Welcome to Episode #380 of the 303 Endurance Podcast. We’re your hosts Coach Rich Soares and 303 Chief Editor, Bill Plock. Thanks for joining us for another week of endurance interviews and discussion.

We’re talking about Sleep Sugar and Cycling today!

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In Today’s Show

• Endurance News – The 31 Most Important Races in Triathlon History; What lack of sleep does to cycling performance; Strade Bianche, Kristen Faulkner and her DQ for a CGM
• What’s new in the 303 – Nationwide E-Bike Tax Credit Bill and FROGs at local race
• Video of the Week – Pedal Durango shares why Colorado’s Ride riders will love the San Juans!

Endurance News:

The 31 Most Important Races in Triathlon History

When people talk about the most important races in triathlon history, they’re likely to bring up individual performances: Julie Moss crawling across the finish line in Kona, for example, or the Iron War. Maybe they’ll even talk about the time Gwensanity swept the Rio Olympics, or one of the many amazing sprint finishes in tri history (which mostly seem to involve Lionel Sanders these days)

Here’s what a lack of sleep does to your cycling performance – and how to improve the quality of yours

Improving your sleep could provide the single biggest boost to your cycling performance it’s possible to make by legal means. Though it was arguably made famous as a “marginal gain” when Team Sky (now Ineos Grenadiers) started carting their own mattresses with them at the Tour de France, sleep may in fact be a maximal gain – it really is that fundamental in building fitness and maintaining health. So how can you make sure you’re getting the optimum dose of the most potent legal performance enhancer known to cycling humanity?

Nick Littlehales, a sleep coach who has worked with British Cycling to help elite riders understand what happens when we sleep and why it’s specifically important for cyclists. “The simple fact is, we should be allocating over 30 per cent of every 24 hours to a defined recovery process,” says Littlehales. “Everything gets repaired when we sleep, which means consistent sleep deprivation diminishes every pillar of human performance, not only muscular and respiratory recovery.”

It’s while we sleep that most testosterone and human growth hormone is released, more than in any other phase in each 24-hour cycle. Furthermore, the stress hormone cortisol decreases, cells and muscles are repaired, and our heart and cardiovascular system get the chance to rest. There is a lack of hard evidence around sleep and sports performance, but preliminary studies have suggested that sleep deprivation may also be linked with accelerated muscle atrophy when in a calorie deficit.

“You need to listen to your body,” Littlehales adds. “Cyclists want to be continually pushing their boundaries and sometimes hours of sleep are perceived as a waste of time. But you need a balance, and you need consistent and sustainable levels of recovery.”

What are Continuous Glucose Monitors? Explaining their use, the ban, and Faulkner’s DSQ

“The fans don’t want to see Formula One in bike racing, they want surprises, they want unpredictability,” Rogers told Cycling Weekly(opens in new tab). “We feel that putting such powerful information into the hands of younger riders is taking away a skill – deciding when you need to eat and learning about your body […] It shouldn’t be a completely automated process where every decision is being taken by technology.”

What’s New in the 303:

Nationwide E-Bike Tax Credit Bill Returns to Congress

Leading bike industry advocate PeopleForBikes is asking supporters of the legislation to sign an online petition.

The Electric Bicycle Incentive Kickstart for the Environment Act first arrived in Congress in 2021. Like most bills that come to America’s legislative chambers, it never passed into law. But five politicians and bike industry advocates hope that 2023 will be the year Americans get tax credits for buying electric bicycles, according to a statement from industry advocate PeopleForBikes.

For the bill’s sponsors, getting more cars off the road is a clear win for reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

“Transitioning to a clean energy economy includes changing the way we get around. That means transit, rail, and electric buses, cars, and bikes. Our bill will make it more affordable for working people to buy an e-bike and help get cars off the road,” said Senator Brian Schatz, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.

Other bill supporters include Representatives Jimmy Panetta (California), Earl Blumenauer (Oregon), Mike Thompson (California), and Adam Schiff (California).

E-bikes parked for a sharing program

An office worker takes an e-bike from the bicycle sharing programs that have become common in many cities; (photo/Shutterstock)

Bill: $1,500 Credit for E-Bike Purchase

The E-BIKE Act hasn’t really changed from its 2021 version, according to PeopleForBikes.

It proposes a refundable 30% tax credit for purchasing an electric bicycle — up to a $1,500 credit for new bicycles that cost less than $8,000. The credit would be allowed once per individual every three years or twice for a joint-return couple buying two electric bicycles.

There’s one addition to the 2023 bill, however: income caps. These limits parallel the electric vehicle tax credit caps. That means no tax credit for those with an annual salary of $150,000 for single filers, $225,000 for heads of households, or $300,000 for those filing jointly. The bill also mandates a report from the IRS after two years to understand the distribution of the credit by income tax bracket and adjust for equity in the future, according to PeopleForBikes.

An electric bicycle tax credit was included in the House-approved Build Back Better Act in 2021. But legislators cut the provision when negotiations resulted in a new bill called the Inflation Reduction Act.

“The IRA is the largest climate policy package in American history, but to quickly and effectively take action on reducing emissions, Congress must consider the E-BIKE Act as an essential and complementary policy,” PeopleForBikes wrote.

Community Public Service Announcement

• Call to all local race directors
• TriDot’s Value – Community Who Cares for Each Other; Be good Citizens
• TriDot Local Event Ambassadors are offering to be First Race Orientation Guides FROG to anyone self-reporting to be their first triathlon.
• L2L-Peggy Shockley
• WOL-Lance
• 70.3-Julie Coleman

Video of the Week:

Pedal Durango shares why Colorado’s Ride riders will love the San Juans!

Durango Wheel Club 1890s

Ironhorse – 2 rothers racing one on a bike and the other on a train going to Silverton

Closing:

Thanks again for listening in this week.  Please be sure to follow us @303endurance and of course go to iTunes and give us a rating and a comment.  We’d really appreciate it!

Stay tuned, train informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!