Nearly three years ago I was involved in a serious bicycle accident (my three year "crashiversary" is on Feb 2nd). After undergoing spinal surgery and spending time in the ICU, I came home to try and assess my direction. The question at that point was whether to keep going as a cyclist. I was looking at many months of recovery before I could ride again, much less race. Besides all that, I had my family to think about. The stark realization of nearly dying had given me a whole new perspective on what my priorities truly were. I couldn't imagine my girls having to grow up without a father or my wife having to parent by herself. I had spent 13 years pursuing a career in cycling up to that point and it seemed like a terrible waste to throw all that away. So, after some serious introspection - dictated by the fact that I could hardly move - I decided I would start coaching.
My first thought before I started was wondering who I wanted to coach and how. My goal as a cyclist was to race at the pinnacle of the sport. As I moved forward I carried that same dream. That meant working with young ambitious cyclists who wanted to pursue the sport at its highest level. I knew that even if I could find cyclists who were committed to the process, getting to the elite level would be a daunting task. If I truly wanted to pursue my dream, I would have to commit to years of hard work with little to no pay.
From the outset, I decided that I would focus on a few selected athletes and give them my full attention. I would help them with every aspect of performance, from nutrition, to bike fit, to biomechanics, to training, to tactics, to equipment, and everything else. I would leave no stone unturned and take a holistic approach to their performance. I would pull together all the various aspects of performance into a streamlined whole that would allow each athlete to maximize their potential.
The first few years were filled with fits and starts as I worked on developing a smooth and unified process. I also had to work on getting the guys I was working with to buy into the process. I was intent on year over year gains so I focused heavily on fundamentals and base power. That meant balancing the short term against the long term goals. It was a tedious process and it meant that everyone had to have faith in what we were doing.
Now, on the cusp of my third year, I am looking to see the hard work we've put in start to pay off. This off-season I have seen significant steps forward from each of my four athletes. My newest rider, Innokenty Zavyalov added 45watts at Threshold in four months! As I look ahead, everything is in line for me to meet my goal of developing and working with athletes at the elite level. When all is said and done, my goal is to win every major race on the calendar from the Tour de France, to the Classics, to the Olympics. The guys I am working with have the potential to be really good in the coming years. In the meantime, we'll keep working. Nose to the grindstone. Semper Porro.
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| Bryan Larsen |
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| Steven Davis |
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| Erick Sobey |
Erick Sobey and I started working together two years ago. In that time he has steadily grown from a one dimensional athlete to someone who can win on virtually any terrain. He can produce a phenomenal amount of power in such a small frame. He has the best process of any athlete I know. He is always moving steadily forward. On the bike he is fast like a hare. In terms of how he moves forward he is steady like a tortoise.
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| Innokenty Zavyalov |
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