The Coach

“It feels good to be fast and strong. It feels even better when you’ve worked for it. I want to help you experience that.” — Ed Veal

About your coach

Hi, I’m Ed.

I love riding bikes. I love racing them. And I love helping people discover how much more they’re capable of.

Cycling changed my life. It took me from borrowing a mountain bike for a local race to representing Canada internationally. Along the way, I became a six-time Ontario Cup Road Series champion, competed at World Cups, Pan-Am and Commonwealth Games as well as earning a Guinness World Record.

I’m proud of those achievements. I’m also proud that, at 50, I’m still training, racing, learning and enjoying the pursuit.

I’ve done that while being a dad, a partner and a business owner. I understand that your goals have to fit into a life with responsibilities, relationships and plenty of things competing for your time.

Over the years, I’ve built a training system around daily habits, purposeful work and consistency. It has served me and my athletes well, and I’m excited to share it with you.

You might want to win races, finish an event that intimidates you, keep up with your riding group or feel stronger and healthier. Whatever brought you here, I want to hear about it.

Let’s find out what you can do.

How did you get into cycling?

I had a relentless neighbour who kept asking me to go mountain biking. I kept turning him down until I finally gave in.

I showed up at a local weekly race series riding his wife’s mountain bike and wearing a hockey helmet. Thankfully, the organizer had a proper cycling helmet for me to borrow!

I fell in love with it almost immediately. The speed, the trees, the climbs, the descents, I was going far too fast for my skill level, but I couldn’t get enough.

That one invitation changed the direction of my life. I thanked my neighbour then, and I’m still thankful today.

It’s part of why I encourage people to give things a try. You don’t always know what you’re going to love until you show up.

How did you become a coach?

It happened pretty naturally.

As I worked my way into pro elite mountain biking, someone told me that getting faster would mean spending time training on the road. Once I tried road cycling, I was hooked.

I became a student of the sport. I wanted to climb faster, descend better, improve my sprint and figure out how to win bike races. I paid attention, asked questions and kept putting what I learned into practice.

As my results improved, people started asking about my training. I was a local guy with a full-time job and a family, working my way into Cat 1 racing. They wanted to know how I was doing it.

Then someone asked if I would coach them.

That caught me by surprise. But once I started helping someone else improve, I understood how much I loved it. Coaching became a way to share something that had already given me so much.

Why do you coach?

Because I know how good this can feel.

Feeling strong. Riding with confidence. Getting over a climb that used to drop you. Finishing something you weren’t sure you could finish. Seeing your work turn into progress.

I want to help people experience that.

Cycling gave me purpose, an outlet and a challenge that continues to excite me. It also taught me how much our daily choices matter.

I’ve spent years developing my routines, learning from excellent athletes and coaches, and figuring out what I can repeat consistently. I’m proud of that foundation because I’ve seen it work for me and for the people I coach.

Helping someone build their own foundation and watching their confidence grow is a big part of why I love this job.

What is it like to be coached by you?

We start with a conversation.

I want to understand what you’re working toward, what your week looks like and what’s been holding you back. I also want to know what you enjoy. That matters if we’re building something you’ll keep doing.

From there, we put a plan together and get to work.

You can expect encouragement, honest feedback and accountability. I’ll celebrate your progress, ask questions when things aren’t going well and challenge you when I believe you’re ready for more.

I want you involved in the process. Tell me how you’re feeling. Ask why we’re doing a workout. Let me know when life gets complicated. That communication helps me coach you better.

I’m still training and racing myself, so these are conversations I live every day. I know the excitement of a breakthrough, the frustration of a setback and the satisfaction of showing up when it would have been easier to skip it.

We’ll work through those things together.

What is the RealDeal training system all about?

The foundation is your daily routine.

We build habits that make it easier to train well: preparing for your sessions, warming up properly, fuelling your work, making time for strength training and taking recovery seriously.

Then we give that work a purpose.

I want you to understand how each session connects to your goals. Some days call for a hard effort. Others call for an easy ride, skills practice or rest. Learning to approach each day properly is part of becoming a better athlete.

The system brings together performance, recovery and mindset. We look at what you’re doing, how you’re responding and what needs to change.

It’s structured enough to give you direction and flexible enough to respond to your life. A demanding week at work, poor sleep or a change in your schedule all matter.

I’m proud of this system. It has developed through years of training, racing, coaching and learning. The foundation is consistent, but how we apply it depends on you.

The goal is to build speed, strength and confidence through work you can sustain.

What is your proudest coaching moment?

There are too many to choose just one.

I love a race win. I love a personal best. And I love hearing, “Ed, I didn’t think I could do that.”

Sometimes that comes from an athlete chasing a podium. Sometimes it’s a parent who found a manageable routine and feels like themselves again. Sometimes it’s someone finishing their first big event with a huge smile.

I see the work behind those moments, the early starts, the adjustments, the patience and the decision to keep going.

Watching someone become proud of themselves is incredibly rewarding. Especially when that confidence starts showing up in other parts of their life.

What is your proudest athletic achievement?

Winning my first Cat 1 road race at the K-W Classic will always stand out. I had worked toward that win for a long time. Finally getting it was an incredible feeling.

Earning a place in the Canadian National Track Endurance Program is another. I was 37, and making that team took more focus and effort than anything I had done before. Pulling on the maple leaf and representing Canada was something I’ll never forget.

What stays with me is knowing where I started and what it took to get there.

I had to learn, make changes, ask for help and keep working when progress was slow. Those experiences still shape how I train and how I coach.

They’re also why I get excited when someone brings me a goal that feels a little intimidating.

Do I have to ride my bike seven days a week?

No!

We start with the time you have and build a plan around your goals. Training should give you a clear direction and a realistic way to make progress.

Consistency matters, and so does recovery. You need enough work to improve and enough recovery to benefit from it.

There will be days to push, days to ride easily and days to get off the bike. We’ll also look at strength, preparation and the habits that help you get more from your training.

You don’t need a perfect schedule to get started. You need a willingness to learn, communicate and keep showing up.

Ready to give it a try?

You don’t have to arrive with everything figured out.

Tell me what you’d love to do, what feels difficult right now and what your life looks like. We’ll start there.

I’d love to help you get stronger, find more speed and experience the confidence that comes from doing the work.

Email me at real.deal@rogers.com. Let’s talk about what’s possible.