In 2023 I Was Faster Than I've Ever Been. This Is How I Plan to Improve in 2024

[@ff2e]

300w normalized for 5 hours is so insane

[@Myaimskindagood]

i barely hold it for an hour!

[@joelecho]

@@Myaimskindagood Holding it for an hour is the end goal of the 6 month training program I just started. 😆

[@Schoenwetterathlet]

6h 300W average Challenge was a thing here in Europe, when there were no races during covid 😂

[@idrisbikes90]

Its my 2min max 😂

[@marcuswhiterocks]

​@@idrisbikes90 yeah it's my 1 min...😢

[@pnappier]

Followed your training tips religiously. Got 16th in esports national championship.

[@kylestyleracing]

Hell yea! That's awesome! How many people were a part? I bet it's a massive field!!!

[@IlkkaHarmanen]

Gotta love the Jab at GCN!

[@FrapsomaticalOption]

They say "Hard work beats talent", but if the talent is training as hard as you, there's not much chance of improving in terms of ranking. In the end you gotta look at your own development and be proud of what you've achieved.

[@EdgePereira]

The right quote is “Hard work beats talent WHEN talent doesn't work hard” Someone with talent who trains will always beat a hard worker.

[@siyz250]

I come from MX background and after racing MTB for a couple of years now it has become obvious that the lightest fittest person beats someone heavier and equal or a bit less trained. No matter what you do this is always the case. MX had so much skill that I do miss in MTBing.

[@RXP91]

Would love to see a video of how you assess you’ve recovered. Subjective feelings, hrv, dfa a1?

[@GSmith215]

Agreed

[@woodsracer780]

Yesss! Don’t leave us hanging on the most important part please.

[@whip113]

Piling on here. Assessing my recovery is a dumpster fire right now.

[@thomasanderson9545]

HealthFit app is excellent

[@BikesandMusic]

Exactly! Who give a damn about training when resting is where gains are made.

[@JonathanHair]

There is a myth, popularized especially hard during the Armstrong era, that the winners just "wanted it more", or "out trained" the rest of the field by will power. It was bogus then and fueled the lie. "Out trained" may be true, but it was because those athletes COULD train more (or rather their dope allowed them to). It wasn't will power. At professional level everyone is working hard. I'm glad you made this point today.

[@thomasanderson9545]

Take all PEDs away from everyone and Lance still wins 7. He only raced the TDF, assembled the best team/equipment and had no weaknesses on the bike (up or down or TT). The rest is marketing, you wouldn’t buy anything if they just told you genetics is the greatest determining factor over and over again. Similar to when superstars like Kobe telling people never to give up on their dreams. Well at some point you have to be realistic (not everyone is going to be a pro athlete) and spend your time/resources wisely. When Lance got caught I was pissed because I bought his books, now I look back and appreciate all he did to popularize the sport. What separates the best of the best is not Dope vs clean, it may just be some of the factors you categorize as myth. #livestrong.

[@Leo-uo9lb]

Yeah bc the tour winners were the only one doping back then?

[@Justs99171]

Winners do want it more. That's not a myth. Winners winning because of dope is a fucking myth. Even if someone won because of doping, then they wanted to win bad enough to destroy their health by taking the dope - and the loser didn't want it as much to make the sacrifice. Your post is staunch with stupidity.

[@chadwells7562]

@@thomasanderson9545All that’s correct except your initial assertion. It wouldn’t be 7, because the dope was an additional significant factor that he was able to outcompete all the other dopers on. He probably wins 3-4 without the juice as he’s lost a previous competitive advantage.

[@joshpain349]

he said take the dope aways from everyone... not just Lance.@@chadwells7562

[@ebhkkc1]

I'm proud of you, Dylan. You had a great year and I wish you all the best for 2024! Looking forward to seeing you in Hico and Leadville. I will never forget how you zoomed past me on my Honda while you were on the pre-ride coming down powerline this year; you were really flying in the drops and scared the crap out of me...loyal fan. Earl

[@Clincalbeats]

Problem with excessive iron TL:DR: it will cause liver cirrhosis, restrictive cardiomyopathy and joint disease longterm similar to a disease called haemochromatosis

[@palicar]

Congrats on making the 24 GP! It’s fun to follow your racing. Good luck this year!

[@TheGroupRide]

This confirms the way I've trained most of my adult life. With a full time job and all that goes with that I would plan two 3 week blocks per year where I would aim for 20 hours per week for those three weeks. When you're stuck at 9-12 hours this has been a key to my fitness long term.

[@Galaxieguy428]

Same boat here, but only about 5-8 hours per week. I did some of the longer Gran Tour series (FRR and Chase Race) on Zwift last year and hit some of my best numbers after my body recovered weeks after.

[@dhldt1021]

Sounds great, I’ll try two blocks in 2024 and hopefully by October should see some good performance for spring season.

[@beauk7679]

See you at the Croatan Buck Fifty, I'll be aiming for 17th!

[@MrVrob8]

Best cycling training video series out there.

[@DwyerGreen]

It would be nice to see some of your plans on Training Peaks reflecting this high volume block approach. Also (unrelated), it would be nice to see a video where you analyze Garmin watch "Training Status". It seems bogus for cycling (ok for tri weirdly), but a science critique would be interesting.

[@MAxilixAM]

maybe WADA should come around more often in professional gravel racing?! respect to you Dylan and every athlete achieving this performance.

[@MichałFabisiak-j1r]

Dude you are smashing. Both in racing and videos. They are real food for thought and inspiration to my exercise plans.

[@colinmcc8564]

As an endurance runner I get a lot out of your videos and following your training. Recently finished my first 100 miler averaging 100 carbs per hour, I credit nutrition a lot (having struggled through a 62mi run with maybe 70 carbs/hr). Would love to see you breakdown your nutrition strategy / planning / logistics during one or more of your races. Appreciate all the videos, keep it up.

[@fabuliciouss7208]

How do you fuel while running? I can imagine liquids and gels would slosh around in your stomach?

[@colinmcc8564]

@@fabuliciouss7208 practice is key and everyone is different, but for marathons (+/- 3 hrs) I can do a gel every 30 minutes, gatorade/water from aid stations, but ultras 8hrs+ I do high carb drink mixes (~40% of total), gels (~30%), bananas/oranges and some simple carbs (~10%), and then some things more calorically dense like a snickers bar when I can afford to walk/hike a bit.

[@timcarnes3467]

when you retire from being a youtuber, you should go full on into coaching. Your perspective and willingness to do detailed self examination are so admirable. Good stuff Dylan.

[@andrewmcalister3462]

Dylan, thanks for your introspection and honesty in this video.

[@jaredj631]

I recently saw your iron supplementation video and tried it and had the best bike ride and run of my life in the past five days. I know that’s not conclusive and I never had blood work done since I started running but this is basically the only thing I’ve changed in my routine. I am especially noticing that I am not getting winded as quickly or easily.

[@kalleandersson916]

I have gone from sitting on the couch to training 16 hours a week in just two years. I'm 37 years old and do everything with rigorous precision-diet, sleep, training. I've been cycling for almost a year, and next fall, I'm going to compete seriously in gravel racing. It's going to be incredibly exciting.

[@siyz250]

Fantastic channel Dylan. Love your honesty and science approach. Great to have someone like you actully out there doing it. Keep up the good work on the channel and with your training. Si, Christchurch, NZ.

[@coreyreeder3549]

Incredible power numbers! Thanks for sharing. Power is like money these days. We don’t really talk about it, but we want everyone to know. I appreciate the honesty.

[@TylerTafelsky]

Good luck this year, Dylan! We'll be rootin for you!

[@seanmoran5973]

Ok, I don't comment much on videos, but this video was playing while I worked on inventory, and I was like - wait, what did he just say? (3x!!) Super informative, well layered, well paced. Having raced Cat 3 for years back in the day - the volume & intensity of some pros now is INSANE (as are a lot of amateurs). I love these looks behind the scenes into racing & training I could never have dreamed of doing. Can't wait to see how your season builds!

[@edgarpereira4865]

thank you for your honesty

[@kendavis8647]

I see your Pisgah stage race tag 182 on the wall. Pisgah is a place that is rooty, rocky, steep and always wet. Much respect!

[@edlaverack]

Can’t wait for your 2024 campaign💪🏻Even more so after binging the Lifetime KZbin Series!

[@MaximilianSterlingTv]

I look forward to your coming season and how youre training for it. But i want to see your equipment checks more and how you get on with your new Felt setups and hopefully another hybrid MTB gravel bike

[@utube7930]

Ive always been in two minds about tapering before an event. The best sensations Ive ever had on a bike was on the last day of 7 day training camp, we did a 7 hour full gas loop around Gran Canaria. It felt like my body had become adapted. It's interesting to hear that there is research to suggest that this is a real 'phenomena' and not just anecdote

[@leodesforges161]

Can you predictably plan to peak like this? Vs a more traditional taper?

[@milododd]

Great info Dylan. Thanks for the great video. I'm vegetarian and struggle with maintaining iron levels during extended training periods.

[@m4giq]

we finally know what kind of bike it is for the new season - nice FELT !

[@marcus_velo_9970]

well done mate, you're doing your best, problem is as more pros come into the sport chasing bigger $$s, the prospect that you're racing against doped up riders increases, [hence power numbers, times increasing etc, same as world tour trend] as a clean rider you wouldn't want to base your training regime around what doped pros are doing, as we know its all about recovery and of course the right doctor knows how to address that. unless you go over to the dark side, this is a tough situation.

[@Michael-hw3vj]

Your vids and guidance have been a huge help with keeping me on track, motivated, and always aiming to improve. About 6 years ago I started riding with a modest 16mph average. Fast forward and I'm now holding 21-23mph averages on the same routes. I've done several 10k elevation gain rides, completed my first ever 100mile ride 2 years ago. This hobby has truly been the best thing in life.

[@matthewrepucci3564]

Great content, thanks for sharing and good luck in 24!

[@jacobdeangelis7702]

Love it Dylan! keep it up dude

[@philipholenstein5685]

Good luck for 2024 Dylan! I’ll be watching every race. Great content as usual.

[@robertg.5932]

With the good medicine is all possible.

[@laggypirates]

I'm just here for the B-roll shots of Dylan's quads.

[@mervinscorgie3197]

Well done on your improved performance Dylan. Great content as usual

[@rainney]

hey Dylan, could you cover possible causes as to why some don't perform well on fresh legs? I have the worst performances after 1-3 rest day/easy rides. Which is immediately followed by peak performance + strong legs the next day (after the horrible day). Even being on ~3+ hard days in a row, I'll still easily outperform post rest/easy ride days.

[@irfuel]

You should check out “openers”. Seems they would work well for you.

[@MainUkraine]

Switching your hard intervals to the end of the training block may actually be a great idea. Pro runners do this as well on the track where they do an 800m hard followed by 400m easy then 400m hard and the 400m hard at the end of the week interval is what makes the most gains.

[@MainUkraine]

Similar to how our bodies are designed to feast and fast, I think our bodies are designed to train to the point of hospitalization and then take a week or two off the bike. Pushing to the max and fully recovering is the key to any training.

[@hankingram6251]

Plus love seeing the backdrop being my favorite gravel road in the world! Love that little climb.

[@JayRappa]

Great video Dylan. I always enjoy your uploads and I’m happy you were able to supplement for maintaining proper iron.

[@OGillo2001]

Thanks Dylan

[@bestretirementever7931]

Great, informative video Dylan, thanks. I was going to ask about the Felt, but see other had made mention of it.

[@Moonplant432]

Big volume totally works. Back in the mid '80's before I went to Europe I put in 400 mile weeks for a month. Tapered for a few weeks and my rides were stellar. Everything was easy. In Aix-les-Bians that summer, my climbs were off the hook. The downside is family impact.

[@CatManDoSocial]

Great stuff, Dylan. Congrats on your continued progress. Will you be doing a video on your new Felt bike setup?

[@rynkydynky]

I admire how you actually approached the Iron deficiency problem by staying vegan. Some people will blame veganism for this by going back to eating meat/dairy just for the convenience. 💚

[@neilashton9459]

I also have low iron on blood tests and interestingly among the recommended dietary solutions is eating more green vegetables like spinach and broccoli

[@TheMrbrookster]

I'm surprised back hat Dylan didn't give some solid advise about more drafting to save energy.

[@Swilliamandrews]

Brilliant video man! See you on the start line soon! 🤙

[@martinandrews2860]

Fascinating post, many thx for sharing. Good luck 2024……wishing u strong legs and no punctures…..

[@gotoalexis]

congratulations for this performance and for the quality of your channel

[@jeronimosuarez7957]

Great video! You haven't commented on the double days of resting...I am trying them out this season. I am also taking iron daily. Cant tell which is working, but I am racking up a lot more work and exceeding expectations week to week.

[@LifeTimeGrandPrix]

As always, just loving your work on/off the bike, Dylan!

[@rasmus9311]

Good luck this season, looking forward to the race reports

[@Schoenwetterathlet]

Us Gravelracers literally reinventing training camps😂 what's next? Going to altitude?

[@marklandree2413]

Great story!!! I couldn't stop watching (and I really didn't have time for it).

[@BlackWaterCyclist]

Great insights Dylan! Excited to see how you do this year. Very interesting stuff on the iron supplementation video. I myself eat plant based so adding that to my blood work in the future.

[@SpokedTrails]

Wow, this shows how much gravel racing is growing each year! Just try and get in the Berry Roubaix is nearly impossible lately, sold out within the first day. And that is in the crappy midwest weather we get in April.

[@hestefar2]

More on this, Dylan!

[@treyquattro]

looks like GCN's Conor Dunne at Unbound at 19:38. Great content, Dylan. Good luck with increasing your form in 2024, and same goes for all of us I guess!

[@dhldt1021]

Great video Dylan, Definitely waiting for some better local weather to get out and get a good volume block notched up during Spring, down under.

[@tapuzak]

Agree Dylan, I also seem to respond well to block volume periodization.

[@scotttietzel4979]

Its crazy how the impact of the LTGP has changed the races and finish times. In 10 Leadville 100 races from 2011 - 2021 I twice got an 11th place finish and my best was a 6th place all in the 6:52 - 7:03 time. From the base of Columbine outbound to the finish was typically groups of 1-2 and max of 5 riders together.

[@macster1000]

very interesting. inspiring!

[@philadams9254]

Can you do a part 2 to the iron video, maybe looking at the before/after blood tests, power data and maybe even some Vegan meal plans?

[@MagicFrisby]

Thanks for giving a sneak peek of your new Felt bike🍾

[@poerneki]

Great video again! How do you plan that much volumen before a long race When do you taper ? How many days And what to do the last week up to the race

[@garysladek9110]

Best wishes for '24. Cheers

[@tomfitzgerald890]

Very informative. Congrats on your top 10 at Mid South! It shows your plan is working!!

[@martinmcgragh8384]

Quality content! Thanks for sharing!

[@kenannable4747]

Is Felt a new sponsor? I saw a Felt bike in some of the clips, and it looks like that was the bike behind you during the video. Will you be doing a bike check?

[@bpisan]

Awesome job Dylan. When do we get to find out about Felt?

[@mikemaldanado6015]

your results in gravel racing are eerily simiilar to the cyclist in icarus. so now that gravel racing has gone professional with proper prizes and sponsors don't you think there is a high probability that some people are doping? it is cycling after all. thanks for your videos. I don't race professionally, i just like to achieve certain goals every year and since i am in colombia my pharmacist thought it would be interesting to put me on a doping program. Yeah it made a huge difference, especally when it came to recovery times.

[@bababaanarama]

> that some people are doping i would say: doesnt change anything about him >own doping programm? Biggest Improvment gives you EPO, but dude there is a reason for 50% rule, its not to "detect" Epo User, its tries to prevent death over night by thick blood. Other doping substanzes have only minor effects, like low doses testosterone (but look at the sideeffects, small balls, bad own test production).

[@fatbloaterdave]

Of course it’s possible. But untill there is proof all that thinking about it will do is ruin the sport for you.

[@JoshuaTootell]

Replace "cycling" with "professional activity". People just get all worked up about cheating in cycling because we actually don't like it. But in other sports, "If you're not cheating, You're not trying".

[@poohbearkush7772]

an American hero.

[@damionmiller4366]

Very informative video! KUDOS for the self-commentary! Ya nailed it!! 😂

[@onedoorstudios]

It's okay, You're young and you can continue to improve. Just keep pushing the training and diet. I'm 48 years old, and just took first place overall in a local MTB 3 race series in my age group. My goal is to race in Pro category next year. I've gone from a measly 3.2watts/kg to 4.1watts/kg in one year.

[@jfritzinger]

Tremendous. Great video.

[@DipBuyer83]

This is great 👍 wish I could see more indepth into your training. Wish I had more time to ride, I can't get more than 10 hours a week

[@pblair12]

This is such a great video. Thanks

[@hhansen3551]

Not many comments on the bike 😊

[@leetaylor9368]

Regarding YOY performance for other riders an the gravel scene and you being the same place despite your numbers...are there doping controls at these races?

[@RideRoadBetter]

great video as always.

[@michaelclements4664]

@10:56, being vegan, ensure you get a B12 supplement - not only for the B12 itself (which is well known), but also as healthy B12 levels related to iron absorption (which is less well known).

[@crypto_que]

I glazed over at ~15min. Congrats bro Peace out lol!

[@thewhitecarrot]

You should do a more personal in depth video on your struggles with low iron/ferritin , blood testing and supplementation. This is something a lot of cyclists struggle with but are unable to diagnose or rectify.

[@ac3ys]

You gotta put in the work, bro 💪

[@urouroniwa]

Random data point for unfit individual who also has very little experience with structured training and is in their 50's: I need a rest day after intensity. For that reason, I've move the intensity from just after a rest day to just before a rest day. It seems to be working so far (only a tiny bit of data since I'm also battling back from illness *and* a crash). I only mention it because I know that you coach other people, so it might be a semi valuable data point to take forward.

[@sandro2304]

@dylan Do you train with your team mate Alexey? Would be interesting to do an interview of Alexey or insights of his training plan.

[@MrUbersven]

Those numbers are eye watering dylan 🤯

[@mediaburn2]

I would like to see some of these gravel guys do the Tour Divide. A marked gravel race isn't really an Adventure™.

[@ShawnIsBatman]

Another great video, I appreciate your objective analysis of not only your results (placing) but also your results as to raw performance. As you noted, those two things are very separate and do not necessarily always have a direct correlation. Second, since we have not yet seen the video announcing your new bike sponsor (unless I missed it?), then can we consider this the 'soft announcement'?

[@VelcorHF]

Considering how the standings change this year, I think you had an incredible result. Just keep pushing you’re doing great. Data is just a viewpoint.

[@pmatosinhos]

Regards from Brasil Dylan!

[@kennethelliot8164]

I really wish they would pop an actual mountain bike race in the series. Imagine a technical NUE stlye race to let the MTBrs shine once

[@prestachuck2867]

Pump up the volume, BHD!

[@TheTheMScope]

nice and very interesting video as always! would be interesting which iron supplements you're using, since I often struggle with stomach tolerance...

[@McGruffy]

That gcn comment was the best 😂

[@donaldryder5534]

great video - lots of real life info.