SOURCE Athlete Gili Torovezky took his SOURCE Whistler hydration pack on another spin through the woods in early spring. Here he talks about his ride and his preparation for summer season.
“Spring, marks the end of “Base Phase” and the beginning of “Strength Phase”. While in “base” the training focuses on aerobic (“with oxygen”) fitness, Strength introduces anaerobic (“no oxygen”) exercises or intervals, a burst of short high intensity efforts.
Conventional wisdom has it that Mountain biking, generally, is an anaerobic sport since it involves a variety terrain profile: uphill, downhill, technical and more.
So when my dedicated, excellent pro biker coach Brian Lariviere of BJL Coaching in Morristown (NJ) included a fun Mountain bike ride on April 14th, I knew “base” is almost over. Brian specializes in coaching full-time-job athletes and knows how to tailor the schedule accordingly. A skill that attributed to a very few elite coaches.
It was over 4 months since I rode the trails and I felt real itchy in my legs. The day before, I called Eric Model, gifted mountain biker and long time friend to be ready for a 2 hours ride with his SOURCE Spinner filled with sport drink. While I prepared my good 1 year old Whistler, the same excellent companion I rode the kokopeli trail with.
The ride went well in a nearby South Mountain reservation where Eric is known as the sheriff due to his unparalleled knowledge of the trail network.
We started to roll on the white trail, a fun “single” with one sketchy section that requires extra attention and power to cross. 20 minutes into the ride we were all warmed up and “in the groove”. After short ride on a fire road that allowed us to hydrate and recharge our batteries with some gel, we went right back to “work” on a twisty technical trail with short steep climb. The top of the ridge gave us again the opportunity to hydrate and do our photo op before we continued on an ornate trail where we could speed up but often brakes. This is where we needed to pay extra attention and not let our confidence to go overboard. Then, it took a few more creek crossings and one steep climb before the last switchback downhill on the yellow to the start point…
It felt great to be back out there on the bike. The SOURCE Whistler hydration pack was proven once again to be an excellent hydration pack, unlimited storage places, easy access to pockets and above all, comfortable even after over 2 hours on the back.
Can’t wait to the next ride!”