Wear Sunscreen

Don't ride hard, ride fast.

Within these wise words lied what I told myself over and over this last weekend in Fruita during the 2nd Mountain States Cup race. As simple as it may sound, it's certainly more difficult to follow through with that advice when in the throws of a mountain bike race. Told to me by good friend Josh on the drive out to the Western Slope, those words were the winning ingredient on Sunday.

It seems that when Brad Bingham (the Brad from Steamboat Springs) toes the line at a race with me, we're doing battle - one way or another! Brad's unbelievable talent on a mountain bike makes him a feared competitor, but his friendly nature makes him a likable guy. When the dust settled on the first 10 miles of the race and Brad and I were alone, I knew it was going to get tough. He's got huge power and insane bike handling skills. One of the things I learned from this winter was to take confidence into a power course. For me, that's new because I've been labeled a climber my whole cycling career. Well, I managed to turn myself into more of a well-rounded rider through the AIC. After some good miles of back-and-forth racing, I found myself alone - and in the lead! 'Don't ride hard, ride fast!'

Benefiting from a couple big races around the country the same weekend and good preparation, I was able to win my first Mountain States Cup XC as a pro. Couldn't be happier - and to do it in front of some new teammates (and team manager Len!) it was made much sweeter. Thanks to Honey Stinger, Trek, AIC, Bontrager, et al, for all the support.



I woke up that morning with great legs and a good mind. It's a long season, so I know I need to take this in, and then get back to the business of staying focused. I can't stress enough how important it is to set yourself up so you wake up with confidence.

Thanks for reading!

km

Hello. My name is . . .

Kelly Magelky, and this is my first blog entry, after my first race of the year, and after my first winter training with AIC. I've been racing mountain bikes as a pro since 2006 - and I've spent most of those years racing for Trek Bicycles. Over this last winter, I joined the Honey Stinger/Trek Off-Road team and I sometimes, still, can't believe how fortunate I am.

I think we all can agree that waking up in the morning and hearing birds chirping - especially after a long winter - is an absolute great feeling. However, one of the things I do like about the winter is that I can hand craft the foundation of my upcoming race season. In the past, this included many hours on the trainer, many hours in the cold mountains, and countless moments of the 'fire-pain' that you feel when your fingers and toes start to thaw! My good friend and roommate, George Mullen, introduced me to Kevin and Jonathan at AIC as he saw an opportunity to help me improve my winter preparations. Well, this turned out to be a huge oppportunity...

I also own a small business that keeps me traveling worldwide throughout the year, so I'm basically trying to hit a moving target - all the time. If you're bored, here's a sample of what we do.

The program that was designed for me has really changed the game for my training. I've been to France, Belgium, Colombia, Italy, back to France and Belgium, and recently Spain - all since December! And I can honestly say that I am measurably more fit coming into a season than I have been in the past. (and without the usual number of cold rides!) One thing I feel confident in saying is that I'm not scared to do the work - in fact I love it. I've heard comments that maybe I ride my bike too much. Well, maybe the trips overseas were a good thing, but I do know that the workouts I was prescribed to do while I was traveling certainly upped the game for me.



So, the first race yesterday... I felt great. (although my technical skills disappeared - maybe due to lack of sleep?) I think this was the best opening race I've had and I know that when I get the first few starts under my belt, I'm ready to take aim at the big goals of the year - and most importantly, have a ton of fun.

Thanks for reading.

km

Starting with AIC

This is my intro post--I'll keep it short and sweet!  I'm Nick Frey, professional racer with Jamis Sutter Home, and owner of Boo Bicycles.  I've done some good things in the sport of cycling, but I have a lot farther to go, and I've decided to start working with Kevin and Jonathan at the Athletic Improvement Center to help me get there.

Jon's told me the goal with this blog is not to simply write self-serving promotional crap about AIC, and I was happy to hear that.  This is a little soapbox for me and some other professionals to write about our races, our training, our season, and anything else that might interest other current and potential AIC clients.

Personally, I plan to use this blog to detail my experience with AIC.  I'm one of the last pro/elite riders in Fort Collins to jump on the bandwagon, as it seems every fast guy works with Kevin and Jon! I understand the potential benefit and believe the other athletes and friends who have been with AIC for a while now.  So I'm going in with an open mind and motivation to make the most of the service.

I hope you can read some of these posts and gain a better idea of what AIC actually does--not just boring "I threw a bunch of kettle balls and sat up until I couldn't sit up any more." kinda stuff--but actually going into the theory and methodology behind off-the-bike training to get fast on the bike.  Of every aspect of the sport that I've delved into, this is probably the one area I have totally neglected.

So thanks for reading, I'll make sure future posts have smiling or grimacing photos or videos :)

Coming soon..