Most cyclists who race will contemplate going down the line of getting a coach. Some of the things they have to weigh up when making the decision whether to get a coach or not is:
• Do I have the time to train?
• What do I expect from a coach?
• How much am I willing to spend?
• What are my long term and short term goals?
• Do I want to achieve this season or will I wait till next?
• What type of riding will I train for (road,track,mtb)?
• Am I committed enough?
• Can I afford it?
Once these questions have been answered the search for a coach is considerably narrowed. The basic coach will send you a program over the internet and possibly look at your data from a Garmin device or similar if available to create the next phase of your program. Other coaches will take a more personalised approach to your training and include training sessions, whether it be on the Ergo or road. These are good as they give the coach an idea of how you are riding at that present time, which means they may have to change your program.
Some other coaches will just give a generic program, these are a good way to start coaching as it gives you an idea of training procedures but keep in mind this is not a personalised training program, it doesn’t take into account your strengths and weaknesses.
The best coach you can get is someone who knows their stuff and will see you race, they will know how you are travelling and what needs to be done get improve your riding. If possible try get a coach from your local club, there is usually one hiding somewhere. There is usually a few wise old buggers that might not be as strong as the younger riders but who know more than you think
The best thing to do is talk to people, someone will know of a local guy who “rode the Melbourne to Warrnambool back in his day” and he would usually be a good guy to talk too...
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Hydration for Cyclists
Being well hydrated is crucial to getting the most out of your cycling. Whether it be in a race or training, your body needs to be well hydrated, but not over hydrated.
One of the most frequently overlooked parts of racing and training is keeping your body adequately hydrated throughout the day and in particular leading up to the ride. The process of hydrating the body before a ride starts the day before. In the evening, you’ll want to drink a litre of water in the evening, flavoured with lemon juice if flavouring is needed. Avoid sugars like cordial as it is High GI and will be stored and not used as energy. Also avoid any type of caffeine as it will dehydrate you being a diuretic. A good practice is to keep a water bottle by your bed as you sleep.
In the morning, try drink a further litre of water to flush your system, but make sure you stop drinking about 120mins before your ride ( the last thing you want to do is need to take a “natural break”)
During the ride some people decided to take one bottle with plain water and one with electrolytes, some prefer both with electrolytes. I would suggest using one of these two options rather than taking two bottles of water, the electrolytes are important to help replenish glycogen stores. Some powders like “Staminade” also contain magnesium which may help to prevent cramps.
1 bottle per hour is the usual rule of thumb, however if the weather is hot this must be increased to account for the amount of fluid lost in sweat. Drink every 10 – 15 minutes, a wise old cyclist once told me if you feel thirsty then you should have already drank 10 minutes ago.
After your ride you need to warm down and replenish your glycogen stores. To do this replace as much water as your body can soak up to hydrate the body and also ingest simple sugars to help replace the glycogen stores. A coke is great for this as it has so much sugar in it, however understand that coke also is high in caffeine and is a diuretic thus plenty of water needs to be ingested in addition. Coffee is not a good idea for this as it is a diuretic and actually works in the opposite way, so if you do stop for a coffee after your ride, make sure you also ingest plenty of water, and don’t worry too much about heaping the sugar into the coffee :)
One of the most frequently overlooked parts of racing and training is keeping your body adequately hydrated throughout the day and in particular leading up to the ride. The process of hydrating the body before a ride starts the day before. In the evening, you’ll want to drink a litre of water in the evening, flavoured with lemon juice if flavouring is needed. Avoid sugars like cordial as it is High GI and will be stored and not used as energy. Also avoid any type of caffeine as it will dehydrate you being a diuretic. A good practice is to keep a water bottle by your bed as you sleep.
In the morning, try drink a further litre of water to flush your system, but make sure you stop drinking about 120mins before your ride ( the last thing you want to do is need to take a “natural break”)
During the ride some people decided to take one bottle with plain water and one with electrolytes, some prefer both with electrolytes. I would suggest using one of these two options rather than taking two bottles of water, the electrolytes are important to help replenish glycogen stores. Some powders like “Staminade” also contain magnesium which may help to prevent cramps.
1 bottle per hour is the usual rule of thumb, however if the weather is hot this must be increased to account for the amount of fluid lost in sweat. Drink every 10 – 15 minutes, a wise old cyclist once told me if you feel thirsty then you should have already drank 10 minutes ago.
After your ride you need to warm down and replenish your glycogen stores. To do this replace as much water as your body can soak up to hydrate the body and also ingest simple sugars to help replace the glycogen stores. A coke is great for this as it has so much sugar in it, however understand that coke also is high in caffeine and is a diuretic thus plenty of water needs to be ingested in addition. Coffee is not a good idea for this as it is a diuretic and actually works in the opposite way, so if you do stop for a coffee after your ride, make sure you also ingest plenty of water, and don’t worry too much about heaping the sugar into the coffee :)
Eating for cycling
This is a topic which causes much debate. What should a cyclist eat and when?
Firstly it comes down to what type of cyclist you are; a sprinter won’t need the same food in the lead up to an endurance cyclist. As a rule of thumb, personally I believe that if you are eating a nice balanced diet with plenty of Salad/Vegetables, a nice portion of lean protein and carbohydrates in each meal, you can’t go wrong. Just remember to stick away from those foods high on the Glycemic Index or high in fat.
I would also suggest breaking your meals up to 6 times per day. As long as you keep an eye on what you eat and how much you are consuming, this strategy is good for both losing weight and maintaining blood sugar levels. The regularity of eating every 3 hours or so keeps the body in a state of high metabolism, and given low GI foods are eaten during these meals and High GI foods are ignored the blood sugar levels should not spike, nor drop leaving you feeling much more consistent and alert throughout the day.
High GI foods aren’t bad for a cyclist, but there are specific times when they should be and should not be consumed. During or immediately after a ride, the body has used up all the muscle glycogen; it is during this state that we need to refuel our body with High GI fuel. Something as simple as a packet of snakes is an easy fix. You can also get glucose to add as a supplement to a drink bottle to consume as you ride.
The point of Carb loading is to raise our glycogen stores for a long hard ride.
As a rule of thumb for a 70kg rider, you should consume around 11g of carbohydrates per kilogram of bodyweight. Be careful about reading labels!! Pasta is 70% carbohydrates, this means that we would need to eat 1.1kg of raw pasta. Now pasta doubles or more in weight as it cooks which means we need to eat near 2.5kg of cooked pasta... Obviously this isn’t going to be done in one sitting so I recommend cooking up the pasta and making a couple of different sauces and to eat through a number of sittings throughout the day.
Firstly it comes down to what type of cyclist you are; a sprinter won’t need the same food in the lead up to an endurance cyclist. As a rule of thumb, personally I believe that if you are eating a nice balanced diet with plenty of Salad/Vegetables, a nice portion of lean protein and carbohydrates in each meal, you can’t go wrong. Just remember to stick away from those foods high on the Glycemic Index or high in fat.
I would also suggest breaking your meals up to 6 times per day. As long as you keep an eye on what you eat and how much you are consuming, this strategy is good for both losing weight and maintaining blood sugar levels. The regularity of eating every 3 hours or so keeps the body in a state of high metabolism, and given low GI foods are eaten during these meals and High GI foods are ignored the blood sugar levels should not spike, nor drop leaving you feeling much more consistent and alert throughout the day.
High GI foods aren’t bad for a cyclist, but there are specific times when they should be and should not be consumed. During or immediately after a ride, the body has used up all the muscle glycogen; it is during this state that we need to refuel our body with High GI fuel. Something as simple as a packet of snakes is an easy fix. You can also get glucose to add as a supplement to a drink bottle to consume as you ride.
The point of Carb loading is to raise our glycogen stores for a long hard ride.
As a rule of thumb for a 70kg rider, you should consume around 11g of carbohydrates per kilogram of bodyweight. Be careful about reading labels!! Pasta is 70% carbohydrates, this means that we would need to eat 1.1kg of raw pasta. Now pasta doubles or more in weight as it cooks which means we need to eat near 2.5kg of cooked pasta... Obviously this isn’t going to be done in one sitting so I recommend cooking up the pasta and making a couple of different sauces and to eat through a number of sittings throughout the day.
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Sprinting
Sprinting is an integral part of racing both on the road and the track, with a large majority of races coming to a sprint finish, whether it be between 2 breakaway riders or as a bunch sprint. It is important for any cyclist to learn how to sprint if they want to achieve success.
The sprint is all about power and timing. You need to take into account other riders, distance from the line and your own limitations as a sprinter. Some sprinters can sprint from 300-400m out others are restricted to 200m or less.
Reading the sprint is an important part of sprinting. You need to know where the other sprinters are, who is the strongest in the bunch (hopefully you), who is a strong sprinter and who is going to go early. A good trick to find out who the sprinters are if you dont know the field is to check the legs and arse of the other riders, you can usually pick a sprinter from a hill climber.
The best case scenario is that you have a nice lead out from a team mate whos wheel you can come off at 150-200m from the line. but if that is not the case you will have to improvise... Look for a strong rider and grab their wheel, you may have to fight for it, but there is nothing wrong with pushing your way onto a wheel as long as its done cleanly and you keep both hands on the bars (it wont win you many friends if you arent clean).
Once the sprint is launched you must make sure you dont drop the wheel, if you do you have lost that slipstream and you wil start to feel the wind resistance, wait till you think its time to go and come around the rider in front, you will learn when the time is best from experience, but one srpint will be different from the next.
How to train for sprinting
Training for sprinting can involve Gym work and road sessions.
The road sessions should be no more than 2 sessions per week, any more and you wont have the required recovery for your muscles to heal. Gym work should be done 2 times a week max as well. On the road you should be sprinting at 100 percent, this should leave you needing about 5 minutes of easy spinning time to recover before your next effort.
How many sprints to include depends on your level of fitness.
The sprint is all about power and timing. You need to take into account other riders, distance from the line and your own limitations as a sprinter. Some sprinters can sprint from 300-400m out others are restricted to 200m or less.
Reading the sprint is an important part of sprinting. You need to know where the other sprinters are, who is the strongest in the bunch (hopefully you), who is a strong sprinter and who is going to go early. A good trick to find out who the sprinters are if you dont know the field is to check the legs and arse of the other riders, you can usually pick a sprinter from a hill climber.
The best case scenario is that you have a nice lead out from a team mate whos wheel you can come off at 150-200m from the line. but if that is not the case you will have to improvise... Look for a strong rider and grab their wheel, you may have to fight for it, but there is nothing wrong with pushing your way onto a wheel as long as its done cleanly and you keep both hands on the bars (it wont win you many friends if you arent clean).
Once the sprint is launched you must make sure you dont drop the wheel, if you do you have lost that slipstream and you wil start to feel the wind resistance, wait till you think its time to go and come around the rider in front, you will learn when the time is best from experience, but one srpint will be different from the next.
How to train for sprinting
Training for sprinting can involve Gym work and road sessions.
The road sessions should be no more than 2 sessions per week, any more and you wont have the required recovery for your muscles to heal. Gym work should be done 2 times a week max as well. On the road you should be sprinting at 100 percent, this should leave you needing about 5 minutes of easy spinning time to recover before your next effort.
How many sprints to include depends on your level of fitness.
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
My Equipment
Road Bike
2011 Scott Addict R15
SRAM Red
2011 Mavic Ksyrium Elites
Selle Italia Max Flite saddle
Track Bike
2008 Avanti Pista Pro
Truvativ Omnium Cranks
Mavie Eclipse Wheels
INEXA 80mm Carbons
About me...
I'm relatively new to racing, I've Been around cycling my whole life and have started to take it a little bit more serious over the last few years, finally starting to race myself. At university I decided I would take up cycling and follow in the footsteps of the rest of my family. I loved watching the sport and have grown up doing it both at the local level and on the big stage.
During university I became very much a part of the "uni lifestyle", blowing out to a massive 125kg. I felt unhealthy, lethargic and frustrated... I decided I needed to do something so I bought a Road Bike. It was a Giant CFR Cadex - Tour de France Edition. It came with Shimano 600 componentry (which I still love) and cost me $800. I was pretty happy with my full carbon bike :)
My First Ride:
I stood in my driveway kitted out with gear my dad gave me, and shoes that had previously belonged to my little brother. It was 3pm in the afternoon and I had finished uni for the day, I clipped one foot in and pushed off, remembering what Dad had told me, "just don’t let the bike stop, if you do that you'll come off". I managed to get clipped in and off I went.
I rode my bike to and around the local lake, totalling 10km. This ride I came across head and crosswinds, no fun at the best of times, but even less fun as a 125kg guy, built like a brick wall on his first ride.
I got home and I had averaged 18kmph, pretty dismal effort knowing that my little brother had just done a race the weekend before and averaged 38kmph. I knew I had a long haul to try get myself up to racing speed and fitness...
The first few months:
The first few months I got out on the bike as much as I could, I started by doing 2 x 10km rides per week, then I built that up to 3 x 10km rides per week, by the end of the first month I had built those 3 x 10km rides up to 3 x 16km rides with a longer ride included on the weekend, usually around 25km.
The longer ride was done with a few hills, I can tell you now I am not the strongest climber and never will be but at this stage I was around 120kg and attempting to climb small sharp hills. I started by giving myself the goal of getting to the top and once I had achieved this I was entitled to get off my bike and rest for a minute, take a drink and get going. This ride had 5 of these hills. Each time I rode this course I would find it had become a little bit easier. It taught me the importance of finding the right gear to climb and descend in, and showed me an instant progressing to the last time I trained on it. It was in climbing the hills that I started to really lose the weight...
Over the next few months I got down to 110kg and I felt like I was flying, I was now riding my usual rides and completing them in quicker times, finishing 25km rides in around about an hour (a big change from the 18kmph that I had started at for only 10kms. I decided it was time to start with my first group.
I found a group ride with my local club; I had picked a slower one that I was told averaged around 26kmph. I met with them and took off together, 6kms later they dropped me. I was told this was a group that would ride as slow as the slowest rider... I was pissed off and disappointed at the same time. I had thought I was going quite well. It now became obvious to me that I still had a long way to go...
I started training more often and in the mornings before I started uni. I would get up, stuff a muesli bar in my back pocket and get out on the road. I found this was a great way to lose weight as it kick-started my metabolism early. I used this regime to start my day for the next 6 months or so, eventually ending up much fitter as I progressed through to doing 300km weeks.
I'm now racing; I progressed quickly through D grade and spent a few months in C grade at my local club learning the craft of racing. I'm learning my strengths and weaknesses and learning to listen to my body. I'm racing both on the road and track at a B grade club level these days and loving every minute of it.
During university I became very much a part of the "uni lifestyle", blowing out to a massive 125kg. I felt unhealthy, lethargic and frustrated... I decided I needed to do something so I bought a Road Bike. It was a Giant CFR Cadex - Tour de France Edition. It came with Shimano 600 componentry (which I still love) and cost me $800. I was pretty happy with my full carbon bike :)
My First Ride:
I stood in my driveway kitted out with gear my dad gave me, and shoes that had previously belonged to my little brother. It was 3pm in the afternoon and I had finished uni for the day, I clipped one foot in and pushed off, remembering what Dad had told me, "just don’t let the bike stop, if you do that you'll come off". I managed to get clipped in and off I went.
I rode my bike to and around the local lake, totalling 10km. This ride I came across head and crosswinds, no fun at the best of times, but even less fun as a 125kg guy, built like a brick wall on his first ride.
I got home and I had averaged 18kmph, pretty dismal effort knowing that my little brother had just done a race the weekend before and averaged 38kmph. I knew I had a long haul to try get myself up to racing speed and fitness...
The first few months:
The first few months I got out on the bike as much as I could, I started by doing 2 x 10km rides per week, then I built that up to 3 x 10km rides per week, by the end of the first month I had built those 3 x 10km rides up to 3 x 16km rides with a longer ride included on the weekend, usually around 25km.
The longer ride was done with a few hills, I can tell you now I am not the strongest climber and never will be but at this stage I was around 120kg and attempting to climb small sharp hills. I started by giving myself the goal of getting to the top and once I had achieved this I was entitled to get off my bike and rest for a minute, take a drink and get going. This ride had 5 of these hills. Each time I rode this course I would find it had become a little bit easier. It taught me the importance of finding the right gear to climb and descend in, and showed me an instant progressing to the last time I trained on it. It was in climbing the hills that I started to really lose the weight...
Over the next few months I got down to 110kg and I felt like I was flying, I was now riding my usual rides and completing them in quicker times, finishing 25km rides in around about an hour (a big change from the 18kmph that I had started at for only 10kms. I decided it was time to start with my first group.
I found a group ride with my local club; I had picked a slower one that I was told averaged around 26kmph. I met with them and took off together, 6kms later they dropped me. I was told this was a group that would ride as slow as the slowest rider... I was pissed off and disappointed at the same time. I had thought I was going quite well. It now became obvious to me that I still had a long way to go...
I started training more often and in the mornings before I started uni. I would get up, stuff a muesli bar in my back pocket and get out on the road. I found this was a great way to lose weight as it kick-started my metabolism early. I used this regime to start my day for the next 6 months or so, eventually ending up much fitter as I progressed through to doing 300km weeks.
I'm now racing; I progressed quickly through D grade and spent a few months in C grade at my local club learning the craft of racing. I'm learning my strengths and weaknesses and learning to listen to my body. I'm racing both on the road and track at a B grade club level these days and loving every minute of it.
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