Colby Pearce has been a Steve Hogg Certified expert bike fitter for the past 10 years and has worked with elite athletes and WorldTour teams, including EF Education First. He is also an elite cycling coach and has been passing along his wisdom to the riders he coaches for decades. Pearce’s repertoire of knowledge spans 30 years, five continents, hundreds of races, and countless miles in the saddle. The minutiae of cycling and riding technique are just part of the story that Colby shares. Alignment with nature, foundational principles of health, and treating the sport as a practice are some of the philosophies he shares. Cycling in Alignment features a diverse guest list, including those who may or may not be familiar names in the cycling world. Prepare to have your belief systems shattered.
Episodes
Tuesday Jun 21, 2022
Tuesday Jun 21, 2022
Today’s conversation is a continuation of the last episode with running coach, biomechanist, minimal running pioneer, and bike fitter, Helen Hall. I discovered Helen on Matt Wallden’s podcast and heard her again on Just Fly Sports. She has studied at the Chek Institute and brings a tremendous amount of thought, perspective and wisdom to her practice of working with clients to help solve their niggles.
Helen and I get deep in the weeds on bike fitting theory and we discuss how we each see clients on the bike. She divulges some of her ways of thinking about how to help a client become more efficient in their cycling and I found the conversation fascinating. If you would like a deeper dive into fitting philosophy, this will be a good episode for you.
More info about Helen can be found on her website.
Links:
Helen's Website1: https://www.helen-hall.co.uk
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Part 1
Today’s conversation is a running coach, biomechanist, minimal running pioneer, and bike fitter, Helen Hall. I discovered Helen on Matt Wallden’s podcast and heard her again on Just Fly Sports. She has studied at the Chek Institute and brings a tremendous amount of thought, perspective and wisdom to her practice of working with clients to help solve their niggles.
Helen and I get deep in the weeds on bike fitting theory and we discuss how we each see clients on the bike. She divulges some of her ways of thinking about how to help a client become more efficient in their cycling and I found the conversation fascinating. If you would like a deeper dive into fitting philosophy, this will be a good episode for you.
Helen's Monkey Graphic
More info about Helen can be found on her website.
Links:
Helen's Website1: https://www.helen-hall.co.uk
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
Today’s podcast is with Enduro Bearings founder Matt Harvey. Matt details some of the life events that brought him to start a company that makes bearings, and the unique solutions Enduro has brought to the market to help riders ride more and maintain their bikes less. For me, having a dependable and efficient whip is what cycling is all about, so I was keen to speak with Matt and understand more about how his products are designed and manufactured.
Rick Sutton is the director of Business Development at Enduro, I worked with him previously on the Wave handlebar project at Coefficient Cycling, which produces the RR model bar I currently use on all my drop bar bikes.
As a listener to this podcast, you will have the opportunity to take advantage of a special offer on all products made by Enduro Bearings, including their headsets, derailleur pulleys, and bottom brackets. Stay tuned until the end of the pod for this exclusive offer. Also be advised that the Maxhit and XD-15 bottom brackets are guaranteed for life.
Links:
Go to https://cycling.endurobearings.com to use the promo code mentioned in the episode to get 35% off.
Enduro on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enduro_bearings/
Rick Sutton on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rick33ster/
Wednesday May 25, 2022
Wednesday May 25, 2022
Today’s episode of Cycling in Alignment is a conversation with The Low Carb Athlete, Mike McKnight. Mike has won the triple crown of 200 mile runs in 2017, and also raced a 100 mile race with zero calories. Mike and I discuss the spectrum of the high carb athlete vs. the low carb or keto athlete [which are not the same thing], and some of his coaching philosophies and strategies when working with clients to determine their own optimal diet. We also unpack a bit behind the psychology of eating and how athletes climb the ladder of dietary health.
Links:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5407976/
https://blog.supersapiens.com/ronan-mclaughlin-scales-the-everest-of-fueling/
Saturday May 14, 2022
Saturday May 14, 2022
This episode of Cycling in Alignment is a solo discussion of my own lessons in feet. In 35 years of cycling including 15 years as a professional [four as a European Six Day rider], a small pile of National Championships, one Olympic Games, and racing on five continents, I have learned a lot about feet, orthotics, footbeds and cycling shoes. Hopefully some of these lessons will help you in your path as a human, athlete and cyclist [NOTE: they go in this order].
Some resources I will discuss in this show:
Thursday May 05, 2022
Thursday May 05, 2022
This episode of Cycling in Alignment is with Shara Simmons. Shara has spent her entire life working with people to help them be pain free and more functional. She is a Muscle Activation Technique Specialist and a Chek practitioner. She has also studied ELDOA methods.
Shara and I discuss the internal knowing and contrast it to the external surrender of power and understanding that is prevalent in western society in the present age. We discuss the technique of becoming the ”hollow bone”, to step out of the way and empty the mind in order to see the client as clearly as possible. Shara talks about Paul Chek’s Six Foundational Principles and how fundamental they are to her coaching process. Additionally, we discuss the I - We - All model and how it influences her practice.
Thank you for listening, I am sure you will find Shara’s wisdom, honesty and passion for her practice engaging and powerful.
Links:
Shara's Website1: https//www.eukinetics.com
Shara's Email: shara@eukinetics.com
Shara in Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eukinetics/
Sunday May 01, 2022
Sunday May 01, 2022
This episode of Cycling in Alignment is a conversation with former WAKSC Long Cycle World Champion, Chek and ELDOA practitioner Mike Salemi. Mike has a very holistic perspective on training and he uses the concepts of the Six Foundational Principles as a key aspect of his teachings.
During our discussion we speak about the influence Paul has had on our respective coaching trajectories, how our preparation for teaching has changed as our personal practice has developed, and our mutual quest to escape from the sagittal plane.
I am sure you enjoy this insightful dialogue with Mike.
Links:
Mike's Website: https://mikesalemi.io
Mike's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mike.salemi/
Mike on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MikeSalemi
Wednesday Apr 20, 2022
Wednesday Apr 20, 2022
This episode of Cycling in Alignment is a bike fitting Q + A discussion. I received an email from a young man in Adelaide and he asked some great questions about fitting, and I thought it would be helpful for me to answer them on the pod in order to drop knowledge to more people.
“Drop knowledge” is a term I use with full awareness that while I have things to say, I don’t know everything. “Strong opinions, loosely held”. There is always more to learn. I humbly offer the best information I have at this moment, in the hopes that some might benefit from my thoughts, and I might learn in the same process.
From a slightly different angle: life is a process that is meant to be experienced, not stopped and understood.
Show Notes – Here are the links mentioned in the show:
https://cyclingtips.com/2017/09/crank-length-forget-leverage-power-fit/
http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/2014/07/crank-length-whateverwithin-reason.html?m=1
Wednesday Apr 06, 2022
Wednesday Apr 06, 2022
I am returning to the US after our first Team EF Education coaching camp in Beuda, Spain. The weather was not amazing for this camp, we timed it perfectly to coincide with some of the coldest and rainiest days the region had experienced in months. But, we still had a very productive and fun camp with many great moments for learning. I ended up with nearly 23 hours of riding in 5 days on some of the most beautiful roads in the world, so there is nothing to complain about.
We worked on many aspects of cycling, but one of the topics most frequently discussed was fueling and hydration for hard training rides. My Team EF Coaching colleague Zack Morris was on a mission to teach our riders how to fuel for this type of riding.
Many of you have heard me be harsh about the use of gels and mixes during training on my podcast, and I am not here to reverse my prior statements. However, this camp has helped me reflect on my position and refine my teachings, something I will continue to do until my time on earth comes to pass.
In this episode of Cycling in Alignment, I unpack my thoughts on the spectrum of fueling for rides and races. I hope you find this information helpful.
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
In this episode of Cycling in Alignment I sit down with one of my best friends, Olympian Travis Brown, to discuss the training manifesto written by Nils van der Poel “How to Skate a 10K …and also a half 10k”. For both of us, there are a lot of interesting takeaways from this detailed disclosure of the final 2.5 years of training Nils did before his victories in the 10KM and 5KM Olympic speedskating events in Beijing. There are many crossovers to cycling, including the fact that for months, Nils rode his bike about 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. I hope you enjoy our analysis and Travis’ perspective on this insightful look into one man’s successful quest to win Olympic gold.
Links:
How to Skate a 10K …and also a half 10k by Nils van der Poel on Velo News
Swedish Olympic Star Gives Away Gold Medal to Protest Beijing’s Abuses on The New York Times