Looking to get faster on your bike? Many different things go into this solution. One of those ingredients is some intensity in your workouts. This can be accomplished many ways but one way is by motor pacing.

Tough Girl Melissa Marts

Melissa Marts, Tough Girl Cycling

It will happen to all athletes sometime in their life. You are feeling great, racing well, and then BAM, you are suddenly out with an injury. Making the transition back from being injured can be a long, slow, frustrating journey, but here are some tips for making it easier for you and those around you.

Coming back from an injury is mentally a tough thing to do.  The first thing to work on is not beating yourself up for being injured. If you can learn something on how to prevent this injury in the future, then note it and move on. It doesn’t do any good to dwell on what would have happened if you had taken the other line, or maybe braked just a little before the razorback sandstone while racing at night (uh hem). It happened and the best thing to do now is to look foreword.

Once you have come to peace with your injury, work on the steps to get yourself healthy. See a physical therapist as soon as you sense something is wrong. In some cases this may be quite obvious, but chronic low-grade pain can often develop into something more serious without the proper care.

Often the hardest thing for most athletes to do is to take time off of training. Don’t feel guilty about not riding my bike every day. When you are healthy this is a productive feeling, it keeps you motivated and helps you reach your potential. While injured, however, the guilty feelings we often have about training can be destructive. Instead of feeling guilty about not training, concentrate on performing the correct PT for your injury. Consistency (and often icing) is the key to a quick recovery.

"TheCyclist-Lawyer.com" SW4 team was developed for brand new road and track cyclists who have never raced before and who want to learn the fundamentals in a team environment. Team size will be limited to 20 ladies, with a waiting list created for additional women who want to join. The philosophy behind this team is that beginner female cyclists deserve a supportive and educational team where they can learn about racing, training, nutrition and tactics in a fun atmosphere.

Rides, clinics, meetings, races and more will be held primarily in the Denver and Boulder areas. The topics will range from training to nutrition to racing to pre-race strategy, both as an individual racer and also as a member of a team.

The team will be led by Megan Hottman, professional road and track cyclist, and sponsored by her law firm, Hottman Law Office. Treads Bicycle Outfitters will be the team shop and will provide a meeting location and discounts to team members. Founder Hottman says, "The goal for these women is to help them earn sufficient upgrade points in one or two seasons, to move up to SW3, and to join other locally-competitive teams. The underlying purpose in this is to keep the sport growing by bringing in new women at the beginner level, and then helping them move up. This keeps local racing exciting by keeping field sizes large, local teams fed with new riders, and also helps identify new up-and-coming talent for the professional ranks."

How to Join?

Email Megan at meghottman@hotmail.com. She’ll ask you a few questions by email to be sure you are a good fit with this group and if so, then she’ll send you instructions on how to get started.