Tag: Training Tips

Getting a new bike is like refreshing your life. This summer I have been planning on buying a new one and I finally bought it this August! New bike day is extra special when you buy it yourself. This season I will be racing on a Specialized Epic World Cup Expert! 

Transitioning into the fall season with a new bike is gonna be such a blessing to be able to start fresh and fast! Fall season can really show you the progress made over the summer, fall is when riders start to notice it all fall together! We start to see muscle growth, speed, and more riding then the races start up and life just feels good. Flowing into the Iceman prep season is my favorite time of the year, because I start to ride 5-6 times a week and I really see lots of progress compared to last season. 

Fall season means putting away the road and gravel bikes and only riding in the woods, because there is so much to find out in the wilderness compared to the roads. Fall Season means waking up earlier and riding or waiting to ride later at night to get the perfect temperature to spin in. Fall season means the races are starting back up! Iceman is right around the corner so I hope that everyone can enjoy the rest of their summer, but also get ready for the Iceman prep to start. Don’t forget to get your Iceman merch for the race season so you can be extra sendy and fast on the trails!! 

A huge thank you to our 2024 Junior Iceman Ambassador Piper Shumar @pipershumar

Riding bikes has become a passion of mine over the last four years, a journey that’s helped me shed 150 pounds and gain a whole new perspective on life. It’s been an incredible ride (pun intended), and I’m always grateful for the encouragement I receive from people who’ve followed my weight loss story. It feels amazing, but as much as I appreciate the kudos for my transformation, that’s not my proudest achievement on two wheels.

Sure, setting personal records on Strava and earning the title of “local legend” are nice perks. (Hi, my name is Casey, and I’m a Strava star 😆). But what truly fuels my passion for biking is something far more meaningful: bringing people together through the sport, especially my family.

Take my nephew, for example. Last year, he watched me complete a race in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and, inspired, decided he wanted to try it himself when he visited from Florida this July. Being the awesome uncle that I am, I immediately hit the gear store and sent him a box full of mountain biking swag, hoping it would motivate him to train.

And it worked! He started riding a little at a time, upgrading his bike, and even braving the Florida heat. Before I knew it, I was getting regular updates about his rides—sometimes just 6 to 10 miles at a time, but progress nonetheless. When race day finally arrived, we were both buzzing with pre-race jitters. For him, the challenge was the physical and mental endurance; for me, it was making sure his nutrition was dialed in and our gear was ready to go.

Of course, nothing ever goes perfectly. My GPS decided to take a vacation just as the race started, leaving us standing there like rookies while everyone else sped off. After about 10 minutes of troubleshooting (and a lifeline call to my infamous buddy Doug), we finally got things sorted out. I looked at my nephew, gave him a quick pep talk about adapting and overcoming, and off we went.

I was blown away by how well he was riding. When I asked if he just wanted to cruise or if we should try to catch up to the pack, he chose the latter. So, I gave him a crash course in drafting—ride my rear tire, no room for ego, and communicate if you’re gassed. Slowly but surely, we started picking off riders, one by one. With each rider we passed, his confidence grew.

Now, he did hit a few bumps along the way—like learning the hard way what pickle juice can do for your body (spoiler: he hates pickles). But after 8 miles of sand and a grand total of 54 miles (his longest ride ever by over 30 miles), we crossed the finish line. The look of confidence on his face was priceless—a reminder of why I love this sport so much.

When you’re out there racing, you go through a rollercoaster of emotions, especially when you’re breaking new boundaries. We ended up finishing 33rd and 34th out of 127 riders, and get this—he beat me by one second.

Here’s the thing: I’m definitely not the fastest rider out there, but if I can inspire someone to push themselves, to become a better version of themselves, then I’ll keep riding and encouraging others to do the same.

The moral of the story? Even when life gets tough, you never know who might be watching, learning, and looking up to you. Make sure you make a difference and help those around you. I’m grateful for that day out in the woods with my nephew. The best part? Watching him cross the finish line first… even if it was just by one second.

Thank you to our 2024 Iceman Ambassador Casey Smith @casey_theautoguy

As amateur athletes, we’re a rare breed. Not only do we have to conquer the physical challenges of training and racing, but we have to do it all while balancing full-time jobs, family responsibilities, social lives, and all the other commitments that come with being a working adult in today’s world.

Finding the time to consistently train at a high level while juggling work, kids, relationships, and everything else on your plate is arguably the toughest part for me. The dedication and sacrifice required can lead even the most motivated among us to burn out, lose motivation, or throw in the towel completely.

With some creative strategies and commitment, you can absolutely slay this work-life-training balancing act. The rewards of enhanced fitness, better health, and ongoing athletic achievement are more than worth it. I find my days on the bike help me balance out the life stresses that come around!

Time management is everything! Sure, sacrifices will need to be made (bye aimless Netflix binging), but that’s the name of the game.

Start by blocking off dedicated workout times in your calendar like you would for work meetings or appointments. Literally schedule your training sessions and treat them as inviolable commitments to yourself. This was super helpful for me personally and I could sneak in mid-day breaks when it’s nice out!

During moments of free time, be purposeful about meal prep if that’s your thing, improve sleep habits (less screen time perhaps), and check off other day to day responsibilities. 

If you’ve only got 60-90 minutes, you can crush an intense bike intervals session or weightlifting routine to really move the needle. Short but highly focused workouts can be incredibly productive when designed properly.

Don’t overlook opportunities for stacking workouts either. Can you squeeze in a 30 minute walk or yoga during a lunch break and follow it up with an hour ride after work? Multitasking like this allows you to fit in a ton of volume.

Get your family involved and don’t view training as something that needs to be done in isolation. In fact, finding creative ways to collaborate and include family/friends can be motivating too! On top of getting in solid workouts, you’ll reap the added benefits of quality bonding time and modeling an active lifestyle for your kids. My daughter loves to rip the trails with me. Huge win-win.

Don’t forget to cut yourself some slack occasionally. At the end of the day, we’re human beings with a lot of responsibilities and unavoidable stresses. There will inevitably be periods where training has to take a back seat due to work emergencies, family obligations, illnesses, or other unpredictable challenges.

When setbacks and unavoidable schedule disruptions pop up, don’t let it derail you completely. Adapt as best you can, reset your mindset, and formulate a plan to jump back in as soon as possible. Progress rarely follows a perfectly linear path!

Most importantly, don’t beat yourself up over temporary lapses in training. That’s a surefire way to start spiraling in a negative loop of self-criticism and lose your mojo entirely. Forgive yourself and move forward with intention.

The reality is that successfully juggling training with work and family life is an ongoing process of adjustments and recalibrations. But those of us who can master this delicate balancing act while chasing our athletic dreams will come out more resilient, and more well-rounded individuals overall.

Stay focused, keep pedaling, and don’t be afraid to carve your own unique path!

About the author: Tobi is a passionate mountain biker and ultra endurance gravel cyclist who thrives on pushing his limits in the great outdoors. He has a deep appreciation for nature, savoring the scenic views and challenges of unpaved singletrack trails and long gravel routes. Tobi’s passion for adventure drives him to constantly seek out new ultra endurance gravel races and mountain bike events that take him on new dirt roads. He has participated in the Iceman Cometh Challenge for over a decade. When not hitting the trails or grinding away the miles on gravel, Tobi enjoys camping trips with his family. He is also actively involved with the West Michigan Coyotes youth mountain bike team, where he coaches and rides alongside his daughter, fostering her love for the sport. The solitude of the trails and the invigoration of conquering an ultra-endurance race is what fuels his obsession with mountain biking and gravel cycling.

Have you ever done an escape room? They’re actually quite fun! I tend to be a high anxiety person so I 100% thought I would HATE partaking in an escape room. To my surprise, it was quite the opposite! The cool thing about escape rooms is that there is a clear cut way to success – you do all the right things, you get the result you want – you escape. Some pretty good news, even if you don’t succeed, is that odds are pretty high there’s a bar in the same building as your escape room ready to serve you a cold one while you laugh off the failure. Time is up and the game keeper kindly just comes over the intercom to say you’re done and graciously comes to let you out of the little room you couldn’t figure out.

Wouldn’t it be cool if life were like an escape room? Think about it! There is one, YES ONLY ONE, correct path and you follow that to a T and guess what happens? You succeed!! And hey, maybe you don’t succeed; maybe you had a bad day at work or didn’t meet your monthly quota? Good news, your boss comes over the intercom to tell you time is up and graciously leads you down the hall where you’re served a cold one to laugh it off! 

Unfortunately, life is not black and white, it is not cut and dry. There is more often many roads to success and also many ways to fail. The cool thing about life is that we are blessed with many ways to mend our tribulations, many ways to find our own little escape. Mine you ask? Biking of course! I think I love biking so much because it is a relatively controllable sport. Yeah, yeah I know you can’t control the weather or if your kids kept you up all night, but in general, you’re in control of your path to success. You control how often you saddle up, the meals you fuel your body with, the self-talk while climbing icebreaker hill – the controllables help ease my high anxiety mind. Just like that escape room, you are in control. So, take it. 

Thank you to our 2024 Iceman Ambassador Allyson Klug @allysonklug

During the summer many riders can get caught up in their freetime and only want to bike, which isn’t a bad thing, but taking time to relax and enjoy your summer is also important.

Being outside and letting your legs relax is a good thing to do over the summer. Even if you are going on slower rides or not riding at all, taking a break is good for us! As someone who bikes 24/7 and doesn’t catch a break I look forward to the summer, because that is when I can just go out and mess around with my friends, maybe even find new trails. 

Also being able to take a break from biking all the time, or getting ready for a race can open up new opportunities for other hobbies. Finding other things to do outside of biking can be very healthy for our minds. Opening up your horizons to new locations, activities, or groups builds a healthy mindset. 

Not many people realize that you can still bike places and not drive, and yes it can take longer, but being able to slow down and soak up the sun around you! Riding places can help you to calm down and not worry about pace or anything! 

Also taking a free ride once a week, no strava, no garmin/wahoo, no recording the ride. Doing this can help to free your mind from getting caught up in the KOM’s and local legends. 

Personally, I take the summer to relax and just train for fun! So, spend your summer relaxing and enjoying yourself. Always have fun and don’t overdo it during the offseason!!!

Thank you to our 2024 Junior Iceman Ambassador Piper Shumar @pipershumar

When I first started mountain biking, I wasn’t sure how often I was going to do it. As I started seeing the dividends of my health improving, I knew I had to keep this momentum.  Living in Michigan where the seasons can be made up and never consistent. A traditional mountain bike just wasn’t going to cut it. My riding buddy Doug rode a fat tire and talked about the many benefits and he wasn’t the only one. After much consideration, I purchased a Salsa Mukluk and little did I know that this decision would lead me down a path of unique challenges and unparalleled enjoyment that I now can’t imagine riding without.

The Effort it Takes

Riding a fat tire bike is no easy feat. With wider tires comes greater resistance, making every pedal stroke more laborious than on a standard mountain bike. This increased effort translates to a more intense workout, burning more calories and pushing my physical limits further. (When you are limited on riding time, to me this is important.) The resistance isn’t just a winter phenomenon; riding a fat tire bike in the summer presents its own set of challenges, from tackling loose sand to navigating muddy trails. Each ride demands more from me, both physically and mentally, but it also makes every accomplishment that much sweeter.

Versatility of the Fat Tire Bike

One of the greatest advantages of a fat tire bike is its versatility. These bikes are designed to handle a wide range of conditions, from snow and ice to sand and mud. Their wide tires provide superior traction and stability, reducing the likelihood of washing out the front tire. This makes them ideal for navigating tricky corners and tackling unpredictable terrain. Whether I’m riding through a snowy forest in winter or hitting the sandy trails in the heat of summer, my fat tire bike is always up to the task.

The Speed Factor

There’s a common misconception that fat tire bikes are slow. While it’s true that they require more effort to pedal, I’ve found that riding a fat bike has made me a stronger, faster rider overall. If you can be fast on a fat bike, you can be fast on anything. The added resistance and effort required to ride a fat bike build strength and endurance that translate to improved performance on any bike. Plus, the skills and confidence gained from handling a fat tire bike in challenging conditions make riding a traditional mountain bike feel like a breeze.

A Unique Breed of Rider

There’s a common misconception that fat tire bikes are slow. While it’s true that they require more effort to pedal, I’ve found that riding a fat bike has made me a stronger, faster rider overall. If you can be fast on a fat bike, you can be fast on anything. The added resistance and effort required to ride a fat bike build strength and endurance that translate to improved performance on any bike. Plus, the skills and confidence gained from handling a fat tire bike in challenging conditions make riding a traditional mountain bike feel like a breeze.

The Fun Factor

Beyond the physical and technical benefits, riding a fat tire bike is just plain fun. There’s something exhilarating about the stability and control these bikes offer. I love getting “air time” with my fat bike, feeling the thrill of catching some air and landing smoothly. The sense of freedom and adventure I experience on my fat tire bike is unmatched.

My journey with fat biking has been nothing short of transformative. It started as a way to ride year-round but quickly became a passion that drives me to push my limits and embrace new challenges. Whether you’re a seasoned rider or a newcomer to mountain biking, I encourage you to give fat biking a try. You might just discover a whole new world of riding that’s as rewarding as it is demanding. FATTY NATION BABY!!!

Thank you to our 2024 Iceman Ambassador Casey Smith @casey_theautoguy

I was a distance runner in college and remember one day asking my coach how she prescribed paces for tempo workouts. She went on to describe how a tempo paced workout should be “comfortably uncomfortable” – definitely faster than an easy run, not an all out race pace, but on the edge of true discomfort. For whatever reason, I think about that conversation a lot and just ran with it (literally). I think about how I entered into the world of endurance sports and that the whole process was certainly uncomfortable, scary, but all so exciting at the same time. She made the whole experience life changing and eye opening for me. Yes, I was at a very moldable age at that time as so many college students are just trying to figure out their lives, but that conversation and her entire coaching philosophy was exactly what I needed at that time in my life to get the wheels turning.

I wonder what runs through other people’s minds as they sign up for things like the Iceman race, decide to change jobs, to start a family, to pack up and move to a new and unknown place. As humans we are creatures of habits and routine, so I simply don’t believe any of those things are completely comfortable decisions that were made in 100% confidence. But what fun would life be if we stayed in the confines of our little comfort zones?

I can relate this to everything I’ve ever done on the bike – biking was not my first endurance sport and I certainly still feel like an imposter sometimes when people refer to me as a “biker”. Biking is scary for me; the speed, the trees, the other riders in such close proximity, the planning, the inevitable mechanic issues. Gosh as I list all these things I’m starting to question how in the world did I fall so hard in love with this sport!? Well, it just took a little extra push for me to understand that the real fun starts where your comfort zone ends – get used to it folks.

Photo caption: Myself and Coach Karen Lutzke following a cross country race

Thank you to our 2024 Iceman Cometh Challenge Ambassador Allyson Klug @allysonklug

The warm weather has arrived and the lush green trails are calling our names. You know what that means? After putting in the hard work building an aerobic base all spring, it’s time to shift our training up a couple gears to prepare specifically for the unique demands of the Iceman Cometh MTB race, aka The Catalina Wine Mixer this November.

While the thought of grinding away on endless base miles may have gotten a bit stale and repetitive, this next phase of training is where things get fun, challenging, and undoubtedly sufferfest-y. I’d recommend introducing some much-needed intensity into the mix to bring our engines into peak shape.

But don’t worry, you should still be sprinkling in those beloved long endurance days too. No one wants to be a high-revving Ferrari with no gas in the tank, right?

VO2 intervals are recommended if you really want to bring the pain on race day. These hard efforts are designed to push your cardiovascular system to its limits, recruit your super-fast twitch fibers, and allow you to better process lactic acid. Sounds super fun, no? They hurt.

The typical VO2 interval session will have you alternating hard 1-5 minute efforts at way over threshold pace (think 9/10 effort or higher) with equal recovery periods. The efforts should be so difficult that you’re struggling to complete the full interval by the end.

As the summer rolls on, look to increase the length of the hard efforts and decrease the rest periods to enhance the overload. Your overall fitness should reach new levels with the consistent application of these brutal bursts.

It’s important to keep the total volume relatively low by capping the sessions at 45-60 minutes in addition to some endurance mileage.

Then there are threshold intervals in addition to VO2 work. You will need to become very familiar with our muscular endurance and lactate threshold through…you guessed it…more intervals! These will involve slightly lower intensity efforts in the 6-8/10 range, but for longer durations of 10-20 minutes per interval.

While not as spicy as the VO2 sessions, the threshold efforts will be plenty stimulating to boost your ability to process lactate and avoid fatigue over the course of Iceman’s 30-ish miles. We want those legs to feel like a million bucks all the way to the finish!

These threshold workouts typically involve a longer warm up, followed by 2-4 intervals at a hard but sustainable pace with relatively short recoveries. We’ll kick off with shorter 10 minute intervals in early summer and work our way up to the 20ish minutes by late August.

No training plan would be complete without incorporating some over/under intervals. Try to simulate those demanding conditions with workouts that combine short VO2 bursts immediately followed by stretches of longer threshold efforts. These unique sessions are incredible for enhancing both your aerobic and anaerobic capacities.

Each week should still include at least one 1-3 hour ride over a variety of terrain to keep your aerobic machinery greased up. And don’t be afraid to head out on the occasional 5-6 hour ride once every few weeks for an extended stretch in the saddle. It’s summer time in Michigan and I know those are my favorite times to get out for a full day of riding!

These longer hauls won’t be jammed full of gut-punch intervals, but should include some extended climbing efforts to promote strength endurance. Having the muscular fortitude to continually grind up hills while fatigued is a necessity for Iceman’s undulating terrain.

Recovery is super important with the increased intensity, it’s absolutely crucial to maximize your recovery during this summer training phase. After those interval days, be diligent about refueling with a protein/carb smoothie within 30 minutes and getting in some light active recovery like walking or easy spinning.

I would recommend one full rest day per week. Use that time away from the saddle to recharge your mental batteries, spend quality time with loved ones, and let your body absorb all that training.

If you start feeling unusually fatigued or rundown, don’t be a hero – take an extra recovery day or lower intensity week to renew. Skimping on rest now means increasing your risk of illness, injury, or burnout down the road.

I’ll see you out on the trails.

About the author: Tobi is a passionate mountain biker and ultra endurance gravel cyclist who thrives on pushing his limits in the great outdoors. He has a deep appreciation for nature, savoring the scenic views and challenges of unpaved singletrack trails and long gravel routes. Tobi’s passion for adventure drives him to constantly seek out new ultra endurance gravel races and mountain bike events that take him on new dirt roads. He has participated in the Iceman Cometh Challenge for over a decade. When not hitting the trails or grinding away the miles on gravel, Tobi enjoys camping trips with his family. He is also actively involved with the West Michigan Coyotes youth mountain bike team, where he coaches and rides alongside his daughter, fostering her love for the sport. The solitude of the trails and the invigoration of conquering an ultra endurance race is what fuels his obsession with mountain biking and gravel cycling.