Indoor Spin

Fond du Lac Cyclery and Oshkosh Cyclery are welcoming cyclists to spin on trainers at their stores. Bring your bike and a stationary trainer if you have one — if not, the shops have a limited number of loaners. Groups are spinning at both locations Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. Additional spin time is available at the Fond du Lac store Saturday and Sunday mornings from 7 to 9 a.m. All spinners should be ready to go at 6 p.m. or 7 a.m., so show up early and be prepared to go on the hour.

USA Cycling Newsletter Highlights Ripon

USA Cycling's weekly newsletter, published Nov. 29, includes a nice feature on the Red Hawk Cycling program. Ripon even gets a shout out across the top of page 1. Download a PDF here and turn to page 8 for the story.

Fuel: Some Tips for Off Season and On

I happened upon a couple of articles by Steve Born on the Hammer Nutrition site that I think are worthy of a good read by any competitive cyclist or other endurance athlete.

The first offers suggestions for off season nutritional supplements. The second offers 15 tips for nutrition and hydration during exercise: both training and racing.

Born is senior technical advisor at Hammer Nutrition. He is a member of the Ultra Cycling Hall of Fame, having competed in the Race Across America five times. The Hammer site contains many more related articles by Born, who obviously knows a thing or two about how and what to eat during rigorous competition.

TRAINING: Spinervals Week No. 48

Number 48 Week of November 26 by Coach Troy Jacobson

• Warm up 5 minutes easy
• 3x30 sec 53x15 @ 30 sr (Seconds Rest = easy spin)
• 1 minute easy spin
• 5 min tempo 53x15 (Time Trial pace) then easy 30 sec
• 4 min tempo 53x14 (TT pace) then easy 30 sec
• 3 min tempo 53x13 (TT pace) then easy 30 sec
• 2 min tempo 53x12 (TT pace) then easy 30 sec
• Off bike, 3 x 18 vertical jumps with 15 sr between sets of 18
• On bike, 1 min easy spin
• Repeat 3 times
  • 3 min tempo 53x15, then easy spin 15 sec, then
  • 30 sec out-of-saddle sprint 53x12, then 30 sec easy recovery spin
• 2 min easy spin
• 5 min tempo 53x12, with last 10 sec of each minute standing and sprinting
• cooldown 5-10 minutes
  

Holiday Survival Guide

Here's what Chris Carmichael has to say about keeping the holiday pounds off.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Gives Team Props

Tom Held posted a nice feature on the Red Hawks cycling team on his "Off the Couch" blog today. Read it here.

Why Wisconsin?

Some may wonder what Wisconsin has to offer for cyclists, especially mountain bikers. Well, for just one: the top marathon mountain bikers in the country will be back in Wausau next summer for the USA Cycling 24-hour national championships.

Kevin Eccles and Team Sports Inc. will host the nationals races for a third straight year, while celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 24-9 at the Nine Mile Forest in Marathon County. The 2008 event is set for Aug. 2 and 3.

Ripon College will enter a team if there is interest.