It seems enough of you enjoyed the trainer challenge we posted last week with Jesse Melamed’s Top of The World run, so here’s another long run to focus on while you sweat it out. We’ll keep these going for our readers who are fighting to maintain fitness throughout the quarantine.
This video is from Wyn Masters’ helmet cam, which was mounted up Telletubby style, on stage two of the 2018 EWS race in Lo Barnechea, Chile. The wheelie-Wednesday famous GT Factory Racing athlete finished the stage in 30th place after spending 19:14 minutes with the throttle cracked open in the powdery Chilean dust. Wyn ended the day in an impressive 17th position.
Sections of this video show long dusty escarpments that leave the rider wanting to look around and lose focus. It will be doubly important to practice looking toward the apex of the track throughout the nearly 11-kilometer descent.
The trainer/roller challenge
- Watch Wyn’s 2018 EWS race run down the 11k track and try to look toward the vanishing point of the trail for the best line throughout the entire 19 minutes and 14 seconds. You can’t crash, and your hands won’t get tired like his surely did. All you need to do is look up. It’s harder than it sounds.
- Start out with an easy warmup spin until Wyn passes a signal tower at 3:13. Then, shift into an uncomfortable gear and try to keep your heart rate as high as it would be in a race run until he crosses the finish line.
- For added intensity, stand up and sprint at full tilt every time he crosses a wooden bridge, coming back to the same uncomfortably high effort after each sprint. Keep looking forward throughout the harder efforts.
- If you’re training to boost or maintain fitness for the coming season, repeat the descent with Wyn 2-4 times, keeping your heart rate a little higher on each round. Don’t forget to always look up.
In case you want to listen to something other than his tires and gasping breath, this Sébastien Michel mix has some consistent intensity.
Happy sweating!
