GamJams.net: Where Mid-Atlantic bike racers roll: Training Camp Series p/b VeloWorks: Part 1

by BJ Basham

Why not get your racing season off to a flying start with an individual or team training camp? A week or even a long weekend of dedicated training time can take your fitness to that next level and help your team form the cohesive bonds that can make a big difference in any kind of race.

We have all read about the great training camps that some of the biggest and most successful pro teams hold every winter. These events have many goals and are designed to make the most of the time the team spends together. Team building, fitness testing, media training and equipment distribution are just a few of the things that can happen when a team decides to hold a “training camp”. Managers spend time with their riders and the riders spend time in the saddle and sometimes doing things completely separate from cycling, learning about each other’s strengths and weaknesses and building those important team bonds. In order to work effectively for a teammate in race, a rider needs to really care if that teammate wins and trust that their work will not go to waste. That trust and sense of caring are built at training camps.

That is great for the pros, but what can the average Joe Bike Racer get out of a training camp? That will depend on the kind or camp that Joe decides to participate in. A training camp in its simplest form is nothing more than a rider choosing a block of days to dedicate to training and resting. No outside distractions is a big reason most camps happen away from home, but if Joe is super motivated and disciplined his camp can happen without leaving home at all.

Choosing to do a camp at a remote location can make it much easier to put aside the everyday distractions and can allow you to concentrate on the three things that are required in order to get stronger: training, resting and refueling. If you're away from the usual emails and traffic and work calls etc, you can get much more out of your training mostly by allowing you the time it takes to recover. We can all train extra miles and hours, but if that extra training stress is not matched with an increase in recovery time then the training will not be as affective.

What ever you decide to do, a training camp is a great way to get in some solid training that will most likely help to take your fitness to the next level. Making a good plan and having a clear idea of what you want to gain will guide you to the best way to run your own camp or in choosing a packaged camp run by someone else. Lots of extra training stress with plenty of solid rest and recovery is the path to faster and stronger riding.

Next in the series: Part 2 - Store bought or home made?

You want to be faster in May? Then dedicate a week in the winter towards your 2011 goals, at a VeloWorks Spring Training Camp in Austin, TX. Camps in January and February focus on base miles, with March and April honing in more on power building. MTB camps are also available. All of them are taught by VeloWorks' USA Cycling certified coaches, who modeled the camps on the same program used by the US National team at the Olympic Training Center. They also include WKO+ analysis, and plenty of discussion on training plan development, race strategy and technique. VeloWorks camps don't just make you fitter - they aim to improve your racing in every way.

About VeloWorks: VeloWorks enhances the riding experience for the passionate cyclist through coaching, CompuTrainer classes, clinics, camps and adventure trips to Italy and France. They are based in Alexandria, VA.

BJ Basham is a USA Cycling Level I Certified Coach with Peaks Coaching Group. He lives in Fairfax, VA and competes in most of the same races you do. To learn more about his coaching practice and philosophy, visit his website at PowerTrainingCoach.com.