Earlier this week, Karel and I traveled to Pelham, Alabama for a 1.5 day private mountain bike skills camp/clinic with Lon from Single Track Skills. I'll write more about that experience in my next blog but the opportunity to work with a professional coach was an incredible investment of our time, effort and money.
Since 2014, we have organized, planned and executed over 15 group camps. While our training camps are fun, memorable and challenging, there is a common theme for every Trimarni training camp - bike skills and terrain management.
The convenience of the indoor bike trainer has created a false sense of confidence with regard to bike handling skills - especially among triathletes who ride triathlon (or TT) bikes. It's easy to build fitness indoors but it's impossible to improve bike handling and terrain management skills. The moment you begin to climb a steep hill, descend or take a tight corner (or u-turn), your FTP (or power) number is of little benefit.
At my mountain bike skills camp/clinic, I was learning a diverse new set of riding skills to help me ride safely, confidently and efficiently on challenging terrain. Because these skills are not developed naturally and will require time, practice and patience, I know how to work within my current skill set and how/where to improve.
Thankfully, this doesn't apply to triathletes as there are no rock gardens to navigate, off-camber turns or roots to ride over. Because triathletes ride on pavement, the set of skills needed to ride safely, confidently and efficiently are somewhat easy to learn (and there aren't a lot of them to learn). However, triathletes would much rather obsess about power numbers and miles ridden and spend money on carbon upgrades, dual-sided power meters and race wheels than to invest in improving bike handling and terrain management skills. A skilled cyclist on a mediocre bike will likely outperform an unskilled cyclist on an expensive, top-of-the-line bike. The same is true for a skilled cyclist who may not be as strong as an unskilled cyclist. Just because you can push a lot of watts on the indoor trainer, this doesn't mean you are exceptional at riding your bike outside.
As a coach and athlete, I know there are far too many athletes who experience great anxiety, stress, worry and fear when it comes to riding outside. I also see a lot of athletes perform below their athletic potential because they lack basic, fundamental bike handling skills and terrain management awareness.
It doesn't matter if you are training for a pancake flat bike course or a hilly, technical and challenging course. If you want to ride stronger, faster, smarter and safer, you owe it to yourself to invest in a bike-focused training camp.
We have a few spots left in our three group training camps for 2022. Our first camp is April 1-3rd in Greenville, SC and it is a bike skills climbing camp. Our camps are open to the public - you do not have to be a Trimarni athlete to attend.
To learn more about our camps, click HERE.
If you aren't sure if a Trimarni group camp is right for you, I'm honored to share some of our athlete testimonials.....
Since 2014, we have organized, planned and executed over 15 group camps. While our training camps are fun, memorable and challenging, there is a common theme for every Trimarni training camp - bike skills and terrain management.
The convenience of the indoor bike trainer has created a false sense of confidence with regard to bike handling skills - especially among triathletes who ride triathlon (or TT) bikes. It's easy to build fitness indoors but it's impossible to improve bike handling and terrain management skills. The moment you begin to climb a steep hill, descend or take a tight corner (or u-turn), your FTP (or power) number is of little benefit.
At my mountain bike skills camp/clinic, I was learning a diverse new set of riding skills to help me ride safely, confidently and efficiently on challenging terrain. Because these skills are not developed naturally and will require time, practice and patience, I know how to work within my current skill set and how/where to improve.
Thankfully, this doesn't apply to triathletes as there are no rock gardens to navigate, off-camber turns or roots to ride over. Because triathletes ride on pavement, the set of skills needed to ride safely, confidently and efficiently are somewhat easy to learn (and there aren't a lot of them to learn). However, triathletes would much rather obsess about power numbers and miles ridden and spend money on carbon upgrades, dual-sided power meters and race wheels than to invest in improving bike handling and terrain management skills. A skilled cyclist on a mediocre bike will likely outperform an unskilled cyclist on an expensive, top-of-the-line bike. The same is true for a skilled cyclist who may not be as strong as an unskilled cyclist. Just because you can push a lot of watts on the indoor trainer, this doesn't mean you are exceptional at riding your bike outside.
As a coach and athlete, I know there are far too many athletes who experience great anxiety, stress, worry and fear when it comes to riding outside. I also see a lot of athletes perform below their athletic potential because they lack basic, fundamental bike handling skills and terrain management awareness.
It doesn't matter if you are training for a pancake flat bike course or a hilly, technical and challenging course. If you want to ride stronger, faster, smarter and safer, you owe it to yourself to invest in a bike-focused training camp.
We have a few spots left in our three group training camps for 2022. Our first camp is April 1-3rd in Greenville, SC and it is a bike skills climbing camp. Our camps are open to the public - you do not have to be a Trimarni athlete to attend.
To learn more about our camps, click HERE.
If you aren't sure if a Trimarni group camp is right for you, I'm honored to share some of our athlete testimonials.....
