Rocky Terrain Suspension Efficiency: The Open vs. Locked Debate
May 7, 2026 Rocky Terrain Suspension Efficiency: The Open vs. Locked Debate; A Peavine Challenge In November 2025, I conducted a “Physiology First” experiment on Reno’s Peavine Mountain to analyze rocky terrain suspension efficiency. This ride has since become the archetype and benchmark for my 2026 training season. The mission was simple: Two laps on […]
Life Stress is Training Stress: Navigating the 52-Hour Recovery Debt
Garmin Recovery Metrics: When “Life Stress” Becomes a Physiological Debt Coach Richard Wharton Published: May 11, 2026 Understanding your Garmin recovery metrics is the only way to stay objective when non-training stress starts to bleed into your performance. Following our May 5th deep-dive into what those orange bars actually mean during sleep, today I’m showing […]
The Garmin Ecosystem: Why Your Watch is More Important Than Your Power Meter
Garmin Recovery Time: Why Your Watch Beats Your Power Meter By The Garmin Guru | April 24, 2026 Understanding Garmin Recovery Time is essential for any athlete following a “Physiology First” approach. As a coach with over 20 years in the industry, I know that your bike computer is only half the story. To truly […]
Vo2Max and Heart Health – A Single Ride Following Dr. Paddy Barrett’s Formula
Vo2Max and Heart Health Correlation With DFAA-1 and other Metrics I recently stumbled across a Substack post by Dr. Paddy Barrett that explains how Vo2Max is impacted by low intensity exercise. While I had not known about Dr. Barrett previously, when I read his history and other posts, I became intrigued. I think he’s a […]
Return to Reno!
Return to Reno – Fresh Air, Open Roads, Singletrack and Jeep Trail out the Front Door. Hey everyone – Rich here, writing from my home studio in Reno, Nevada. After 18+ long months where my wife, dogs and I left Reno, moved to Pueblo, CO, realized it was a wrong move, and then moved all […]
More DFAA1 Files From Myself and my Clients
My Own Sleep Was Not Great, But Things On the Cardio Side Are Really Looking Good Well, once again, I didn’t sleep great last night. I woke up around 1:00am, and was up for about an hour. There is stress at the house with a relative, and that may have contributed. Last night, however, I […]
DFAa1 Ride In the Evening – Did That Improve Monday Night’s Sleeping Pattern?
I Changed my Workout Schedule To An Afternoon DFAa1 Ride Yesterday’s DFAa1 Ride occurred around 4pm. Normally, I ride in the late morning, but I have been multitasking on several fronts, and fell behind. I also did not get to enter in my 60 minutes, instead riding in the afternoon. This was also an attempt […]
Pink Noise MIGHT Be Helping Me Sleep….
Sleep Improves With Colder Temps, Heavier Blankets, and… Pink Noise? It’s been a couple of days now, but I’ve been going to sleep with the continuous drone of Pink Noise emanating from my phone. There are a LOT of things that are forcing me awake at times, but I’m trying to mitigate them, one at […]
Looking For Ways to Improve REM and DEEP Sleep
I Made my Eight-Hour Goal Last Night, But I Know I can Do Better Yesterday’s ride was refreshing. I may try to get outside again today, but the clock is conspiring against me. Last night, I kept my alcohol consumption down to one glass of wine. I also had a nightcap of 12oz of milk. […]
Sometimes Ya Gotta Get Some SUN!
I Went Mountain Biking – And I Trapped ALL of the Data! The purpose of this exercise and series of blogs is to share my thought processes, as a coach, on how to interpret data from instruments. With that data, I can then make more informed decisions on my own training, recovery, and performance. When […]