Chris Farhood
cced0ea6b8
The skill had mtb-xco-demands.md but road/TT demands were only diffused through the general docs — an asymmetry given the balanced MTB+road scope. Add two dedicated, self-contained demand profiles (kept separate because mass-start racing and TT differ as much as XCO differs from marathon MTB): - references/road-racing-demands.md: stochastic power profile (Vogt 2007, Ebert 2005/2006, Sanders/van Erp 2021), drafting economics (Blocken 2018), fatigued finishing sprint (Menaspà 2013/2015, Etxebarria 2019), durability as a success determinant (van Erp/Sanders/Lamberts 2021); power governs, HR unreliable (intermittent) — mirrors the MTB doc. - references/tt-demands.md: aero drag dominance + CdA as the top lever (Crouch 2017, Martin 1998, García-López 2008), critical power as predictor (Smith 1999), even-vs-variable pacing (Swain 1997, Atkinson 2007), long-TT durability (Maunder 2021); HR more usable than MTB but still secondary. All new quantitative claims carry verified PMIDs/DOIs (verified via PubMed/ CrossRef); citations.md gains Road-racing and Time-trial sections. Honesty flags: Blocken 2018 and Martin 1998 have no PMID (DOI only); the '~90% aero' soundbite (Kyle & Burke 1984) is unverifiable and marked approximate; criterium-specific literature flagged as a gap; no unverified HR-reliability citation added (TT HR defers to data-confounds.md). Router (SKILL.md) and README layout updated with both docs. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01TqrhBhC3GEcKyaw8RTk8G6
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name, description
| name | description |
|---|---|
| cycling-training | Periodization logic, workout design, and research-backed protocols for endurance and off-road cycling (road/TT + MTB/XCO). Companions an Intervals.icu MCP server that supplies all data and computed metrics. Use when planning training blocks, designing VO2max/threshold/durability workouts, integrating heavy strength (esp. masters), setting CTL ramp or A-race taper targets, interpreting CTL/ATL/TSB or wellness trends, or deciding whether to trust HR vs power. Routes to focused, individually loadable reference docs; every quantitative claim is cited. |
Cycling Training — knowledge & reasoning skill
This skill is the reasoning half of a two-part system. The Intervals.icu MCP server owns all data and computed metrics; this skill owns the knowledge and interpretation. Get the numbers from MCP, then use these docs to decide what they mean and what to do next.
Data / knowledge split (read this first)
| Ask the MCP server for… | Ask this skill for… |
|---|---|
| Activities, streams, best efforts, power curves | What workout to prescribe and why |
| CTL / ATL / TSB, training-load ramp, TSS | How fast to ramp CTL; what TSB to target for an A-race |
| Zones, sport settings, thresholds (FTP, MAP) | How to structure work:rest and rep length within a zone |
| Wellness: HRV, RHR, sleep, readiness | Whether a wellness signal is trustworthy or confounded |
Never recompute what MCP already returns (zones, TSS, load metrics). This skill contains no calculators by design — only periodization logic, workout design, protocols, and interpretation.
Relevant MCP tools (names may vary by server):
get_athlete_summary,get_athlete_profile,get_sport_settings,get_activities/search_activities,get_activity_details/_streams/_intervals/_best_efforts,get_athlete_power_curves,get_wellness_data,get_training_readiness,get_events/add_or_update_event(to schedule planned workouts).
Router — load the doc that matches the need
| If the question is about… | Load |
|---|---|
| Fatigue resistance / durability — training it, why fatigued-state power matters, the field test | references/durability.md |
| MTB / XCO — race demands, why power (not HR) governs off-road, marathon vs lap XCO | references/mtb-xco-demands.md |
| Road racing — mass-start road/criterium demands, stochastic power, drafting, fatigued sprint | references/road-racing-demands.md |
| Time trial — sustained solo effort, aerodynamics/CdA, critical power, TT pacing | references/tt-demands.md |
| Strength training — heavy lifting for cyclists, masters muscle loss, from-zero ramp, in-season | references/strength-for-cyclists.md |
| VO2max / high-intensity intervals — rep length, work:rest, maximizing time ≥90% VO2max | references/vo2max-intervals.md |
| Season structure — base/build/peak, mesocycles, CTL ramp, A-race taper & TSB targets, polarized vs pyramidal | references/periodization.md |
| Trusting the data — when HR is unreliable, decoupling, RHR/HRV, heat/alcohol/sleep/travel confounds | references/data-confounds.md |
| A specific citation / PMID / DOI | references/citations.md |
Plan & protocol templates (assets)
| Template | Use when |
|---|---|
assets/plan-template-base.md |
Building a base mesocycle, backward-mapped from an A-race |
assets/plan-template-build.md |
Building a build block that integrates VO2, durability, and strength |
assets/field-test-durability.md |
Running the ~1,500 kJ → 1-min hill durability field test |
Operating principles
- Cite as you reason. Every quantitative recommendation should name its source (author/year;
full identifier in
references/citations.md). This is so the athlete can verify, not just trust. - Separate mechanism from dose. Where a doc marks a protocol
⚠️ under-researched — track individual response, present it as a hypothesis to test on this athlete, not a fixed prescription. - Power governs; HR is conditional. Prescribe from power. Use HR only where it is reliable
(durability decoupling on steady rides, recovery trends) and always screen for the confounds in
references/data-confounds.md. Never apply naive single-number rules (e.g. "decoupling <5% = fresh", "RHR +5 = overtrained") without those caveats. - Distribution is a principle, not a recipe. Training age, volume, life stress, and phase
decide the intensity distribution — see
references/periodization.md. - Don't over-transfer. Keep discipline-specific numbers labelled; small-n elite XCO data does not automatically apply to masters marathon riders.