Riding A Bicycle Can Get You To Gold

2010 Olympic Gold Medalist Lindsey Vonn in action during a race. photo nbcsports.msnbc.com

Cycling is Ski Training

Anyone who has ever skied can tell you it takes a great deal of coordination, strength and balance to do it well and the same is true for cycling. The legendary cyclist Greg LeMond used to spend his winter months in Minnesota on Nordic skis to stay in great shape for the Tour de France. Many other cyclists then and now have used skiing, Nordic especially, as a great cross-training sport to keep them fit over the winter. It should come as no surprise then that great skiers benefit from cycling as their cross-training sport.

Hannah Kearney accepting her Gold Medal. Photo csmonitor.com

Pedal to the Podium

Just before Hannah Kearney skied her way to earn the first gold medal for the USA in the 2010 Olympics, her coach had reminded her of how hard she had trained, how much weight she had lifted and also how many miles she had cycled. She had worked so hard for so long, especially for this moment. She then hit those moguls and jumps in gold-medal form.

Lindsey Vonn at a bike shop in Europe

To become a really great downhill skier, you need to have strong, well-conditioned leg muscles and endurance. For skiers, cycling in the summer is the perfect cross-training exercise because it helps build leg muscles and stamina. Chris Carmichael, the coach of many endurance athletes, most notably the former coach of Lance Armstrong, is an advocate of the cross-training benefits of skiing for cyclists and cycling for skiers. He highly recommends it, “Cycling is more forgiving on the joints and muscles than running, you can use quality bike workouts to raise the overall intensity of your training with less risk of injury.” He likes to measure and manipulate cadence, resistance and heart rate intensities to develop power for skiers. That level of training is ideal for those training for future Olympic glory

Lindsey Vonn - Snow Queen photo en.redbulletin.com

Lindsey Vonn As A Cyclist

An article in Sports Illustrated magazine by Tim Layden (2/8/10) about Lindsey Vonn caught my eye. She had natural talent for downhill skiing that took her far as a teenager, but as she left the junior racing circuit and entered World Cup and Olympic races, she realized she had done all she could do on talent alone. It would take a tough training regimen to help her achieve the world class level. It was at this point she went on a long, mountainous bicycle ride with her friend and junior rival (and current Olympian) Julia Mancusco and Julia’s father, in Lake Tahoe, California.

“It was the first time I had ever done a bike ride, except for transportation around my little flat hometown in Minnesota,” recalled Lindsey. “I fell behind them by, like, five miles, and I’m out in the middle of nowhere and Julia’s beating me and I look like a fool. I was totally embarrassed.”

Hannah Kearney in perfect form on the slopes. photo www.boston.com

That was then. This is now. Lindsey Vonn’s Olympian training is hard core. Her athletic workout includes (among other things) a three hour workout on a stationary bike. She’s come to a realization about it all.

“I’m not even the same human being I was back when I did that ride with Julia. Talent can only take you so far. I know what other U.S. skiers do in training. I know I work harder. I know what (best friend) Maria Riesch does; she road bikes for three or four hours. We bike for two or three hours, but much harder.”

What Cycling Can Do For You

If this works for Olympic athletes, imagine what cycling can do for you as a skier. My neighbor down the street rode more on his bike last summer than he ever had and finished his cycling season one week before commencing his winter of downhill and Telemark skiing. He credits the cycling for starting out his skiing season right: little to no muscle soreness and a lot more endurance. In other words, it was a perfect cross-training sport.