steve617

Last year someone had recommended me a cycling coach that coached you online. Just wondering if anyone here online recommend anyone.

Thanks

Steve

spiderbike

I'll coach you for free!!!!

PEDAL PEDAL PEDAL PEDAL PEDAL PEDAL

DRINK SOME WATER

PEDAL PEDAL PEDAL PEDAL PEDAL PEDAL

zimbo

I'm not sure why someone would try to belittle you for wanting a coach.

There are a number of online coaches from around $100/month and up. Google will bring up a long list of them: Peaks Coaching Group, Ric Stern, etc etc etc. There are also pre-packaged 6-12 week training programs (a la trainingpeaks.com) that cost around $50 but don't involve back-and-forth human interaction.

While there's a lot of great advice on this forum, there's a lot of crappy advice too (just ride more, just ride harder, etc) so there's nothing wrong with paying some money to get reliable, professional advice.

For those of you who don't have a coach and win races: good for you. Keep doing what works for you.

--Steve

steve617

Thanks Steve for the advice. This is my second year cycling. I usually just go on local fun rides. I did 0ne 40 mile race last year and came in 145 out of 188. It was not a US Cycle sanctioned race. I am nowhere at that level. I did 1 century last year New Bern, NC 5:32. I know my weakness is my weight and I just need to be more dedicated. I was just thinking a cycling coach would help be get more motivated and get me on a schedule.

Last year which was my first year I did one century and 2 metrics and rode 2,100 miles.
Last week I just got my 1,000th mile for the year. Perhaps I need to find a local cycling partner.

Thanks again

Steve

kmac17

I would recommend a regular cycling partner/ride if you can find one. It get's me a base of good miles every week unless the weather gets in the way. I ride for totally different reasons than my partner, but we can usually find a common goal for 2 25 mile rides a week at lunch or after work. Any other rides I get in I view as a bonus since my life is so busy.

I would love a 5:35 century this season. good work.

ericgu

Steve,

I spent this spring/summer using Carmichael's online training. It runs $40/month, but you don't get a coach assigned to you. I have seen some nice improvement being on a structured program (ie knowing when to work on endurance miles, when to do intervals, etc.), but I think that any approach that doesn't have you interacting with a live human is going to have some compromises.

Dealing with a live human is costly though - most programs charge you $100/month or so for that. If you want to do that I'd recommend looking for somebody in your area.

It is true that riding with groups makes things more fun, but it can be counter-productive if you end up riding too hard too often.

jbhowat

Yeah, for the $100 a month you pay online you can probably find someone near you who can ride with you and do a much better job. If you're going to go online - consider trainingpeaks.com. For about $40 you get a 12 week program. You can choose from a focus on crits or road racing and there are different levels and age groups. If you follow the plan and know a little bit about training already I see know reason why it can't be almost as effective as most coaches I have seen. The key part is to actually DO what it SAYS. Unlike a real coach it won't nag or scold you if you start missing rides all the time.