This is a site about me (Andy Vaughn) and my dream of becoming a top–level professional cyclist. You can read my story here. I will do my best to record the process, including the struggles, successes, and failures all honestly on a regular basis.
Please feel free to offer support, guidance, criticism, or even good ol' trash talk. Thank you for visiting.
Jumping right into it – I’ve outlined my goals for the racing season, both macro and micro, in Goals Outline. I discussed my methods of self-promotion and the emphasis on winning key races throughout the season. My next step is to discuss how I will achieve the form and fitness required to win.
Recently in an article on VeloNews.com, Dirk Friel astutely pointed out that form is the difference between fitness and fatigue. He provided this crazy algorithm. Try and keep up!:
Fitness – fatigue = form.
Assuming we cannot get negative fatigue, our best chance of achieving optimal form, relative to our fitness, is to bring fatigue to its absolute minimum – zero.
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Mmmm…I wanted to share my favorite power lunch meal:
Mix together and spoon-feed it to your favorite loved one.
The cottage cheese is lean and provides a solid 24 grams of protein. Whey to go! *insert sympathy chuckle here* Also, the walnuts are a good source of Omega fatty acids, which are good for your heart, blood, etc. The berries provide the quick blood sugar that is needed to rev you up at this time of the day. The total calories is under 500 kCal, (140 for the cottage cheese, 200 for the walnuts, 20-100 or so for the fruit depending on its density), and it tends to fill me. Plus, with the slow burn of the walnuts and proteins from the cottage cheese, it should hold you over for a while.
Enjoy!
For a decent training plan in any sport, you need to know your overall goals. We’ll start at the macro level and work our way towards the micro.
Yeah, yeah. It’s the focus of this whole dang site. But, what does it mean? Well, to some it means to get paid to compete (aka. profession -Al). To others it means competing at the highest level of your sport, whether you get paid or not. For me, it is all about competing at the highest level, and since the former does not usually come without the latter anyway, I will aim for the latter (Competing at the highest levels – Pro category Mtn, US Pro license on the road).
I will be focusing on peaking for key mountain bike races this year. However, I will still be racing on the road. I am a category 2 road racer, and find that the experience and fitness gained from racing on the road unparalleled. If I get picked up on a road team, or find that my desire for road outshines my desire for mountain, I can always switch my emphasis (I’m ambidextrous like that).
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A couple of months ago my local gym (Timberhill Athletic Club) brought in a few new stationary trainers with graphical interfaces. I’ve used these products in the past with dismal results, but figured I would give it a shot and try these new ones out.
I’ve been using them for a few months now, and so far they’re awesome! Aside from the fact that the handlebar is way too upright for good extension, the interactivity of the machine is great. It tells me my current/average power, heart rate, speed, cadence, the gradient of the hill, and the course profile. Plus, it also has a decent selection of songs across 8 or so different music stations.
Since I’m aiming to stick to a pretty focused training schedule, working on increasing my overall power, I often find my stationary trainer lacking (only so much resistance can be created with those things). And, when it’s raining out (or snowing, lately), I still need to get in a good power workout. So, I go to the gym and use the awesome trainers made by Expresso. I can’t recommend them enough for winter power training. (Cheap if your gym pays for it)
I have found my new breakfast – slow cooked Quaker oats (3/4 cup) and 1/2 cup of raisins – total calories 485 kCal. It sticks to my ribs for at least 2 to 3 hours, and that’s saying a lot for as frequent of an eater as I am. I then boil up some hot water for Good Earth’s Sweet n’ Spicy tea. This stuff is so good, I can’t believe it’s not sweetened!
I found out yesterday that staying around 2300 kCal/day is actually not too hard. I wake up hungry, but that’s what I’m supposed to fee like – right? I just substituted water and tea for each time that I wanted to drink juice or soda (the Devil itself). I figure that if I stay around the recommended 2300 kCal, which is 500 less than my current total, I will lose 1 lb a week. Plus, if I increase my activity level from its current amount (3-5 days a week, approx. 1 hour) to 5-7 days a week 1.5 hours average, I will be increasing my caloric burn rate by an additional 1500-2000 kCal/Week, which is a further 1/2 pound. At this rate, I will reach my goal of 156lbs in somewhere around 15-16 weeks. This is much more in line with my goal of the key races of the season which come around May, June, and July.
I added a page today called “motivational quotes.” It’s a list of cycling-specific quotes that I have kept over the last few years and use to get motivated to train or just “say no” to that piece of chocolate cake.
Here’s a few of my favorites:
So, I hope you enjoy those. And, if not, I will!
I sit here late tonight writing this, because if I don’t write it now, I’ll never do it. I’m lazy like that. So, I’m going to write a couple of ways I’m going to improve my fitness immediately.
This can be estimated a number of ways. Cordianet.com provides a couple of nice calculators that use a few different formulas. Since I know my lean body mass (LBM) from having body composition tests within the last year, I can calculate my current body fat percentage pretty easily. I just take my LBM (148lbs) and divide by my current weight (178lbs), subtract it from 1, and multiply by 100: 16.85%! A nice average web designer’s body fat percentage…Only about 11-13% higher than the average professional cyclist. But, that’s ok – it gives me room to improve!
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Andy Vaughn with wife Stacey. Read my story.