I have never worked with any motor cycling folks before so have a limited (if any!) knowledge in this area.

First off, you probably know and hearda thousand times before, just because everyone is doing it, does not make it right! It may mean everyone has been doing it wrong.

What type of motorcyling does she do - cycle cross, track etc? I suppose this will be influence some of the training.

I have worked with cyclists before (Mountain biking and BMX) which there is some crossover in terms of posture and balance. One area we worked extensively on was the upper back and shoulder stability, strength and strength endurance. This linked to core strength and strength endurance too. Being able to maintain upper body strength throughout race is going to be important since most of the control will going through the handle bars.

As for strength, I would look at increasing global strength avoiding increase in lean muscle mass. Global strength will impact on local muscualar endurance and c.v. funtion too. Dont believe there needs to be anything out of the ordinary - get the athlete in condition. Do the basics well.

Endurance again will have a part to play too - i dont know any specific stuff as all the cyclists I work with generate their force through pedals and not an engine! This will help with maintaining performance levels throughout the race without fatiguing mid race. Also help with concentration and cognitive function.

By the sounds of it, the athlete needs some convincing that some of her training could be improved. I would look at one area first and make alterations to that rather than overhauling the whole programme. Firstly she will see that you have made positive improvements to her performance and will be more likely to let you change other stuff. Secondly trying to change everything all at once is too much. Their will be resistance from the athlete, a lot of time commitment for you and look at the athletes long term development. Once you have the athletes attention that you can improve the way she trains, she will be wanting you to help her - so choose one area which will get immediate benefits or will take little time/resources for her to see improvements.

Maybe look at pre training/comp feeding and hydration. Or recovery is a really good area to work on as can get some good results - nutrition, sleep, physical modalities. Can stress the use of these modalities will physically and mentally prepare athlete etc.

Excellent,
good work. What do you mean my "global" training? And she does track racing.
Thanks for your time. You are a good man.

global strength refers to total body strength - not specific training just getting the athlete strong and in condition.

If she does motocross or enduros then ask her if she gets "hot hands" a condition riders sometimes gets from fatigue/lactate build up in the hand/wrist muscles. This conditions is caused by the intense gripping of the handlebars which seems to reduced blood flow to the mentioned muscles. Increasing wrist and grip strength/endurance will permit a more relaxed grip on the bars thus permitting better blood flow the the affected muscles.
Cheers,
koach

Good man ....
Any more info...
There must be someone among you who can help?

just a passing thought... maybe core stability training could be very useful here as you will have to hold yourself in 'rigid' positions on the bike.

aye no doubt about that ... was just hoping for some stability exercise ideas .. like kneeling bend on a ball etc

I know some guys have used wobble boards and attached handle bars to them to complete trunk/shoulder stability exercises from a plank position for track cyclists. Could just hold on to the side of the wobble board instead.

Here is a link to the NSCA's performance journal that was released yesterday - has some info for mountain biking training. Maybe able to use some of the stability stuff with your athlete. Some of it is good, other parts not so good!

http://www.nsca-lift.org/Perform/Issues/0503.pdf