Testimonials
Shan Wilson - Elite SA MTB Racer
I had heard of Peter Wright as a coach a while back but was not of sure of his methods and ideas until I attended a seminar on training by Hunter Allen a Guru from the USA who incidentally was brought out by Peter and a good friend Frank Soll.
After this seminar I was completely blown away by what the human body is capable of doing, with a proper coach ,and shortly after this I made contact with the Local Hunter Allen… Peter.
After a short meeting it was clear that he was a no nonsense coach, and I was a no nonsense athlete, and that I needed his head in my legs,.. so to speak. It was late 2007 that we started to plot and plan on some major goals for the 2008 season.
Among these goals was the Cape Epic,Sani2c and of course all the build ups to these races which included the Elite Road league and quite a few MTB races, all of which I competed in with great success.
Training highlights that come to mind was my 3x20min intervals that were done weekly and started early Jan right up to the week pre-leading the Cape Epic, I recorded constant improvements and made the best gains I have experienced with a 15% increase in threshold power over an 8 week period.
This not only motivated me and made me even more hungry, but it gave me complete faith and belief in what my coach was doing to my engine.
While Peter was preparing my body for full contact war, he was also preparing me mentally with huge amounts of communication from Text messages, to calls, to mails on my output which was of course was being monitored by my trusty Power Tap. I can say with an open heart that without a coach and a Power Tap you are wasting your time.
Up until now there have been little problems but whenver there were any issues Peter was on it…be it my equipment, my legs or results he always wants to get to the bottom of the problem leaving nothing to spare.
So as it stands I have a great season ahead with some awesome races to report on and Peter has a big job keeping both mind and body in shape.
Shan Wilson - Team Stevens Adidas
16th April 2008
Ray Farenkothen
View of a novice on Professional Training
Just over 8 months ago, age 55, I decided to set the 2008 Epic as a goal. My main sport until then was golf which I had been playing regularly for 3 years. Having never really cycled seriously until then I decided that I needed some professional help as I did not have a clue on how to approach my training. I thought at the time that, if I was going to achieve my goal, I needed all the help and guidance I could get. I used the same approach for golf where coaching helped reduce my handicap to a reasonable standard. In hindsight I made 2 very important choices, one being Andy Lambert, a nutritionist (Andy is also a seasoned cyclist) and the other being Peter Wright from Bikemax.
After assessing my current level of fitness and understanding my goal to just finish the Epic, Peter put together an on-line training schedule which I started to follow as religiously as I could. I was introduced to some new concepts like ‘intervals’ which, until then, was something that happened between the supporting program and the main movie. I learnt to work with my heart rate as the sessions were structured at different intensities. At the beginning I just followed the workouts but later on began to see the significance of the structured training – particularly for me the most important aspect - rest days. Peter incorporated some events into the schedule like the Cedarburg 3 days stage race, Attakwas, Lighthouse etc. so I could experience the real deal.
Having shed 18kg’s in the process my partner and I completed the Epic in 263rd overall position which I am more than happy with. The training schedule not only gave me the legs and lungs but it gave me the confidence that my training was structured by a professional. The question of have I done too much or too little didn’t worry me as much as it seemed to worry others. The other thing I liked about the journey was the almost instant response to any questions or concerns I had and the personal feedback and care.
This approach worked for me and I see no reason why it shouldn’t work for any other novice who is serious about achieving his or her goal.
Ray Farrenkothen
8th April, 2008
Linda Davidson
My year with BikeMax has been fascinating, exciting and inspirational. Initially sceptical about the effectiveness of ‘online’ coaching I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to adjust to being coached over email. From the 920km Cape Epic in April to a bronze medal at the Africa Championships 11km Time Trial in November, BikeMax has been able to adjust my programme at every turn, no matter how obscure my next goal seemed!
The BikeMax team is truly that – a well oiled team. From my initial assessment by Peter Wright to the daily sessions which were adjusted regularly to suit time/fatigue constraints, the team is completely committed to working together to ensure the best possible results from their clients.
As a mother of three I found that having a woman coaching me was invaluable. My coach would carefully sift through my emails to separate the emotion from the facts but be at all times sympathetic to the time constraints we all face. I also appreciated the phone calls and positive messages sent before all important events and have no doubt that I received huge psychological benefits as well as the more obvious physical ones from this personal interest.
Without a power meter my sessions were all worked out using heart rate and the results speak for themselves. I was given a Power Tap for Christmas and will be coached using this tool from now on. All in all I have had a wonderful and successful year with BikeMax and look forward to once again achieving my goals this year with this truly professional cycle coaching team.
Linda Davidson
Owner “The Cycle Kaya” (bike shop), Zimbabwe
Achievements 2006:
13th place Mixed Category Cape Epic
Zimbabwe National Road Race Champion
Zimbabwe National Time Trial Champion
Overall Winner – Blue Cross 500km Cycle Challenge (road and MTB)
Bronze Medal – Elite Women’s TT Africa Continental Championships
Chris Brand
My name is Chris Brand and being a hugely competitive person got hooked after my first Argus in 2005. I race licenced vets 40 to 49. I was adament that I wanted to do well at this and so my training started. I was continually asking myself the usual questions, am I traing to hard , not hard enough etc. After 2005 94.7 through to this years Argus I was on about 14 hours a week and my power had stayed, to my huge dissapoinment the same.I had done a 2hr 53 Argus and had gone as far as I could on my own as I realised that to do better would take some scientific training.
It was at this time that I got hold of Peter Wright and asked if he would coach me. I live in JHB and he in Cape Town. I was concerned about this as I thought that the distance would pose a problem. We have only met once and he assured me that distance was not and issue and so we started my training in April.One of the first chalenges was that I had to get a reliable type of power meter on my bike. Prior to this I had only being training with power on an indoor trainer.I did a lot of research on the various models available and really it is a 3 horse race.Ergomo, Power tap and SRM.Ergomo and power tap weigh in virtually the same at 410 g and the SRM at 680g. The accuracy of the Ergomo and PowerTap are 1.5% and the SRM 2.5%. The SRM is nearly double the price of the Power Tap and Ergomo 50% more than the Power Tap so really it is a no brainer. I chose the power Tap and now have a unit fitted to my mountain bike as well.The Folks at Power Tap are the most helpfull that I have found in the industry so far. Very knowledgeable and have always gone out of their way to help me and friends that I have referred to them.
First off my hours dropped to 9 hours a week and within a very short period of 6 weeks my power had gone up. I finished 2 nd in provincials in May. and 18th in SA,s in June with a 12th in the time trial on my standard road bike. By this time in a mere 8 weeks I had raised my power by 10% still on only 9 hours a week.
What I love is the scientific nature of the training taking out all the guess work and now with "performance manager" one is able to track ones fitness, "CTL" and peak exactly when you want for key events. Training with power and using "Cycling Peaks" is definitely the future as you are able to optimise your time spent training to the full.I remember clearly when Pete said to me that I must throw my heart rate strap away. I of course was horrified but now some 6 months down the line I NEVER look at it anymore.
The longer I work with Pete the more I realise the wealth of experience that he has. One must remember that what I lack the most now is experience in racing and Pete is able to advise and help with bike set up, tyre choice, time trial, race strategy and all the rest that goes into this very complex sport. We speak regularily and never do I feel that he does not have the time to help and guide me.
Chris
Michael Bevan
Dear Peter and the gang at BikeMax,I would like to thank you for the excellent training program I recently got from you. I have been out of cycling for about 8 years and missing the bike a lot I decided to give it a go again. With time being at a premium I decided to concentrate on riding the pursuit on the track. I am 1.9m and 90Kg so there comes a time where we need to decide if we are ever going to be good road racers or rather to concentrate on something that suits our physique. I have always been of the opinion that training with power is the way to go, so decided to get a 2nd hand PowerTap. Then the search was then on for a coach who knew how to train with power. This is where I came across BikeMax. Peter gave me a program specifically for the pursuit. My previous best time was 3:58, 10 years ago.
I rode a 3:53 to win provincial champs and a 3:56 at nationals. I think it was money well spent.
To anyone that doesn't have a powermeter or coach I can highly recommend BikeMax, the daily emails and phone calls keep you on your toes, and with the power downloads available for Peter to see thereis no taking a day off without your coach knowing.
Thanks Peter and good luck for the future, now we need a BikeMax up in Gauteng
Christie Engelbrecht
Having tried a number of alternatives, I believe Bikemax offers the best coaching solution available to cyclists in South Africa. By employing the most modern power based coaching methods Peter of Bikemax is helping me make the most of my abilities. Through analysis of power data captured during races, my progress is monitored and weaknesses identified. The Bikemax system allows fitness state to be monitored on a day to day basis, and enables training to be scientifically optimized for specific goals.
As a result of this, my race power has increased and my racing results have improved markedly. In Bikemax I have finally found the quality of coaching that has been missing from my training.
Training with a power meter forms the foundation of Bikemax coaching. I use a Powertap SL, and I am very happy with the performance of the unit. I have also experienced superb after sales support from the Powertap agents, Bicycle Power trading.
Christie Engelbrecht, Pretoria