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Rat Racer Bike Coaching Plans

By Pat Whelan, USAC Level 3 certified coach. (Hereafter “coach”) Welcome to Rat Racer Coaching and coach Pat Whelan’s coaching offers. If you are looking at this, thank you. An athlete/coach relationship is a significant step in improving your fun, improving your sport goals and improving your overall health. Glad to have a chance on your […]

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When Your Bike Computer and your Training Peaks account workouts don’t/won’t sync.

Structured Training to improve and accomplish goals = COMPLIANCE To perform a scheduled Trainings Peaks workout without having an “agenda” or a description/list of all the “steps” in the work out is like shooting an arrow while wearing a blindfold. As you know, an hour-long workout can have a huge number of steps and changes […]

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Rat Racer Coaching, My Philosophy

Time for me, Pat, to start to share in all the wonderful experiences and knowledge I’ve acquired racing at velodromes around the USA and the World. Plus, I’ve been lucky to have some great coaches encourage and train me to get some personally rewarding results and experiences. I’ll share some of that knowledge as well. […]

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Annual Training Plans (ATP)

What really is an annual training plan and is it productive to create one? The term Annual Training Plan, ATP, has been used for years, probably decades when it comes to designing a plan to improve athletic performance. There are training platforms, like the one I use, Training Peaks, that have a semi-automated method to […]

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How do I analyze my workouts, if I even do that?

First you might want to ask, how serious am I related to training and bike events. Like all of life there are almost unlimited levels of commitment to what we decide to do. Rather than get bogged down by all those possibilities, let’s narrow the focus to someone who rides regularly, at least 2000 to […]

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Key ride metrics for Events & FTP Tests

Hey all, Happy start to 2026, hope you all have a great year doing all the amazing things you are planning. Are you planning to ride an early year FTP Test, some may think it is valuable. These efforts are never easy but depending on your bike plans and goals for 2026, they may be useful […]

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Winter indoor ride techniques I think about

Those of you riding on some kind of trainer through the cold months, this is a great time to think about your “form” on the bike. It’s easy to get sloppy when riding a trainer that locks you into place. How you ride this winter will influence how you position yourself on the bike when the […]

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What’s with all the Numbers? Why should I care?

Great Question. In its simplest form, cycling could be, should be, might be just a fun experience to get outside, maybe inside during winter cold snowy days in MN, enjoy a ride, get some fresh air and allow our bodies and brains to relax and rebuild. Time to let go of some of the days stress. […]

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Training Peaks, my choice

My go to training platform is and has been Training Peaks In total transparency, I do not sell Training Peaks, I am not paid by Training Peaks, although there is a way as a coach to generate income from Training Peaks. I do not get any special deals available only to me nor do I […]

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Apps for Tracking Data

Do I really need one? The answer is yes, no and maybe! Ok, that was not helpful so let’s talk. What is the goal you hope to achieve? Is it a casual, not significant, not a lifetime goal, a just for fun experiment? If the answer to those questions is yes, then a dedicated App to track metrics and […]