Belgian Racing with Eamon Lucas – Ask a Cycling Coach 302

[Jonathan]

Eamon Lucas is an American bike racer who has achieved success as a road and crit racer in the USA, racing fixed gear bikes in the Redhook Crit series for the star-studded Specialized Rocket Espresso team, and now in the intense Belgian Kermesse racing scene. Listen in as we discuss the different race tactics and cultural nuances of racing in different regions and formats that have helped Eamon be successful.

Eamon’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eamon_lucas/

Eamon’s Team - Shifting Gears Kermesse: https://www.instagram.com/shiftinggears_kermesse/

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Youtube Live Video:

Tune into the premiere Thursday, April 1 at 8:00am Pacific!

Belgian Racing with Eamon Lucas – Ask a Cycling Coach 302

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Topics Covered in This Episode

• TrainerRoad mobile app and Adaptive Training Update 00:52
• Eamon’s background in cycling 2:02
• Does racing fixed gear crits make you a better bike handler? 7:46
• Why did Eamon go to Europe to race? 9:25
• What are Belgian Kermesse races? 11:41
• How does racing in Europe differ from the US? 17:42
• How to deal with negative racing 28:52
• What are the best race-winning strategies, and how are they different? 41:29
• How to learn from tactical mistakes 48:03
• Do you need to change your power profile to be a successful racer? 58:34
• What are Eamon’s future goals? 1:04:34

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[toribath97]

This was a super fun listen! Although It’s probably a good thing racing isn’t happening over here, otherwise my dumb long course triathlete ass would be coming soon to a fixed gear crit near you. (I’m thinking the similar disregard for brakes would be more of an asset if it wasn’t for my stereotypical lack of bike handling skills.)

[Brevet2023]

This was a fun and informative listen. Best of luck to Eamon in his quest to get called up!

[liam_mail]

Interesting talk about negative racing and different tactics given the recent Classics/One Day races with MVdP and Wout being marked out of the races.

I liked the talk, I’d love a MTB version with Sofia, Keegan, Alex, and Jonathan (and Nate for colour). I always think about race tactics when scouting courses/riding single track, but I’m never actually anywhere near where that action happens when it comes to race day

[Westonite]

Can you post the link that has John, Pete, and Nate talking about the new apps features?

thanks

[mbrunskie]

Wow what an arrogant jerkoff. Did he say “I’m the man”, without a hint of irony? Contrast this interview with MVDP’s after he beat the World Champion at Strade Bianchi.

[dubrose40]

He was super arrogant! He could even stay awake for the pod cast (YouTube vid) When the topic stayed away from him he was totally disinterested. Stopped watching about half way through. It was a complete contrast to the content TR has brought to the table in the past. Did he really say he just rode hard all the time to train?

[mwglow15]

When taken out of context it sounds bad but that’s not really what he said. Talking about negative racing in the states Jonathan said “when you’re in a race here it’s certainly negative racing and you’re the marked man”. So he responded and said “I’m definitely the man”. As in the marked man. So everyone hangs on his wheel, doesn’t let him attack and get a gap, and expects him to chase everything down.

He might not have been a humble priest but arrogant jerkoff is over the top and rude to put it lightly.

[Bullseye]

I’d listened to the podcast, but looked at the video after the comments.
I was mostly thinking how amazing Amber’s skin is looking. Pregnancy glow

[dupealoop]

Thought it was a very interesting podcast, definitely a good bit different than the others I’ve caught. Was just listening to audio, so didn’t see his video demeanor.

Sure, he sounds arrogant, but I would think most people trying to still make it as a true Pro at 28 have a bit of a chip on their shoulders.

Many top level guys can seem like pricks, MVDP does seem to be an exception though so far.

[Jclarkiv]

Only take away is he really believes he’s the man. Kind of guy who will ruin your flight by ear F$*%#ing you the whole time about how awesome he is. Thankfully what he lacks in humility he makes up for in over confidence & arrogance.

[mcneese.chad]

@dubrose40

Did he really say he just rode hard all the time to train?

• No, he did not. He went on to add far more than that snip.

Jon’s question starts at 58:30.

Have you changed your power profile as an athlete since you started racing in Belgium?

His answer starts at 59:07.

"Umm… in regards to like, more like catering to the Kermesse style, I’m gonna change my toolset to like have the proper tools, the right job? I don’t know if I’ve… I just train hard man. That’s… I just train my face into my handlebars, to be honest with you. Whether it’s 40/20’s, 45/15’s, you know… 1 minute on / 1 minute off, Threshold blocks, you know… over-unders. I just make sure that I’m just empty at the end of every workout. If it’s just an endurance ride, I’m not gonna be empty. But if Neal is prescribing “ride hard” [presumably workouts assigned by his coach?] I’m gonna ride hard. I’m gonna make sure I have the best and sharpest tools for the job.

Suffice to say, he gave a decent a picture of actual training workouts than the single statement you mention.

I gotta say, there is what I see as unnecessary negativity towards this cast. Seems people are cherry picking some narrow statements and drawing broad and unsavory conclusions. Not sure why or what there is to gain from that? May be worth considering what many of people sometimes say, “If you don’t have anything nice to say…” or at the very least make some constructive criticism. But what I see here is bordering on mean for no other purpose.

[mbrunskie]

I’ll admit that my initial comment to this specific podcast thread was reactionary. Maybe “jerkoff” was mean, but that was my initial gut reaction, like it or not. I love the podcast and listen religiously because of the thoughtful insight from the hosts and guests who are doing well to promote the sport. I was taken aback by this dude’s attitude and tone especially when you compare it to previous guests including Kate Courtney, Justin Williams, Keegan Swenson (gulp), etc., who have won national and world championships. My mother did teach me “if you don’t have anything nice to say…” Another thing she taught me, which I don’t think came from “Bambi” was, “sometimes it’s not what you say, but how you say it.”

I’ve ridden and raced with people who have a similar brashness as this guest. They’re not advancing inclusivity in the sport. My constructive criticism would be “try not to act like so much of a jerk.”

Objectively, you can see why Eamon Lucas’ attitude in this interview could be considered arrogant, right? The feedback here speaks for itself, however unconstructive it may be.

[SavvyBikeCoaching]

I’m quite shocked with some of the replies and comments over here.
Had the pleasure to ride with Eamon on some of our local rides and I can’t think of a more down to earth and super chill dude.
It takes grit and confidence to race and win at his level, and sure some of that transpires. From the distance I guess you can tag pretty much any successful rider as a #jerkoff if you want.
I admire his dedication and passion, which is also great source of inspiration.

[hmaceachran]

I spent several years racing in Belgium in the early 90’s (I blogged about it here). Racing kermesses was brutally hard and I didn’t have much success. It was EXACTLY like Eamon spoke about. And, in those days it was still relatively rare to have Americans racing on the local level in Belgium. He’s not wrong about how much racing there is. You can ride an hour or less to any of like 3 races virtually every day of the week there. It definitely will teach you just how hard you can go.
-Hugh