training phase, reducing the
frequency of long base miles. We discussed
how and why they could move a workout during the week to fit their life
commitments. At first, it was hard for
some of them to really do a recovery workout, while others found it difficult
to stay in Vo2 max for at least 3 minutes. Using Training Peaks turned out to be a better
tool than expected, as the teammates at the extreme ends of training and racing
could see the charts in the Dashboard showing them what was limiting them from
making progress. Now the whole team is
doing similar workouts during the week, and the team rides on the weekend are more
beneficial for everyone.
For the monthly videoconference
calls, the team contributes to the agenda. We allow time to address their immediate
concerns, then move on to cover the coach’s topics. Skype allows up to 10 users at a time, with
the ability of sharing the coach’s screen with the group. We watch race videos together, so not only
could we discuss what was happening during the race, we could also see if one
member was really staying out of the wind. Then we review the race file to see who was
using more matches chasing surges than others. Watching the videos together also allows the
coach to suggest proper cornering techniques to maintain speed through the turn,
and to see them on their bikes while racing. Watching the video can lead to bike fits to eliminate
leg cramps and other posture issues. For
some, the saddle was too high, while for others the stem was too long. These corrections stopped the leg
cramping. We spend time discussing
various charts in Training Peak’s Dashboard and drilling down into workout and race
files. This makes a huge difference in
their understanding as to why they were doing the workouts.
Everyone likes competing against others
on Strava. In the past, teammates were very
competitive to get Strava segments, or KOM, and get bragging rights. These “wins” during training didn’t always transfer
very well to races. Now it’s a tool to
monitor one’s progress.
As everyone’s fitness improved, the
level of competition rose to new heights during the team rides, with more
teammates contesting at the sprint zone. Everyone went into the team camp feeling
strong, and these guys didn’t hold back. Over the years, the team camp has now grown to
20 teammates, which are broken up into three separate groups. This allows athletes to push themselves and
test their limits. Rather than some
teammates getting frustrated from not being able to stay with the lead group, the
bond amongst the teammates grew. Each of
them really got to know their teammates strengths and weaknesses on various
terrain: the longer climbs, the rollers,
and the flats. This proved beneficial in
developing team strategies during the race season. The team was coming together in perfect time
for the spring races.
The strategy was laid out for the
first few races, select a protected rider, and have multiple teammates covering
any breaks. A very common race strategy
that is not always easy to pull off. Teammates
with a few seasons in their legs were now getting on the podium. Others with less racing experience and mind
were doing awesome, placing in the top 10, and just missing out of a podium. The team was learning how different racing in
the top 10, and being in the proper position to sprint for the finish can be. These were perfect topics for the team call,
along with watching the race video. After
just a few more races, everything fell into place. Teammates were less distracted by outside
influence, gained more confidence in their racing skills, and dealing with the
chaos during the final kilometer. By mid
season, there were numerous mark riders. The competition didn’t know whom to cover
because they had so many riders that could contest the win.
Having a team coach allowed for
each member to gain their own strength and speed, but also allowed them to
truly be part of the team, all reaching for the same goal. A team coach coaches each athlete, while
coaching them all in how to be a team, race like a team, and most importantly
win as a team.
