schmalz Firstly, how did you become involved in coaching? What is your cycling background?

Coach L Surprisingly, I didn’t have any history in athletics prior to my involvement in cycling. I’d had a couple of projects that were winding down back in the late 80’s and not going very well, and I was just looking for a change of direction. I saw a local criterium in a neighboring town one evening and just got the bug. After the race, I came up to a couple of the riders and just started talking to them about their training and their approach and I realized imediately that I could help them. It took off pretty fast from there.

schmalz Was there a steep learning curve, or did you have success right away?

Coach L There were successes and failures right away. I started by applying some of the lessons I had learned in life — just regular stuff, and also from some of my experiences in manufacturing. I realized that success in cycling couldn’t be manufactured though. People are fragile and you really have to work with that and mold them individually like putty. I also thought the molding would take less time than it did so I had to learn a lot of patience. There was no assembly line, so to speak, which is one of the unique things about my service as compared to some of the others out there.

schmalz Was your previous professional background primarily in manufacturing?

Coach L I’d worked on the lines as a kid, yes, but moved into more supervisory roles in my 20’s.  Heck, I’d even done a little consulting.

schmalz Going from manufacturing to coaching is a big jump, though, although it probably retains some of the supervisory aspects. How would you describe your coaching philosophy?

Coach L I won’t lie to you and say it was easy, but cycling, like manufacturing, is kind of like a fraternity.  Gosh, how to describe the philosophy? There’s really no comparrison out there in cycling that I know of – I mean, we’re really doing some unique work. I guess readers of my contributions to your website will agree that it really is holistic. We focus not just on the bodies, but on the souls of our riders. We don’t get into it right away, but the visualization work really is at the core of it. Every year begins with an inventory of what’s really on the shelf, and an analysis of goals. We try to come to an agreement on what the individual rider wants to accomplish and then disagree. I want a little more out of everybody and I’m not shy about saying so. If someone comes to me and says they want to upgrade to 3, I try to convince them that they can do it by winning or getting on the podium a few times. But we also focus on having fun and feeling good about ourselves. It’s not easy work, this cycling, and you really have to have fun with it while you’re suffering.

schmalz You don’t get a lot of coaches focusing on people’s souls – are you a sort of cycling evangelist? And why do you keep a level of anonymity in your posts to our site?

Coach L I do firmly believe that inner strength can overcome a lot. I’ve seen riders with a VO2 max of 45 or 50 upgrade to Cat. 3 on sheer will. One of the few ladies I work with has a hematocrit of 36 most times she goes to the lab and she’s in the hunt for a Cat 2 upgrade. It’s really phenomenal what inner strength can do. It is true, I prefer to not broadcast my identity on your site. A lot of people post what I think are untruthful comments and criticism. Some of the other coaches really take a whipping on there and I’d kind of like to avoid it. I think also that there are people who go on there who aren’t even cyclists and just joke around. I’m very serious about coaching which is why I have the banner that I hang from my car at races. By just getting new business at races, I can be almost sure that my clients are real racers and are passionate about it. I forget what the Italian word is for passion, but boy to my riders have it.  I also find that riders who can be honest that they’ve had a bad day of racing right when it happens are the ones who realize that they need a coach – and whammy!  There I am offering my services!  But come to the races and we’ll talk face to face – man to man.

schmalz You probably don’t want to speak badly about other coaches, but are there certain coaching philosophies or techniques you don’t agree with?

Coach L I think most of the coaches out there are good people and mean well and I think I’ll just leave it at that. There is a wide range of coaching styles and I know some things are controversial. I just got back from a conference in New Haven where power meters were talked about a lot. I guess it dates back to my career in manufacturing, but I really believe in building a strong foundation before you start adding things on. I don’t give away many secrets on your site but I did say a while back that I thought getting into power meters before the third year was a mistake and I meant it. Riders need to learn the fundamentals of self analysis (SA) and round pedaling technique. Power meters can lead to bad habits and take your eye off the ball. I hear riders after races where they got whipped in the fanny talking about how many watts they put out and it makes me cringe a little. Watts should never be looked at during or right after the race when you’re all fired up. There are actually some interesting studies about how your long term mental state can be affected by things you see with high levels of adrenaline. I prefer to have riders just email me the files after they get home and calm down so that we can put them in the analyzer and look at them objectively. I’m getting off your topic, I know, but I really feel strongly about the three year rule.

schmalz Interesting, I never have any computer on my bike during races — as I prefer to race on feeling and belligerence. And I know what you’re talking about when you say adrenaline can affect your mental state, perhaps we could ask David Millar about that?

Coach L Do you know him? I have some things I’d like to ask him myself! Different riders race on different emotions and I’ll add beligerence to the list. We do work on transfering inner energy to the pedals and having an almost zen-like calm in the races. We’ve done some before and after shots of riders who have done a lot of visualization and you can really see the difference in the race-state demeanor. It’s quite remarkable.

schmalz So their facial expressions change in photos? Is that a big deal? What would be your best piece of coaching advice for a beginner racer?

Coach L It’s just an observable state of calm is how I would describe it. You know it when you see it. For a beginning racer, my best advice is to just get into some races and try some things. Don’t be afraid to make some mistakes. Attack a lot and attack some more. You need to get comfortable being off the front of a bike race and being chased. Obviously I think you should get a coach and I have some strong ideas about who that should be! But I think any coach is better than no coach, and just really work with him or her. Ask a lot of questions. And just remember to have some fun!

schmalz Do you think there’s such a thing as “over-coaching,” and are there some racers out there who depend too much on their coaches?

Coach L That’s a great question! I do believe that some riders rely too heavily on their coaches.  There are coaches out there who offer a level of service where they’ll actually go to a stage race with their rider and share a room with them just to observe their habits and tell them what to do at all hours of the day. I’ve had pressure from some of my riders to offer that but have so far declined. You need to decide for yourself when you’ve had too much pasta or bread and if you’re the kind of rider who puts down more than a few beers the night before the race, you’re probably in the wrong sport. Maybe darts or softball would be more appropriate. That said, we do get pretty involved with race tactics and talking things out before the races. But if it hasn’t been decided long before the race what you’re going to do then no amount of overnight supervision is going to turn a top 20 into a podium placing. We’re very results oriented.

schmalz It seems that coaching prices are getting out of hand these days, how do you justify what you charge?

Coach L It’s true, my fees are on the high end, but as long as there’s demand, I think the price is fair. Cycling is becoming a mianstream sport and a lot of people are looking to get into it quickly. We as Americans have busy lives and making the most out of our hobbies and passions is critical to good mental health. I see my service as helping people achieve that.

schmalz Have you ever raced? If not, how do you justify advising racers on situations you’ve never experienced yourself?

Coach L No, I’ve never done any actual racing.  I wasn’t blessed with a body that would do well in races though I do really enjoy the low speed simulations I do with my riders.  Its a good question you ask – how one gets good at tactics without the experience.  I spent my formative years as a coach working with the great Eddy Borysewicz who wrote a lot of tactics we put together down in his book The Complete Book of Bicycle Road Racing, which actually was in the middle of a contrversy that led to our falling out.  He’d brought over a lot of tradtional Polish tactics from their national system and we worked together on tweaking them to fit the American style of racing.  In the book he describes a sprinting tactic called “Open the door, close the door” which was actually an invention of mine. He took credit for it in the book and the whole thing got rather ugly between us.  But back to your question, I’d say that you can almost learn more about tactics watching objectively from the sideline, and especially from studying the film.

schmalz Film, where do you fins film of US races? So no Ebby B Christmas card for you, I suppose. How has your training philosophy evolved from when you worked with Eddy?

Coach L We’ve always been of the opinion that if you’re going to be the best, you need to learn from the best. Though we are mostly US racers, the best tactics are in Europe. I have three decades of Spring Classics that I run and re-run. I must have watched Milan San Remo 5 times each, and the last 20k (12 miles) twice that. A lot can be learned about positioning from watching the overhead footage of the finishes of the Tour, Giro, and sometimes even Vuelta stages.  I have a few highlight reels that I give out to my riders when they sign up with me.  And that thing with Eddy – We haven’t spoken in 20 years. I remember when his house in California burned down a few years ago. People speculated as to whether it might have been me but it wasn’t. I felt really bad for him.  The core of my training program is what we worked out together back then and is what is in the book, but we’ve done some serious changes with the interval work. I’d be doing my clients a disservice if I got into specifics since they’ve paid good money for it. It’s an evolutionary process and I can’t say that some research won’t come along that will make me junk the whole thing and rebuild from scratch. Of course the investment we’ve made in technology around the current program has been significant, but it could happen.

schmalz Which technologies do you use with your racers?

Coach L It’s mostly software that we’ve developed over the years. We built it before it became popular for coaches to farm that out to India and it cost a lot. I do have some testing equipment that I carry with me and some back in the Midwest at HQ, but usually send riders to their local testing facility for the VO2, lactate, and power testing. 

schmalz Any chance of developing software that can help me with my pitiful sprint?

Coach L It sounds like I just signed up a new client!

schmalz Probably not, my naturally belligerent nature does not lend itself well to coaching. What’s your best tip for recovery?

Coach L There’s an old saying that you can’t coach a rider who doesn’t want to be coached.  I’ve learned that one the hard way a few times.  Recovery is probably the most underappreciated part of cycling and takes a lot of effort.  Eddy was big on horse meat, having spent a lot of time in France, but I’m not so sure its better than good old American beef which everyone should eat for recovery. I also grew up near a horse farm and really became affectionate with them so I could never do it. Beyond the 45 minute ingestion window and sleeping with your legs elevated, I would recommend just a short evening jog as good for recovery. A mile tops.  It’s unorthodox to run during the season, but I’ve found that the lengthening of the muscles under tension is a good balance to the cycling action and really breaks up those actin and myosin bonds that get stuck in the muscle fiber during the day.  That and not going to rave parties!

schmalz Horse meat? Running? That sounds like crazy talk! And you’ll never take my raves away from me! See how belligerent I am?

Coach L I’ll admit that the running is controversial but we’ve had really good results with it.  And I don’t think you’re belligerent at all!  I really appreciate the chance to talk to your readers and really don’t mind.  

schmalz This is all very complimentary, it’s almost like we’re not on the internet at all. I think it’s time to wrap things up, do you have one piece of advice you would give to any racer – something anyone could use to help themselves improve?

Coach L I would just add that success in cycling is as it is in life.  It requires hard work and dedication, but if you stick with it and have a good coach you should achieve your goals.  There will be bumps along the way – lord knows I’ve had mine, but cycling can be very rewarding pyhsically, emotionally and spiritually.  I’ve been so very blessed to have had the opportunity to work with such great athletes and human beings and I’d just like to say thanks to all of you for being a part of this.  Thanks for giving me the chance to reach out to your readers and share some of my wisdom.  If any new clients come out of it, then that would just be a bonus.