The 2024 Event Prep Training program will provide you with specific resources to help you succeed on long rides and in a race setting through a friendly, informal, and fun atmosphere if you choose to join us. We can all learn how to be better cyclists through experimentation and exploration with a specific goal in mind: “the race”, be that SBT GRVL or the Leadville 100 or Ironman or something else.

You will learn the tactics and benefits of riding as part of a team/group, how to corner without losing momentum, what can be done to prepare yourself for climbs, when to turn on and off your watts, as well as nutritional education about the energy your body needs, the importance of rest and recovery, and more. We fully encourage you to participate as much as possible to gain the most from the preparation and training. At the same time, we understand it may not be feasible to ride every week. It is in a repetitive environment such as this, the basic elements are fed into more advanced concepts, and mental, physical, and emotional endurance, like stamina, are built on consistency and challenge.

Here are the specifics for this season:

~The EPT group rides are scheduled for the last three weekends of each month. 

~Each ride will begin with a 30 min., no drop, easy rollout to assess how each person is feeling that day, check in on moods and desires about how the ride should go, and whether a big group or small groups would be better that day.

~Each week will be based on a set mile amount, growing progressively (working on the assumption that Saturday is the ride day), as detailed:   

Be prepared for the days of the week to alter and the locations of the rides to vary, based on what’s listed below, to try to include all the members of the program as much as possible. An interactive calendar will soon be present here to help alleviate these challenges.

May 4- Evening group get-together/meeting

Talking, planning, and getting to know each other

May 11- 30 mile ride

Welcome ride; introductions and small efforts, beginner group dynamic**, steady state

May 19- 50 mile ride

5 min. turns on the front of the group, steady state riding

Decision as to group size for the distance:

  -group 1 at 16mph

  -group 2 at 12mph

  -group 3 at 10mph

May 25- holiday weekend/no EPT ride

June 1- 70 mile ride

Slightly longer efforts

 -group 3 dynamic: short duration accelerations

June 8- rest week/no EPT ride

June 15- 50 mile ride

Intro to intermediate dynamics*, intro to specific skill development, steady state

June 22- 70 mile ride

Intermediate dynamic, climbing at someone else’s tempo, recovery, nutrition 

June 29- 90 mile ride

Intermediate dynamic, drafting at speed, nutrition 

July 6- holiday weekend/no EPT ride

July 13- 70 mile ride

Assessment of each rider leading into final month of prep, intermediate dynamic, intro to advanced skills, nutrition

July 20- 90 mile ride

Intermediate dynamic, small group time trials, cornering at speed in a group, nutrition

July 27- 110 mile ride

Intermediate dynamic, 10 minute efforts with recovery, finding the speed at the end of a long day, nutrition

August 3- ?

Open to participant suggestion 

August 10- ?

Open to participant suggestion

August 18- SBT GRVL race day

The program’s structure has been designed with space for implementation of skills and concepts not listed above, along with the idea that multiple practice opportunities are never redundant.

***Beginner dynamics indicate a group of riders who are getting to know how to ride with each other- the speeds will be lower, the changes on the front will be fewer and more predictable, the distances between riders will be larger.

**Intermediate dynamics are for more experienced riders who are comfortable going faster closer together.

*Advanced dynamics indicate a group who will be navigating roads at a faster (closer to race?) pace, in a tight group.