COACHING AT BLACKSMITH

Meet our new coaching partner, Andrew Randell.

We are stoked to welcome Andrew Randell to the Blacksmith community! Andrew will be offering testing and information sessions at the shop.

As a former National Road Race Champion and a seasoned professional cyclist, Andrew now shares his expertise as a cycling coach through Sans Chaine. His focus is on guiding athletes in having cycling as part of their daily lives, optimizing performance while balancing work and family. He understands that not everyone is aiming for the Olympics, but shares a common passion for cycling!

Unlock Your Potential with Testing: It's Not Just for Pros!

Discover Yourself as a Rider - get personalized insights from Andrew via in-store lactate threshold performance testing to pinpoint areas for improvement and optimize your time training.

The testing process involves taking lactate samples, a Moxy device for blood oxygenation analysis, and respiratory data to determine your true training zones.

Following the test, you'll receive a comprehensive report and a 30-minute consultation to discuss results and recommendations.

This isn't about nailing your peak values – you can do that on your regular group ride! So, don't be intimidated; view it as an opportunity to unlock new experiences and understanding.

Why Lactate Testing?

Lactate is a fuel source in the body. The more efficiently you can use it, the better you'll perform. Lactate testing helps us keep tabs on the amount of lactate in your blood. If there's more lactate, it's linked to a less sustainable effort. By plotting trend lines from the samples, we can see how your effort changes throughout the test allowing us to hone in on your zones.

Not a Racer? Why Should You Test?

Even if you don't race, you still want to ride well! Many riders make the mistake of going hard all the time. Testing allows you to experience changes in effort and understand their impact on your training and real-world performance.

Blacksmith’s Mike Yak had this to say about his own test session:

“As someone who has only recently begun to take my riding more seriously, I was excited to have the opportunity to use Andrew’s expertise to better understand my current physiology and create a training plan for the rest of the season. The session was no different than your standard FTP ramp test in terms of effort - hard, but not excruciating. The information that came out of testing was amazing: knowing my respiratory patterns, lactate threshold zones, heart rate data, and so much more, has enabled me to better understand how I perform as an athlete. Andrew was fantastic to work with, deeply knowledgeable, and the entire process was really not intimidating in any way. With Andrew’s testing and consultation now completed, I’m much better equipped to attack my training rides with focus and with a far more detailed understanding of my strengths and weaknesses as a rider this upcoming season.”

Click below for more information, pricing and to book your test with Andrew and keep an eye on our Instagram account for more information about Mike’s lactate test experience.

LACTATE THRESHOLD TESTING INFO