Blogs
Latest In Sport
Training
Latest Blogs
Are You Buying Gear or Buying Time?
I had to laugh a few months ago. I was riding with a time-strapped friend and we were chatting about the latest wheelset that promised to give you an extra 10 watts (or rather, save you 10 watts). She had a big race on the schedule in a few months, and she was...
Heat Training For Women
In this episode of The Consummate Athlete Podcast, Peter and Molly interview Dr. Normand Richard and Dr. Stephen Cheung about several of their recent studies that looked at: Heat training in women including the effects of a maintenance period Best...
Fix a Heart Rate Strap That is Not Working
If you your Heart Rate Strap (HRM) is not reading accurately, this post contains numerous troubleshooting ideas to help you out! These ideas contained in our 7 ways Video and the written out steps below, have brought many old straps back to life! Watch our Heart Rate...
Training
5 Healthy Holiday Habits for Masters Cyclists
We talk about it a lot on the consummate athlete podcast (check it out and subscribe!), but wanted to drop in here to wish everyone a healthy, safe holiday, and to remind you that no matter how your healthy habits fare this holiday season, it's only a small part of...
Should You Do a Festive 500 Challenge?
Over on The Consummate Athlete Podcast, we get asked about challenges a lot. There are things like running every day, or streaks or even Peter's challenge to NOT ride indoors in November. One challenge that seems to have stuck around is the Festive 500. In this post...
Can You Have a Perfect Workout? (And What to Do When Things Go Sideways.)
Are your Workouts Perfect? It is sadly very common that cyclists get frustrated because they 'had' to quit a workout or couldn't follow their training plan 100% as laid out. The dirty secret is that the best athletes don't do 100% of their training, they adjust daily...
Racing
Eating During Endurance Training & Racing – Kylee Van Horn
Kylee Van Horn returns to the Podcast to answer Training and Racing Nutrition Questions. Topics include overcoming 'trouble' eating during races, inability to swallow while racing, beet root juice, how much carb to take in, post - workout fueling, stage races and race...
Racing Multiple Cycling Disciplines – Maghalie Rochette
Maghalie Rochette is a Professional Cyclist. She has won a Cyclocross World Cup and is a fan favorite due to her incredible personality and fun projects like CX Fever and the Faces of Cyclocross (to name a few). She talk to Molly about racing multiple seasons and...
Recovery After a Long Race or Adventure
As endurance races of 100+ miles have become the norm, we felt like it was time to repost this old article from way back in 2014, when we were doing a 6-day MTB stage race. Back then a 200 mile gravel race still felt a little wild, not something most people would...
Cross-Training
New Full “Yoga for Cyclists” Sessions Free + Online
Huge thanks to the Ontario Cycling Association for hosting me as we flow through some homebound yoga for cyclists sessions every week! We're doing live sessions for cyclists in Ontario, but anyone can check out the OCA's YouTube for the free replays as well. While we...
Strength at Home, Walking and Training Inside/Outside
Today we discuss Walking, Training inside vs. Outside, Strategies for maintaining fitness and muscle during off periods and some discussion of goals and mindset during off-season or when far away from goal events. DOWNLOAD THIS CONSUMMATE ATHLETE EPISODE...
Video Resources for Yoga, Strength and Bike Skills
We've talked a lot about the importance of establishing healthy habits, and even have a free 7-day email kickstart for healthy habit change... One of the big habits we've established over the years is our morning core, strength and yoga routines. Habit change is hard....
Mindset
Choosing Your Values – And Applying Them to Training + Racing
As we head into the new year and goal setting season, we’ve been reflecting a lot on our values, and then using that lens to figure out our race schedule and work/life goals for this coming year. One of our favorite podcast guests, Dr. Josie Perry, shared a few...
December Can Be a Challenge for the Type A Athlete
Personally, I find December to be one of the trickiest months. Often, I feel like I'm being pulled in three distinct directions—which is par for the course, but in December, the feeling is extremely exacerbated. The holiday season makes me want to lean into holiday...
Healthy Holiday Travel Tips and Hacks
Everyone writes about being healthy for the holidays. Heck, I did it about healthy travel over Thanksgiving! But with holiday season upon us, it's never a bad thing to refresh your memory on how to stay active, healthy and happy over the course of the next two weeks....
Nutrition
What’s the Deal with Energy Availability?
Lately, a lot of people—us included—have been tossing around the term 'energy availability,' but for many of us, that phrase might be completely new. You might have a vague idea of what it is: The energy (calories) that you have available in your body to keep it...
Talking RED-S and What Everyone Needs to Know: Video
I teamed up with the Ontario Cycling Association to host a webinar with researcher, coach and former elite triathlete Alex Coates to talk all about RED-S (relative energy deficiency in sport) last week and we went deep! If you remember Alex from the podcast we did...
Staying Healthy to Stay Outside This Winter
Over at Mountain Life, I talked to some amazing local wellness experts from Collingwood, Ontario, about ways to stay healthy this winter, whether you're locked down and stuck inside or can go get some professional help. From yoga tips to the best ways to blend a tasty...
Lifestyle
The Shred Girls are Back!
After a tough ride, Molly's middle grade series, The Shred Girls, is back! Ali, Lindsay and Jen have returned to bookshelves and bike parks near you, with new covers courtesy of Pip Claffey at Rune Creative, plus it’s Ali’s Rocky Ride’s FIRST TIME in print! Lindsay’s...
Molly is on the The Human Kinesome Project
Sometimes, we hop onto other podcasts in addition to our own Consummate Athlete Podcast, and a couple of weeks ago, Molly was on The Human Kinesome Project, a podcast created by the Kinetyx brand to investigate human movement of all types—it's a great show, and if you...
5 Things We Would Bring on Our Next Van Camping/Training/Crewing Trip
We recently spent a few days and nights living out of a van as we crewed for our friend Karen, and I'll be honest, it was not our healthiest few days. We were extremely busy with helping her complete 900 kilometers of trail, and yes, we both ran and hiked a ton in...
Women Specific
How To Relieve Cramps By Working Out
This is something I talk about a ton when I do women's nights where we talk about all things bike and nether-region-related, so I was stoked that Nylon asked me to write about how working out can kick menstrual cramps to the curb, or at least, make them suck a little...
Saddle, Sore: Ride Comfortable, Ride Happy Launch Party and Interview!
We had a crazy last week hosting three launch parties for my new book, "Saddle, Sore: Ride Comfortable, Ride Happy"! Huge thank you to the Trek Stores in Toronto, Aurora and Barrie for letting us take over the stores (and providing wine and cheese and a copy of the...
Buy “Saddle, Sore: A Women-Only Guide to You and Your Bike”
Buy it here Before you go, get subscribed for a twice-monthly set of tips, tricks + outdoor motivation!
Gear
Washing Your Cycling Kit: Dos and Don’ts of Laundry Cycles
Laundry. Specifically, washing (and drying) your cycling kit. Seems ultra-simple, right? Wash, rinse, repeat. Umm... Turns out with cycling kit, it can be a little more complicated. In addition to skin irritation—more on that in a sec—I was out on a ride yesterday and...
What We’re Shopping on Prime Day
Prime Day is here, which means we’re shopping for some deals. I find that for athletic equipment, Prime Day isn’t really much to write home about. It can be a great time to buy your new cycling computer or watch, but I do recommend that you don’t just jump to whatever...
Organizing Your In-Ride Food and Hydration—Kitchen Cleanout
If you're anything like us, you probably have a random drawer or two or three that houses your in-run or in-ride food and hydration mix. Maybe it's scattered throughout your kitchen and garage and dresser with all your other cycling gear. Because being able to eat and...
Videos
5 Little Things that Make a Big Difference
As an endurance athlete, you are always looking for that little bit extra speed, comfort, safety and/or power. You want to get faster at cycling. While huge changes, fad diets, and crash-cycles of superhard intervals are tempting, it is often the small changes done...
3 Drills to Improve Balance on the Bike
This post will provide you with 3 drills to improve your cycling skills and balance. While they are not presented in the order I would always use and certainly a step (or three) beyond what a beginner may be comfortable doing they do provide you with some ideas and...
Bike Fit and Setup Mistakes
A few common bike setup or positional factors that can cause or aggravate pain On Mountain Bikes you brake with more than one finger (typically the index finger) - modern brakes do not require multiple fingers or middle fingers. Use your index finger. It is possible...