By: Christina Vipond
Many people use Zwift during the winter training months. One of my favorite winter training groups over the past 2 years has been BaseCamp with head coach Tim Cusick, coach Amber Neben and coach and nutritionist Namrita Brooke.
The BaseCamp Training Program is a 16 week program with rides available to anyone on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The rides are 60-90 minutes and full of information from the coaches. They have incredible knowledge and experience. Amber says BaseCamp is about physiology, nutrition, strength, and community.
The evening rides were led by Amber and Namrita. The rides always started with a warm up that consisted of three 45 second spins with increasing power and cadence (170 watts at 90 rpm, 190 watts and 95 rpm, 210 watts and 100+ rpm). According to Amber, this allows you to “rev the engines and the systems, but don’t run it and take away from the race.” Following the warm up, each week built on the previous with a specific target in mind such as building endurance or focusing on strength. One of the rides near the end included 3 intervals of 8 minutes at FTP with 7 minute ramp ups in between intervals. Amber recommended finding a local 8 minute hill (kind of steep) and work up to 4-5 repeats at full gas pushes. She stated “When you can do this, you know you will be super race fit and on form.”
Namrita talked about nutrition and hydration throughout the rides. She touched on one issue I have, which is amped up nerves before the race. Namrita gave the following advice:
“Race day has a lot of stress. Adrenaline makes you break down energy and you can blow the start. Working to stay calm, starting overnight and all the way through the start is a huge advantage. Keeping yourself calm can preserve glycogen stores.” This has proven to help me have a stronger start to races. She also talked about nutrition when racing in cold weather, suggesting you may need more carbohydrates as shivering breaks down glycogen.
Other tips that Amber shared during the rides included: to be patient early and don’t show how strong you are. Know the course. You may risk waiting for a sprint or going all out on an attack. You have to be willing to lose to win. In losing, you then learn to win.
The rides were not only filled with great information but also included a fun and supportive community. A couple of memorable quotes from the rides included:
“This ain’t no Peloton class” – Joel F
“We like big watts and we will not lie” – Amber
The BaseCamp Training program is a great way to prepare for the gravel race season. Not only did this program give specific targets for endurance and strength, but it gave great information necessary for the early season races. Races in early spring can have a full spectrum of weather and temperatures. It was helpful to use the tips discussed by the BaseCamp coaches such as increasing the amount of carbohydrates on the cold morning race starts.
Riding outside is definitely preferred but when it isn’t an option, it is nice to find an informative and fun way to train. The BaseCamp group checks those boxes!