Tag: Masters Cycling
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Masters Misguided: Why Older Athletes Need More Rest, Not More Intensity
Every fall, the same message starts circulating through Masters cycling circles: “You can’t afford to take too much time off.” The reasoning sounds logical — “Older athletes lose fitness faster,” “it’s harder to rebuild base after 40,” or “you need to keep the engine running.” It’s become an accepted truth in modern endurance culture: that…
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Why the Smartest Cyclists Rest When Everyone Else Trains
Every fall, the same conversation starts circling through group rides and coaching groups: “Don’t take too much time off.” Some programs even claim the off-season is where you “get ahead,” or that you can only afford one real break a year if you want to keep progressing. It sounds logical. It feels productive. But it’s…
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Durability Wins Races — The Untapped Power After FTP
Why the real advantage starts when your FTP stops working. The Race That Taught Me What Really Wins It was the final lap of the 2025 Canadian Masters National Road Race — an attritional day stacked with climbs, heat, and surges that felt more like trench warfare than sport. By the third hour, everyone was…
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Building the Launch Pad: My System for 2026
From the Lab Series Recap In Part 1 — FTP Isn’t a Ceiling, It’s a Launch Pad, I challenged the idea that FTP is a finish line. It’s not a number to hold — it’s a system to launch from. That post reframed performance as metabolic integration: the ability to surge, clear, and sustain above…
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The FTP Paradox: When Higher Isn’t Better
Part 2 The Pursuit of “More” Every cyclist wants to see that FTP number climb. 330. 340. 350. It’s intoxicating. But after years of chasing it, I discovered the hard truth: sometimes, more power on paper means less power in the race. In 2021–2022, my FTP was testing around 335–340W, and I felt strong —…
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FTP Isn’t a Ceiling — It’s a Launch Pad
Part 1 The Ceiling Myth For most riders, FTP is the number. The one they test, brag about, and chase like a badge of identity. But the more I trained and tested, the clearer it became: FTP isn’t a ceiling — it’s a launch pad. When I used to train to FTP — building up…
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Surge and Clear: The Smart Rider’s Secret Weapon
How the ability to recover while riding hard wins races — not FTP There’s a reason I felt stronger than ever at Road Nationals this year. It wasn’t just because I’d built a solid FTP or spent months riding tempo. It was because I’d learned how to surge and clear — to attack, settle, and…