The practical art of periodisation Periodisation in training is about changing the training load to get better results. If we do the same training over and over again and expect continued improvement we will be sadly disappointed. It is the variation within a session, within a week, within a month […]
When posting the strategy a few days before (read here), I promised to write the actual event up afterwards. So here it is: my personal experience at the 2018 Liège-Bastogne-Liège Challenge. How hard is it? Early start Act 1, South to Bastogne (100km) Act 2, Bastogne to Francheville (75km) Act […]
Riding Liège-Bastogne-Liège We at Alpine Cols are best known for riding in the mountains, and especially the Alpine sportives such as the Haute Route, the Marmotte and the Etape du Tour. This year it was time to try something new, so we have ventured north to Belgium to the climbers […]
Until quite recently winter training was all about LSD or Long Slow Distance: putting on the miles at home, often in wet and grisly weather conditions. Nobody did any serious climbing, and the long cold miles were stoically endured until spring came at last. Things changed with the wide availability […]
I was already 3 weeks into a polarised training programme last November when I posted a blog article entitled Threshold or Polarised: why should you care? This was much too soon to draw any personal conclusions, but I promised at the time I would post a new blog with the […]
Time to train is often at a premium. So what can you do if you only have one hour, including time to get changed and shower afterwards? Given the short time available, using a turbo will be more effective than riding outside. The turbo allows you to focus fully on […]
Summary: Threshold or Polarised? (one-minute read) If you are like most amateur cyclists, you probably follow a threshold training model to improve your performance. This means you ride as much as possible in the tempo and threshold zones (Zones 3 and 4 on the standard seven zone model), perhaps aiming […]
The Etape du Tour The 2018 Etape du Tour promises to be the toughest since 2012, which was an epic 197km ride through the Pyrenees. This year ASO has selected four of the steepest climbs in the Alps, and capped it all with a section of gravel road over the […]
It might sound proactive, exciting or interesting to build intervals into your altitude training camp, but for 99% of amateur riders, it would be a mistake. Wait a minute, the professionals do them, so why shouldn’t you? Well, to start with, you are not a professional. As an amateur, you […]
We are very fortunate to have 27 different climbs that can be cycled in a day’s ride from our base in La Clusaz. After three years, it is time to change and renew the regular routes! We’ll still keep the famous Tour de France climbs of course, and especially those […]
