with Michelle Cleere, Sports Psychologist, MA

“It is estimated that 3 to 17 million adults and children are injured each year in the United States in sport, exercise, and recreational settings”.1 This means that you might be an injured athlete at some point in your career.

Although physical factors are the primary cause of injury, psychological factors also contribute. Recent evidence shows that managing the psychological factors associated with injury and dealing successfully with stress that might contribute to injury, are equally important to rehabilitation and injury prevention. Read more >>>>>

Catherine Marsal comes to Wenzel Coaching with the kind of racing resume and coaching credentials that are, quite literally, one in a million. With one of the most impressive resumes in the history of women's racing, including victories in the Tour de France and four World Championship titles, Catherine is available to help elite and beginning competitors reach their full potential through a combination of physical and mental training.

Catherine began racing for a reason many of us can relate to - sibling rivalry! As one of eight children, with five older brothers, she began racing to prove a point, and before long moved far beyond that initial impetus to stake out a position as one of France's most dominant racers. Catherine credits mental toughness and focus with much of her success, noting that for the elite athlete, the ability to commit completely to one's goals is what separates the winner from the rest.

Besides her impressive racing background, Catherine has a wealth of experience helping other athletes achieve their goals, as Sport Diector for Team SATS and more recently Team Nobili Rubinetterie Menikini Cogeas ABD in Italy. In 2004 she earned the 1st State Degree in Coaching in France and this year she embarks on earning a degree in Nutrition, Lifestyle, and Fitness Management.

Catherine's broad experience across many cycling disciplines combined with her deep understanding of the psychology of racing give her the ability to help a wide range of athletes improve their performance. She understands that amateur racers juggling work and family must pick their battles and focus their energy for specific events, just as full time pros do.

You can learn more about Catherine here.

with Head Coach Scott Saifer

When a Wenzel Coach puts together a training plan for a client, we are doing our best, given what we know about the client's experience, needs, available time and event schedule, to set them on the path that maximizes their chances of reaching their goals. We give serious thought to all the details, from the overall timing of the plan to have the athlete ready for his or her events, to the subtleties of the exact heart rates, training hours, cadences, warm-up times and sequences of days. A few elements of the final plan are arbitrary, but not many.

One very deliberate element of the plan is always the Recovery Option. Most Wenzel Exercises have a built in way that they are supposed to turn into a Recovery Day if you are other than well rested and energetic after a warm up. Failure to turn a session into a recovery session when that is what your body needs most is "going off the plan", just as much as skipping a workout or doing a hard group workout on an Endurance day.

Clients often call me to ask if it is okay to shorten a workout or do a hard ride on a day where I've scheduled an easy one. When the days of the schedule can be mixed around so that the client still gets the suggested workouts, just in a different order, I usually say "yes" if there is no race coming up in the next few days, When the requested change cannot be balanced by another change and actually results in more hard days or fewer total hours than I recommended, I might still say "yes", but with this added note: "The plan I sent was my best effort to optimally prepare you for your events. Any deviation is likely to be a degradation." When I give a client permission to cut a workout or train hard a few days before a race, I'm not giving them the fitness or performance they would have if they did not deviate, only the okay that I understand what they are up to.

This doesn't mean that you should stick to your plan no matter how busy or exhausted you are. On the contrary, if you are busy or exhausted, the best thing to do is take an easy day or even a nap. However, if you want to really perform in your events and you find yourself needing days off or naps in place of training sessions more than once in a rare while, you need to fix your life, A few years ago I had he chance to ask Fred Rodriguez what he does on days when he doesn't feel like riding. His answer was that when he doesn't feel like riding, he doesn't. Shocked, I asked him how often that happened. He answered that it may have happened once in the last year.

When you get permission to cut back on your training, remember that while it may be the best compromise given all the other variables in your life, changing those variables to allow the full recommended training, or even an increase if your body can handle it would make you a stronger athlete.

“Knowledgeable” and “experienced” are two words that come to mind when describing coach Richard Cramer. As a a competitor in a variety of endurance sports for over 25 years, Richard draws on his many first hand experiences when coaching athletes. As he puts it, no matter what they are going through “I have probably been there and can relate well”.

Richard’s competitive resume is impressive, to say the least. His start in endurance events came in high school as a track and cross country runner and, at the age of 18, he cycled across the country with his father. He holds a sub 3-hour PR in the marathon and has competed in various triathlon distances. Richard’s first triathlon came in 1982 and he has since gone on to compete in Ironman distance events.

Currently, Richard’s competitive focus has shifted to cycling and he is regularly racing in mountain bike races (both cross country and ultra endurance events), cyclocross races, and road races with the Bicycleattorney.com cycling team out of Portland, Oregon. Thanks to his many years of racing and promoting in the region, he has an extensive knowledge of events in the northwest, which would be a valuable asset to any athletes he coaches in the region.

As a coach, athlete, father and husband Richard understands what it takes to balance family, work, and training. It is only natural that he has started to focus on coaching after his many years of competition. As he puts it, “During this time I learned a lot about training time and recovery, while still trying to have a life”. If you are interested in working with Richard or you would simply like to read more about him, click here.

Sue Butler and partner win Stage 5 and 6 and the overall at Transrockies

Susan Beck takes 3rd place in the Alameda 10k race in hre age group

Virginia Perkins has a stellar month with 3rd place in the Livermore Hills RR, and 2nd place in both the Norther California/Nevada Womens 30+ Road Race and Criterium Championships

Marie DeWitt scores a 2nd place in the Timpani Crit Women's Category 3 event

Andrew Tilin successfully completed L'Etape du Tour

Jason Cooke finished his first Ironman at IMUSA Lake Placid in July

Jeanie Bihlmaier places 2nd in the Oregon Time Trial Championships (Senior Women's Category)

Keith and Monique Jeneski both set personal bests at the Spirit of Racine 1/2 Ironman Triathlon in Wisconsin

At the age of 41 Scott Cole shows the youngsters how it is done, winning the Albany Criterium Category 3 event

Shana Sturla scores a 2nd place in the Minnesota State Criterium Championship

Matt Dion shaves 27 minutes off his 2005 time in the 2006 Donwnieville XC MTB Race

Anne Petrides and team finish 2nd in the Big Blue Adventure Series Ocean Blue Sprint Adventure Race

Don't see your accomplishment here? Write to newsl e tter@wenzelcoaching.com

Wenzel Coaching offers signed copies of Bike Racing 101 for only $15.00 plus shipping! That's nearly $4 off the list price!

Click here for more information.

Cyclocross Clinic

Whether you are new to cyclocross or just want to polish your skills for the upcoming season - we have the clinic just for you!

Coach David Peckinpaugh will be conducting a Cyclocross Clinic in the Albany, New York area on August 26th.

Click here for more information

Click here to register

Women's Clinic

Wenzel Coaching is conducting a San Francisco Bay area women's racing clinic on October 28 and 29. The clinic includes classroom time as well as practical sessions out on the road. It will be held at Pegasus Bicycle Works in Danville. Come learn from some of the best women coaches and racers in the business!

Email Scott Saifer for more information.

Calling all Northern California Mountain Bikers!!

Head coach Scott Saifer and a number of Bay area coaches will be hosting a clinic in Walnut Creek on September 30th & October 1st. It will include classtime as well as riding on local trails.

Email Scott Saifer for more information.

Wenzel Coaching is always on the lookout for quality coaches with a passion for teaching. This includes road coaches, MTB coaches and track coaches.

Are you well respected in your local cycling community?

Are you already answering questions for teammates and friends and writing a few training programs?

Do you have some years experience on at least the Category 2 or Expert level?

Do you enjoy helping others achieve their goals?

Would you rather not deal with billing and other administrative duties and just focus on coaching?

If the answer to all that is yes for you or someone you know, you have the makings of a good coach candidate!

Please contact Kendra Wenzel by email or at 503-233-4346.

We are looking for coaches willing to devote both full and part time to coaching, particularly in areas where we do not currently have coaches.