As the 2021 MTB season is winding down (for many of us) it is time to prepare for next season. If you are serious about becoming the best Mountain Bike rider or racer you can be, now is the time to act.
All the knowledge in the world is worthless without action.
Below is an abbreviated version of the questionnaire I use with my full-time athletes to evaluate their season and design their training program for the next racing season.
Use this to evaluate your riding âperformanceâ in 2021 and plan to Mountain Bike your best in 2022!
At some point, this fall or winter take a break from riding (if you havenât already).
Two weeks off the bike can do wonders for you! Hike, travel, surf, relax, read, do anything but ride your bike. Your body needs a break from riding and so does your mind.
Donât worry, two weeks off the bike wonât hurt your fitness much and for most of us, it will make us stronger as we give ourselves enough time to recover from so much time spent on our bikes. A lot of time on the bike is not always the best thing since it becomes really easy to create in-balances and overuse injuries.
During your break set your goals for 2022. They are your goals so I wonât tell you what they should be as we all want different things out of riding and life.
I will tell you to set measurable goals that you feel are within your reach if you work enough.
In fact, too high a goal makes it is easy to give up and too easy a goal doesnât motivate you.
Examples of great goals my students have set are: âClean Widow Maker Hill!â, âImprove my max squat by 15% by April 1st.â, âShave 10% off my fastest time on the long loop at McDowell by May 10.â
If you are a racer be careful to not just set outcome goals, set performance goals too, as it is impossible to control how your competition performs!
For example: I really wanted to win the World Masters Championships in 2006, but I had no idea who would show up or how hard they had been training (two things I can not control). so just setting the goal of winning might have set me up for failure despite possibly having my best performance ever.
Although one of my main goals was to win that race my other goals were:
After I got over the disappointment of not winning I was pretty proud of my effort!
Schedule your training and drill time! You may have great intentions but life has a way of interfering. My schedule often wasnât detailed enough, for example, I had Wednesday and Sunday as my interval day but often Wednesday evening would come I had not done my intervals. Scheduling my intervals for 10:00 am every Wednesday and 2:00 pm every Sunday would have been better.
Adjust your schedule. A schedule is designed to help you, not be a dictator that makes you feel guilty when you canât follow it. If you realize you have scheduled too much in a day adjust it so you have time to follow it.
Do you keep a riding/training diary?
A diary is a big help in the following exercise and throughout the season since it helps you find factors that lead to changes in performance.
If you havenât kept a training diary in the past, start now. A training diary helps you learn what parts of your training are working and what parts are not. Reviewing it can explain âpeakâ performances and poor performances and is a great confidence booster by tracking all the hours of training you have put in.
Your training diary should contain all information that affects your performance:
Why did I feel so strong today? Why did I feel so sluggish last week?
Simply look for patterns. For example:
âWhen I do my vision drills before my ride my Strava times drop by 10%â
âWow, every time I eat pizza for dinner I feel sluggish two days later.â
âWhen I eat a big breakfast and do a morning ride I feel weak (need to eat earlier or lighter?)â,
âSurprisingly I climb strongest the day after doing my favorite workout including squats and ab workâ.
If you really want to ride at your best start a diary today. Google docs/drive is the perfect tool. Just set up a spreadsheet and once you get it rolling it will only take five minutes a day to keep up on.
Here is the abbreviated version of the questionnaire I use with my full-time students to help you analyze your 2021 season and help you set your goals for 2022.
Step by Step Plan to set your Goals. Printable.pdf
REMEMBER, unwritten goals are just dreams, goals you write down you will commit to and strive to reach.
For more inspiration read my article on Exceeding Your Mountain Biking Goals By Not Focusing On Them.
What skills produce the biggest results? Check out my hierarchy of skills article to get the biggest bang for buck practice wise: Hierarchy of Skills
Good luck with next season and feel free to call or e-mail with any questions.
Cheers
Gene
All the knowledge in the world is worthless without action.
Below is an abbreviated version of the questionnaire I use with my full-time athletes to evaluate their season and design their training program for the next racing season.
Use this to evaluate your riding âperformanceâ in 2021 and plan to Mountain Bike your best in 2022!
At some point, this fall or winter take a break from riding (if you havenât already).
Two weeks off the bike can do wonders for you! Hike, travel, surf, relax, read, do anything but ride your bike. Your body needs a break from riding and so does your mind.
Donât worry, two weeks off the bike wonât hurt your fitness much and for most of us, it will make us stronger as we give ourselves enough time to recover from so much time spent on our bikes. A lot of time on the bike is not always the best thing since it becomes really easy to create in-balances and overuse injuries.
During your break set your goals for 2022. They are your goals so I wonât tell you what they should be as we all want different things out of riding and life.
I will tell you to set measurable goals that you feel are within your reach if you work enough.
In fact, too high a goal makes it is easy to give up and too easy a goal doesnât motivate you.
Examples of great goals my students have set are: âClean Widow Maker Hill!â, âImprove my max squat by 15% by April 1st.â, âShave 10% off my fastest time on the long loop at McDowell by May 10.â
If you are a racer be careful to not just set outcome goals, set performance goals too, as it is impossible to control how your competition performs!
For example: I really wanted to win the World Masters Championships in 2006, but I had no idea who would show up or how hard they had been training (two things I can not control). so just setting the goal of winning might have set me up for failure despite possibly having my best performance ever.
Although one of my main goals was to win that race my other goals were:
- Shave 7% off my race times from 2005 (where the tracks are the same in 2006),
- Increase my max squat by 50% (to where it was when I was 35) by April 15th, to
- Decrease my 40 meter sprint times (on my downhill bike) by 20% by July 15th.
- Sub goals. Examples: Increase max squat by 25% by Jan, 1. Increase my cornering exit speed.
- Process goals. Examples: Do my cornering drills for 10 minutes 5 days a week. Work up from one five-minute imagery session a week to six 10 minute imagery sessions a week by July, 15.
Once you set your process goals focus on the process, not the outcome!
After I got over the disappointment of not winning I was pretty proud of my effort!
Schedule your training and drill time! You may have great intentions but life has a way of interfering. My schedule often wasnât detailed enough, for example, I had Wednesday and Sunday as my interval day but often Wednesday evening would come I had not done my intervals. Scheduling my intervals for 10:00 am every Wednesday and 2:00 pm every Sunday would have been better.
Adjust your schedule. A schedule is designed to help you, not be a dictator that makes you feel guilty when you canât follow it. If you realize you have scheduled too much in a day adjust it so you have time to follow it.
Do you keep a riding/training diary?
A diary is a big help in the following exercise and throughout the season since it helps you find factors that lead to changes in performance.
If you havenât kept a training diary in the past, start now. A training diary helps you learn what parts of your training are working and what parts are not. Reviewing it can explain âpeakâ performances and poor performances and is a great confidence booster by tracking all the hours of training you have put in.
Your training diary should contain all information that affects your performance:
- morning HR (heart rate),
- recovery HR,
- weight,
- hours slept,
- hours training,
- time spent doing skills drills
- time in HR or power zones,
- time using imagery,
- mood,
- what you eat, etc.
Why did I feel so strong today? Why did I feel so sluggish last week?
Simply look for patterns. For example:
âWhen I do my vision drills before my ride my Strava times drop by 10%â
âWow, every time I eat pizza for dinner I feel sluggish two days later.â
âWhen I eat a big breakfast and do a morning ride I feel weak (need to eat earlier or lighter?)â,
âSurprisingly I climb strongest the day after doing my favorite workout including squats and ab workâ.
If you really want to ride at your best start a diary today. Google docs/drive is the perfect tool. Just set up a spreadsheet and once you get it rolling it will only take five minutes a day to keep up on.
Here is the abbreviated version of the questionnaire I use with my full-time students to help you analyze your 2021 season and help you set your goals for 2022.
Step by Step Plan to set your Goals. Printable.pdf
Step One: Assess your racing season and your riding ability. Honestly and objectively answer the following questions about your 2021 season.
Print out and answer the following questions to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses to set the foundation for your 2022 season training program. The answers below are examples to help you. Please edit and add your own goals. Donât stop at 3! Riding/Racing Goals:
Step Three: Act on your training program! Ride. Workout. Visualize. Constantly update your goals and training program based on improvement or lack of improvement. |
REMEMBER, unwritten goals are just dreams, goals you write down you will commit to and strive to reach.
For more inspiration read my article on Exceeding Your Mountain Biking Goals By Not Focusing On Them.
What skills produce the biggest results? Check out my hierarchy of skills article to get the biggest bang for buck practice wise: Hierarchy of Skills
Good luck with next season and feel free to call or e-mail with any questions.
Cheers
Gene
