Cycling in Alignment with Colby Pearce
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
Chris Balser: Your Cranks are Most Likely Too Short - Part A - Ep177
In Part A of this podcast I discuss crank length with Chris Balser. We talk about factors that may drive a fitter to recommend shorter cranks, pros and cons of shorter cranks, and of course wander off into related topics.
I am sure anyone who is considering crank length as a possible limiting factor in their cycling will benefit from this conversation.
Disclaime...
Tripping over Dollars to Pick up Pennies - Ep176
In this walking podcast I talk about the tension between looking for marginal gains in contrast to focusing on basic principles.
Far too often I see athletes putting carts before horses. Or, tripping over dollars to pick up pennies. Choose your analogy, but the message is: getting lost in details when they don’t have foundational health and sporting principles in order.
Even more c...
Post Script to Finding Dead Space - Ep175 A few more thoughts on finding dead space can be found in this podcast, amongst some random movie quotes, poorly delivered jokes and esoteric analogies. Standard Operating Procedure in my universe. I hope this helps expand on the idea of finding “dead space” in your riding, life, and relationship with sport.
Finding Dead Space – Ep 174
In this walking podcast I discuss the concept of finding dead space in the breath, and in your life. This is also known as equanimity, or being content with the present moment as it is. It’s a concept that has utility for athletes, as they are often rushing from thing to thing, and this rushing is often a consequence of the mentality that they are not inherently enough.
“The best athlete wants his oppon...
RPE is Fundamental - Ep173
Riders use P as a goal and think it is an objective. It is not an objective, it is a measure of output. It is an artificial construct, a mathematical calculation.
The objective of training is physiological load: SAID principle. It does not matter how many watts you do, what matters is, did you load the system appropriately given the context of your training?
The objective racing is not P. It is speed. I...
The False Glorification of Suffering - Ep172
The culture in our sport often glorifies suffering as though it were a badge of honor or something to aspire towards. This is incorrect. In this walking podcast, I explain why. Thank you for listening. Smash and subscribe!
Shame - Ep171
In this walking podcast I talk about the insidious emotion of shame and how it can multiply.
I also talk about the lunar cycle and how it is related to our breathing a bit. More to come in future talks no doubt.
And I was visited by a frog which is a fortuitous event. Obviously.
Don’t worry, all of this gets tied into cycling and your relationship to sport. But I don’t mention FTP or grams of CHO, even once.
Nathan Hass: SBTGRVLRDX - Ep170
What the heck does NHSBTGRVLRDX stand for?
Why, it stands for Nathan Haas Steamboat Gravel Redux of course. I thought that would be obvious.
I am sure you will be captivated stupendified by our post race banter on the 2025 Steamboat Gravel race, where vowels are so 2018.
Fun was had and gravel cornering shall be discussed.
Enjoy.
Nathan Haas: Cycling is like Fishing - Ep169
In this episode of Cycling in Alignment Nathan Haas and I drive to Steamboat for the SBT GRVL race. As a former World Tour professional and seasoned gravel veteran, Nathan has some great perspectives to offer on the newest addition to the cycling world. In cased you missed the memo, this is gravel [no, e-bikes don’t count].
We do speak a bit about the upcoming SBT race, and also take a ...
A Centered Experience - Ep168
In this walking podcast I tie together the concept of physical center with energetic center.
By understanding this relationship, it helps us keep the perspective that sport is training for life.
I hope this collection of thoughts is helpful in your evolution as a person and athlete.
The Great Illusion: Dr Scott Frey and Brent Bookwalter - Ep167
In this episode my discussion with Dr Frey and former World Tour rider Brent Bookwalter is about training the mind to better handle the demands of sport. Rather than simply leaving race day flow state or a high level of motivation to chance, Dr Frey has developed tools that athletes can use to condition their minds in a way that cultivates a state of high performance wi...
The Coin Part 2 - Ep166
In this walking podcast I unpack more about the concept of The Coin and the influence of our emotional state on our riding and racing.
In medical QiGong, we understand that the emotions reside in the organ system. If we are unaware of this, it can be problematic. The first rule of athletics is to Know Thyself and this means understanding your own emotional state. Witnessing emotions is the first step in cla...
The Coin - Part 1 - Ep165
In this walking podcast I discuss how the psyche influences riding posture and spiral patterns while cycling.
It’s not a topic you will find in your average post about climbing better or improve your FTP.
Enjoy.
Thoughts on the Teeter Totter of Cadence and Torque - Ep 164
Most often, riders associate making power with pushing harder on the pedals. The sensation of the bottom of the shoe providing resistance against the plantar surface [bottom] of the foot is how the sensation of “going hard” is processed.
However, speed on a bicycle is dictated by the complex interaction of weather [including wind, temperature, pressure and humidity], ter...
A Conversation with Brendan Housler: Bits and Pieces about Bicycle Practice - Ep163
This is a conversation with Brendan Housler of EVOQ.BIKE. It’s a friendly game of verbal ping pong in which we discuss many topics that seem to bounce around in cycling at the moment. These include what FTP is, the challenges with ERG mode when indoor training, how group rides impact your training program, and figuring out whether a rider might bene...
Austin Einhorn: Thinking Critically - Part 2 - Ep161
This is part 2 of this discussion. In this episode, Austin and I continue to slay some sacred cows in the fitness world such as “shoulders down and back” and “brace the core”. Austin explains why he doesn’t agree with these platitudes.
We also discuss at length the concept of standards of strength for all athletes.
We agree that cycling is fundamentally biomechanically similar t...
Austin Einhorn: Thinking Critically - Part 1 - Ep161
In this discussion with strength coach Austin Einhorn,
Along the way, we slay some sacred cows in the fitness world such as “shoulders down and back” and “brace the core”. Austin explains why he doesn’t agree with these platitudes.
We also discuss at length the concept of standards of strength for all athletes.
We agree that cycling is fundamentally biomechanically similar to r...
Pre-50, Post-50 Relationship to Cycling - Ep160
In this walking podcast, I unpack my thoughts on training and how it might differ for athletes younger than 50 vs older than 50. On a previous podcast, I spoke to Phil Cavell about his book The Mid Life Cyclist, which also covers this topic. My thoughts are around Intensive training vs extensive training, but perhaps not in the typical sense they are discussed in cycling lexicon.
Co...
Thomas McDaniel: Knowledge is Horizontal (Part 2) - Ep159
This the second part of a conversation is with Thomas McDaniel, who has been in the cycling world for many years. He is currently completing his PhD at CU Boulder in Advanced Biomechanics. In the past, Thomas has been a PT, a bike mechanic, a bike fitter, and worked at Specialized, BMC and Trek.
Thomas and I are aligned in that we prefer to educate rather than treat our...
Thomas McDaniel: Knowledge is Horizontal - Ep158
This conversation is with Thomas McDaniel, who has been in the cycling world for many years. He is currently completing his PhD at CU Boulder in Advanced Biomechanics. In the past, Thomas has been a PT, a bike mechanic, a bike fitter, and worked at Specialized, BMC and Trek.
Thomas and I are aligned in that we prefer to educate rather than treat our clients and the people in our...
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