Cycling Science Print CE Course

Course components are delivered as printed products:

• Cycling Science text

• Study guide

• Continuing education exam

The perfect blend of science and application, Cycling Science CE Course takes you inside the sport, into the training room and research lab, and onto the course. Edited by cycling scientists Stephen Cheung, PhD, and Mikel Zabala, PhD, Cycling Science is your guide through the science and technology of cycling. The course text features the following:

• Contributions from 43 top cycling scientists and coaches from around the world

• The latest thinking on the rider–machine interface, including topics such as bike fit, aerodynamics, biomechanics, and pedaling technique

• Information about environmental stressors, including heat, altitude, and air pollution

• A look at health issues such as on-bike and off-bike nutrition, common injuries, fatigue, overtraining, and recovery

• Help in planning training programs, including using a power meter, managing cycling data, off-the-bike training, cycling-specific stretching, and mental training

• The latest coaching and racing techniques, including pacing theories, and strategies for road racing, track cycling, mountain biking, BMX, and ultradistance events

The companion study guide includes a course syllabus, course instructions, learning objectives, and a referenced answer key to help individuals learn and better retain the course content. It emphasizes key concepts of the corresponding text to prepare individuals for the exam (composed of 100 multiple-choice questions) at the completion of the course. Upon passing the exam, individuals may print out and submit a certificate for continuing education credit.

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able to do the following:

• Describe the ideal body type for specific cycling disciplines.

• Compare and contrast common categories of road bikes based on use and geometry.

• Analyze the rider–bike system, paying special attention to the saddle’s central role as the main weight-bearing structure.

• Discuss the effects of changes in bike configuration on cycling performance and injury risk.

• Explain the fundamentals of aerodynamics that are relevant to bicycles and their riders.

• Recognize the environmental stressors that affect cyclists and identify ways to minimize the negative effects.

• Identify the muscles that contribute to pedaling power.

• Summarize the factors that determine a cyclist’s climbing performance.

• Discuss the most recent findings in the roles and timing of nutrition and hydration for maintaining performance throughout a long ride or over a prolonged period of training for a race.

• Identify the most common cycling injuries and recognize the symptoms of overtraining.

• Describe the effects attributed to a warm-up protocol and the implementation of stretching.

• Analyze the various cycling disciplines—road racinng, mountain biking, track, BMX, and ultradistance cycling—in terms of competition demands and training needs.

Stephen Cheung, PhD, is the science and training editor for PezCycling News, focusing on translating latest scientific research into practical guidance for both cyclists and coaches. He coauthored Cutting-Edge Cycling (Human Kinetics, 2012) and has written more than 100 articles that cover respiratory training, altitude training, precooling and fatigue in the heat, hydration, optimal cadence, pacing strategies, jet lag, supplements, hypoxic stress, and the reliability of exercise testing protocols.

Cheung holds a Canada Research Chair in environmental ergonomics at Brock University, where his research focuses on the effects of thermal and altitude stress on human physiology and performance. The author of Advanced Environmental Exercise Physiology (Human Kinetics, 2010), Cheung helped to establish the sport science support network for the Canadian Sport Centre in Atlantic Canada and has consulted with world champion cyclists along with the Canadian national rowing and snowboard teams on specific sport performance projects. He has also served as a cycling official and as a board member of the Canadian Cycling Association. Cheung lives in Fonthill, Ontario.

Mikel Zabala, PhD, is director of the Cycling Research Center in Granada, Spain, and editor in chief of the Journal of Science and Cycling. His research interests are cycling performance and doping prevention. He is a senior lecturer on the faculty of sport sciences at the University of Granada, teaching students seeking advanced degrees in cycling. He has authored numerous scientific papers about cycling and training and coached a number of international professional cyclists, serving as performance director for the renowned MOVISTAR professional cycling team since 2012.

Beginning his career as a professional motocross rider and amateur bike racer, Zabala still competes as a masters cyclist. In 1999, he began working as a coach for the Spanish Cycling Federation and later served as manager of Spain’s national mountain biking team. He currently works with the Spanish Cycling Federation as a project director, coordinating their doping prevention efforts. In 2013, he was named director of teaching and research for the Spanish Cycling Federation.