Race Anecdotes: Clinics are not just for beginners

You may see big improvements by attending clinics when you’re first starting out racing, but how have you recently refined your skills? When’s the last time you properly stood on your bike and pulled your handlebars with your latissimus dorsi muscles? What was your saddle doing as you stood out of it? When’s the last time you climbed Lookout Mountain and methodically alternated between standing and sitting the whole climb?

As we become more experienced racers and bike riders, we assume clinics are for beginners. Stop. Always be learning.

This past Sunday, May 26th, BRAC held its second Women’s+ Clinic. Coach Alison Powers of ALP Cycles Coaching taught us hill climbing techniques to get us up to the top faster. I decided last minute to attend the clinic even though I already had two volunteers, Stephen and Marcus (pedal RACING team members), to help out. I get caught between burn out from managing the entire BRAC Women’s+ Bike Racing Initiative and feeling like I need to be at all the events to prove my dedication. Like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Or, a cyclist who wants more women racing their bikes but needs to focus on her own training goals too.

My training for the day called for four hours of Zone 2. I knew my teammate, Brittney, signed up for the clinic. I asked if she’d like to…