Camarillo Crit Practice (Evoke & Pedal Mafia event)

Pedal Mafia (social ride)

High RPM, Z 1-2, 50-70% FTP, heavy wind

High torque, 80-120% FTP Intervals

1st NPR of the year Big Orange 1st & 2nd 🤜🏾🤛🏻

100 laps. 46 miles. An intense headwind, with just enough P1/2 riders and young lions to force maximum horsepower every lap. I may have sat up five times for about 30 seconds. I watched more than half the field drop a lap or several, then jump back in several laps later. This was actually perfect, because those fresh or partially recovered legs helped keep the overall power high.

So when we eased up, maybe five fresh riders would jump, and boom—right back on the throttle. It was likely the best crit training session I’ve ever been part of.

I can clearly see the benefits of my offseason training program, along with the new addition of carbs in the bottle. Since around 2020, I rarely added carbs or consumed them during rides or races. This season, I’m changing that—especially for rides over an hour and races that demand repeated max-horsepower efforts.

It was exciting to be back in that intense, scientific, competitive space. It’s like Professor Freeman and Racer Freeman, with Coach Freeman trying to manage them both at the same time.

If there were something that could read all the data sensors taking in information—
• Eyes: reading opponents’ gears, cadence, and positioning
• Ears: listening for gear shifts, riders coasting behind me, and changes in wind direction
• Skin: sensing temperature and subtle shifts in wind direction and intensity

—all of that data would be feeding back in a loop at an unquantifiable speed. The bigger the peloton, the stronger the riders, and the more technical the course, the more data there is to process.

Knowing this is exactly why adding carbs should be a positive contribution. When the brain is working this hard, it alone requires ample carbohydrate and oxygen to function optimally—before we even account for the repeated neuromuscular and metabolic demands of racing.

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Anthony Coach-Freeman

Camarillo Crit Practice (Evoke & Pedal Mafia event)

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Camarillo Crit Practice (Evoke & Pedal Mafia event)

Pedal Mafia (social ride)

High RPM, Z 1-2, 50-70% FTP, heavy wind

High torque, 80-120% FTP Intervals

1st NPR of the year Big Orange 1st & 2nd 🤜🏾🤛🏻

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