Training mistakes

Heart rate variability, or HRV, is the small variation in time between one heartbeat and the next, and for endurance athletes, it’s most useful as a trend that shows how well the body is handling training and life stress, not as a one-off score that tells you whether today is good or bad. Used well, HRV can help you decide when to push, when to hold steady, and when to back off, but it only becomes genuinely useful when you judge it against your own normal range and combine it with sleep, soreness, mood and the demands of your training.

Outdoor cycling is what happens when you take your indoor fitness back onto real asphalt or gravel, where wind, terrain and bike handling suddenly matter again. After months of riding indoors, the change isn’t just physical, it’s sensory, technical and a little humbling at first.

Base building sets the ceiling for your entire season, yet many cyclists repeat the same early-season training mistakes year after year. This guide highlights the base-building mistakes holding you back, explains what to avoid during base training, and shows how aerobic base cycling, progressive overload, and consistent base riding create a training plan that actually delivers results.

It's time for us to talk about bonking in cycling. Not that kind of bonking (although that is also something we should write about), but the kind that no cyclist ever wants to experience. The dreaded energy crisis that sneaks up on you without warning. Like how Dementors drain life from their victims in Harry Potter books, bonking can turn even the most seasoned cyclist into a stumbling, mumbling ghost within minutes. Let's explore what bonking is exactly, dig into the physiological and psychological aspects of it, highlight famous examples of bonking among professional cyclists, and look at practical tips for avoiding this phenomenon.