Solving Your 10 Biggest Triathlon Biking Problems

TriDot Podcast Episode .217

Solving Your 10 Biggest Triathlon Biking Problems

Intro: This is the TriDot podcast. TriDot uses your training data and genetic profile, combined with predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to optimize your training, giving you better results in less time with fewer injuries. Our podcast is here to educate, inspire, and entertain. We’ll talk all things triathlon with expert coaches and special guests. Join the conversation and let’s improve together.

Andrew Harley: Welcome to the TriDot podcast. We are working our way through a three week series where we aim to solve your ten biggest swim problems, your ten biggest bike problems, and your ten biggest run problems and today it’s bike day. Not new bike day, just podcast bike problem solving day. I wish we were all getting new bikes today. That’d be cool. The first coach here to talk about riding bikes is Coach Jose Ramon Callen. Coach Jose is the founder and lead coach at Joserra Training based out of Huesca, Spain. He is an Ironman Certified Coach and has a university degree in sports science. Jose serves as TriDot’s market leader in Spain spreading the word about TriDot and bringing new coaches and athletes to the TriDot family from Spain. He himself is a 28-time Ironman finisher who is equally passionate about seeing his own athletes cross the finish line. Jose, welcome back to the TriDot podcast.

Jose Callen: Thank you very much Andrew. It’s a pleasure. Thank you for having me again. I’m very much looking forward to spending this time together with you and Jason.

Andrew: Also joining us today is the Ultraman himself, TriDot coach Jason Verbracken. Better known as Coach Verby, Jason lives in San Diego, California where he works as a Pepsi sales manager, in addition to coaching TriDot athletes and motocross athletes. He has been racing tri’s for seven years racking up nine Ironman, one ultraman, and seven extreme triathlon finish lines in that time. Hey there Verby. Welcome back!

Jason Verbracken: Hey Andrew, thanks for having me. You did tell me I was getting a bike for being on here. So that was a lie?

Andrew: Just empty promises. I had to lure you on for that good coaching bike wisdom. I am Andrew the Average Triathlete, Voice of the People and Captain of the Middle of the Pack. As always we'll roll through our warm up question, settle in for our main set conversation, and then wind things down with Vanessa taking over for our cool down. Lots of good stuff, let's get to it!

Warm up theme: Time to warm up! Let’s get moving.

Andrew: We all come to triathlon at different ages with different skill sets, fitness levels, and experiences. So, the triathlon journey is a little different for everyone, especially early on as you’re getting used to the sport. For our warm up question today, in the early stages of your tri journey, what was the biggest challenge for you as you got into the sport of triathlon? What aspect did you find the most difficult at first? Coach Jose, what was it for you?

Jose: Andrew, for me swimming was the hardest.

Andrew: Okay.

Jose: Yeah. I remember the first times I went to the swimming pool. Even though I was in very good shape, it was difficult for me to finish the 25 meters of each length. It was amazing. I used an enormous amount of energy that I didn’t know how to apply correctly to move forward in the water. The position of the body and the strokes, the breathing. Everything was an enormous challenge. The difference came when I learned to be more efficient thanks to better technique and after 20 years in triathlon, so now, a few months ago in March 2023, the other big difference came. The name is TriDot Pool School where my approach to that swimming technique changed. The improvement has been huge and I’m very happy about that.

Andrew: Yeah, we love to hear that and we’re hearing that across the board from our coaches and athletes that attend TriDot Pool School. I’ve attended on deck taking pictures and video. I have not been a swimmer in the water yet and I certainly need to do that sometime in the near-to-mid future. I imagine a lot of athletes will probably echo your sentiment of the swim being kind of the hardest part of getting into the sport at first and that’s why we created TriDot Pool School, just to kind of help people along in that part of the journey. Verby, what is this answer for you? What was the biggest challenge as you were getting into triathlon?

Jason: The biggest part for me was actually just committing to it all. My very first triathlon was under a bet and I just had nothing so all my training was at the gym; on a spin bike, treadmill, swimming pool there and I really loved it, but making that commitment to be going alright, there’s a lot of gear involved and also my first race I borrowed a bike, I borrowed bike shoes, I borrowed a helmet, I had a pair of running shoes. Everything was borrowed gear. So making that commitment going, “Am I really going to go in this sport?” Because, you know, it isn’t cheap. So definitely– it ended up I found a good used bike and shopped the deals to get the better, the cheaper gear, you know save money on it. But making that commitment of going “Am I going all in?” and start buying, getting all these things. I realized the most important things first and add on as I go. I didn’t need everything at once, but that part was the hardest part. Just making that financial commitment to the sport itself.

Andrew: For me, my answer here is basically getting comfortable and getting good at cycling. I just– I think I have little scrawny runner’s legs and I think one of the things that really helped me early on to encourage folks that maybe are relating to this is doing some group rides with some of the local cycling clubs in the area. Even though they’re not triathletes, getting out there on a road bike and just spending time with other cyclists on the road, kind of getting used to riding longer in those pace lines and in those groups. That really helped me a lot kind of get into the sport of cycling. But that was the biggest challenge for me was getting where the bike leg of a triathlon just totally didn’t torch me, intimidate me, etcetera, etcetera. I’m excited to hear from our audience on this one. We’re going to throw this question out to the I AM TriDot Facebook group like we always do. So if you are on the Facebook, go join the I AM TriDot Facebook group and find the post asking you, when you got into the sport, what was the biggest challenge for you early on? Can’t wait to hear what you have to say.

Main set theme: On to the main set. Going in 3…2…1…

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Andrew: The bike is the longest portion of any triathlon so in training we spend a lot of time on the bike. You can bike indoors or outdoors. You can have a lot of different equipment setups indoors or outdoors. Lots of potential problems for us to encounter in our cycling that our coaches can help us with today. So Jose, Verby, let’s solve some people’s bike problems.

Big bike problem #1 is getting our ride started. So help us guys. What are your tips for most efficiently getting our gear ready and getting out the door for our bike ride. Coach Verby, we’ll start with you on this one.

Jason: For me it’s just, I always try to prep the night before having everything ready. You know bottles– even on a trainer ride I know I’m going to have at least one water bottle with me because it’s an hour ride. You know, just having everything laid out; my shoes already– If I’m doing an indoor ride my shoes are next to the trainer. I know what gear I’m going to wear. I already have the workout downloaded and uploaded to whatever platform I’m going to use and just kind of having that ready because the next day I know with work and other responsibilities things come up in that and then I don’t want to be scrambling at the last minute. So I always try just the night before to have everything pretty much laid out ready to go so that way it’s a smooth transition to the workout.

Andrew: Yeah. Coach Joserra, anything for you to add that you work with on your athletes on getting that ride started so that starting the ride isn’t a barrier to you having a good workout?

Jose: I think first we have to see what training we have for the next day as Jason said. After that, what is the perfect route? What intensities we need to follow the next day? So then I can imagine the terrain that we will address or the route that we will ride and I think this is key because you know one of the main ideas in TriDot is do the right training right. So first you need to know exactly the kind of training that you want to do. The training that is prescribed per TriDot and then to imagine the best place to do that. Of course that’s key because at the end if you, for example, need to do some hill repetitions then you need certain terrain. If you need to do some flat sets in zone 4, zone 5 then you need a different terrain. So I think this is key; to know exactly the kind of intensities that you need to deal the next day and then to start mentally preparing that.

Andrew: Yeah, that’s a great point. I find I do so much of my training now indoors just because it’s more time efficient, right? It’s just so easy to walk up into the pain cave, walk upstairs to the pain cave, hop on my little spin bike and fire up– My TriDot workout gets pushed seamlessly to FulGaz and so I just fire it up and boom, I’m riding. So that’s certainly been helpful for me to have everything upstairs. I leave my cycling shoes upstairs. I leave my cycling shorts upstairs. I leave the shirts I wear upstairs. Everything that I like to use. The only thing I’m pulling from downstairs to upstairs for this workout is myself and my water bottle. Everything else, even my nutrition is upstairs. If I’m mixing some hydration mix, I’m mixing my Precision Fuel and Hydration electrolytes into my water bottle, all of that is upstairs. I just take the water bottle upstairs and then mix it and the more I keep upstairs the better. Yeah, everything you guys are saying for those outdoor rides, have it ready the night before, that’s certainly helpful for me. What would you say to the athlete who maybe they don’t have a big race on the calendar and maybe they’re just struggling with the motivation to start that workout. So it’s like, “Oh, I’m going to hem and haw about. I’m not feeling super motivated in this season of my triathloning.” How can we spur ourselves on to get that workout started just from a motivation standpoint? Coach Verby.

Jason: For me if they’re struggling with motivation sometimes I’m all for, hey let’s skip that workout. Don’t worry about the exact zones. Go do either a fun ride outside with a group. Just get out and go and have fun on the bike or by yourself or even again if you know you’re crunched for time, but hey, find your favorite road on your platform and just go have fun and chase some king of the mountains or queen of the mountains and just go.

Andrew: Yeah.

Jason: Just go enjoy it and find that love again that you’re missing. Every workout doesn’t have to be completely structured. So if you’re struggling with that motivation, go have fun. That’s why we got into it– to have fun. I try to tell them “Don’t worry about this one. Let’s skip one or two and just enjoy it for once. Don’t worry about anything else.”

Andrew: Yeah, great stuff. I find for me I almost set like micro goals, right? So there’s not a race coming up, but I mean, I always want to improve so if my FTP currently is 205 watts, I want that next assessment to be 209, 211 watts. So it’s kind of remembering in the month to month, in the day to day, every single session is helping with that and that kind of sparks me; is wanting to continue progressing in my fitness and my ability. Coach Jose, what do you say to your athletes on motivation to get the workout started in the first place?

Jose: Yes, I think we have heard a very important one. If they are not motivated for the performance, I say then do it for health reasons and do it to be prepared as soon as you have the opportunity to complete because you never know when you have a new race or maybe you find a triathlon that maybe you would like to do. Then you will feel always prepared to do that race at this moment, you don’t have on the calendar. But most important, do it for health reasons because at the end if you keep training constantly, if you are committed to your training it’s not just to perform on race day. It’s something deeper than that. It’s a health reason. So I think this is even more important than the FTP and the power and the heart rate and all these kind of things, that of course are really interesting and motivating, but health I think is the main goal.

Andrew: Big bike problem #2 is raising our FTP. Everybody wants to continue getting fitter and faster and some athletes reported that they just find some months those gains aren’t as large as they expected. Some people have experienced on and off fitness plateaus where they kind of get to a certain point and then struggle to raise their FTP even more. Some people that’s the barrier between them kind of having the bike split they want on race day is getting where their FTP is a little bit higher. So what are the coaching tips and tricks? I mean, there’s doing the workouts and doing the right training right and that is a big one here that I imagine both of you guys will say, but even beyond doing the right training right is there anything our athletes can do to kind of help spark fitness improvement on the bike, week to week, month to month? Coach Jose, what do you think?

Jose: Yes, I do know for any triathlete one of the best investments to improve the performance is increasing FTP. The higher the FTP, the more possibilities to perform better. All the coaches who work with TriDot and all the triathletes who train with it know that the FTP, the zone 4 for us, is present in every week of training; almost every week of training. To improve it in addition to training it, we need to train too in zone 5 and the most important thing, how to increase that functional threshold power. I think the key is to make the most of each session in which it appears perfectly executing the planned time and watts. To achieve this from my point of view we have best to indoor trainer. So thanks to it, it can be able to put each pedal stroke in zone 4 and that is to make the most of each workout. On the road, you know, it’s always more complicated to achieve that continuity and trainers guarantee us to perform perfectly every single pedal stroke for them all. Another key to improving FTP is that we also complete the minutes in zone 2. So it’s a mix, it’s a combination between zone 2 and zone 4. It’s really helping us to produce the effect to improve the FTP so it’s not just zone 4, I do the repetitions perfectly and then I relax and I pedal in zone 1. This is something that again, we can do perfectly on the indoor trainer so this is the reason I always encourage my triathletes to focus on their indoor training to increase their FTP because they can produce the perfect power when they are training in zone 4, in zone 5, and in zone 2. So in one hour we have the best combination.

Andrew: Love what you’re saying Jose, about kind of focusing on every single interval. When TriDot gives you that zone 4, gives you that zone 5, really go after those watts. Like don’t be intimidated by those zones. I heard Jeff Booher, our founder and CEO, one time say like go on a ride every now and then and let yourself blow up. You know, climb a hill and push the watts and let yourself blow up and you’ll be surprised how quickly your legs recover from blowing up. Within minutes you’ll be spinning again and you’ll be feeling okay. So yeah. In the moment you might be trying to hold those zone 4 and zone 5 intervals and it might feel really hard and your legs might be blowing up, but that two minute recovery before the next one will go a lot longer than you think so don’t be afraid of really taxing yourself when those zone 4 and zone 5 intervals really come around. Coach Verby, what do you have to add here? What is your FTP these days? Is it 875, 876 somewhere up there yet?

Jason: Uhh, it’s like 390. Right around in there somewhere.

Andrew: Talk to us Jason about just how to continually improve our FTP.

Jason: The one big thing I like to do also and hop onto what Jose, I really agree with the trainer and working on your FTP is the best route for it. Again, you can hit whatever watt you’re wanting exactly and I like to give my athletes even micro goals in there where we are constantly kind of building up towards when you get closer to the FTP you’re so used to already– because the zone 4 is a big range; 250 to 300 is your zone 4 and I like to constantly be building them up as the weeks get closer to their FTP.

Andrew: Yeah, that’s great.

Jason: So once that FTP comes they’re already used to doing their sets close to their FTP where they’re going to be shooting for come threshold test day. You know, that makes a big difference and then also strength training. I always say, “Squats equals watts.” You know, get– making sure…

Andrew: Wow.

Jason: …you’re building those–

Andrew: That’s a t-shirt right there, right? Yeah, that’s a t-shirt.

Jason: Making sure you’re building that leg strength to help support pushing those higher watts. You know, squats, deadlifts, lunges with dumbbells. All that stuff really helps strengthen the legs, helps with your FTP and then even when we were saying with the, on the trainer. Cadence too. I’ll change up the cadence too.

Andrew: Good point.

Jason: Getting that lower cadence and really build that strength in the legs. Sometimes I’ll go away from the TriDot script where whatever it’s suggesting and be like, “Alright, for these three times eight minutes I want you at 80 cadence, 75 cadence, and a 70 cadence and we’re really just going to grid that out and really build that leg strength. Again, by the time you’re on that last set at 70, like you said, your legs are blowing up. You can feel that blood in there and just getting used to that makes a huge difference and that has had great results.

Andrew: Yeah, no really interesting kind of about the cadence too. There’s sometimes where TriDot has you at a specific cadence for a reason and sometimes it’s a low cadence because you’re grinding and working on the power. Sometimes it’s a high cadence because it’s working on that turnover and those fast twitch muscles. But yeah. There’s a lot of times in our intervals where it doesn’t designate. Hey, ride this at whatever cadence is your normal cycling cadence presumably. But yeah, that’s the kind of the customization you can get with a coach. If your coach knows, okay we’re really working on leg strength this week. This might torch those muscles a little bit, your run tomorrow might suffer because of it, but you know, we’re going to really knuckle down and kind of grind your legs away today by holding a lower cadence. So interesting you have your athletes do that.

Big bike problem #3 is translating our indoor power gains to the outdoors. So we were just talking about kind of ways to get that FTP up, really work our leg strength, really get those watts, our body used to pushing more watts. Really doing that indoors is a great tool, a great methodology for doing that; controlling how hard you’re pushing in each session, but some athletes kind of like swimming. A lot of people get faster in the pool and struggle to translate that speed to the open water and we talked about that on the podcast last week, but that’s kind of a problem for the bike for some people too is oh man, my legs are getting stronger, my FTP is improving inside, but then I go outside and I’m just not seeing the gains translate. Coach Verby, talk to us about this.

Jason: Well, I know a lot of times for me once I hit outside I feel stronger just because on the trainer there’s no cheating. I’m constantly having to push the watts. There’s no slight downhill. There’s no stop signs where I get a little break. So the initial thing I definitely always feel stronger coming off the trainer going onto the road. But then you’re dealing again with real life situations; your bike handling…

Andrew: Yeah.

Jason: …a crosswind, rough roads, and you know you’re trying to focus in on staying in your watts or whatever you’re supposed to be pushing, but you’ve got cars zipping by you, you’ve got potholes, you’ve got– So you know, I always tell my athletes try to yes stick to your watts, but take it with a grain of salt because there are many other things you’re having to make sure you’re adapting to and getting out there more and doing those– Just like with the pool. After so many sessions we do need to be out there and staying on top of our outdoor riding skills.

Andrew: Yeah absolutely.

Jason: You know, you feeling confident and being comfortable on the bike in the situation is going to be ten times more than if you’re pushing 500 watts on the trainer. If you’re not comfortable once you get outside and not able to focus on pushing those watts and focus on your race or your ride then that power is going to mean nothing to you. So just really getting out there and sometimes, again, not worrying too much what you’re hitting. Get as close as possible if you’re doing a prescribed workout out on the road, but just really getting comfortable, feeling good, doing all the little things that you know, watching for cars, being able to grab your water bottle, dealing with wind, all those little things that are going to help you overall be a better biker.

Andrew: Big bike problem #4 is getting comfortable on the bike, particularly a lot of people reported finding the right saddle was an issue for them. Some people reported finding the right saddle was an issue for them. Some people reported that they experience some numbness in the hands, numbness in feet that gets kind of annoying after a while. A lot of this is just getting comfortable on the bike so you can ride as long as you need to for your training sessions. I reported that was my biggest problem getting into the sport of triathlon. So talk to us about bike comfort and finding the right saddle for you, getting rid of tingling hands, tingling feet. Coach Jose, what do you have to say here?

Jose: From 2013 to June 2023 I’ve been doing bike fitting for cyclists and triathletes and we could talk about what is most advisable for each of them and when we decide on the position, the placement of their pedals, the support of the arms on the aero bars, the angles of the back, hip, knee, etcetera, but what proved most difficult for us is to recommend a saddle because there are so many variables involved in the saddle. So I think this is the most difficult part of the bike. First I think the first step is to be sure that the position on the bike is perfect. So first I recommend all triathletes to perform a bike fitting test because this way they will be sure that the position on the bike is good and then the second step is to see what kind of saddle with it. You know, because it is a part of the bicycle that is key because it’s where the fulcrum of most of the applied forces is concentrated and this has to be sustainable for hours and hours and hours. So to know where the saddle is and if the saddle is appropriate we must first have done a bike fitting to be sure that the position on the bike is ideal and then the second and most important thing. Once you find a good saddle that you feel comfortable and you can stay there during hours and hours and hours, this is your saddle. It doesn’t matter if the rest of the group, if the rest of the triathletes, if the rest of the professional field they are not using it because if you feel comfortable this is your saddle.

Jason: You know, a lot of these bike fitters and shops now they let you try out saddles. Go try this saddle for three, four weeks and let’s see how you like it. If not, we’ll put you on a different one. You know, they let you try as many as you want until you find that one that’s comfortable and then, alright, now you purchase it. So that’s a really good program that’s out there that a lot of people have. I don’t know, maybe we can get something going, we can start a rumor that if you want a bike fit Jose will fly you to Spain and personally bike fit you. Part of a TriDot deal.

Andrew: Yes.

Jason: I mean, I know we would all love a trip to Spain.

Jose: Yes. Sure.

Jason: If we start this rumor enough we could maybe make this–

Jose: Yes, of course.

Andrew: I would love to ride in the Spanish countryside with Coach Joserra. That sounds like a neat vacation for sure.

Big bike problem #5 is recognizing when your bike fit may need to be updated. You might get a good bike fit and you’re happy with it for a little while, but these are things that need to be reevaluated from time to time as our fitness and our flexibility and our gear and our race distances change up. Coach Jose, as a bike fitter, kind of talk to us about this one. What are some signs that an athlete might need to revisit their bike fit?

Jose: For us, you know, the three main goals on the bike are stay aero, apply power, and stay comfortable. So it’s not just okay, I have a very aero position, this is perfect for me. No, because if you cannot apply power it means nothing and if you’re not comfortable, you’ll move again and again and again during the bike course so you will lose the aero position. So at the end it is a nice balance. So we need to find this perfect balance and one of the most important things that we need to address to see if we need a new bike fitting is the type of race we are going to do. It’s not the same on a flat course, rolling terrain, a windy race…

Andrew: Yeah, that’s a great point.

Jose: …a hilly course. For example if you want to ride a hilly course, as you know, maybe even the bike, we need to change the full bike. We need the road bike. So the position on the bike will be absolutely different if we go to, for example, Ironman Maryland and we stay 112 miles on the aero position. So part of the bike fitting, or re-bike fitting is always related to the type of race we are going to do. I always insist that a triathlete must know themselves. We have billions more sensors in our body than GPS, heart rate monitor, power meters. So we must know how to analyze. Yes, it’s very nice because we must know how to analyze the information that our bodies provide us. A key detail that will tell us if we need an adjustment will be the discomfort or the ability to remain in a position that we could maintain before or the inability to generate the power that we want to generate. So finally I think that the two different main ideas, so the first one is what kind of race would you do for the next triathlon? And the second one is always listen to your body because it’s very smart and will give you many signals that you need a new bike fitting.

Andrew: Moving us on to big bike problem #6. This is taking care of your bike and all of its parts. Some of us are, you know, a little bit more mechanically inclined than others. Some like to tinker on things. Some don’t. I don’t. I don’t like getting my hands greasy or dirty. I don’t like being hands on with things. It doesn’t interest me. I know just enough to keep my bike functional, but I trust my local mechanics to do a lot more than I do. But we do need to know how to take care of our bike, right? There’s some essentials that we need to know. So as coaches, what do you like for your athletes to know in terms of taking care of their bike and all of its parts? Coach Verby.

Jason: The main ones I really like them to know is changing the tires, making sure they can change the tires. A big thing if your chain comes off, if you throw a chain, you know if you’re sifting too quick or going up a hill trying to jump too many it comes off. How to put that back on. Adjusting your brakes you know, if they’re rubbing or not. Those three kind of basic things I would say are key, can keep you going if you’re out on a ride or in a race and something happens. You know, those would be the main things I try to make sure they know. Anything else can kind of get, depending if you’re mechanically technical or not. Like you said Andrew, you don’t like to get your hands dirty and I’m the same way.

Andrew: I’m a pre madonna. Yeah. I’m a pre madonna. I was the kid in preschool who didn’t like finger painting. I’ve always been that way.

Jason: I can tear a whole motor out of a motorcycle, put a top end in a motorcycle, but when it comes to breaking down my bike and really getting into like the bearings and the cranks and all that, that’s just, you know what, I don’t want to touch it. I’d rather leave that to a professional because if it breaks down while I’m out riding then I can only blame myself. At least I have somebody else to blame, like “Hey, why did this happen.” But yeah, just the basics like I said. The tires, getting your chain back on, and being able to adjust your brakes I would say are your three kind of key things that keep you going during a race that could happen.

Andrew: Yeah, it’s so funny. I never question my bike’s mechanical state or ability to not break until I’m going downhill at like 35 miles an hour and that is inevitably when I always think to myself, like, “Did I attach my front tire correctly last time I put it on? Are my brakes?” I don’t think about any of it until I’m going downhill at 35 miles an hour plus and that’s when I just question everything about my bike and I like knowing in those moments that the last person to touch it mechanically knows a lot more than I do. So thankfully for me I have a great bike shop just down the road so it’s easy to pop down there. But again, there’s kind of some essentials that we need to know and Jason, you’ve definitely outlined a few of them there. Coach Jose, what is this for you? What do you like for your athletes to be able to know about their own bike?

Jose: Yes. The reason to take care of part of the bike is that they’re totally exposed to the elements or conditions; water, dust, mud, wind. They receive from us part of the sweat that we generate when training specifically indoors. So something as simple as cleaning the bicycle every two, three, four, seven days it’s enough with a damp cloth and drying it afterwards. It’s something that will extend the life of the materials and even more importantly it will provide us with a better experience when we pedal since everything will work much better. Also it would be ideal to wash it completely every, for example, two weeks depending on the weather of course. Finally depending of the use and abuse, every two or three months it is good to take it to your trusted bike mechanic for a deeper inspection and wash because you know all the bicycles are 100% exposed to the conditions, the elements and conditions, and this is very, very important because they are so– how to say– fragile so they need to be always with our focus to take care of them.

Andrew: Big bike problem #7. This is kind of taking some of the things we just talked about and taking them outside to race day and training outdoors. Learning how to fix a flat tire or troubleshoot other mechanical problems that could happen during a ride. You see it on race day. You see the poor triathletes stranded on the side of the road because they have a flat and they just don’t know how to get that flat fixed properly. How can we not be that triathlete who is stranded out somewhere because we can’t take care of our own bike? Coach Jose.

Jose: Yes. It’s nice to realize all triathlons have evolved over time. Since I started in 1995 with my first sprint triathlon was self sufficient in Spain. Now in most competitions we have some type of mechanical assistance, you know, that can help us with the bicycle. Of course, this is fantastic. In any case, I always insist to my triathletes that they must be self sufficient to know how to change flat tires. This ensures that they will continue the race as soon as possible. To learn that in addition to the fact that today there are multiple videos on YouTube. We can also go to our trusted bike mechanic to request for some lessons and finally practical courses of basic bike mechanics are being offered more and more frequently. So I think this is something that I would recommend to 100% of triathletes. With this in addition to changing a flat tire they will learn much better about the wonder that a bicycle is and how to solve the small problems that can occur in a competition.

Andrew: Verby, just from your experience, you know, riding outdoors, racing outdoors, you spend a lot of time outdoors riding. What are the most likely things to happen to a triathlete’s bike on race day out on the course. There’s the flat tire fear that a lot of us have. Are there any other things we need to make sure we know how to handle out there?

Jason: You know, anything can happen on race day. I’ve seen some of those people on the side of the road with the strangest things that have broken or they were transported and didn’t tighten their seat enough and all of a sudden their seat is sitting all the way down.

Andrew: Yeah.

Jason: Or the screw had been so sweaty on the front handle bars that it rusted out and they dropped out. So I mean, some things we just can’t avoid and may be even unfixable for us. But just again, having that common knowledge of your bike. You know, when you’re at home there are so many videos on YouTube where you can learn anything, right? And at the comfort of your home you can figure out how to adjust your seat, how to adjust your handlebars. I know you take a silver permanent marker and you mark where your seat is so you know exactly where you’re putting it back and your handlebars you can practice tightening those up. Same thing, again, with your tires. You’re in the comfort of your home, you can practice switching out a tube. You just put a new tube in. You can put an old tube back in. You know you have a bike pump so you’re not using any CO2s or even spend some money if you’re not comfortable using your CO2 device. Some people have that CO2 and the CO2 thing they hook it up to to fill the tire, but they’ve never used it. Buy four or five of them and practice filling that up. They don’t know that all of a sudden that CO2 cartridge is going to be freezing cold.

Andrew: Yeah.

Jason: Oh, what’s this? You know, that could be a shock to you come race day. Then even it may sound crazy and weird, but come race day you’re sweaty, you're hot, you’re seeing people go by, you’re getting nervous right? And you get a flat tire and you’re trying to rush. Well hey, how about in the middle of one of your workouts you just maybe again, you’re doing 3 x 10s in zone 4, after that second zone 10, oh if you simulate you’ve got a flat.

Andrew: Oh wow.

Jason: You know, you’re on your trainer, maybe you have a direct drive, your rear tire is already off, so that’s one less step you have to deal with, but that tire is there, you’re going in the back of your kit. You’re getting the tire forks out. You’re changing a tube and getting back on and seeing how long it takes you. And now you’re in kind of a race because you’re trying to get back on to finish your workout.

Andrew: Yeah. That’s clever. Yeah.

Jason: You’re sweaty. You’re dripping all over. Your things are slipping out of your hand. Again, you’re in the comfort of your home. If you can’t do it, oh well. You can still hop on your bike and finish your workout, but practicing these little things it’s muscle memory. The more you kind of do it the more you’re going to get better at it.

Andrew: Yeah, I know a lot of us envision stopping by our car to refill our bottles as an aid station and simulating aid stations and stuff like that in our training. But yeah, simulating a flat tire in your training and simulating that problem happening and stopping to fix it while you’re flustered and dehydrated and hot and sweaty. Really, really clever there Jason.

Big bike problem #8 is improving our handling skills, eating and drinking while we’re on the bike, grabbing bottles from an aid station as we go through an aid station, and one other thing that our athletes commented on was just confidence going down hill. Confidence going fast and taking turns. Talk to us about our handling skills and how to improve our balance and our ability to do things whilst out on the bike. Coach Verby.

Jason: To a new athlete this can be very challenging if all of a sudden you’ve got the water bottles and they’re behind your seat and you’re trying to be out on the road grabbing one and you’re holding out with one hand. So again, this can start on your trainer. You may have a desk set up next to your trainer. Well, put your water bottles where they’re going to be on race day. You’re building that muscle memory of being able to reach back, grab that bottle, or reach between your legs. Just getting that muscle memory is huge. Kind of like the Pool School. You know, building that muscle memory on dry land before you go in the pool so come when you’re in the pool it’s automatic. Same thing. You build that muscle memory. Alright, my hand goes back, it knows right where to grab that water bottle. So it can start with just being on your trainer and then again, if you’re not comfortable I tell my athletes go find a big parking lot or a road that you know nobody travels down and just practice switching, braking, holding, grabbing that water bottle, grabbing gels out of your back pocket, opening the gels. All that stuff. Just practice in a big parking lot where you’re not worried about anybody hitting you or the speed you’re going or anything happening. Those are great places to really just hone on your skills. Then as far as hills, hopefully you’ve got different size hills at your house, by your house, or you might have to drive somewhere to go to them, but start small. Start going down it, practice your braking. You know, again there’s many videos on YouTube if you don’t know like where to go to the outside of the corner and come into the apex to get more speed and you know all those little things. You know, start on an easy hill, gradual hill, and then just kind of keep building your way up. Again, the more you do it, the more better you’re going to be and it may be just I’m doing hill repeats, but they’re kind of opposite hill repeats. They’re me going down the hill is what I’m focusing on and just being comfortable and each time maybe trying to get a little faster or braking a little later or releasing the brake sooner to get out faster. Just start small. Keep it comfortable and progress at your own speed. There’s no rush and it may take a couple months and then you feel comfortable and you move to a bigger hill or with some tighter corners, but again, there’s no rush. Go at your speed and just that muscle memory of that consistent getting out and doing it is going to come. Come race day, you’re going to feel confident and it’s going to just be second nature to you.

Andrew: If you have the luxury of having a road bike or a mountain bike, go join some group rides on a road bike where you’re riding in close proximity to people and you’re cornering in close proximity to people and watch the lines that roadies take. You can certainly learn from that. If you have a mountain bike, go do some mountain biking where it’s a little bit more technical and you’re having to move your body weight, shift your body weight around going in and out of some of the turns and stuff like that. A lot of those things can be– If you’re always just flat and fast and straight ahead on a tri bike, kind of vary up what you’re doing in your training to have to fish some bottles out and around and to use your hands a little bit more. That’s something that certainly helped me in my time. Coach Jose, what else do you have to say here about improving our bike skills, eating and drinking on the bike, confidence going downhill and descending skills? What do you think?

Jose: Yes. Improving confidence in handling the bike, being comfortable, eating, and drinking. This is very important. It makes the pedaling experience even better so in addition this assures that the triathlete can drink energy and eat regularly. So, you know, this is key especially when we are talking about Ironman and Ironman 70.3 races since nutrition is an essential part that must be ensured to reach the finish line and have the best experience possible. On the other hand, if we improve bicycle handling, safety increases not only for the triathlete, but for those around them in the competition. So this is very important too and to this we must add that the greater the security, the more likely is to perform since the better the fitness level, the faster the triathlete rides and more security and ease is needed to continue evolving. So if you want to increase your performance, you need to handle the bike better and better and better in all conditions, in all terrains. You need to take fluids. You need to take electrolytes, all your energy. So I think it’s not just for the safety, of course it’s all safety, but if you want to increase the level of your performance I think this is key.

Andrew: Yeah. Really interesting at all sorts of levels. Those are men that qualified for the World Championships and found, “Oh man. I was at a disadvantage not being as well versed in descending on a technical course.” So yeah. These things are things that we have to work on to continue improving as triathletes. I think we think of only entry level, new triathletes need to work on their handling. No. Even advanced triathletes can improve their handling and it can pay off on race day depending.

Big bike problem #9 is dealing with the challenges of headwinds, crosswinds, and hills. We just talked about hills a little bit. We actually have an entire podcast episode with Coach Verby and Coach Mark Allen talking about just considerations for training and racing up and down hills on the bike. But headwinds and crosswinds are a big part of triathloning as well depending on the location of your race and where you train. How can our athletes get comfortable riding on their bike, being in aero, and dealing with headwinds, crosswinds, hills? Coach Verby, what do you think?

Jason: You know, I hate to sound redundant, but you know, we have to get out there and actually ride in it. You know, that’s the best thing. So on those days you may be like, “Oh, I’m going to stay on the trainer because it’s windy.” Well, you really do need to get out there to deal with those headwinds and crosswinds and being able to know what to do in those situations. Especially headwinds we’ve really got to make sure we’re watching our power and not over pushing, trying to– You know, sometimes we get so caught up on looking at our speed and that headwind is slowing us down and we start pushing more power because we’ve got to keep up that mile per hour we want because we’re shooting for a certain PR, but you’re maybe 30, 40, 50 watts higher with your power and you’re like– You’re going to blow up. So, you know, with that headwind you’ve really got to watch your power. I try to tuck in as close as I can and be as aero as I possibly can be and then just stay watching my power and I may even have to drop it some if my heart rate is going up too high. I really watch between those because, you know, that can throw off your whole race plan if all of a sudden you’re red lining your heart, your power is up 20 watts, but you’re freaking out because your three miles per hour slower, but that can end your day very quickly and have a very rough, rough run. Same with crosswinds. Getting out there and being able to kind of– the gusty crosswinds are– they’re going to throw you and just being able to– If you know they’re out there, you’ve just got to keep a good grip on your bike and be conscious of you could be pushed over on the side of the road at– not pushed over, over, but get pushed and move you physically on the bike at any time. Keeping a good grip on your bike and just being ready for those gusts. If it’s a steady crosswind, you know, we can just kind of you learn you can kind of lean into it and you kind of adjust that way. I know I was racing over in Iceland and we had a good 50 mile an hour crosswind and I felt like I was leaning over at a 45 degree angle riding, but you know, I was racing and I’m like, I’m not slowing down and I just got in an angle where I felt comfortable and I was like “If this crosswind stops, I am definitely falling straight down onto the ground.” But it was a good steady one and I just rode like that for a while. Again, it’s just getting out, getting used to it and being able to adjust accordingly. I know we could be racing and sometimes you just have got to slow down a little bit. You know, your safety– It’s more important you finish the race than “Oh, I was going 20 miles an hour, but then I crashed because of this wind. It knocked me over and we couldn’t help it.” But sometimes slowing down a little bit and making sure we’re safe first is the number one priority in those.

Andrew: Yeah, definitely a get out there and get in it kind of situation unfortunately and where I like to ride here in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex we get a lot of blustery days in Dallas. Where I train, I’ve talked about on the podcast before, I love going out to Texas Motor Speedway. There’s a five mile loop that goes around the property that has two stop signs, barely any traffic and triathletes like going out there and just clocking five mile lap after five mile lap in aero and since it’s a loop and it’s a pretty exposed loop, you get all sorts of winds when you’re out there. There is rarely not a crosswind in a couple directions, a headwind in a couple directions and you have a very small tailwind at some point. But it feels like when you’re out there, you’re fighting the wind in some way, shape, or form a little bit differently every single portion of that loop and it’s horrendous to be in it in real life. It’s really obnoxious. I have times where I will shout swear words at the winds as I’m going around that loop, but it’s great to get out there, get in the wind, feel a crosswind, feel a headwind. It definitely slows down that average mile per hour on Strava, but it prepares you for race day. When I did Ironman Waco, for example, which was a windy race, I was glad I had had experience out there. There’s a lot of– Jason and Jose you know this, but there’s a lot of kind of control muscles in our backs and our shoulders and our arms that we don’t have to use indoors on the trainer that when you’re outdoors and you’re in a crosswind, you’re in a headwind, there’s a lot of neck muscles, a lot of shoulder muscles, back muscles where you’re having to hold the bike controlled that you don’t have to use indoors and you’ve got to get outside and use those muscles so that they are ready and willing to put in the work on race day. Coach Jose, anything to add here on headwinds, crosswinds in our training and racing?

Jose: Yes. I think we have to analyze in advance the conditions we are going to encounter in a competition. From there taking advantage of the fact that at RaceX with TriDot we have great information related to the environment and we can have conversations with a TriDot coach to study how to manage different segments of the bike course. Once we know how they can affect us, we have to choose the bike, wheeles, tires, and then again go to do the bike fitting. The third part will be going outside to test all the materials in conditions similar to those of the competition, of course if it’s possible, and if not I always recommend traveling advanced to a race venue and train on the same terrain and hopefully with the same conditions that we will find on race day. I remember, this weekend, I went to Ironman Barcelona. So it was a beautiful weekend for many of the triathletes that I coach, but some of them came to the venue the day before. So imagine the stress. They cannot adapt to the conditions; the humidity, the hot, and of course to stay many, many hours in the sun in the aero position because in Barcelona everything is flat and fast. So I always recommend to come in advance to the race venue and train on the same terrain. Finally, it is key that any triathlete invest part of the preparation over the years in getting safety in all types of conditions so their performance is better and they enjoy even more the fact that they are riding on the bike.

Andrew: Yeah, Jose. Great just recommendation on knowing what your race course environment is going to be and if possible replicate that in your training.

Moving us on to our final bike problem before we kick it over to Vanessa for our Coach Cooldown Tip. Big bike problem #10 is pacing your effort on race day so that you still have a good run off the bike. Triathletes are notorious for getting on the bike, overcooking it on the bike, pushing too hard on the bike and then walking, crawling, just surviving the run. How can we not be that triathlete? How can we make sure we get our pacing right where we’re not leaving effort on the table, we’re going after our best possible bike split while still having gas in the tank to run properly? We’ll go Verby, we’ll go Jose, and then we’ll shut it down. Coach Verby.

Jason: Yeah. I’ve heard so many times athletes saying “Oh my gosh! I PR’d the bike. I crushed it and I got to mile three on the run and I had to walk the rest of it.”

Andrew: “I can’t figure out why. I don’t know why.”

Jason: Exactly. “I need more run training. I guess I just didn’t do enough run training.”

Andrew: “It’s the darndest thing.”

Jason: Yeah. You know, the biggest thing come race day is obviously we have a secret weapon with RaceX in giving us a great plan. Also, it’s giving you your power. So following that is going to be key. You know, I always try to talk to my athletes and say, you’re going to get on that bike and you’re going to be excited you got done with the swim, you’re on to something better, and so many people love being on their bikes. People are whipping by and you’re wanting to catch them, but sticking to your plan is the biggest thing I cannot emphasize more. Have your power plan. Know what you’re going to be at. You know, I like to give my athletes, too, kind of numbers when you’re climbing this is what you should see. If you’re this many watts, that’s throwing a red flag, you need to back it down and also having a heart rate. Watching your heart rate at the same time again, with the winds or whatever. You know, it could be very hot out and you could be pushing that power, feeling pretty good, but all of a sudden your heart rate is getting higher and higher and higher and that could be the danger zone. So I also have a heart rate I have them watch and if they hit a certain beats per minute, that’s like the red flag has been thrown. It’s like, you need to back it down. I don’t care if you’re still feeling okay. That heart rate is up and you can’t sustain that for that whole bike portion because you’re going to be done by the time you get off that bike if you even make it to the end of that bike where you’re not going to have to back it down. So having a plan, sticking to it the best you can. You know, like I said, you’re going to be excited. 70.3s and 140.6, it’s a long day on the bike so there’s no reason to go out hard and go crazy. You can feel great, “I could ride this pace for five hours no problem.” Well come hour three or four, you’re like “Oh no. What did I do.” So stick to your plan. Have a plan. Have a power. Have a heart rate and just you’ve trained for it. Just stick with that and that’s going to be your best way to come off that bike feeling the best and get on that run and have a good strong run also.

Andrew: I’ll say this, Verby. One thing that I’ve always found has helped me is like a lot of athletes talk back and forth about okay, when you’re training indoors on the trainer, is it better to do that time upright where you can push a little bit harder, or is it better to do that in aero like you are outdoors on race day. So if you have a sprint or Olympic coming up and you know you’re going to be holding a lot of zone 4 during that, spend some time inside on the trainer in aero and get your body used to pushing that effort in aero and when you have 70.3, 140.6 coming up a lot of that race day is going to be in zone 3. So for me while I was preparing for those, those Saturday rides come around, you have your zone 4 efforts, you have your zone 2 efforts. When those zone 3 efforts kicked in, I was in aero. I was upright for everything else so that I was comfortable and so that I was pacing myself and not torching my shoulders whatever, whatever. But when those race efforts came around, I was in aero to try to be pushing that race day wattage in aero as much as possible so you get outside on race day and pushing those watts in aero feels familiar. That’s one thing I’ve found has always helped me at kind of getting the pacing right and still having the legs off the run is knowing what those watts feel like in aero that I’m supposed to be holding on race day. Even a step beyond holding the correct wattage like Coach Verby is telling you to do and not overcooking it. Coach Jose, shut us down today. Talk to us about your thoughts on pacing our bike leg so that we can run well off the bike.

Jose: Yes, what you said is perfect, Jason. You are 100% right. So I think the most important thing is the idea of be patient. That’s the best advice for any triathlete, especially if we are competing in long distance triathlons. We know that keeping the intensity as constant as possible is the best way to achieve the best performance. We remember, for example, Elid Kipchoge doing the 1 hour 59 minutes 42 seconds in Vienna. He maintained the same intensity the full marathon. So this is– If he is the world champion, the Olympic champion, the world record champion, holds the record champion, imagine we are age groupers, most of us are age groupers so it’s the same for us. To know exactly the ideal zones to maintain, take advantage of regular conversations with a TriDot coach so that we know the optimal intensity for each part of the bike course. TriDot coaches have huge experience and they can give you the best advices...

Andrew: Yeah. So true.

Jose: …to hold the intensity, to keep calm, to be patient, to take a drink and the energy that you need. Because at the end when we are analyzing the race using RaceX, we have many tools to know exactly the intensities depending on the wind, depending on the terrain, depending on the humidity, and this always will be related to the nutrition. So when we are practicing the race rehearsals, I think is when we need to include the idea of the nutrition to have the perfect combination. So nutrition and intensities are 100% related. So we need to analyze the intensities and depending on that we need to analyze the nutrition, both the liquids and the energy, and this way we will have the best preparation for race day, but of course the main goal, the main idea is be patient because the day is a long day. I always remember the same sentence from Mark Allen. He always said, for example, we talk about Ironman. Ironman is a beautiful day and Ironman until the 21 kilometer mark, so until the half marathon during the run, it’s training day. Then from the 21 kilometer, from the half marathon, then it’s racing day. So I think this is the best idea to remind us how important it is to be patient when we are talking about races like Ironman and Ironman 70.3.

Cool down theme: Great set everyone! Let’s cool down.

Vanessa Ronksley: Hey everyone! It’s cooldown time and I’m Vanessa, your average triathlete with elite level enthusiasm. Our TriDot coach on the show today is bringing us life hacks for the time-crunched athlete. He hails from Colorful Colorado and he is a software product manager, but finds his passion comes from infusing triathlon into his everyday life. Now he’s been so successful with this triathlon lifestyle, that his family is involved as well. His daughter recently completed her first 70.3 and Rich and his brother actually have their sights set on racing in Yokohama in 2024. Rich is a USAT level 1 triathlon coach and specializes in age-groupers who are working towards their first full distance tri and helps them overcome confidence issues and work/life/training balance. He is an accomplished athlete himself with five fulls to his name, numerous 70.3’s and he’s also a finisher of the New York City Marathon. Now what I find super cool is that he completed every Ironman while raising two girls, staying married, and employed which to me is nothing short of a miracle. I am really excited to hear about your secrets of success Rich. So welcome back to the cooldown.

Rich Soares: Awww, thanks again for that awesome intro Vanessa.

Vanessa: I think we’re going to start off today by playing two truths and a lie just for fun. So let's see if you can stump me and the audience here. So hit us.

Rich: Well, here are my three statements in no particular order. You mentioned my New York City Marathon. That was my fastest marathon I have to tell you. That is my statement #1. Statement #2, I once spent the night sleeping on a bench in Kona. And statement #3, 303 Endurance Podcast, the podcast I am the host of, the intro music is composed and performed by Ponchoman from the Breakfast with Bob Babbitt show.

Vanessa: Okay, I am deeply in love with Kona and the bench story so I’m going to say that’s true. I want it to be true with all of my heart. And I do believe also that Ponchoman is helping out with your intro music. So I’m going to say that New York City Marathon is not your fastest time actually.

Rich: Wow, you are good at this. It’s absolutely true. The New York City Marathon was my slowest marathon. I was so blown away at the spectacle of the thing I forgot to drink an ounce of water in the six hours I was awake before my marathon started. So yeah. That was definitely my lie. So very good job.

Vanessa: I love that story. Yeah, you were just so excited and overwhelmed with everything that was going on. I’m sure it was incredible.

Rich: Very distracting. But yeah, you want to hear this Kona bench, sleeping on the Kona bench story.

Vanessa: I do. Yeah.

Rich: So this must be 2019, the 10 p.m. flight on Sunday, the day after Kona, we get the news at around 9:30 that our flight, our plane, has got a mechanical problem. No worries. Don’t worry anybody. We’re going to have the part flown over here. It will be fixed by, you know, 11:00, 11:30 no problem. We are all sleeping on benches at the Kona airport in that outdoor space and it wasn’t until like 3:00 a.m. that they finally said, you know, that’s it. It’s not happening. We’re going to give you all vouchers for hotels and we’ll see you here again tomorrow night. So it is true that I spent a night sleeping on a bench in Kona at the Kona airport.

Vanessa: Awesome. Okay, so can you let us know about one or two of your life hacks that you might share with your athletes?

Rich: Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, one of the things when you’ve got so many competing priorities, right? There are a lot of people that you have relationships with and expectations with whether it’s an arrangement with your boss around your work hours or when you’ll be working and when you’ll be available or when you will be home for dinner or when you will be available to take the kids to this thing or that thing. You know, communication is a really big part of doing long distance triathlon. Finding enough time to get in all the training and manage all of your big rock priorities. Well, during one of my Ironman training long rides, I took off at 9 a.m. and I told my wife, “Hey, I will be back by 4.” Which, you know, any normal person that would sound really strange, taking off at 9 a.m. and saying you’re going to be home by 4. Well, when I got home my wife said to me, “I thought you were going to be home in four hours, 1 p.m.” And I said, “Well, no.” I tried to remind her “No, I said I’d be back at 4. 4 p.m.” Well, the debate didn’t matter. We agreed to disagree, but I went down to Office Max and bought one of those “Will Be Back At…” window clocks with the little plastic hour and minute hands. You know, the kind that the pharmacist has out in front of the gate when it’s closed.

Vanessa: Yeah.

Rich: I put that on the inside of our house on the garage door that goes out to the garage so any time I left I would just set that and the time I would be back and it really helped with expectation setting. There was no miscommunication.

Vanessa: That’s unreal and it also takes away a little bit of that conversation that has to happen about you know, like, you’re like oh, I’m going to be back in eight hours and it just goes to show it’s a nice little visual. That’s a really great idea. I love that.

Rich: That’s just one of those little things that I learned along the way. I learn from all my athletes too. My athletes come up with all sorts of creative ideas and I look to them also. I have an athlete in California who occasionally has to drive into the city. Well, we all know that big area traffic is terrible and everybody has their own kind of schedule constraints, right? Everyone’s situation is a little bit unique and you know, she says you have to be creative, right? She will actually commute much earlier to avoid traffic and then get her training in at a gym near her office so that she can spend her more productive time doing something more than just commuting.

Outro: Thanks for joining us. Make sure to subscribe and share the TriDot podcast with your triathlon crew. For more great tri content and community, connect with us on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Ready to optimize your training? Head to tridot.com and start your free trial today! TriDot – the obvious and automatic choice for triathlon training.

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