Travis Sherman (Profiled Oct. 2016)

1. What is your cycling background, and how did you get started in coaching?
I have been racing since 1992.  During this period, I have raced on the national circuit, in Belgium and throughout the Southeast as either at category 2 or a category 1 racer.  During this time, I have had to overcome major injuries, so I realize the physical and the emotional struggles that this entails and I have made the mistakes.  I’m currently 40 with two small children and still racing at a high level.  I understand the needs of the master’s aged athlete and the demands of life. In 2011, I started competing in Ironman triathlons and have been splitting time between triathlon and cycling.

2. What type of cyclists do you specialize in coaching in? (ex, racers, roadies, crit racers, track, mtb, cx, century riders, etc.). I specialize in coaching road racers, century riders and triathletes.  I have raced hundreds of criteriums over the years, so I know the demands of those races as well.

3. What kinds of training plans do you offer? I offer standard training plans that people can download and follow and I offer 100% customized training plans (3, 6, 9 and 12 months) where I take a person’s goals, available training time, etc. and craft a customized plan just for them.  I also offer full time coaching/consulting.

4. How do you motivate athletes? I motivate athletes by finding small successes that they can build upon.  This is why I call my coaching services Podium Finish Training.  A podium finish can be something like finishing a first century, hanging with the group for the first time on a ride, etc.  Small successes accumulate over time.

5. How do you coach to handle success and failures? I help athletes realize that the only way to attain new levels is to go outside of the current limitations and to seek failure.  A muscle doesn’t get stronger until it reaches failure.  Then it comes back stronger.  I also encourage the athlete to look to see what caused the failure (nutrition for example) and then to create a plan of action to correct it later.  For example, one recent athlete was 100% ready for an Ironman.  Nutrition was perfect.  Conditioning was spot on.  The taper was excellent.  Then, on race day, complete failure.  I encouraged the athlete to reflect back and to figure out what went wrong.  They realized that they had switched to a different style of helmet during the year and that was causing the overheating issues which was causing failure.

6. What are your pricing plans? The standard 12 week training plan that isn’t custom can be purchased for $35.  The customized training plans are higher depending on the number of months.  The more hands on coaching plans are around $100 per month.  With my contacts and sponsors, I am generally able to give people discount codes on products where the money saved on purchases are generally higher than what they pay for the coaching or the training plans.

7. Do you limit on number of athletes that you coach? Yes.  I avoid spreading myself too thin and not being able to offer the attention people desire.

8. How does someone contact you if they are interested in coaching services? I can be reached at sherman_travis@hotmail.com or a person can like my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/travismshermancoaching/ and email me directly from the page.

Olga Weeks (Profiled July 2016)

1. What is your cycling background, and how did you get started in coaching?
In general, I can describe my cycling career at biphasic:
Phase I: I’ve started racing road and track from age 12 to 22 in Ukraine, resulting in multiple National Championship titles, Collegiate National Champion (x3) mainly in track cycling, and criterium racing
Phase II: In US, starting in 2006, results included TN state championship in criterium and time-trial, Masters’ Nationals podium placing in criterium racing, track cycling, mainly sprint events multiple times
I have started coaching in 2010 after being asked by several local athletes to share knowledge, experience and dispense timely advise on the training modalities, methods and recovery aids which ultimately lead to the decision to obtain an official coaching license with USA cycling federation, and being a Doctor of Physical Therapy is an added bonus.

2. What type of cyclists do you specialize in coaching in? (ex, racers, roadies, crit racers, track, mtb, cx, century riders, etc.).
– Riders of any abilities including club riders whows goal is to complete first century, or first gran fondo event
– competitive cyclists, preferably track cyclists, or criterium racers

3. What kinds of training plans do you offer?
– No contract needed
– Prepaid monthly fee is based on the complexity (or simplicity) of the training plans designed specifically for an individual (weekly/biweekly/monthly)
– First consultation is free to determine compatibility and training preferences
– Training plans provided using Training Peaks, WKO4 or Google docs

4. How do you motivate athletes?
– Every athlete is educated on purpose, goal, methods of training (why, when , what and how difficult or easy)
– Believing and caring about them, providing committed athlete-coach relationship
– Quality first!

5. How do you coach to handle success and failures?
Failures and mistakes provide most valuable feedback and provide the answers to the formula of success. They are stepping stones to the ultimate prize. Learning how to deal and overcome setback is a process, which is highly individual.

Olga Weeks at Crit Nationals. Photo courtesy of Olga.

6. What are your pricing plans?
– First consultation over the phone or in person – Free
– Basic plan starting from $75.00/month (analysis of the baseline assessment,monthly training plan, one phone conversation, unlimited emails)
– Intermediate plan $150.00/month (analysis of the baseline assessment, bi-weekly training plan, bi-weekly phone communication, unlimited emails, preferred use of powermeter)
– Advanced $200.00+ ( analysis of the baseline assessment, use of Powermeter is a must, weekly training plans, unlimited phone and emails communication)

7. Do you limit on number of athletes that you coach?- Yes -> My mantra is “Quality vs Quantity” and I do not use “cookie-cutter” programs. In order to provide the quality services, I have to limit the number of coached athletes.

8. How does someone contact you if they are interested in coaching services? My email: olgadpt@gmail.com

Christian Parrett (Profile June 2016)

1.    What is your cycling background, and how did you get started in coaching? I spent almost a decade racing and traveling the world, starting in my late teens.  I’ve been a US National Team member and a pro on a few teams, including two years with 5-Hour Energy/Kenda.  Although none of my accomplishments on the bike have been truly exceptional, I’ve been lucky to compete against big names in the sport and learn from very accomplished coaches, directors and teammates. I began coaching when, after giving advice on training and racing to many of my friends, a good friend of mine offered to pay me to coach him rather than hire someone else.  He was a former triathlete coming back from having his leg brutally shattered by a car.  We successfully got him from Cat 5 to Cat 2 in half a season, and I became convinced coaching was something I could enjoy and be successful at. From that moment I began coaching a small number of riders to supplement my racing income.  That was about 5 years ago.  Around one year ago a good friend and former teammate asked me to take over his coaching company, Kinetic Potential Coaching.  He’d become too busy with his new business to continue coaching, and trusted me to manage his athletes and the training camps he ran as well.  I took over running the business, and now handle all KPC Athletes plus the training camps and cycling vacations we do several times a year.

2.    What type of cyclists do you specialize in coaching in? With my deepest experience being in road racing, that is what I tend to gravitate towards in my coaching.  I have a pretty wide range of experience in road racing and can handle crit junkies or TT specialists equally well.  I also have a background in MTB and cyclocross racing so I’m perfectly happy to work with those riders as well.  I’ve also had a lot of success with non-racers who focus on a few centuries or gran fondos during the year.  I do find, however, those type of riders need a lot of internal motivation to stick to a training program without the constant feedback of racing.

3.    What kinds of training plans do you offer? At KPC we have three tiers of training programs, all based on the athlete’s needs.  One thing you will find in our training program is that none of them have limits on emails, phone call duration, schedule changes, or any form of contact with the coach.  This is because we believe writing a good training plan is only a small part of being a good coach.  Being able to change the athlete’s schedule when they have a wrench thrown in their plans, being able to give tactical advice, or just being a friend and providing emotional support are important parts of being a coach.

Christian Parrett used to race for the Kenda-5 Hour Energy Team. Photo courtesy of Christian.

4.    How do you motivate athletes? This is entirely dependent on the athlete.  The same rant I might give one of my riders could get me fired by another.  It’s up to me to identify the personality of who I’m working with.  Some thrive off of positive reinforcement, others need a bit tougher approach.
6.    What are your pricing plans? I offer three levels of coaching programs that cost $160, $200, and $250/month.  Here () on our website we offer a chart that compares all three of the plans on offer.
7.    Do you limit on number of athletes that you coach? I don’t have a particular number of clients in my head that I would limit things too, but I would choose to limit taking on new athletes if I reached a point where I couldn’t give all of my riders the time they deserved.
8.    How does someone contact you if they are interested in coaching services? I can be most easily reached at cparrett89@gmail.com, or 478-250-6305.  You can also learn more at http://www.kineticpotentialcoaching.com.