Our WE DEVELOPMENT program provides personal coaching, an individualized training plan, a motivating team structure, and race-day support at UCI events, all designed around the rider’s development.

The coaching & communication is the cornerstone to our program and what sets us apart from other teams. Coaches Cody & Kathy use Team Calls on Zoom to address the big picture topics and create team unity, while regular private phone calls are utilized to touch base and review the training progress of each individual rider’s training progression.

We have found that a 9-month program works well for developing junior and U23 riders to the highest levels of competition. We begin in November, often following a rider’s high school or collegiate MTB season, with what we call Base Builder. This is typically a 3 month period of base training, incorporating strength training, aerobic endurance riding and structured intervals, to set the rider up for a fulfilling spring season of racing.

We then follow Base Builder with two 3-month Race Prep blocks that build a rider’s race specificity for an early spring racing peak (in March/April) and a second build (May-July) towards a summer peak for Nationals at the end of July. Our Race Prep blocks include strength training, intervals and endurance structured around a rider’s school, travel and racing schedule for optimized performance.

August through October are left for the rider to enjoy “alternative” racing options (marathon, stage races, gravel, cross, etc.) and/or their high school or collegiate seasons*. We are still there for the rider as their coaches, but we feel it is important to back off the structured training during this time and keep things fun so riders are eager to get back to focused training for the next MTB season with training ramping up again in November.

* For the riders who have demonstrated their ability to race at the highest level into late summer (ie. World Cups and/or World Championships), we continue working with them in full force, and in some cases travel with them, as they jump into the international racing environment.

Here are the essentials, beyond the obvious like a bike and cycling clothing:

• Training Peaks account (required)
  • • All riders are required to have a Premium Training Peaks account for the most effective way to share training information on a daily basis.
• Heartrate Monitor (required)
  • • Wahoo TICKR and/or Wahoo ELMNT available at 20% discount
• Stationary Trainer (highly recommended)
  • • Wahoo Fitness trainers (KICKR, CORE, SNAP) available at 20% discount
    • non-smart trainers are acceptable as well
• Power Meter (strongly encouraged)
  • • Quarq Power Meters available at 20% discount

The primary criteria that will assist us in rider selection for the WE DEVELOPMENT program are:

• You are 15-22 years old
• You are “coachable” (you listen & hear what your coaches say, you like following a plan, you provide LOTS of feedback)
• You can communicate with your coaches (phone calls, emails, texts)
• XC MTB is your main/only focus
• Your racing objectives are UCI Junior Series events (like: Puerto Rico, Fayetteville, Englewood, Missoula, and Nationals) to gain points for World Champs selection.
• You have realistic goals of top 30 at National Champs in age group
• You have lofty goals of making the USA National Team for World Champs
• You are active on Social Media
• Perhaps the most important: You are a GOOD PERSON (helpful, supportive, encouraging to your teammates, and can represent the WE brand in the most positive way possible)

As we receive rider applications, we will read through them to get a feel for the applying rider. If we like what we see, we will contact you to set up a video conference call with you and your parent(s) to get to know you better. We’ll ask you more questions and let you ask us questions.

If we like what we heard from applying rider and parent(s), we may ask to gain access to your Training Peaks account to review your historical training data, and set up a second video call with the rider to gain more insights on your training and racing experience (and to see how riders are actually able to communicate with their (potential future) coaches.

We will inform selected riders of acceptance within the process as individual decisions are made. A final selection announcement will occur in October.

We will contact every rider who sends in an application in regard to continuing on to the next selection process step. Space is limited within our program, so very few riders will make the selection.

Our goal is not to be the biggest team, but the highest quality team with the best coaching, guidance and commitment; with racers developing into high-level professional riders.

Due to the custom programming and intensive coaching, space is limited. There will be only 30 riders selected for 2024 WE DEVELOPMENT program with the intention of providing optimal communication for each rider.

First and foremost, riders receive unparalleled coaching, training support and guidance that molds them into professional riders; along with a serious and supportive group of like-minded athletes working together towards similar goals.

In terms of gear, riders will receive at minimum three team kits consisting of a jersey and bib short, plus additional cool-weather items.

Product discounts can be expected on many of the products you may need for the season. Current brands we are partnered with include SCOTT Bikes, SRAM, Schwalbe, Wahoo, NeverSecond, and ESI. The exact discount amounts TBD.

The total cost for coaching, team clothing and team camp for the 2024 season is $4050.

There is an additional ask of a $500 donation to the WE Development 501c3 organization to fund race support.

Waite Endurance supports the WE DEVELOPMENT team in many ways; one way of the ways is by offering limited scholarships to riders/families that can not meet the fees. Scholarships are by request only.

Other fees for riders to budget for include a team bike at team discount, race fees & travel expenses to/at events.

We are working to secure bike-buying opportunities for each WE Development rider for 2024. We will expect each rider to purchase a team bike from our bike sponsor. We will work to gain the best possible discount from the manufacturer as possible. Stay tuned for more info.

Personalized coaching is the cornerstone of the program for WE DEVELOPMENT. All riders on our squad are coached by both Cody & Kathy.

If you already have a coach you work really well with, then we recommend you stick with them instead of being a part of our program. If you have a coach and you’re not super-impressed with the results thus far, then consider letting us impress you.

Most importantly a positive and supportive attitude is expected as part of our program. We’re all in this together, and no one person is more ‘valuable’ than another.

You are also expected to communicate with your coaches on a daily/weekly basis with your training and life balance. This can be done through Slack, text, email and/or phone. We need your communication to better coach you and maximize your performance.

As a high-level race team, you are expected to race. We want our riders at as many of the UCI level events as possible, with budget and time constraints in mind. UCI events are highest priority including: Puerto Rico, Arkansas, Soldier Hollow, Wisconsin, Montana, and of course Nationals. We will help you with your event planning to maximize your budget and performance.

Interactive social media efforts are also expected from our riders to help us spread the good work of the team and all of our sponsors. We will help you with this if you are uncertain of how to go about it.

Being a national-level program, we do not offer regular in-person training opportunities. The majority of our training program is delivered online, however we do host at least one training camp within the ‘base season’ to get the squad together before the race season begins.

There may be other opportunities throughout the year to train with your coaches and/or team members in the off-season and/or at or around events.

If riders do not make the WE DEVELOPMENT selection for 2024, we will encourage most to consider a WE Custom Training Plan or in some cases WE Personal Coaching.

From these options, a rider can learn how we do things (and follow a great program to have them racing their best in 2024!). This will also provide an opportunity for us to get to know a rider over the course of the 2024 season through the Custom Plan/Coaching option. From here, the door will be open much wider for re-applying and selection for the WE DEVELOPMENT program in the future.