TRAINING MISTAKES THAT MAKE YOU SLOWER | Pro Cyclist Zach Calton | Ask a Cycling Coach 551
Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast - Presented by TrainerRoad
TrainerRoad
4.9 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 18 September 2025
⏱️ 78 minutes
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Summary
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// TOPICS COVERED
(0:00:00) Welcome!
(0:07:21) How Zach Calton won Crusher in the Tushar
(0:11:12) Polarized Training for Racing
(0:22:04) How Individual is Training Volume?
(0:25:41) What a Pro Thinks Amateurs Misunderstand About TSS
(0:32:59) Should Every Cyclist Train Their Sprint?
(0:46:41) 3 Biggest Mistakes in Cycling
(1:01:58) Leadville Power File Comparison
In this episode of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast, Zach Calton joins to break down the training mistakes that can actually make cyclists slower. Zach shares the highs and lows of his season—bouncing back from illness, crashes, and overtraining at Cape Epic and Unbound to winning Crusher in the Tushar and Park City Point to Point. The discussion dives into polarized training, how pros think amateurs misunderstand TSS, and how important it is to manage training load, pacing, and mental resilience. Coach Jonathan and Zach also cover whether every cyclist should train their sprint, the three biggest mistakes athletes make with their cycling, plus a power file comparison from Leadville that shows how pacing and efficiency trump raw watts. It’s a deep look at practical lessons for anyone aiming to train smarter, race better, and avoid the pitfalls that hold riders back.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Aska Cycling Coach podcast presented by Train and Road today. |
| 0:02.8 | We are going to talk about training mistakes that are making you slower. |
| 0:06.1 | And we have Zach Kalton with us. |
| 0:07.6 | Lifetime Grand Prix athlete gravel racer races for Yeti, races for Ventum, races for first endurance, |
| 0:13.5 | Shimano, Eliel, all the different brands that he races for. |
| 0:17.2 | You guys probably know about him, obviously, from the Cape Epic podcast. |
| 0:21.8 | And Zach did live through to tell the tale. So, Zach, it's good to have you back, man. Good to be back. Thank you for |
| 0:27.9 | having me. Yeah, for sure. For those that don't know, go check out Zach's Instagram channel. He's been |
| 0:34.3 | posting, well, we personally here at Train Road feel like very awesome content |
| 0:37.7 | that is all about pointing out ways that athletes can improve their training. So it's appropriate |
| 0:43.4 | that we have you here today. I actually want to talk first, though, about your season really quick. |
| 0:48.0 | Yeah. It's a season of two halves, let's just say. So you had a tough Cape Epic, Sea Otter, |
| 0:53.8 | and Unbound. |
| 0:54.6 | Yeah. |
| 0:55.0 | Filled with question marks and frustrations. |
| 0:57.3 | Because I think it's important to point out that, like, in training leading into Cape Epic, |
| 1:02.4 | things are great. |
| 1:03.4 | And like, and you also have had good numbers in between those other races as well. |
| 1:07.7 | You also had struggles with illness and everything else. |
| 1:09.7 | But then just in racing, |
| 1:11.8 | it didn't, it, you just didn't click. Then at Big Horn Gravel, you did fantastic. I think you ended |
| 1:18.2 | up second at that one. You won Crusher and the Tusher. You did great at Leadville. When I saw you |
... |
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