Coach Joe Beer 35 years logo COACH JOE BEER
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Legacy

Decades of experience.
Built for today’s athlete.

Competing, coaching, writing, speaking and hands-on "endurance lifestyle" since the late 80s.

What “legacy” means here

Not a nostalgia page. It’s a living record of the work: who I’ve helped, what I’ve learned, and where it’s shown up — from magazines and websites to training camps, keynote talks, and modern performance tools.

Since 1985Training & Racing
Since 1991Magazine & books
35 yearsCoaching & educating

Coach Joe Beer at Ironman Hawaii (Kona)
KONA • 1994 (10h20mins)
Timeline

The long game: learn → test → coach → repeat.

From the early days until now, it has always been about experimenting and learning.

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1977–81Running roots
  • Cross-country at school; built the habit of consistency.
  • Foundation for later triathlon + endurance focus.
1986–89Triathlon bug + first Ironman
  • First road race: Somer 10k (1986). Formal triathlon training starts.
  • First triathlon: Bath Triathlon (1987).
  • First Ironman: Rodekro European Championship (1989).
1991Writing begins (magazines + features)

Start of long-running media contribution — training, nutrition, and tech.

  • Regular writing/featuring across endurance outlets (e.g. 220 Triathlon, Runner’s World, Cycling Plus, Triathlete).
  • Built an “explain it simply” voice for real-world athletes.
2004Recognition: 220 Coach of the Year
  • Voted inaugural 220 Magazine Coach of the Year (plus later podium finishes).
  • Built around practical coaching, not hype.
2006Podcast era starts
  • Podcast launches: guest interviews + listener Q&A + applied sports science.
  • Turns research into “what to do Monday morning”.
2008Books published
  • Need to Know Triathlon (HarperCollins, 2008).
  • Time-crunched triathlon ((Hale, 2016).
2010sCoaching results + performance projects
  • Supported athletes from first-timers to champions; lots of Kona qualifiers over the years.
  • More focus on measurable performance: pacing, fueling, kit choices, aero work.
2020sModern tools (aero, physiology, heat, tech)
  • Regular use of modern performance tools (aero optimisation, temperature/heat tools, diagnostics) to make “marginal gains” practical.
  • Continued writing and collaborations on websites and brand platforms.
The aero thread

From childhood roll-downs to real-time CFD.

Aerodynamics was never a sudden add-on to coaching. It has been a recurring thread: curiosity first, then experimentation, then better ways of measuring what actually makes an athlete faster. The tools have changed. The question has stayed remarkably similar.

1970s

Roll-down curiosity

As a kid, Joe experimented with bikes for home-made roll-down races — even removing spokes from a front wheel to see whether less material could mean more speed.

1984

Funny bikes change the picture

Images of the US Olympic pursuit bikes, unusual handlebars and the emerging aero thinking of the LA era became part of the fascination. Old cycling magazines from the period still sit in the archive.

1987

Aero before it was normal

First-triathlon photographs already show the aero influence — including a Colnago track-style aero helmet at a time when that was far from standard triathlon kit.

MAR 1989

First aero bars

Early use of triathlon aero bars begins the long practical process of balancing drag reduction with comfort, control and the ability to hold a position.

c.2009

Wind tunnel + race-number research

Wind-tunnel exposure and article research into race-number placement added more measurement to the experimentation — work that later fed into product thinking around cleaner race-number solutions.

EARLY 2010s

Product ideas & NoPinz

Early conversations with Blake Pond around the problem that eventually became the NoPinz pocket, plus experimentation with clothing, hydration placement and practical aero details. Exact archive dates to verify.

OCT 2016

BioRacer Aero begins

The green-screen era starts: frontal-area measurement, repeatable before/after position work and rapid visual feedback. It later goes mobile for group and remote-location sessions.

2026

AiRO CFD: from A to CdA

Digital Aero Twins and CFD move the service beyond frontal area alone. Position and equipment can be investigated remotely, with full aerodynamic drag as the target rather than simply a smaller silhouette.

NOV 2026 →

AiRO....

The next step is faster, iterative aero investigation: test, learn, refine, revisit — without the travel and set-up burden of the old mobile green-screen system.

NEXT

Continuous optimisation

New helmets, equipment, race demands and position ideas can be revisited around the same athlete. The technology becomes easier; the coaching judgement remains essential.

FIT IT. TEST IT. PROVE IT. Bike fit builds a position the athlete can use. AiRO CFD tests what is faster. Coaching judgement checks that the result is stable, sustainable and raceable.

Archive note: dates around the earliest NoPinz/product work are deliberately left broad until Joe's original diaries, photographs and correspondence are checked.

Article, Keynotes & Camps

Articles, clubs, and presentations.

A few representative pieces from Joe’s long-running writing, speaking and coaching archive.

Rouleur
— fasted training (expert input)

Evidence-led look at fasted training and what it means in real training weeks.

Open article
CORE Body Temp
— “36 Years of Sweating and Learning”

Heat experience, adaptation, and practical takeaways.

Open article
220 Tri Show Keynote PDF
— Training for Ironman

Learn from winners’ patterns: pacing, volume, fueling, and equipment.

Open PDF

Talks & training camps experience

Clubs, shows, brand venues, and camps — built around practical sessions athletes can actually implement.

Clubs including
  • Met Police Tri Club
  • Galway Tri
  • Tewkesbury Tri
  • Thames Turbo
  • Tri-Logic Cornwall
Training camps + venues including
  • Tony Doyle Cycle Camps (Lanzarote)
  • Mike Gratton Camps (Portugal)
  • Andy Cook Cycle Weeks (Mallorca, Lanzarote)
  • Sigma Sport (Scott), Giant St Pauls (Continental)
  • National shows: Triathlon Cycling Running Show, London Triathlon & Cycle Show
Experience & advice

Three decades of material — now part of the Legacy.

The old standalone Advice archive has been folded into this page. It makes more sense here: the podcast, magazine work, online features, presentations and books are all part of the same long-running coaching story.

Need to Know Triathlon book

Need to Know Triathlon

HarperCollins, 2008. Practical guidance on swimming, cycling, running, equipment, planning and race-day preparation.

Time-Crunched Triathlon book

Time-Crunched Triathlon

Robert Hale, 2016. A realistic guide to fitting three sports around work, life, weather, illness and injury.

Clippings

From racing to coaching, research to writing.

Magazine pages, newspaper pieces, photos, links — they all tell the coaching story.

Kona finish photo RACING

Ironman Hawaii

Personal milestone and a reminder: do the work, learn lessons, pass them on.

Athlete race photo Coaching

Coaching in the real world

Plans are only valuable when they survive real life: stress, sleep, work, and race-day chaos.

2026...
new website article
PENDING...

Newspaper / magazine scan

(image and link soon available).

PDF
Keynote deck
Talk PDF

Training for Ironman

A talk built from winners’ patterns and what consistently works.

Article
Rouleur
Interview

Fasted training — what science says

A good example of translating research into “what do I actually do?”

Article
CORE
Heat Training

36 years of sweating & learning

Heat adaptation, practical lessons, and how to use the data properly.

Advice library

Over 30 years produces a lot of helpful information.

Selected resources are now integrated into this Legacy page so the history and the useful material live together.

Coaching info
Featured resources