I also have plans from Carmichael Training Systems (CTS) and Velocious (Tim Cusick), and they look very similar to FasCat. The CTS plans helped me achieve my highest fitness ever, and FasCat just slightly below that. Overall I prefer the pre-ride notes in Frank Overton’s plans, and they have a public forum.
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Yeah, I checked out Velocious training plans and Base 1 & 2 seemed a really good fit for my needs. They also look to be less Sweet Spot focused, at least judging by the sample weeks.
However, the slightly different volume and especially the lower price led me to Fascat. I’ll definitely keep them into consideration for the future though.
I really like the way plans like FC (and others) create some of these outdoor rides like the SST TSS target weekend rides. My plan has some similar creative guidelines for these rides (not always TSS etc) and I’ve quickly found that heading out on days when its not great weather and having something to focus on other than 3hrs @ X watts really makes the time fly by - I’m thinking about route options as I ride so I achieve whats needed, I’m thinking about power on climbs or finding flats for some steady output, watching TSS and doing the arithmetic in my head to stay on target etc etc and suddenly 2-3 hr solo winter rides are already becoming more fun. It also means I get outdoors rather than sitting on the trainer doing more SST…because indoor z2 is the work of the devil etc etc.
Have fun with the FC plan. I bought the previous 18 week one last year and like the structure.
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Same here. Good thing is, their interval sessions include enough Z2 before/after the intervals that you can definitely complete the heavy stuff and then do as much Z2 as you can.
Intermediate didn’t really inspire me… coming from TR High Volume, the interval time in zone looked rather low. In hindsight we’ll know if stock Intermediate or adapted Advanced is the better approach.
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Picked up a copy of this in the last week or so having been hovering over the buy button for a while.
Like you I really enjoy their website articles. I have now read through the book (and combined with the supplementary materials provided) think it is well worth buying. It brought together a number of concepts and approaches in an easy to understand way and its another good resource to refer back to as a self-coached athlete.
Recommended 
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Does anyone have any experience with https://cyclingsciencedigest.com/?
I listened to one of their podcasts this morning and enjoyed it so went to find some more about information about some of the hosts and came across this. I quite like the pitch and idea of access to a bi-monthly review and analysis of cycling related science.
I like to browse PubMed, Research Gate etc. when studies are posted but sometimes get too lost in the detail. I wondered if this type of thing might be more manageable.
Any other alternatives? Or tips on reading studies etc 
I would heartily recommend EVOQ.Bike for the sheer honesty and really useful first-hand info on coaching and performance.
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Agreed - their podcast (and the discord community) is particularly good I think.
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I truly believe in the 80/20 system by Matt Fitzgerald and David Warden. I’m also an ambassador for 80/20.
I also started my own blog that focuses on endurance sports and nutrition. Maybe some of you folks want to stop by my blog? Here a recipe I just created, that is great as a snack but I also love to fuel my cycling:
https://winoria-endurance.com/recipes/oatmeal-banana-power-cookies
I’d love I some of you folks would also like my facebook page (@winoriaendurance) and follow me on strava. Links on my website.
Sorry to revive an old thread. I can start another one if needed but thought that this was relevant.
I’m looking at changing things up. I think I’m a little burnt out on TR plans, and the ongoing “it’s coming real soon” talk about outside PLs for the last two years has me looking elsewhere. Just not sure the value of TR is there any more for me. I didn’t really have much progress this past year on TR and felt like I stagnated a bit this racing season. I also want to add lifting this winter and TR really just does bike stuff. I’ve been reading this thread and others, and FastCat is intriguing. They’re running a special on coaching right now. But had some questions.
For those of you that are coached by them and/or have used their new Optimized app. What’s the bigger bang for your buck? It says you can ask coaching questions in the app but I doubt you’ll get the same coaching feedback vs an actual coach assigned to you. The coaching comes out to $125/mo for 8 months vs $25/mo for the app (yearly price). $125 per month for an actual coach sounds like a great price, just curious if it’s worth it over the app for much much cheaper. Plus the app would give me access to the weight training plans as well. The 30-week Weights and SweetSpot plan looks good (30 Week Weights + Sweet Spot Base – FasCat Coaching). Would give me some time right now to ride for fun before starting the plan for next season.
The other platform I looked at was Evoq. Coaching runs around $200/mo for the lowest tier. Which would be the absolute max I could afford right now and still might be too much for my current budget.
TL;DR - Is real person coaching worth it over the FastCat app? Other coaches out there worth looking in to for around $200/mo or less?
I can’t answer your question, but I’ll toss another option into the mix:
Tribe by Martin from WattKG
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The TRIBE thing looks kind of interesting. I’m primarily using JOIN (what’s with all the ALL CAPS names?) but am planning on doing Tim Cusick’s BaseCamp this year to get some extra guidance and education. I’m especially curious about the nutrition and strength training bits.
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At least they didn’t drop the vowels 
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Are you using this? If so, care to share any insights from your time there and what has worked for you and what hasn’t?
I’m not, but I get Martin’s newsletter and it piqued my interest.
Someone asked this question about the FasCat plans in the Join thread recently, just wanted to link it here: JOIN cycling app - #958 by Abe_Froman
I’ve only had a FasCat coach (Newkirk). No experience with Optimize app. My coach and I clicked and had a great working relationship. I wanted a coach to help me navigate issues with last minute changes in availability (I’m in sales) and aging. In the early days of working together, and I failed to respond, he took that as challenge and we did a lot of experiments. As a result, I kept moving forward and slowly picking up fitness gains.
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Basecamp is the best money I’ve spent for training. I’ve had multiple coaches and Basecamp wins by a huge margin. Tim and his team do an incredible job.
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and please please please make sure you interview the coach before you sign up. There are some very inexperienced coaches being offered by some companies, and some pretty good ones for the same cost. Do your homework and interview a couple first.
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I’ve only had one coach, got lucky I guess as he unlocked the secret to my training and gainz, gainz, gainz at the minimum investment. Learned a LOT from him, but he couldn’t always articulate answers to some of my questions. Honestly I don’t think anyone answer some of those questions, other than to defer to basic principles and say “it depends so experiment and figure how you respond.” For various reasons I needed to take a break from coaching, but I plan to return to my coach for some specific event targeting.
That said, I’m going thru BaseCamp now. So far it has been a VERY VERY high quality program, and I would strongly recommend it if you are at all interested in better coaching yourself - with or without low-cost programming tools like TR/Join/FasCat/etc. However be prepared to invest time watching coaching videos that are produced in volume every week. It is like going to school, you need to put in the time to learn. Given my load at work and home (preparing for kids coming home for Christmas), it can be hard to make time to watch and learn. But completely worth it.