Ride smarter — one read at a time.
Guides, honest comparisons and the training science behind free coaching and a real route for every ride.
80 posts in Training science
Morning or evening: does the time you train change what you get?
Peak power really is higher in the late afternoon, and the effect is much smaller than the effect of actually doing the session. What circadian rhythm does to performance, and why the honest answer is "whenever you will keep turning up".
Ice baths after riding: recovery, or throwing away your adaptation?
Cold water genuinely restores short-term function, and there is reasonable evidence it dulls the long-term adaptation you trained for. The resolution is not "never" — it is knowing which of those two you need this week.
Testing your own lactate: what a meter tells you that power can't
A finger-prick and a €200 analyser can find the two thresholds your power meter only estimates. Designing a step test that gives comparable numbers, the errors that quietly ruin one, and whether you actually need this.
Coming back from COVID or flu: a return-to-training ladder
The neck check is a useful rule of thumb and a poor guide to a viral illness that can involve the heart. The graduated return-to-play frameworks written for athletes, the symptoms that mean a doctor rather than a ride, and a realistic ladder back.
Ready to ride with a plan?
Connect Strava and get your first three-week block today — free.
Continue with Strava