Is hiring a mountain bike race coach the right decision for you?

The question of coaching and being coached often comes up with women mountain bikers when they set their sites on training for a race or event.  Below ALP Cycles founder and coach Alison Powers and Mtbracenews.com professional mountain bike racers Jen Hanks and Marlee Dixon share their experience regarding coaching female mountain bikers.  

Alison Powers: Head coach and founder of ALP Cycles Coaching with 10+ years of coaching experience. Alison is also the only person in history to win the road race, time trial, and criterium National Championship titles in one year (2014).  Her certifications include- USA Cycling Level 2 coach, BICP Level 2 Skills Coach, TrainingPeaks Level 1, Road and Cyclocross racing coach from USA Cycling, Wilderness First Aid, BICP Ride Leader, and NICA Level 2 coach.

Please tell a little about yourself and your coaching business.  I am the owner and head coach of ALP Cycles Coaching, and have been coaching cyclists for more than 10 years. After 7 years on the US Ski Team as a downhill ski racer, I raced bikes professionally for 8 years both nationally and internationally. I have two female coaches who work for ALP Cycles as well. We make a great team of coaches, and training and racing knowledge base. 

 Is there a specific level of racing, commitment or timeframe that you recommend women to get a coach? No. I recommend anyone wanting to get better on their bike to get a coach. Coaches can help with fitness, racing goals and tactics, skill building, nutrition for training and racing, etc. A coach will help you fast track your way to reaching your goals on the bike.

What are the biggest benefits to getting a coach? See above. Same answer.

Are there any drawbacks to getting a coach? A good coach will hold you accountable for your training and your learning. The athlete has to make time to communicate with their coach. The more communication, the better. Sometimes a coach will take out some of the things that an athlete likes to do. Reaching goals and getting better takes work and sacrifice and that can mean getting rid of a ride or a workout or a food that doesn’t help the overall goals for the athlete. 

I know you’ve done research based on women’s bodies and training differences from men.  In what ways do women’s training structures differ from men? The biggest difference are our hormones and menstrual cycle. Our hormones can really affect our training, our sleep, and our recovery. If we can first recognize our cycle and be ok with how it affects our bodies and our training, then we start to work with it and make great gains.

We are coming into off-season for many racers, do you have any recommendations for exercises or strength work to focus on? The off season is the best time to become a better cyclist. Most of our gains, as an athlete, are made out of race season. For mountain bike racers, it is a great time to work on bike handling skills. Riding flat pedals, working on wheel lifts, balance on the bike, etc. I am also a big supporter of strength training and becoming a really well rounded and strong athlete– get rid of muscle imbalances and build power. 

Are there any specific certifications or trainings that are beneficial for coaches who are working with female athletes? Stacy Sims has published really great work on training as a female athlete throughout life. All coaches should be familiar with that work. 

Any additional advice for female racers? Don’t be afraid to accomplish your goals. If you have always dreamt of doing something or being something, then go do it. When given tips on how to get better, do those tips. Become your dream. :) 

Jen Hanks: Mtbracenews.com professional mountain bike racer.  Jen Hanks is a USA Cycling Pro mountain bike racer (since 2007) and certified coach. She enjoys racing a variety of disciplines including XC, Marathon, MTB Stage racing, and cyclocross. She has competed in mountain bike stage races around the world including TransAlp, TransRockies, Breck Epic (3rd Pro/Open women), Moab Rocks (1st Open Women), TransAndes (3rd Co-ed duo), Titan Tropic (1st Co-ed duo), and 4-Islands (3rd Co-ed duo). Over the years, Jen has worked with a small handful of excellent coaches.

Jen Hanks enjoys some airtime on her way to a win in the 2-person female event at 12-Hours of Mesa Verde.
Photo by: Barak Naggan High Desert Photography

Do you have a coach? Over the course of my (very long) cycling career, I have worked with a small handful of excellent coaches. I have learned a lot about effective training and how my body responds to training. Over the past year, I have continued my personal growth and became a certified USA Cycling coach. That, along with my lack of solid goals in part due to the pandemic, has resulted in me currently being self-coached.

If so: do you work with them year-round? In the past, when I worked with coaches, I would typically work with them year-round. Good coaches will build in some off-time throughout the year.

What do you feel are the biggest benefits to working with a coach? I can think of an entire laundry list of benefits of working with a coach. Personally, I never thought I struggled with accountability, however I am finding that as a self-coached athlete my workouts are becoming less and less structured. If my goal is to race to the best of my ability, this is probably not a good thing! Coaches are great for accountability. Having a coach also takes out the guess work and mental bandwidth required to create an effective personal training plan. With limited time between commitments, I would prefer leaving that to someone else and being able to give myself 100% to my workouts. When you have a good coach, you trust that they will have you prepared to the best of your ability for key events which increases confidence.

What do you look for in a coach? There are a few key things I look for in a coach such as being certified and invested in their careers through consistent continuing education. I also want a coach who believes in my goals but will be honest when perhaps they are not realistic. It is important to find a coach who works well with your personality whether that be to push you out of your comfort zone, encourage more rest, be a cheerleader, be tough, or just be kind. I look for a coach who will be flexible with their training program. Athletes don’t live in a bubble and training plans need to take into account other aspects of our lives.

What advice would you give to women racers who aren’t sure whether to invest in a coach? Women are predisposed (more than men) to overtraining and burn-out due to their unique physiologic make-up. Hiring a coach to create an effective, efficient training program is a great way to reach your personal goals.

If you don’t have a coach, what are the benefits/drawbacks to not working with a coach? I think it can be a good learning experience to be responsible for putting together your own training plan. It is fun to experiment with different workouts and your body’s response. However, if you are serious about improving and performing to the best of your potential, self-coaching may just be a good way to help you appreciate the services of a good coach!

Marlee Dixon: Mtbracenews.com professional mountain bike racer. Marlee has been racing for 10 years and has had many successful race results including 3x Firecracker 50 winner, previous 1st place finishes at 12 Hours of Mesa Verde, 12 hours of the Wild West, Aspen Power of 4, The Grand Traverse and True Grit 50.  

2020 True Grit 50

Have you worked with a coach? If so, how do you feel it’s benefited your racing? I have worked with a coach for most of my racing career.  At first, I didn’t want to work with a coach because I was nervous to trust anyone else with my training schedule and I wasn’t ready to make the monetary investment.  I often talked to other female racers and questioned if I needed a coach, how much it would cost, was it worth it, could I be a better racer if I had a coach? And who would I choose?

As other female racers have done before me, I first tried to schedule my training similar to the male racers that I knew.  I tried to follow their workload and often listened to their advice. It didn’t take long to figure out that this did not work for me. I was exhausted and I burned out fast. I was over-training and not taking important rest days. I was also not consistent with my training.  It was after I started finally working with a coach that I began to train consistently, my workouts were structured around my races and I had a training regimen that was met for me; a female athlete.

I feel the biggest benefit for me is accountability and the team aspect of working with a coach!  I often like to keep my schedule full and therefore I would miss workouts because I was busy with work, social life, etc.  Having a coach, especially one who kept me accountable, kept me on a consistent schedule every day.  I went into races having done the work and feeling confident in my fitness levels.  I also loved the dialogue with my coaches.  I felt like I always had someone on my side; cheering for me when I was doing awesome and also there to listen and offer advice when races didn’t go well.  When things didn’t go well, I was able to journal to my coach on training peaks and I learned more quickly from my mistakes because I was able to use their expertise and knowledge. 

What advice would you give to women racers who aren’t sure whether to invest in a coach? I’ve worked with a coach for 7 years and I feel it has been the best investment in my racing career.  It freed up my time so I didn’t have to think about my training instead I had a plan every day to follow and I didn’t have to prepare workout plans.  Coaches know more about training, statistics, workload, food, etc. than I do, so hiring a professional helped me to achieve my goals in ways that I wouldn’t have been able to do alone. Working with a coach also gave me confidence at races because I knew I had the fitness to race well. 

What do you look for in a coach? I look for someone who has either personally been an athlete at the top of their sport or has successfully trained athletes at the top of their sport.  This shows me that they understand how to get an athlete to perform their best and also that they have the experience and expertise to work with top athletes.  For the beginning of my racing career, I was lucky to work with Alison Powers.  She was my first mountain bike coach and she opened my eyes to the difference between men and women racers, she helped me feel empowered in my race training, she kept me accountable and always improving.  One of my favorite words of advice from her was, “you don’t make the same mistake twice!”.  These words among many other words of advice in our back-and-forth pages of notes on Training Peaks, helped me to dial in my training and race day goals. 

I think in general, finding a coach that you feel comfortable with and are able to easily talk to is very important.  There are many coaches out there so do research, interview different coaches and feel out who will help you most obtain your goals!  

NUE-Shenandoah 100Mile

The 23rd annual Shenandoah 100 is the oldest race in the NUE Epic Race Series held over Labor Day weekend in Stokesville, VA. Shenandoah now includes a 100k option of racing on Saturday and the classic 100 mile race on Sunday.

Early 630AM race start

Held within The George Washington National Forest of Virginia, Shenandoah marks the start of the fall season of the NUE Series with just a few races remaining that will determine this year’s champions. Shenandoah is a highly anticipated showdown showcasing top level talent in a festive atmosphere with most racers choosing to camp out at the Stokesville Lodge and campground which is included in registration.

Womens Open Toops with second NUE win

Women’s 100 M podium: 1st Jen Toops, 2nd Leila Husain, 3rd Laura Hamm, 4th Kaitlyn Maddox, 5th Lynn Faust

Making the trip down from Ohio, previous NUE marathon series winner Jen Toops (Pearl Izumi/ Pivot Cycles), took the top step with a time of 9:17:59. Toops now leads the 21 NUE epic series with a win at Mohican and second at Wilderness earlier this year .

” I’ve been signed up for Shenandoah for the past couple years but couldn’t make it for various reasons. I was very excited to finally make it down to VA and see what Shenandoah was all about. My brother Shane Cusick came to cheer and is a Shenandoah veteran so we spent race eve going over the course. Game plan: the “death climb” is tough so save some matches and ride my own race. Some jerk on Saturday threw tacks out on the beginning of course and I got one in my front and rear tires. Luckily Stans sealant did the job and I was still able to run my Maxxis ikons with no issues.

Toops navigates one of many water crossing

All the women were lined up together for start of the race in about 100th position. Julia and I rode most of the beginning gravel together and then I lost sight of her (turns out she had some tire issues and had to DNF). When the race entered the first singletrack there was a lot of Congo lines and hike a bikes. I think this helped in the long run by not burning too many matches in the beginning of the day. I continued to ride a steady pace, keep up on nutrition, and save plenty for the “death climb”. Then the moment of truth…. the so called death climb. Turns out what I envisioned was way worse than it actually was. The 17 mile death climb is long but never super steep and you even get some breaks here and there. I kept looking back and asking at aids if anyone knew time gap and no one knew. I just kept pushing a tolerable pace and ended up taking the win! Super excited to celebrate with my brother and Ohio crew that made it to the event. Sponsors: Pearl Izumi, Pivot cycles, Ergon, Fox, Maxxis, Stans, Scc, Honeystinger, Carborocket, Lazer. Next up in Marji Gesick in MI. ”

Putting in a lot of training this year for Shenandoah led to happy tears at the finish line for Leila Husain. She took second place with a time of 10:11:33.

An emotional finish for Leila Husain taking 2nd in the women’s 100 mile open

Laura Hamm made a weekend out of racing. She completed the 100k race on Saturday and also the 100 mile race on Sunday. Taking the Stan the woman award she finished the 100 mile in a time of 10:32:13.

Laura Hamm completed both the 100k and 100 mile races

Finishing fourth was, Kaityln Maddox with a time of 11:27:26 and Lynn Faust finished fifth in 13:03:03.

Mens Open- Johnson gets Shenandoah win

Previous NUE epic series and Shenandoah winner, Dylan Johnson took the overall 100 mile race with a finish time of 7:29:21.

Johnson leading 100 mile race

About 20 minutes back, Ian Schwing took second with a time of 7:50:34.

“My favorite race of all time had awaited me Sunday. The legs were fired up from the day before having my second collegiate race in UVA. 6:30am start is always majestic at sunrise with hundreds of people riding together in the woods. Fireworks and moves happened early and many people flatted. Worked my way through traffic until finally at the bottom of Tillman, found myself in the lead group, racing through almost 20 places. Dylan was already out of sight and put in what seemed like a death march of an attack for 90 miles, and nobody followed. Dropping into aid 3 only 3 of us were left in our group. On braileys decent, Jake got a flat and I rode passed him. A very very lonely death climb was ahead of me, and lonely it was. I shared a few miles with Bobby Lea before regaining the gap on Chestnut and hammered to the finish to ensure a second place.  Thank you to Flowformulas for all the support and fueling these massive efforts! Next big race on the calendar is a full collegiate season, collegiate nationals, and marathon nationals!”

Taking third place was Bobby Lea finishing about three minutes off second place with a time of 7:53:21. Fourth place went to Jimmy Klose crossing the line in 7:54:40. Hot on his heels was Heath Thumel just one minute back in 7:55:39. Bishop had mechanical issues and finished 14th.

Singlespeed- Holle with 3rd NUE SS win

Singlespeed 100M podium: 1st Justin Holle, 2nd Lance Byrd, 3rd Anthony Toops, 4th Patrick Blair, 5th Joe Fraas

The single speed division put on quite the show with the top three just four minutes apart. Making the trip from Colorado, Justin Holle, took the single speed win with a time of 8:07:51. With previous wins at High Cascades and Lumberjack he now leads the NUE epic singlespeed series.

Holle congratulating Toops after a close race

Just over a minute back, Lance Byrd took second in the singlespeed division with a time of 8:09:09.

“The Shenandoah 100 single speed division went full-dramatic in 2021.  The lineup contained multiple previous winners (Justin Holle and Patrick Blair) and 39 registered single speeders.  With a neutralized socially distanced mass start, the pace remained sane early, keeping every possibility alive.  Justin Holle (current NUE SS series leader) wouldn’t waste his premium starting position and led the entire field up the gravel climbs to the singletrack.  His confidence paid early dividends as Adventures for the Cure teammates Lance Byrd and Pat Blair were trapped behind a pileup that caused the first decisive split on mountain 1.
Furious chasing towards mountain 2 ensued.  Lance, Pat and Anthony Toops were hanging onto geared riders for dear life as those who were held up tried to bridge back to the leaders.  Pat Blair tried eating gravel at speed, with only a chipped tooth and the dust of his competitors to show for it.  He would fall further behind but wasn’t done!  Lance and Anothony attacked mountain 2.  Lance bridged to leader Justin Holle on mountain 2, ripping Wolfe descent.  The race was on.

Just a minute back, Bryd finishes second in SS. Look at those bars!

Lance and Justin joked that it would be a battle the rest of the day.  They marked each other over mountains 3 and 4.  They climbed similarly, Lance hiked and descended a little faster, Justin would repeatedly pedal him down and take control of the race.
Heading to The Death Climb of mountain 5 the stakes were raised… Anothony Toops bridged, Pat Blair (chipped tooth) bridged.  The top 4 single speeders entered The Death Climb together.  In slow motion they tested each other, some were faster on the steeps, others faster in the mud.  But, even another hour of brutal climbing couldn’t separate them by more than a few seconds.
Lance attacked the 5th and most epic descent.  It seemed to work.  There was no one in sight as he turned onto the gravel leading to the finale, mountain 6.  But Justin would not be denied.  He clawed Lance back on the roads, bridging just before the start of the climb.  The two were inseparable and they even discussed how this would play out.  They decided at the same time that Lance would attack near the top.  It seemed scripted, inevitable.  Justin responded to the final surge and then pulled away over the final kicker.  He ripped down the final descent, sealing his Shenandoah 100 and NUE SS series victory.”

Previous NUE marathon SS series winner, Anthony Toops (Paradise Garage) of Ohio took the third spot with a time of 8:12:01.

“What a race this turned out to be!  This was my first SS race since 2019 and I really didn’t know what would happen out there.  I went into the day with no expectations and no pressure other than riding hard and NO CRASHES!
The race started pretty easy and I just focused on my own race.  Justin Holle went off the front going into the first singletrack section and I wasn’t sure if I would see him again.  After I think aid two, I started to see a group up the road and it turned out to be a few geared and SS racers.  I latched onto them on a road section and from then on it was 4 SS racers battling it out for most of the day.
The pace was quick but there weren’t any all out attacks yet, just steady efforts to wear everyone down.  We were all anticipating fireworks on the death climb and everyone was riding really strong. Justin dropped back a little going into  aid 5 (mile 75) at the top and it was Lance, Patrick, and I together in and out of the aid.  I was wondering if he had cracked… but Lance quickly replied “He’s not gone yet. He always comes back!”.  Wouldn’t you know it; by the time  we were almost to the longest downhill of the day, here comes Justin! 
Lance was in the lead by about 25 yards and I had a small slide out in some mud so Justin went by going into the downhill(Chestnut).  I quickly popped back up and caught his wheel.  Patrick was in 4th and taking it easier on the downhills after a crash earlier in the race.  Justin and Lance were absolutely flying on the downhills and keeping their wheel was difficult since I was having some pretty bad hand cramping issues.  The legs were feeling strong but the hands couldn’t safely hold on so I had to back off and would loose some time going into aid 6 (mile 88).
At aid 6 I quickly grabbed a can of coke and got pedaling again.  Justin and Lance were just up the road about 200 yards. I spun like crazy and was closing the gap going into the final climb.  I was all in and went as deep as I could and almost caught them, but they put in a big attack before I could close the gap.  They would again gain some time on the final downhill and at this point I was yelling at my hands they hurt so bad!  At the line we would finish just a few minutes apart. 
This is the best battle and the most fun I’ve had in a 100mi race and couldn’t have asked for better competition on the day. Looking forward to doing it again at the Marji Gesick 100! Sponsors: Paradise Garage. Bike setup:Frame – Pivot LES size largeGearing – oval 32x19Tires – front Maxxis Aspen 3c exo 29×2.25, rear Continental Race King protection 29×2.2″

Rounding out the podium was Patrick Blair finishing fourth in 8:30:58. Fifth place went to Joe Fraas in 8:52:56.

Masters- Weaver gets win

Masters podium: 1st Dave Weaver, 2nd Eric Magnuson, 3rd Amir Matityahu, 4th Keith Papanicolas, 5th Garth Prosser

Taking the win in the Masters division was Dave Weaver (Rapha/Canyon) with a time of 8:43:05.

“Last week my rear hub cracked and a replacement never made it by Friday. My mtb shoes and helmet were still lost in shipping from the Last Best Ride in Whitefish, MT. So I threw my mtb in the car without a rear wheel along with my roadbike, in case I couldn’t race, I was just going to ride Reddish and camp out with  friends. Fortunately, Jeremiah came through with a loaner rear wheel Saturday afternoon! 

I’ve only done one other 100 miler and it was the SM100 in ‘19. I wasn’t prepared for the attrition and pain it took…and my bike setup was all wrong. My goal for Sunday was not to go out too hard on the first two climbs and stay between 10-15th overall hanging close to  Pat, Lance, and Anthony. It’s easy to get caught up in fast starts. The masters guys at this level are all very strong and know how to ride bikes in the backcountry-I knew Amir is leading the NUE Series, kept an eye on him early, and was able to pull ahead on the technical Lynn Trail climb, only to lose time to Dan Atkins on the decent-he’s fast. 

On the flats going into the Death Climb I hear Nathan and Jeremiah charging back calling my name, and was motivated to jump on that train the entire climb as I was seeing some dark moments. It was great to be with two friends on the worst climb of the day. I pulled ahead of Dan again only for him to drop me on the descent again. After a season of flat tires, I took it easy on all the downhills making sure I didn’t flat, or crash. Both are likely at the SM100. Hats off to Chris Scott, who always works hard putting together the best bike racing experiences for everyone! We’re fortunate to have beautiful places to race bikes and volunteers who put in their time to help make the race possible. I’ll definitely be back next year!”

About twenty minutes back was Eric Magnuson finishing second and crossing the line in 9:02:51.

“Taking my son on a college-campus tour through PA, DC, and VA, I figured I’d take a slight detour to race the Shenandoah 100. Glad I did. The course mixes a range of surfaces (rocks, dirt, gravel, and pavement) with suffer-inflicting climbs and smile-inducing descents. The result: a stellar MTB race. I finished where I finished (second place Masters) by pedaling with some luck and sticking to a run-of-the-mill plan, which consisted of going hard at the start; settling down to an all-day pace; and avoiding direct conflict with trees, boulders, and other hazards. There’s a band of people to thank, including family, friends, racers, race organizers, and volunteers. Special shout out to Riverside Cycle for all they do to keep my “lightly used” bikes in working order. Next up: something on the NUE 2022 calendar—perhaps True Grit.”

Only a minute back from second was, Amir Matityahu took third place in 9:04:12. In what looks like a sprint finish fourth place went to Keith Papanicolas in 9:04:14. After a broke derailleur Garth Prosser ran the last few miles finishing in 9:05:53.

Written by: @jentoops

Photos by: @Shenandoahmountaintouring

For full results CLICK HERE

Next up on the NUE Marathon Series is the Marji Gesick in Ishpeming, MI on September 18, 2021. See you all there!

12 Hours of Mesa Verde 2021

written by: Marlee Dixon

7:00am Le Mans Start at 12 Hours of Mesa Verde

Racing is back on in Colorado where the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde happened this past weekend.  After a year off, 2021 attracted over 750 racers! Located in Cortez, Colorado, the race course uses the popular and well-built Phil’s World trail system.  The course is 16.4 miles of fast flowy descents and technical climbs.  It is almost 100% single track and a classic Colorado race that attracts many local and non-local racers year over year. 

This year the weather was beautiful with warm sunny skies, a few dark clouds and wind gusts but over all very ideal temperatures.  Most competitors set up camp the night before the race, camping on the course, which creates a very inclusive event environment.  After a year of isolation, it was a great atmosphere to reconnect with friends and fellow racers!

Due to Covid the race started in one-minute waves this year with teams starting first, followed by duos and lastly solos.  At 7:00am the first racers began the run in the Le Mans start.  The first lap includes a longer road section at the start, allowing the fast duos and solos more time to pass the slower teams in front of them.

After a year of not racing for many people, this race brought out some very competitive racers in each category! A new course record lap was set for the fastest female time as well as a new QOM for Strava for the entire single-track race section of Phil’s world.  Melissa Rollins out of Salt Lake City had never ridden Phil’s World until the race weekend and is the fastest female Mesa Verde has seen! Even after hitting a tree and getting knocked off her bike she was able to crush the previous fastest lap time.  Rollins was part of a 3 person team and is looking forward to doing the race again next year. 

2021 Fastest Lap Time Winners

For the solo women Tam Donelson started out in the lead for the four laps followed by Chelsea Strate and Tami Taylor.  On lap 5 Strate moved into first place with Tami Taylor and Carly Bonwell behind her.  Strate continued in first for the rest of the race and commented, “After Lap 6 I was informed that I was now in 1st, and I had 10 minutes left to start a 7th lap, so I went for it, also not knowing where the next rider behind me was. I was stoked to smash my original goal of 6 laps with 7, and winning was the icing on the cake. I learned after I crossed the finish line that I did 2 laps more than 2nd place, but I don’t regret getting those extra laps on the sweet, sweet Phil’s World single-track because that course was a blast!” 

Chelsea Strate from Minneapolis, MN rode to the Women’s solo victory Photo: Courtesy naggan.com

For the solo men it was a very tight race between Josh Tostado, Truman Glasgow and Sam Vickery.  Glasgow came in first after the first lap but then broke his chain.  Tostado took the lead but Vickery caught up and passed Tostado in the next few laps.  Tostado and Vickery raced neck in neck for the rest of the day until Vickery crashed and damaged his deraileur.  Tostado took the lead in the 2nd to last lap and won the race.  Glasgow caught Vickery after his crash and finished 2nd, less then one minute ahead of Vickery (3rd place).  Tostado beat all his previous records on the course, finishing 8 laps in under 11 hours.  When asked how the race went, he commented, “I had to dig deep to keep up with the young guys!”

Men’s Solo Podium