NEXT STOP: 153 MPH

Denise Mueller, a multi-time national champion being coached by John Howard, is undergoing advanced MAXIMUM OVERLOAD TRAINING as part of her overall training plan  for her bicycle land-speed world-record attempt, planned for September on the Bonneville Salt Flats. (The record of 167 mph was set by Howard-trained Dutchman Fred Rompelberg 20 years ago; he beat Howard's record of 152.2 mph, which Denise will try to beat to establish a female record.) Here she is at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday Feb 21, at the Sirens and Titans Fitness gym in West L.A., using one of owner/trainer Jacques DeVore's secret weapons to ramp up her sustainable power: The little-known but brutally effective VersaPulley. 

(Maximum Overload is unique among cycling training rplans in that it uses a variety of heavily-weighted strength exercises such as Walking Lunges, Deadlifts, Squats, Thrusters and others as well as the VersaPulleuy to literally "overload" the mover muscles of cycling better than cycling can itself. The results: This overload builds more fatigue-resistant muscles that don't slow down in the second-half of the race. M.O. is used in conjunction with on-the-road training, replaces two training rides a week in the off-season and one during the season, reducing overall training time and speeding up recovery. Denise's increase in overload correlates to her recent increases in power /wattage.)

>>For more on Denise's quest, go to www.TheProjectSpeed.com
and www.Facebook.com/TeamFireCycle
>> For information on Maximum Overload, check out www.bikeforlifebook.com and go to the "News" column on pg 1 and more on the Maximum Overload page
>> Look for the book, Rodale Press's "Maximum Overload for Cyclists," by Jacques Devore and me, in 2017.  Mueller,  Howard, Tour de France pro Dave Zabriskie and others who have trained in Maximum Overload will be profiled in it.