CTS | Cycling Coaching

“Quality training” often gets reduced to riding harder or doing more than prescribed. But when easy rides drift into moderate efforts and hard days become unsustainably hard, everything starts to blur and progress stalls. Real training quality comes down to three things: a clear process, executing the session as intended, and having fun! Miss one and your training starts working against you and junk miles start stacking up.

Most cyclists focus on how strong they are when they’re fresh. But performance is defined by what holds up as fatigue builds. If your power falls apart late in a ride or race, it’s not your fitness, it’s your durability. Durability is your ability to maintain performance as fatigue accumulates and is what determines whether you can still push late. It’s also one of the most overlooked aspects of training. Many athletes focus on peak power, FTP, or VO2 max, but those are measured when you’re fresh. What matters is what you can still do when you’re not.

Training alone isn’t always the fastest way to improve. Riding with others taps into a well-documented concept in psychology called social facilitation, where performance increases in the presence of others. It can elevate effort, sharpen your skills, and even help you access “flow state”. But more isn’t always better. Too many group rides can lead to excess fatigue, poor pacing, and missed recovery. The goal isn’t to ride with others all the time, it’s to find the right balance so you can improve performance while staying consistent. Tag your training buddy down below and send this to the person who pushes you!

make it a double- again!! 2nd week d in a row of taking the W for the TT and Circuit races for Alex Federman at the Diamond Hill Stage Race in NY! #roadracing #timetrial #dmsr

Ain’t gettin any younger, but found the top step at @jeffcuprr this weekend in the Masters 35+ Thanks to my @dcveloracing teammate @blakeherbold for the leadout & my professional cheering squad of @dakota_palomino & @princesshaezel for the extra motivation!! 👩🏻‍🎤🐶 @the_mabra @cts_trainright @dcveloracing @velocioapparel #ctscoach @surphyto @skratchlabs

Congratulations to #CTSAthlete Roy Lopez for P2 in the M75-79 age group at Highlands Gravel Classic, which qualifies him for the UCI Gravel World Championships! Coached by CTS Head Coach Adam Pulford.

Day 1 of @cts_trainright Brevard Power Duration Camp! What a day on #blueridgeparkway with the gang! FTP testing, big climbs and descents. And even had time to put a retired French Pro Racer into a child safety seat on way to diner. Heart is full! On to tomorrow and some short duration power testing! #828isgreat #brevard

CTS presents the Femmes Road Cycling Camp! 
Train with world-class coaches at a 3-day women’s camp designed to elevate your riding. Ride iconic Colorado routes with full SAG support, on-site mechanics, and expert guidance every mile. Real coaching. Fully supported rides. A community that welcomes you in. 🔗 Link in bio to learn more & register
📍 Colorado Springs, CO (Pikes Peak) 🗓️ June 10-13, 2026
🚴‍♀️ All experience levels welcome Tag a woman you’d want to ride this with.

Zone 2 doesn’t need to be complicated. Low end, high end, or somewhere in between, you’re still building endurance. No matter what you call it, the physiology is the same. So keep it simple and drop the labels!

Winner winner chicken diner! Athlete Alex Federman takes 2 wins in the 55+ TT and Road Race at @gardenstatestagerace this weekend! Way to go buddy! @cts_trainright @trainingpeaks @catskillscycling

Want to ride faster without training harder or longer? Most cyclists focus on pushing more power or logging more hours. But there’s another way to improve and it doesn’t require either. Training density is simply the ratio of work to recovery. Instead of focusing only on how hard you ride, it’s about how quickly you can recover and repeat hard efforts. Shorten the rest, keep the power, and you create more stress in less time which leads to bigger fitness gains. Why does this matter? Because real-world cycling is rarely about one big effort. Races, group rides, and tough terrain all demand the ability to go hard repeatedly, especially when fatigued. Training density directly improves three key performance traits: Repeatability — doing hard efforts over and over Durability — maintaining power late in a ride Mental toughness — the ability to suffer and still perform A key concept here is your anaerobic battery, also known as Functional Reserve Capacity. The better your training density, the faster you can recharge and use that battery during critical moments like attacks or climbs. The simplest way to start? Instead of 4 minutes of rest between hard efforts, cut it to 2. Same power. Same total work. Just less time and a significantly more demanding workout. This type of training is tough, so use it strategically. Once or twice a week during your build or peak phases, with proper recovery built in around it. The bottom line: you don’t need more time or higher power to improve. You just need to use your time more effectively.

Are you high carb fueling during training and worried about diabetes or weight gain? This is one of the most widespread myths in endurance sports, and it’s causing athletes to under-fuel and underperform every single day. Here’s what most people get wrong: they assume sugar is utilized the same regardless of when you eat it. But your body doesn’t work that way. During exercise, everything changes: - Insulin goes DOWN - Epinephrine & Glucagon go UP - Your entire system shifts into “use it now” mode At rest, it’s the complete opposite. That’s when carbs get stored, insulin rises, and your body shifts into recovery mode. The hormones and mechanisms that regulate carbohydrate metabolism are fundamentally different during exercise, and that changes everything about how you should think about fueling.