Every athlete has a limited amount of time and energy that they can devote to their training. A full-time professional cyclist has the time to race and train 40 hours a week, but they don't because that many hours every week would make them too tired to compete at their best. An amateur cyclist may have only 8 or 20 hours of time available because of work, family, and other lifestlye factors, and because of physical and mental stressors they usually have even less energy available for training. The key for any cyclist who wants to perform at their potential is to train their abilities in the most effective and efficient way possible, and then utilize good racing tactics to make the most of their abilties on the day.

As recently as 10 years ago amateur cyclists in the USA had very little access to good-quality coaching to help them with their training, nutrition, and racing tactics. We could read some magazine articles, maybe a book or two, and talk to other cyclists about these things, but when it came to assimilating the information and coming up with the best possible training plan for ourselves we were pretty much on our own, and trial and error was our "coach".

When heart-rat-monitors (HRM's) came along in the mid-1980's we had a tool that could help us, but for the next ten years or so virtually all of the books about training based on heart rate advocated an approach that used percentages of max heart rate (MHR) to establish our various training "zones". We now know that basing our training on MHR is nowhere near the optimum approach, but even today there are many coaches with insufficient understanding of how to incorporate HR into a cyclist's training.

Almost 10 years ago powermeters (PM's) became available to the public, and they are a valuable tool for athletes and coaches. PM's provide useful insight about a cyclist's performance if they are used properly, but unfortunately, there are many riders and coaches who do not properly utilize the data coming from their PM's, mainly because they do not understand the athlete's physiology well enough to incoporate the data in an optimal manner.


Warren Geissert-CyclePotential Coach
I have been cycling since I was 5 years old, and racing since I was 17-that was more than 30 years ago. I've done more than 800 criteriums, 200 days of racing on the track, about 50 road races, and more than a few organized century rides. I've also done more than 70 cross-country ski races and I was a weekend ski instructor for almost 10 years. I've read some very good books about training and exercise physiology and "ex phys" is a hobby of mine that I learn more about every week. I began using a HRM in 1987, and I started using my first powermeter back in 2002.

In the Spring of 2003 I was frustrated, because in spite of my experience and knowledge I seemed to hit a plateau every year during April and May and make very little improvement in my physical ability after that. In the Fall of 2002 I had the very good fortune to meet Massimo "Max" Testa when he was getting ready to open the Sports Performance Lab at UC Davis. In April of 2003 I went to the newly-opened lab and did a lactate threshold test and a VO2max test. Max said he could see "holes" in my ability and he was sure he could help me fix them so that I could race better. Max began coaching me that day, and since that time I have learned a lot about cycling physiology and coaching cyclists, and so far I've won Masters National Championships in three different years.

A few years ago Max suggested that I should be a coach for cyclists, and I've been doing that since 2007. I have learned a lot from Max and from athletes about the "art" of coaching. The "art" is how the best coaches assimilate the data from the rider's HRM and/or PM and lab tests, along with the rider's personal feedback about their training. The coach then combines that information with a good understanding of a cyclist's physiology to provide the athlete with training plans that utilize the athlete's time and energy in the most efficient and effective way possible.

My goal is always to help the athlete reach their potential, and seeing that happen with an athlete I am coaching is the most rewarding part of being a coach. You can email me or call me at 916.337.3444.

My best day ever in coaching, presenting a National Champion's jersey to one of the riders I coach, Ileana Garcia.