If you are not one of the hundreds of Wattbike owners who have the secret weapon which
allows you to monitor not only your cadence, HR and Power but the effectiveness of
your pedaling technique tucked away in your garage, there are now plenty of cycling
training studios and gyms around the country where you can engage in some serious
indoor training. In this post I will introduce the various places where you can go and
be tested on or engage in structured indoor cycling classes on a Wattbike throughout
winter.

Over the coming weeks we will look at each venue in a little mote detail and interview
some of the participants and cycling coaches who are using the Wattbike to improve
their cycling performance.

For now you will find a brief introduction to each facility along with the suburb they
are located in and up to three ways of finding out more with their website, facebook
page or twitter details.

Victoria

Rebecca McConnell an ex Pro rider and Giro Stage Winner offers customised cycle
coaching over a 12 week block. The first Wattbike studio in Australia, her athletes
have found immense gains with some moving from D Grade to A Grade in one block.
Situated in Black Rock, just down from the infamous Clock Tower where the Hell Ride
participants meet every Saturday morning.

http://www.velocino.com.au/

http://www.facebook.com/velocino

@VelocinoBayside

Sam Stapleton and Sarah Hammond provide energy and excitement in the largest Wattbike
Studio in the world with 31 Wattbike’s across 2 venues. Check out their North Fitzroy
venue across from Crino Cycles on Nicholson Street.

http://www.thespinroom.com.au/

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_113301535506&ap=1

@The_Spinroom

Tucked away in Murrumbeena behind Herb’s Fuel Performance Bicycle Mechanic Workshop, Andrew Robinson from Stompa cycling blends a sport science background and 22 years of racing into developing the “underdog”. He provides exceptional advice and structured training on everything from Road themed Wattbike group ergo sessions to coaching, power profile, power data analysis and interpretation, Lab Testing and Biomechanical analysis of Bike Fit. Limit of 12 riders per session.

@StompaCycling

http://www.stompa.cc/

Another former professional cyclist with an overall Tour win at the 2001 Amalgamated
Tours of Delta and White Rock in Canada, Helen, along with her husband Bob Kelly are
heavily involved in the sport of cycling nurturing and training some of the rising
juniors. They have Lactate Testing available on the Wattbike in Macleod.

http://kellycycling.com.au/

Each of the below leisure centers throughout Geelong have at least one or two
Wattbike’s on their gym floor for general use.

http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/leisure/venues/item/splashdown.aspx

http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/leisure/venues/item/leisurelink.aspx

http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/leisure/venues/item/waterworld.aspx

Jai Forster knows how to get results for both himself and his clients the 2009 and
2010 ITU 30-34 Age Group Sprint Triathlon champion has just opened a larger premises
in Canterbury Rd, Canterbury now equipped with 6 Wattbike’s and the TRX Suspension
Training System.

http://www.unlimitedpersonaltraining.com.au/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Unlimited-Personal-Training/36261763843?ref=ts&sk=info

@UnlimitedPT

Queensland

With over 30 years of competitive cycling experience and now a cycle coach to some of
Australia’s rising stars Peter Richards can bring about astounding cycling improvement
using a combination of Wattbike data and his knowledge. John “Jack” Anderson, 2010 2nd
place getter to Cameron Meyer used the Wattbike with Peter to shave 22seconds off of
his 5km TT in the lead up to the 2010 Australian Open Road Championships and is now riding
for a European Pro Team. If reaching the pinnacle in your sport is your goal check out
Teco Training.

http://www.tecotraining.com.au/

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=259444239511

@tecotraining

Iain Sherrin of Ontic Sports is one of only 3 venues in South East Queensland to have
an ATS Altitude Chamber available for the general public. He has also equipped the
chamber with 4 Wattbike Trainers so that you can get the altitude and performance data
feedback as used by Cycling’s elite like Robbie McEwen. Ontic is able to cater for all
users and can use the Altitude chamber to enhance fat loss through an increased
metabolic rate both during and post workout.

http://onticsports.com.au/

Sharon Kearney of Reclaim PT is based in Rockhampton and offers personal training to
her clients in an aid to reach their goals. With her Wattbike she offers personalised
Cycling Training to improve your pedaling technique.

http://reclaimpt.com.au/

New South Wales

Bikelab is Sydney’s newest metabolic testing facility and Ergo Studio based in Bondi
Junction. It’s available to everyone from elite athletes and fitness fanatics to
individuals who just want to become fitter, faster and stronger. Bikelabs’ technology
is designed to improve technique and produce results within a third of the time – e.g:
an hour on one of our specialized Watt bikes is equivalent to cycling for three hours
outdoors.

http://www.bikelab.com.au/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/BarBici-BIKEBARBONDI/182864265093780/

@BIKEBAR

Wattbike’s newest indoor cycling Studio based in the Sydney suburb of Rozelle with 15
Wattbike Trainer’s and 5 Wattbike Pro’s they are offering 2 weeks of free classes to
kick off June 2011. Get along to kick start your winter training.

http://www.velofix.com.au/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Velofix/111301168928445

One of the great things about being part of the Wattbike community is seeing Tweets and Facebook updates telling us how much people have beaten their personal bests by on a Wattbike, or better still telling us how much faster they have gone in a race, a sportive or a triathlon after a good block of training on a Wattbike.  This kind of sharing of experiences and training data is the kind of stuff that gets us out of bed in a morning and puts a smile on our face.

With that in mind we want to make sure you're conencted in all the right places with us - whether it be here on the blog, on Facebook, Twitter or through our Newsletter.

We recently took on one of the Three Legs Cycling DVDs featuring World Champ Mark Cavendish (purely for research purposes!) and liked them so much that we thought we'd give a few away in a competition.  The workouts are hard enough as it is so we won't tax you any more by asking difficult questions.

To be in with the chance of winning a Sprinting/Road Race bundle or a Time Trial/Climbing bundle all you need to do is make sure you're hooked up with us on Twitter, Facebook and subscribed to our Newsletter

For every place you're connected with us, you'll get an entry into the draw - so triple your chances with just a couple of clicks!

We'll pick the winners out at the end of March - Good luck!

The boring stuff...aka Terms and Conditions

1. This Prize Draw is open to all, excluding employees of Wattbike Limited, or any of its subsidiary companies, their families, agents or anyone else connected with this promotion. No third party entries, bulk entries or entries submitted by agents will be accepted. Wattbike reserves the right to verify the eligibility of entrants. Wattbikemay require such information as it considers reasonably necessary for the purpose of verifying the eligibility of an entry and the prize may be withheld until and unless Wattbike is satisfied with the verification.

2. The winners will be selected at random from all eligible entries received. Each winner will be notified within a reasonable time after March 31st 2012 either by email, Direct Message on Twitter or Private Message on Facebook. The prize is awarded conditionally upon acceptance and if a winner is unable to be contacted after a reasonable period or if any prize is unclaimed or declined within a reasonable period, the prize shall be deemed as unclaimed or unaccepted and a supplementary winner may be drawn at Wattbike's discretion.

3. Wattbike's decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

4. This promotion is governed by English Law and is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

5. The promoter of this Prize Draw is Wattbike Limited, Vermont House, Nottingham South & Wilford Ind. Est., Wilford, NG11 7HQ.

Download CrossFit Training Guide PDF

The AIS building in Varese is one of the highest spec fitness and testing facilities in the world and of course, has a number of Wattbikes.  Take a look at the video below to get an insight into what it takes to produce a world class cycling team.

Due to a technical error with the SBS website, you'll need to scroll down in the window below to see the video...

For Jen it was the first time she had mixed it up with senior riders and put in an impressive performance.  Jen tells us: "I've been training hard and raced as an U19 for the first time at the Oceania track champs. I had some success, coming 2nd in the scratch race and 8th in the combined women & U19 points race, finishing as the 2nd under-19 girl."

On competiing with the seniors, it was clear that Jen felt right at home: "It was a huge buzz racing with the New Zealand elite riders for the first time and I enjoyed all the racing immensely. I was pleased that I didn't feel out of place in the racing despite it being my first time at that level."

Jen has been training on a Wattbike for some time now and is a huge fan, she said: "These results wouldn't have been possible without the training opportunities provided by the Wattbike.  I proudly wear the Wattbike kit on both the track and road because I really do believe that it's one of the best training tools available."

Jen's coach, Stewart Morley, has been impressed with level of support from Wattbike and told us: "Being on the other side of the world from where the Wattbike originated made me think hard and long about whether it was going to be difficult to get the backup and support that we would have from a local supplier, particulary if things should go wrong.  But I'm glad that we made the decision to jump on board with what is turning out to be an effective and a necessary tool to help Jen with her cycling."

We look forward to keeping up with Jen's progress.

We often say this, but it never loses its importance or meaning to us, we're proud to support women's cycling at all levels.

Note: If you're in New Zealand and want to contact our local distributor please go to http://wattbike.com/nz/

Jimmy reckons that ‘the Wattbike is by far the best training tool I have. Working as a firefighter full time as well as living 2.5 hrs from the nearest track I rely heavily on it to compete at level I do. It is a super stable platform with very realistic resistance. The information you get is unbelievable’.

He had a Wattbike workout already recorded from the day before for Eddie to look at, a punishing 2 set workout, the first set (seated starts) of 3 x 5 second sprints, a 10 second sustained power sprint and a 20 second sustained power sprint (seated starts), the second set (standing start) 3 x 5 second sprints, 20 second sustained power sprint and a 40 second sustained power sprint.

First set was on air resistance 6 and the second set on air resistance 8 – don’t try this workout at home!

Awesome leg speed and power output on the 5 second sprint sections of the workout topping out at over 2000 W and cadence of close to 170 rpm on each one

His pedalling technique is also awesome and Eddie identified some small improvements which Jimmy could make to get those all so important marginal gains.

Eddie then got Jimmy to do the Wattbike 20 minute cadence based warm up on air resistance level 1. During the first ‘rev out’ Jimmy set a record 214 rpm with peak power of 2069 W (unless any of our readers know a higher figure - and remember this is at air resistance level 1).

Truly awesome!

Jimmy’s comment ‘the leg speed warm up you had me do today is definitely harder than I normally warm up. But I hit the highest watts I ever have on that setting so I guess it’s my standard warm up now’.

We will be working with, and tracking Jimmy’s progress through to London 2012. Watch out for regular updates.

Jimmy is competing in the Pan Am Games later in October and there will be an opportunity to see him in London at the World Cup Track event in February 2012.

You can add your own peak power scores (along with a whole host of other distances) on our Wattbike Rankings system - word of caution though, please make sure you are sufficiently warmed up before doing a peak power test.

We also received this video from Falcons via their excellent Falcons TV YouTube channel, it features Andrew van der Heijden, aka Vanders, doing a Wattbike session. We’re pretty sure that he is grimacing and NOT smiling towards the end of the session and you can literally feel the thighs burning as you watch it. Thanks Vanders!

Carla recently sent us these photos of her training on her Wattbike…

The event is based out of the beautiful lakeside town of Annecy in the Savoie and the scenery and riding is breathtaking every day. We’ll have a couple of guys at the event next week so check the blog to see how they’re getting on. Three are some stunning climbs on this year’s Alpine Challenge route and combined with superb hospitality it really is shaping up to be a fantastic event.

Speaking about The Alpine Challenge, HotChillee director Sven Thiele is extremely pleased with the route that his HotChillee team have put together, an event which will once again take in some of the greatest bike riding country in the world, he states:

“We are very proud of what we believe to be one of the best ever routes that HotChillee has designed for one of our events. We were overcome by the response to the inaugural event in 2010, and people genuinely felt that the challenging environment and the event logistics made the event feel very much like a Continental stage race. Riders meet many new friends and riding partners, they create new business contacts and they all share a real passion for cycling.”

“There are no barriers to mixing and interacting and many participants of our events have become very close to all of the HotChillee events team. Annecy is a great hub for the event too, and is a beautiful part of the world to enjoy cycling and leisure time. With some great attractions and stunning places to stay we are encouraging participants to make this a family affair and bring their loved ones to enjoy this super Alpine environment. Overall we have a superb event planned for 2011, and feel that The Alpine Challenge will surpass people’s expectations once again”.

Follow our trip to The Alpine Challenge here on the blog and via Twitter

Oli Beckingsale, elite XC mountain biker, crashed a couple of weeks ago in the UCI MTB World Cup in the Czech Republic, we’d heard about it on Oli’s Twitter feed first and, injected with a bit of humour, was the sad fact that he was going to be out of action for quite a while.

We’ll let him give you the background…

Hello

Life, sport and bike racing is a mix of highs and lows. After the high of my 9th place at the European Champs (my best result for 3 yrs) I came crashing down to a massive low only a week later at the sixth round of the World Cup in the Czech Republic.

The race was great with big crowds, well organised and a super tough course, which featured tough steep climbs, technical descents and lots and lots of roots. The Elite men were down for 8 laps and I knew this was going to be one of the most physical races of the year.

I pushed to move up on the start loop and took a few risks, one of which did not pay off as I hit a huge rock taking an off-piste line. The tire did not go completely but went to 10PSI and required a quick CO2 inflation. This meant i came round lap one mid pack in 70th. The legs were good though and by the end of lap 5 I was up to 32nd and going forward.

Then near the end of lap 6 things went wrong in a big way. On a flat rooty part of the course my front wheel slipped out and I went down. It’s the type of crash I have had a thousand times but luck was not on my side and I landed with my full weight on my hip onto a large tree root.

I never experienced pain like it as I dragged myself off the track. After a painful trip to hospital and an x-ray it turned out that I have fractured the neck of my femur, in other words I have snapped the ball of my hip joint of my leg!!!

Its a bad injury but I am lucky as there was a complete break but everything stayed in place and the hip did not dislocate. I was operated on that night and they pinned and plated the joint.

My Dad stepped up and flew out on the Monday to help me, which was fantastic, as being on a Czech hospital ward, language issue, dealing with the insurance company and being generally worried would have been far more challenging on my own.

I managed to get home to the UK on Saturday and go to a UK hospital. The consultant was happy with the work they had done in Czech and now I can begin to recover and rehab. Basically this involves 6 weeks on crutches with no weight on the bad leg and then another 6 weeks working up to full weight. I have exercise to do but no riding for 12 weeks!

At least it is almost the end of the season , I have only missed 4 races and like they say if it does not kill you it makes you stronger..

Photos are of me in hospital looking positive and a nice shot of some metal work ( i hope they put titanium in there!)

Thanks for the support

Oli

We’d like to wish Oli a speedy recovery from all of the Wattbike community - you can send Oli your own best wishes via Twitter. He”ll be using a Wattbike to aid his recovery once he’s allowed to pedal again and we’ll be catching up with him via a video blog to see how it’s going.

To help you alleviate these problems we’ve recently added a new ‘Bike Fit’ section to the website which shows you how to set up your Wattbike perfectly; you’ll then be able to transfer these settings over to your road setup to maximise the benefits of your indoor training.

First thing you’ll need to do is ensure the Wattbike is level on the floor - there are adjustable feet which turn easily to change the height - and get your saddle parallel to the floor. There is a specific order in which to make changes to the Wattbike in order to get the best position, so get the saddle position sorted first and then look to get your handlebars in the correct position.

It’s best if you have a partner to help you assess your position by dropping a plumb line from the elbow, through the inside of the knee and finally it should bisect the pedal spindle. If you don’t have a plumb line then you could always tie something small and heavy to a piece of string (multi-tools are good!).

These are just the general guidelines, to get the detail from our sport scientist, Eddie Fletcher, see the fantastic Bike Setup section on the website.

I’ll be reassessing my riding position this evening in preparation for the 3 Minute Aerobic Test.

It’s been a busy past few months since my last update. After taking a few weeks off work to train, in April I did TriStar Mallorca. Thanks to my regular Wattbike sessions the day before the race I rode the 50k course familiarisation loop with several pros (who of course were riding at an easy pace for us normal human beings). I am proud to say that by the end of the loop not only was I the only non-pro girl still in the group but one of only five that managed to keep up. Yeah!

I’ll focus on the bike leg of my races as it relates more directly to my training sessions with the Wattbike. Given I’m not the most impressive runner, I depend on having a strong swim and bike to give me a little more lead time on the girls that are better runners than me. In the TriStar Mallorca race the bike leg was 100km long (run was 10km long) and there was one steep 6km hill we had to do twice. I managed to keep a good strong pull despite some mechanical difficulties which meant I was stuck in one of my more challenging gears. Ultimately I finished 3rd in my age group as the bike gave me enough of a lead to hold off the other women on the shorter run.

A few short weeks after TriStar, I competed in the inaugural Mallorca 70.3. The race is in very familiar territory around Port Pollenca where I’ve ridden several times in the last few years. I know the route and the 10km hill (there is only one long hill on the course) went well and I felt comfortable racing on my tri-bike. Although I only came in 13th in my age group out of 59, my bike was strongest sector and if I had been 4 minutes faster in my run leg (and/or cut that time out of my transitions) I would have come in the top 5 in my category.

The bike course splits were at the 35.5km, 70.4km and 90k points. The 35.5km split was at the top of the long hill, and I was very excited to learn that out of the 219 non pro women competing in the race, my time in the first bikesplit was good enough for 19th place out of the 219 demonstrating my power up the hill. In the second 35km split, I was 39th out of 219 which is still reasonable but can be explained by my hesitation to descend the 10km hill at full blast and taking risks. Over the final 20km flat sector into the wind, I was 28th out of the 219 non pro women. Overall I was the 22nd fastest non pro woman on the bike compared to the 25th and 45th fastest on the swim and run respectively.

My biggest feat of the year was Ironman Nice, this was my first ever Ironman and a huge challenge as its known for having the toughest ride profile of all the Ironman race series. I spent a lot of time after work on my Wattbike and even more hours on my bike outdoors over the weekends trying to emulate same power on the road. Ultimately on race day I had the most fun I’ve ever had on a bike course – I got everything right, the amount of training, the nutrition, etc. I also had one of the stronger bike splits in my age group and this was despite the 36 degree weather which I had no way of preparing for being a UK resident! In Nice, I was the 7th fastest woman in my age group out of the 29 that finished the race.

More recently I did the Hyde Park Triathlon – I will definitely be doing it again next year as the race organisers did an excellent job. The day of the race I was still recovering from a bad cold, but I rode my tri-bike fresh with brand new Hed3 wheels and managed to rank 19th out of 183 other lady racers in the bike leg. I was pleased with this as I’ve been more focused on distance training rather than shorter power sprints and because I lost a lot of time in the turn around points (there were 5 laps which translated into 10x 180 degree turn around points) which are not exactly fun on a stiff tri-bike with toe overlap.

Finally, this past weekend I raced in the Germany 70.3 Ironman. Before I get into my race performance I have to say that I had hugely underestimated how tough the bike course would be as the race profile didn’t look too intimidating. I therefore made the very novice mistake of only taking 2 gels and one energy bar – what I’d usually take on a milder, relatively flat course. I had a great start to the ride, it was the first time I’ve felt able to push the pace since the Nice Ironman in June, and I stayed with the faster riders.

Around 40k I was getting worried because I had already gone through the two gels I had brought. I was holding off on eating the energy bar because I forgot to open the wrapper before the race and knew I’d loose time playing with the foil. At 70k I could tell I was losing power and some of the girls I put behind me early in the race were starting to catch up. I waited too long, and with the rainy weather I dropped the energy bar on what was a pretty steep hill.

At that point I had no intention of getting off my bike to get it – thinking of the time I’d loose - and in retrospect it turned out to be an enormous mistake. My fate? I suffered through the last 20k on the bike and my legs were shaking as I descended down the huge hill back into Wiesbaden – not an ideal way to start a 21k run. So a note to all those reading this – even a well tuned car won’t go anywhere if you don’t put fuel in the tank. So despite having a great coach like Michelle, a great training tool like Wattbike, and a great training partner like my boyfriend, if you don’t get your nutrition right you might as well stay in bed – in a longer race it will make or break your performance.

Thanks for the update Christy! Don’t forget we have our free Triathlon Winter Training Plan if you’re looking to take the next step in your own training.

So when Mark Bitcon, Head of Sport Science at Wigan Warriors rugby league club, let us get hold of his ‘Cards of Death’ (as seen on one our earlier visits) we pleaded with him to let us share them with the Wattbike community…and in an instance he said yes. It’s these kind of sessions which are helping Wigan Warriors to have one of their best seasons ever, they currently sit at the top of the Engage Super League and are in the final of the Carnegie Challenge Cup

The cards provide a lot of motivation for the players as they are of varying intensity although no player escapes the toughest workout as the cards are rotated so that each player completes each one.

Thanks to Mark for sharing these sessions. Remember these are completed by professional rugby league players under the watchful eye of a pro coach; we recommend you take a look at our free Training Guide to work out the kinds of resistance and cadence you should be working at when undertaking sessions on a Wattbike.

Download the cards in printable form here (PDF)

It’s fair say that Ian’s a perfect example of how putting in a tremendous amount of work and focus into your training will often not only reap the results you want but also at times exceed them. Ian is meticulous in planning his training, whether it be out on the road or indoors on his Wattbike.

I asked Ian, as a road rider, what he is mainly using his Wattbike for and how exactly it is helping him to gain the edge on his competition. It was no surprise to hear that the miserable weather we’ve experienced in Europe this summer has meant that his Wattbike is getting some serious use. Ian also shares one of his ‘favourite training sessions below which is well worth giving a try. Here’s what he had to say:

During the racing season the Wattbike is the best training tool; when I’m racing up to 4 times a week and riding in week-long tours every couple of months training on the Wattbike fits perfectly into my European racing calendar.

My training is based around the power aspect of the Wattbike. Using the power readings on the Performance Computer I can safely smash out my efforts at 100% without risking myself with traffic and the numerous other hazards on the road. This isn’t the best bit either; the weather is also very temperamental in Europe, and with any sign of rain I’m straight on the Wattbike without the risk of catching a cold or crashing in the rain.

My training is done in 2 segments each day, Either 2 sessions on the road or one on the Wattbike and another on the road. These are called split days and enable me to train at a higher level without suffering from high levels of fatigue. The benefits of having a Wattbike means that I can train at any time of the day without having to worry when it is dark, cold or windy.

My least favourite type of effort on the Wattbike is called a 20/10; I say least favourite because it hurts…A LOT! This is 20 seconds at high watts, then 10 seconds at lower watts, repeated for 4 minutes, 3 times. Ouch!

This effort represents the changes in speed during a race and enables my legs to get used to this race-type lactate period and helps my aerobic system to adjust as well.

Wattbike has been fantastic in supporting me and it’s great to be able to use a Wattbike very day of the week.

Look forward to keeping up with your progress Ian. Thanks for sharing one of your training sessions with us.

The email comes from Walter Thorburn, two-time New Zealand Half Ironman Champion and 2009 World Age Group Champion, he’s got over 28 years experience of racing with 6 years of this internationally - you could say Walter has been there and done it when it comes to competing at the highest level. He’s now coaching elite triathletes through his own coaching company, Go2Max. I’ll let Walter tell you what he thinks of the Wattbike in his own words:-

When a Wattbike brochure came across my desk I thought: “Cool, great idea!” but then proceeded to carry on with what I was doing anyway. Fast forward a few months and athletes in the local bike shop were raving about what they were achieving with the Wattbike, about the improvements they were getting and also that crucially, their improvements were directly transferring to the races they were competing in.

Never being one to ever let new ideas slip by me should there be a nugget of useful information, I decided to research it and see what potential it may have for what I do and how it might improve my systems as a coach.

So what are the benefits of using the Wattbike, and why it is (in my eyes) different from others stuff out there? I liked the idea that I could finish a workout and was able to get a full data screen of information on the session right away. Being able to track everything from heart rate, power, cadence and the effectiveness of my pedalling is a major advantage training wise.

The idea of the bike self-charging when you are riding is great. Also, not needing to calibrate it every time for accurate watts before using it is another reason I am passionate about using this bike. It has to be easy and this ergometer certainly is! Secondly, the Pro Trainer offers higher resistance levels than other indoor trainers, which was particularly important for myself as an athlete, but also for the purposes of coaching. I have athletes who range from beginner to national champions.

Maybe the greatest driving force in my decision to purchase a Wattbike was how it felt to ride. For an indoor trainer it is important to me that I want to get on this in all weathers and enjoy the experience replicating the exact feel of the pedal as if I was on the road. The same experience I like the athletes to have when I am doing any number of tests with them.

Because the Wattbike to me feels like a real bike I find myself very often “just riding” it as if I was on the road without following a special workout. However, one of my personal favourite workouts is the following:

• Warm-Up 15 minutes above 90 rpm slowly increasing watts to my aerobic threshold in last 5 minutes.
• 5 x 3 minutes, between 80-90 rpm @ aerobic threshold focusing on best watts with an easy 1 minute recovery.
• 5 x 2 minutes, between 80-90 rpm @aerobic threshold focusing on best watts with an easy 1 minute recovery.
• 5 x 1 minute, at 90 rpm @aerobic threshold focusing on best watts with an easy 1 minute recovery.
• Warm-Down 15 minutes above 90 rpm.

I can honestly say that I have not ridden a better indoor trainer, and can only recommend it to any athlete ranging from weekend warrior to elite.

Thanks Walter, we’ve just about stopped blushing here in the office after all that praise and thanks for sharing one of your training sessions, I’m sure the Wattbike community will want to have a crack at that one!

Just 365 days to go the London 2012 Olympic Games so we thought it would be interesting to take a look at the track cycling events and (boldly/foolishly) make some predictions. We don’t know which riders will be selected for which event so we’ll have to wait and see as the track season pans out to adjust our selections. Feel free to add your own comments in the box at the bottom of this page, we’d love to hear what you think…bookmark this page and come back in 12 months!

Team Sprint

Women – This event wasn’t on the schedule in Beijing 2008 but recent results from the World Cup and World Championships suggest that the medals will be shared between Australia, Great Britain, China and France. Great Britain’s chances rely on the lead off for Victoria Pendleton who is arguably the fastest sprinter in the World but as a complete package we can’t see past the Australian’s taking the Gold medal. China has been improving dramatically in recent years and could well spring a surprise.
Gold – Australia, Silver – Great Britain, Bronze – China

Men – Likely to be a real highlight of the track programme in London, the Men’s Team Sprint will be a gladiatorial battle between France, Great Britain and Germany. On show will the best of the rest (riders) who were unable to compete in the individual event due to the new UCI ‘one rider per nation’ rule as well as the stars of Sprint and Keirin. There have been some real tussles between Great Britain and France over the last decade and the pendulum has swung towards France over the last few seasons. Germany have firmly established themselves as one of the top three nations in the team sprint and we conclude that these nations will take the medals.
Gold – France, Silver – Great Britain, Bronze – Germany

Team Pursuit

Women – Great Britain have a fantastic pool of talent for this event and we think this is one of their best hopes of a medal in the velodrome. The World Record Holders from the United States will push the British squad every inch of the way and could perhaps just pip GB to the line. The New Zealand team, like their male counterparts, have made great gains over the last couple of years in this discipline showing real consistency and are most likely to join GB and USA on the podium.
Gold – Great Britain, Silver – United States, Bronze – New Zealand

Men – Dominated by Great Britain in recent years, we think 2012 will see a credible challenge to GB’s dominance by a young and highly talented Australian team. With two of the GB Pursuit team holding Tour de France ambitions it remains to be seen who will double-up and take part in the Grand Tour and the Olympics. Young riders like individual pursuit world record holder, Jack Bobridge, have helped the Australian team close the gap on Great Britain and it’s likely we’ll see a world record breaking performance from one of these nations. Denmark were showing themselves as a nation to be reckoned with in the team pursuit but seem to have dropped away recently with New Zealand showing serious ambitions in the event. As it stands, we think Australia will edge out Great Britain in the final.
Gold – Australia, Silver – Great Britain, Bronze – New Zealand

Sprint

Women - two words ‘Anna Meares’, she spent much of the 2010/11 season standing on top of the podium and we think she’ll move on again from this to dominate the 2011/12 season through to the Olympics. Great Britain’s Victoria Pendleton and China’s Guo Shuang might well challenge Meares but we really can’t see either of these coming away with Gold. The podium spots very much depend on the draw and performannce of athletes in the earlier rounds but we think Shuang could well be up against Meares in the Final.
Gold - Anna Meares, Silver - Guo Shuang, Bronze - Victoria Pendleton

Men – a rule change from Beijing 2008 means that each nation will now only have 1 rider in each event. For nations like France and Great Britain this causes a headache as they could well have secured all four spots in the semi-finals. It’s likely that Kévin Sireau will go for France and we think Jason Kenny will head up the GB effort in the Sprints (leaving Chris Hoy to take on the Keirin). Germany’s Maximilian Levy has placed himself in a great position amongst the world’s stop sprinters and along with Teun Mulder of the Netherlands he could well make the Final with a kind draw.
Gold – Jason Kenny, Silver – Kevin Sireau, Bronze – Teun Mulder

Omnium

Women – Sarah Hammer of the United States and Tara Whitten of Canada look likely to be battling it out for Gold in London with both athletes illustrating the required consistency across all events in the Omnium. Sarah Hammer, as World Record holder in the individual 3km pursuit, is highly likely to win that part of the Omnium, while Tara Whitten’s all round ability means she’ll be in the shake-up come the final event. As for the bronze medal, well, you really could pick anybody, Laura Trott from Great Britain, at just 19 years old, just missed out on a top 10 placing at the World Championships so will be worth keeping an eye on over the next 12 months but we’ll go for Malgorzata Wojtyra of Poland, who is consistently good in the scratch, points and elimination races, to complete the podium.
Gold - Sarah Hammer, Silver – Tara Whitten, Bronze – Malgorzata Wojtyra

Men – it’s stick your finger in the air time when it comes to the Men’s Omnium. Ben Swift of Great Britain has made a fantastic entrance to the pro peloton and, if selected, will be given incredible support by the home crowd in the velodrome. Michael Freiburg of Australia is the current World Champion and will be looking to follow this up with a good showing at the Olympics. New Zealand’s Shane Archbold of New Zealand topped the UCI Rankings last season for the Omnium and we think he might just cement his reputation as one of the best all-round riders on the track.
Gold – Shane Archbold, Silver – Ben Swift, Bronze – Michael Freiburg

Keirin

Men – Chris Hoy is the man to beat here and we predict Great Britain will place Hoy in the Keirin given his blistering pace over the last lap. In the Manchester World Cup race last season. Hoy’s incredible last lap surge was overshadowed by the splinter injury to Awang but we recommend taking a look at why we think Chris Hoy will blitz the opposition at London 2012. France’s Gregory Bauge will be Hoy’s main threat but we can’t rule out the likes of Australia’s Shane Perkins, Teun Mulder of the Netherlands and Awang from Malaysia.
Gold – Chris Hoy, Silver – Gregory Bauge, Bronze - Shane Perkins.

Women – In a repeat of the Sprint we’re foreseeing a shootout between Australia’s Anna Meares and Great Britain’s Victoria Pendleton. Pendleton is good tactician and rides the Keirin consistently well. Meares won’t give up the win easily though and will probably take the race on from the front. Clara Sanchez of France is usually in the mix and we see her making the podium in London.
Gold – Victoria Pendleton, Silver – Anna Meares, Bronze – Clara Sanchez

Galibier, Tourmalet, Ventoux, Alpe d’Huez, Aubisque, Apsin, Croix de Fer, Izoard – all conjure up famous scenes from Tours past on TV and some personal memories for those who have followed in the footsteps of the pros. Once the circus passes you are left to descend the mountain, running through your mind what you’ve just witnessed and a little part of you becomes that pro at which you bellowed ‘Allez, Allez, Allez’. And then you reach the bottom and return to your hotel or campsite in the evening, discussing the day’s events and inevitably the conversation always ends with, ‘I just don’t know how they do it.’

Throughout the 3 weeks of the Tour we’ll profile what it takes to be a sprinter, a mountain climber and a rider who can take the overall win in the world’s biggest race. Eddie Flecther, our sport scientist, will offer up some thoughts on the kind of power being generated by the elite of the sport and we’ll take a look at some examples of what the pedal stroke of each rider might look like on the Wattbike’s Polar View.

Enjoy the Tour, wherever you watch it. It’s going to be awesome.

It goes without saying that Phil is a busy man, if he’s not sat in a studio voicing a commentary for a highlights reel then he’ll be perched halfway up a mountain providing the words to live images which will be replayed again and again as another page turns in cycling’s colourful history. What was clear from our visit is that he spends an awful lot of time on the road working, consequently time spent at home is of great value.

Phil’s passion for cycling knows no bounds and he still enjoys riding out into the local countryside but when his schedule dictates that, for example, he is only spending a short evening at home, he still likes to turn the legs over and keep in shape.

And this is where Phil has fallen in love with the Wattbike. It enables him to benefit from a high quality training session on an indoor trainer on which he can accurately replicate his road bike setup. His training sessions fit nicely around his work schedule and allow him to enjoy those rare occasions out on the open road even more, as he maintains his fitness through regular use of the Wattbike.

Watch as Phil tells us about how his Wattbike experience.

A wide range of riders are currently training on the Wattbikes at Velocino Performance. Cyclists do between one to three one hour sessions a week. Each rider performs a RAMP test before and after a 12 week block of training. This helps to set training zones and demonstrates any improvements made.

Every cyclist has individual goals and needs that are incorporated into their Wattbike sessions. Each rider’s position on the bike is assessed using the Wattbike Software and tweaked to be in their most effective riding position. Pedal technique and effectiveness is constantly worked on and developed using the onscreen polar graph during the sessions.

Results demonstrate that pedal effectiveness and technique have improved over the course of the training. Every session allows the riders to monitor and adjust their pedaling technique. Constant detailed feedback offers the chance of continual improvement.

After completing a block of training sessions, riders results show that their power has improved, with some showing an improvement of up to 20%.

Rob has improved his power output by 20% over 20 minutes. Comparing his RAMP test results his MMP has improved by 13%. For Rob this is a fabulous outcome. 

“I am a mature age rider (60+) and have been riding and racing for around 6 years. I have recently undertaken a 3 month program with Rebecca McConnell at Velocino Performance on the Wattbike. Rebecca has given me a specific program designed to increase my sustainable power output. With specific heart rate zone training and improved pedalling efficiency observable on the Wattbike, my power output has increased by 20% over 20 minute sustained effort. My take away is to train smarter not necessarily longer,” said Rob.

Fred who is focussed on improving his technique for time trialling has improved his MMP (maximum minute power) by 14%. 

“The regular training on the Wattbike managed by a coach has assisted me in improving my power output and pedal effectiveness”, said Fred. 

Another rider, Ray has also improved his MMP by 20% after working consistently on correcting his technique and developing his pedal effectiveness while sticking to the designed program. 

“My aim was to learn more about technique, training and how to improve my overall racing performance. I am stoked with my power output and racing now that I can stay with the peloton and even aim for a win. The second block is now underway and I’m really enjoying the hard, albeit specific workouts,” explains Ray. 

The Wattbike software is valuable to both rider and coach. The instant and constant feedback it provides assists enormously in developing and maintaining performance indicators that have never been evaluated and monitored so closely before.  With all this data at hand Velocino Performance can assist in creating a more complete cyclist.

Written by Rebecca McConnell

Go in the chance to win a 12 week Training package at Velocino Performance with Rebecca and Wattbike here.

The initial tests on the Wattbikes at TECO Training showed up a few points that the husband and wife duo needed to work at.

Brett was back to racing after a two year layoff due to knee problems and Jane was looking to grow as an all round cyclist. The wattbike was used firstly to gauge the efficiency and balance of pedal stroke.

Testing was also done to set heart rate and threshold levels and the pair set off to train.

The plan comprised of training at power with periodic tests to analyze the pedaling efficiency and thresholds.

The wattbike allowed us to work on Brett’s rehabilitation and maintain balanced pedal stroke. Jane worked on lifting thresholds and increasing cadence and pedal stroke

With bad weather hampering the last weeks of preparation the wattbikes went into overtime allowing the pair to work on speed and a monitored taper.

All went well and Brett gained a 5th in the criterium and a superb silver in the hotly contested road race.

Not to be outdone Jane took gold in both the criterium and road race and was named champion of champions

See news stories here:

http://www.qsmsports.com/newsitem.asp?id=449&orgid=19

http://www.qsmsports.com/newsitem.asp?id=425&orgID=19

Well done Jane and Brett from TECO Training and Wattbike Australia.

Russ and Kev from The Bike Studio

Cycling Australia High Performance Teams are pleased to work with Wattbike to assist with our goals to achieve medal winning success in London 2012 and beyond. Wattbike has developed a reliable and adaptable stationary training system which has been used by our senior coaching staff to introduce unique and challenging training programs to the athlete's overall plans, helping them to achieve their ultimate goals. Wattbike has allowed us to bring a fresh professional approach to stationary training for elite success.

Kevin Tabotta, High Performance Manager, Cycling Australia

We managed to get an interview with Russ Haines and Kevin Webb which was brilliant (full report with video to follow) and they were kind enough to let us hang about and get some video and pics of the bikes in action.

If you’re interested in getting a safe, structured and fun workout in these dark (and icy!) evenings head over to their website http://www.bikestudio.co.uk and sign up for a session with one of their qualified instructors.

I’d like to say a huge thanks to Kev and Russ for taking the time to tell us a bit about how they’re getting on and what it was like to set up a Wattbike training studio, and to the members who put up with me darting about taking photos and video.

Accuracy and Calibration

Everything that makes the Wattbike special can be summed up by the fact that it provides accurate, comparable and repeatable data – something that everyone assumes all bikes that measure power do, but they don’t. The Wattbike is factory calibrated, and will maintain it’s accuracy throughout its life. Other than adjusting your cycling position no setup/calibration of the Wattbike is necessary, and every session is comparable and repeatable The Wattbike is extremely accurate +/- 2% across the range, in individual bands.

• <100 Watts up to 6 % or 6 Watts
• 100- 200 Watts within 2%
• 200-500 Watts within 1.5%
• >500 Watts within 1 %

The Wattbike is measuring real parameters in real time (which sounds silly to say, but not all testing bikes do), it measures the force applied through the cranks onto the chain. As the force on the chain is measured from the rider input, and all the resistance is applied to the same axle of the bike, the power achieved is not influenced by the creation of resistance from the magnetic climb lever, airbrake gear lever or by environmental conditions, so no matter where you use your Wattbike or what setting you have it on you can still have confidence in the data it is providing you with.

It feels like riding a bike

During the production process, once the measurement system had been created we took the bike back to British Cycling for their feedback, and it took another two years of development to come up with a bike that they thought felt like riding on the road or track. The key elements to that is the specifically designed flywheel that maintains inertia so that if you freewheel it picks up where you left off.

Unique Polar view (force curve) to show pedalling technique

This is a major benefit that no other bike offers – the ability to monitor and record pedalling effectiveness for every pedal revolution of every session is extremely powerful. It tells the cyclist whether they have a consistent force profile and angle of peak force throughout every pedal revolution. The right force profile throughout the whole pedal revolution and an even contribution from each leg is very important to getting the most speed out of your physiology. You can see Wattbike Sport Scientist Eddie Fletcher explaining the Polar View in the Training Guide section of this site.

Most people can ride a bike but very few have been taught how to pedal effectively, immense gains can be made by ensuring the right mix of power application, cadence, gearing (resistance level on the Wattbike) and physiological response are selected for the individual and terrain. The Wattbike has been able to dispel many of the myths about pedalling technique and shows exactly what is really happening. This is a major reason why the Wattbike is used by the top cycling teams and nations as part of their training.

Whilst coaches always aim to teach the correct technique it has always been a subjective view as to whether the cyclist is actually doing it. The Polar view ‘exposes’ ineffective pedalling technique and can be used as a tool to improve pedalling technique for all levels of rider.

Monitor Everything

The Wattbike Monitors Everything (39 cycling parameters – some of which are really only useful in the lab) for a cyclist the main parameters to take note of are:

• Pedalling technique
• Power [W]/Power per kilo
• Cadence [rpm]
• HR [bpm]
• Angle of peak force right and left leg
• Balance of power contribution right and left leg

The Wattbike offers real time measurement with instant saving of all data for comparison and analysis, it also comes with the Wattbike Expert Software which is probably the most powerful cycling software in the market bringing in depth scientific analysis to all cyclists (and is free).

Accurately Test Cyclists and Triathletes

The Wattbike be used to accurately test cyclists and triathletes as well as for general fitness testing. A huge range of tests are possible, but most commonly used

• Ramp tests
• Step tests
• Sub Maximal Progress Checks

The Wattbike can be used for any of the conventional cycling tests - most tests use fixed cadences OR fixed powers but the Wattbike is like a riding a normal bike using natural resistance (gearing) and cadence. Yet, it’s still possible to hold consistent cadences and power outputs for accurate, comparable and repeat test purposes.

Replicate any training sessions

The Wattbike can be used to replicate training sessions and provide consistent training performance, whether it is Sprint, Endurance or a combination of the two it can be used for training for all cycling disciplines, and there is never any need to miss a session due to adverse weather conditions.

• Training sessions can be specified precisely by power/cadence/resistance (gearing) and HR
• Training on a Wattbike is time efficient only needs 50%-75% of time on the road
• Sessions can be viewed in Recall in the monitor for post training review/analysis or transferred to Wattbike Expert for analysis, retention, comparison, progress checking
• Live recording into Wattbike Expert shows parameters in real time –where the default screen shows pedalling technique, cadence, HR and power per revolution although the screen can be customised to show any of the 39 parameters
• The pedalling technique view can be switched live to a very useful real time graph of any of the 39 parameters

The relationship between the cadence and the resistance settings for each power output can be found in the Power, resistance and cadence tables, so it is possible to create any session or physiological demand your training demands. The impact of the training can be monitored through the ANT & ANT + SPORT Heart Rate functionality. It is very easy to structure precise training down to cadence, power and heart rate - link to pedalling technique and our software and you have a very powerful training combination

As if that was not enough you can also download free training guides directly from the website. There are currently two on offer, one for Sportive riders, and the other specific to training for Triathlon. Find out more at: http://wattbike.com/uk/guide.
The Wattbike can be used as an integral part of any training plan from testing to establishing heart rate and power training zones to very specific training sessions tailored to event specific training needs and skill requirements.

The early arrival of serious winter weather, has clearly turned people’s minds towards better ways of training indoors. Every cloud as they say…

We’ve definitely noticed an increase in the number of Wattbike users who are talking on Twitter about staying warm and safe inside by jumping on the Wattbike for training sessions, either at home or in the gym. If that’s you don’t forget to follow @wattbike and we’ll follow you right back to hear how your winter training programme is going.

Having said that, we really have to salute all hardy commuting cyclists, who get on their bikes regardless of whatever the weather throws at them. Just search ‘snow’ and ‘cycling’ on Twitter and you’ll find lots of tweets about epic journeys through snow and ice.

But for the coolest cycling in the snow images, where else would you look but Scandinavia? For the best Viking biking images, take a look at how the people of Copenhagen handle the blizzards over at Cycle Chic.

On a more positive note, it seems new forms of cross training are emerging. Our favourite is Team Sky’s @RussDowning, who reckons “3hrs sledging is surely quality training”. We didn’t notice any obvious reply from the Team Sky coaching staff.

Then, at 1.00pm one of the amateur riders collapsed mid-race. Obviously everything stopped as medical help was called in immediately to check on the condition of the participant.

Paramedics confirmed his condition was very serious, which immediately changed all priorities. The rest of the day’s racing was cancelled. Everyone’s attention was upon his well-being, and as quickly as possible he was taken from Broadgate to a local hospital.

Unfortunately, at this time, we have no further news to report. Right now, everyone’s priority is for the rider and his family. All our thoughts and best wishes are with him.

Latest at: 01.12.10

We would have hoped to give you an update on the condition of the rider by now but unfortunately aren’t in a position to do so. Just to explain, in this sort of situation the hospital’s first priority is the privacy of the rider, so understandably information is only shared with the rider and their family members. As and when we have any information that can be shared, we’ll add it this post.

City workers will be battling four of Team Sky’s top professionals – Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas, Ben Swift and Russell Downing – over one mile in groups of seven on Wattbikes. There is a race every ten minutes and every race features one of the Team Sky pro’s.

To spice things up, Sky’s new sponsor IG Markets is offering one replica team bike – that’s £8,000 worth of sleek Pinarello hardware – to the fastest person who beats a Pro on the day. Interested?

We get to see and hear about the performance data from lots of professional athletes. Frankly, it is pretty awesome but… one mile is a relatively short test, taking only about two minutes. And those Sky boys will be working hard throughout the day in every race. Which is why we have a sneaky feeling some of the amateurs could be competitive and might just be taking a bike or two home with them.

If they do get to win the prize we’ll have captured all the action. We’ll be saving the Wattbike Expert Software data from each race as a video file then posting to the Wattbike Youtube channel. So every participant can play back their moment of glory, or unbearable pain, on the web. We’ll post and tweet links to the race files later.

If you want to see the action, Broadgate is right next door to Liverpool Street rail and tube station. Come by and say hello, or stay tuned to the @Wattbike Twitter account and we’ll post updates through the day.

The event kicks off at 10.30am and runs through to 3.30pm. As well as watching the races, the Sky guys will be around to sign autographs. And if you want to find out more about the Wattbike, we’ll be happy to chat. See you there.

Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas and Ben Swift from the Team Sky professional cycling team will be at Broadgate Circle, London, EC2 from 10am on Friday 26th November, ready to compete against riders of all standards over a virtual one mile course using a fleet of hi-tech Wattbikes.

This morning (18th November), IG Markets announced that it had become an Official Partner of Team Sky, with the company logo set to appear on team kit for the 2011 season. Those taking part in the Square Mile Cycle Challenge will have the opportunity to win a number of prizes including a replica Team Sky Pinarello FP1 bike. If any competitor is able to beat a Team Sky rider, they will receive an official Team Sky Pinarello Dogma team-issue bike, worth over £8000.

Cycling is currently going through a renaissance and we believe it has a specific appeal to our target audiences. We hope that our commitment to Team Sky will help them continue their pursuit for success, whilst helping IG Markets promote its products to a growing audience both here in the UK and across the globe.

Tim Howkins, CEO of IG Group

The ‘IG Markets Square Mile Cycle Challenge’ will take place between 10.00 and 15.30. Registration is open to everyone and must be completed in advance. To sign up to race, please visit www.igmarkets.co.uk/cycling.

For non-competitors who would prefer just to soak up the pro race atmosphere or cheer on brave colleagues, there will also be plenty to enjoy. Eurosport’s David Harmon will be on hand to provide expert race commentary while live footage of all the action will be displayed on a big screen. Spectators can also take advantage of a free bike service and can get autographs from Team Sky.