Things to consider for a long ride.

• Preparation / training
• Things to bring
• Food / Hydration
• Pacing
• Equipment
• What are objectives of ride?

How far is a long ride? Many would consider a long ride to be over 100km or over 100 miles. But, it is all relatively on your state of fitness. If you are only used to a 10 mile commute everyday, 50 miles would be quite a stretch. If you have done quite a few 70 mile rides, you won’t find the jump up to 100 miles too difficult. If you’ve really got a few miles in your legs why not try the epic Paris-Brest-Paris? (a mere 1200Km)

Preparation

Unless you want to be very sore next day, you need to have prepared / trained for the distance. It is not advisable to just jump in with a big distance without trying something close before. For more advice on training, see training for cyclo-sportives

Training Schedule for Long Rides.

For 100Km plus, you want to consider a certain training schedule to get you used to the basic miles. As a rough rule of thumb, try to be comfortable riding at least 75% of the distance. If you can be comfortable riding 100Km, and extra 30 or 40KM is not going to break you.

Every week or every fortnight, target a key long distance training ride.

Things to Bring on a Long Ride

For a long ride, you need to be self sufficient for quite a few mechanical problems.

• At least two inner tubes, with tyre levers and small lightweight pump
• Self-fixing patches. In case of a disaster with punctures, you can buy a small box of small patches which mend a puncture without a puncture repair kit; these are useful for emergencies and take up no space.
• Multi-Tool. A multi tool with allen keys and chain tool. If your chain snaps, make sure you have a chain tool otherwise you’re pretty stuck.
• Mobile phone. For those emergences when you can’t fix it yourself, it’s always good to be able to phone a friend.
• Money. Money can’t buy happiness, but it can help out in many tight spots.

Waterproofs

For long rides I look closely at the weather forecast to see what kind of waterproofing I will need. Also bear in mind, if you’re riding into the hills or mountains, the weather can be much tougher than the forecast for 300 meters lower down. For long rides, I sometimes  take two waterproofs – A gillet (which is small and very easy to take on and off – ideal for dealing with intermittent showers) and also a race cape stuck in the bike bag. If it is colder and more persistent rain, you need something more than just a rain cape.

This gives two layers for more effective waterproofing. If the forecast is for really solid rain or it’s cold, and you are determined to keep riding, I would substitute a lightweight race cape for something stronger like an Altura waterproof. This is more bulky than a race cape, but a race cape invariably starts to seep through after a certain time. see: best waterproofs

Pacing

One approach to a long ride, is to start off with a sprint at 30mph, keeping up with the fastest riders and then spend the next 100 miles grovelling around the distance because you got exhausted after the first 10 miles. It’s actually quite easy to fall into first approach. Some cycle sportive riders have burnt themselves out just riding to the start line.

It’s best to set off with a pace you can  maintain for the whole distance, and if you feel strong and inspired increase the pace over the last section.

If you have trained at similar distances, you will have a rough idea of the pace and effort levels you can maintain and want to ride at. If you find yourself doing first 10 miles at a very quick pace, you’ll probably regret later in ride.

Some  people doing long rides, will be attempting a distance they haven’t done before. In this case you need to be more careful about pacing. If keep a steady pace, the distance will be much more manageable.

Climbing

When climbing you need to be careful about avoiding pushing yourself over the limit. Sometimes, pride can come to the fore and we don’t want to be dropped on hills meaning we push ourselves too hard on the climb. But, even tour riders know they have to ride within their limits on long climbs.

• It’s good to keep a good high cadence, this will help maintain a manageable pace.
• Climb hills at your own pace.
• This is a good time to look at heart rate monitor or power meter and make sure you are not going into the red zone.
• Don’t keep looking at top of hill, but just concentrate on keeping decent cadence.
• For really short brutal climbs (15% +) you will just have to put it in lowest gear and struggle up, just give yourself chance to recover on the flatter parts. For really steep hairpins, try ride as wide as you can as the lower gradient will be easier – even if further in distance.
• see also: tips for climbing

Time Taken

Very roughly, if you are reasonably fit club cyclist, you may average in the region of 15-17 mph over a long ride.

• 100Km – 60 miles – just under 4 hours averaging 15-16mph
• 100 miles (160km) – 6 hours – average of 16.6mph
• 200 Km (125 miles) – 7-8 hours averaging 16-17mph

If you’re riding in a group, you may be able to ride a little quicker because of the saved energy of riding in a group, but you will also be stopping more frequently because of punctures, mechanicals e.t.c. It’s surprising how average speed can drop because of stopping for red lights / buy food / not sure where to go.

Purpose

Everyone has different motives for doing long rides. Some just want to enjoy, some can’t help but be competitive. If you’re clear what you want to get from ride, it will help maintain best pace.

Cycling in Groups

Cycling in a group can make the ride more enjoyable and easier. It is both physically and psychologically beneficial to be able to take shelter behind another riders wind stream. This can save you 20-25% of your effort for the same speed. If you sit on the back, you can ride with riders who are stronger than you. Of course, it is best to find a group of similar ability / attitude.

Avoiding Saddle Sore

Avoiding saddle sore is one of the great needs for a comfortable ride. To some extent this needs a little preparation. Firstly, you need to get used to a saddle during training. This will increase your tolerance for sitting on a saddle. Some find the most comfortable saddles will be a leather saddle like the many models of Brooks saddles. These give better performance with age as they slowly mould to your own posterior.

• Saddle sore creams can definitely help in some circumstances. See: cream for saddle sore.
• Extra padding. I know one rider who was really struggling in a  24 hour race with a saddle sore and an experienced rider just suggested wearing two pairs of padded cycling shorts. This enabled him to finish.
• Buy good quality padding. There is a huge difference between cheap cycling shorts and good quality shorts. Believe me, I’ve tried both! I recommend making it a high priority to spend £100 on some of the best quality cycle shorts. It will make a much bigger difference than £100 on a carbon seat post. See: best quality padded cycle shorts
• Stretch. It is good practise to always take time to stretch, change positions and get out of the saddle. The key thing is to do this before you start to feel discomfort. This is particularly important for long distance time trials, where you tend to get locked in a certain position.
• See also: sore after long ride

Food / Drink

Nutrition is such a key factor in long distance cycling. If you can get your nutrition right you will definitely make a long distance ride easier. For a reasonably fit cyclist, as you get your nutrition right, there is no limit to how far you can cycle.

Carbo Load. In the day or two before a race, you can try carbo load – eat more carbohydrate like pasta, oats, lentils / basmati rice. These are carbohydrate stores that offer slow release. In the two days before a big ride, take it easy. Though studies suggest that a few very short sprints on the day before a ride, can help facilitate greater uptake of carbohydrate.

Breakfast. I tend to have  good solid breakfast based on muesli, oats, fruit, perhaps some brown bread and honey. The main breakfast is 2- 3 hours before the start of the ride. It depends on the intensity of the riding, the more intense the longer time you want to give your stomach. Then after breakfast I will take a few medium GI snacks like apples, muesli bars. Generally little an often is better for the stomach. Note, I tend to avoid high GI foods (glucose as this can lead to surges and falls in blood sugar levels

see also:

• mistakes of cycle nutrition
• Cycling nutrition tips.

Nutrition during a ride.

A rough guide for carbohydrate uptake is 1gram per Kg weight of rider. If you are 80Kg, you can roughly absorb 80g of carbohydrate in an hour. This gives a rough idea of how much food you can absorb. For example, a 750ml energy drink may give 50grams, thus you want to get another 30grams of carbohydrate from bars or gels. You will be burning much more calories than usual. You need to forget the 3 meals a day mentality and keep eating throughout the day.

Foods to Avoid During a Ride

High Fat content. Fat is harder to break down and makes the stomach work harder but gives little help to energy. Don’t worry about avoiding all fat. It also depends on how hard you are riding. If you are at your limit, you will need to rely more on liquid food. If you are taking it very steady and enjoying the scenary you can be less strict about what you eat.

Hydration

De-hydration is one of the worst things to happen during a long ride. Don’t wait until you are thirsty. Keep drinking steadily, depending on the heat.

Don’t forget that when you take carbohydrate (e.g. energy gels) you need extra water to help digest the carb (3 parts 1 for each part of carb). For example, if you took a concentrated energy gel without plain water, they body would take water from blood stream for digestion procedure leaving you dehydrated (this is why you are more thirsty when eating)

How much to Drink?

For a 100 mile ride you can need anything from 2 to 8 bottles. It depends on your body weight and temperature. It may sound a bit crude, but check the colour of your urine. It will give a rough guide to your state of hydration. Some people finish a ride and then can’t actually provide a urine sample because they are so dehydrated – don’t let it get to this stage.

Biggest 4 Mistakes in Long Ride

1. Not bringing any waterproof and suffering intense cold when it rains heavily
2. Not drinking enough in the heat leading to dehydration and feeling of sickness
3. Not taking on enough carbohydrate leading to the dreaded ‘bonk’ where your glycogen stores are depleted making it difficult to move at all.
4. Being totally unprepared for distance and trying to cover it too quickly.

Conclusion

Sometimes the best advice is to go out and ride. Listen to your body and follow common sense. Take advice from experienced riders around you. When you actually get started, it is less intimidating than you might think. Also, the body is highly adaptable and it’s surprising what it will tolerate, but a little planning and preparation can make the experience a lot more enjoyable and easy.

 Related

• Training for 100 mile charity ride
• Sore after long ride

• An easy ride at level 2 (65-70%) heart rate, feels as good as a rest day. It’s a strange thing, but your legs can feel less tired after an hour’s riding, than they do before you start.
• The main thing is I’m really enjoying cycling at the moment. The good weather helps. But, I feel fortunate to be able to go out for 2 hours a day.
• With regard to training, I aim for either – hard training or recovery.
• Hard training is either
• A race
• Threshold training – usually 2 hours at 85% (an effort below race pace – comfortably hard and fast) These sessions are really fun. I think some have referred to this type of riding as being in ‘the sweet spot’ – hard enough to make improvements in fitness, but not too hard they burn you out and take a lot of recovery.
• Intervals above race pace. I’ve only done 2 -3 of these training sessions. They involve several hard efforts up hills which take 4-5 minutes. This is most fun type of training. But, the main goal is still working on a base endurance and threshold level.
• With more miles in the legs, I’m aiming more for 50 mile time trials.
• I’d like to do 100 miles time trial, but ironically with all the  training and racing, it never feels like there is time to do a long 100 mile ride.

• 10 days ago, I went out on Wednesday morning, the plan was to so high intensity hill intervals. But, when I got on bike, I didn’t feel fast. My heart rate was low, and it was an effort to increase the pace. On the first climb, my heart rate peaked at 176 (which is well below max). My time for that climb was nearly a minute slower than my best. After first few climbs, I started to get warmed up, and I did better on later climbs, but I change type of training. I didn’t aim for usual top of the range sprint up hills, but more of a high level threshold training. I didn’t particularly feel tired or over-trained. Maybe it was just because it was cold and early in the morning. I think for early morning races, I need a warm up of two hours.
• This week, I attempted exactly same ride, except it was warm and later in the day. I actually had more miles in the legs so I wasn’t more rested. On the first climb, it seemed easy to race at up the climb. My heart rate reached 189 on the first and second climb. That is quite close to my maximum. The time was 45 seconds quicker than the previous week. For some reason this week it was easy to train, but last wednesday it wasn’t

What does this mean?

• Sometimes, your body just isn’t ready to give the same effort as it at other times, and it’s hard to know why.
• I perform much better later in the day, than on cold early morning.
• If you’re really struggling to get into usual high intensity effort levels, it’s better to re-evaluate training session. Rather than high intensity intervals, it can become a threshold or endurance ride. The real secret of intervals is to do them when fresh and do them harder than ever before. There’s not too much to be gained by going through the motions, when your body can’t respond.

The forecast is for 21 degrees, which means no more racing in leg warmers. Will it be the electric razor, the epilator or messy strips of wax? The great dilemmas of being a racing cyclist.

It is expressed as litres (ml) of oxygen / weight Kg / per min.

Some of the top athletes have recorded figures as high as 95 ml / KG/ Min

• Greg Lemond had a recorded 92.5 ml / KG / Min
• Miguel Indurain had a recorded 88 ml/ KG / Mind
• According to his coach, Coyle, Lance Armstrong had a VO2 Max level of 85 L/KG/Min. Though in this article, Jamie Pringle, suggests it would have been closer to 93  mls / KG / Min (Cycling Weekly – how powerful are the pros)

To put it into perspective, the average untrained male, will have a VO2 max of around 36-50 ml/ KG / Min.

What Determines Max VO2?

There are many genetic factors which determine VO2 Max. Size of lungs, cardiac output, efficiency of blood and capilliary system. It is also determined by age, gender and general fitness.

Importance of Max VO2

VO2 Max is very important in determining aerobic capacity and is very important for endurance sports. Someone with a low VO2 max will not be able to be competitive with someone with a much higher VO2. However, VO2 isn’t everything.

Other things which are important:

• Tolerance to lactic acid
• Efficiency of using oxygen generated.
• Tolerance to pain and determination.
• Efficiency of cycling action.

VO2 and Threshold Level

VO2 is above your threshold level. Your VO2 Max will be roughly 105-120% of your threshold power. Studies suggest training VO2 max, can improve your threshold capacity at the same time. High Intensity intervals (90-95% HR max) increase VO2 Max more than threshold training (link) Intervals and Threshold power (link pdf)

VO2 Max and Heart Rate

It is possible to estimate your exercise intensity as a percentage of VO2max from your training heart rate. A study by David Swain et al. (1994) [1] using statistical procedures examined the relationship between %MHR and %VO2max. Their results led to the following regression equation:

• %MHR = 0.64 × %VO2max + 37

Examples

• 90% Max heart rate = 82% Max VO2
• 95% Max hear rate = 90% Max VO2
• Though using heart rate has limitations because of the delay in heart rate responding to effort levels. Also, as you get close to 100% of VO2 max, it suggests a heart rate of above 100% which doesn’t make sense.
• It is more accurate to find VO2 max in terms of your power.

Finding VO2 Max Rate

• The Astrand test uses a cycle ergometer and 6 minutes of riding at a heart rate of 130-160 bpm. Requires assistant to measure results.
• Metabolic Tests to find Vo2 Max

 Vo2 Intervals

To ride at your VO2 max is a high intensity interval. It requires substantial effort and determination to keep your effort at this maximal level. It is not a sprint interval, but it is difficult to maintain for a period of 5 minutes. VO2 Intervals could involve

• 3* 3 mins, with 5 minute rest in between
• 4 intervals of 4 minutes. With a 5 minute gap between first two. And then a long rest between the 3rd and 4th interval.

• or 10*30 seconds.

Non Scientific VO2 Intervals.

As part of my training, I’m often doing hill intervals. Often the target is to ride up the hill as quick as I can, but not be utterly spent. These hills may be 4 or 5 minutes long. On a ride I will warm up for 30-40 minutes, then make a measured effort up the hill. I don’t collapse at the end, but I’m pretty to close to my racing limit.

Then I will take quite a decent rest, as I ride to another hill, and then try and repeat the interval.

On the second interval, I’m usually about 15% slower because of the lactic acid and tiredness of the muscles. Therefore, you can’t quite get to the same power output as the first interval. After that, the 3rd, 4th and 5th intervals can be as quick as the second.

If I do shorter hills of say 2 minutes, I try to keep a similar effort level throughout the interval repetitions. To keep this constant effort requires to hold off slightly and resist the temptation to sprint like a hill climb. The benefit of holding back just a little, is that you can then have several intervals at this same high intensity. The intervals get harder and harder.

Quality over Quantity

The amount of intervals you can do at your VO2 threshold will be quite low in the beginning. The important thing is to push yourself into the right level of effort. Through the season, you can slowly increase the quantity of intervals. But, usually, you will know when you’re fatigued and just can’t get anywhere near the level. Needless to say, you need to be reasonably fit before progressing on to this VO2 max intervals.

From my training diary, I see I often did 3 * 3minute efforts in early years of racing. On the 4th, I couldn’t do anything close to VO2 max. I remember thinking – ‘only 9 minutes of training! But, over the years, your tolerance improves. Last year, I found I could maintain the same intensity for a higher number up to 10* 2 minute intervals at close to VO2 max. But, every training session is different, when you’re pogged, you might as well go back recover and try another day. It is important to listen to your body and get to feel what you body can cope with.

Related

• Tips for intervals
• Threshold Training
• Training for 10 mile time trial

Further Reading

• Killer intervals for VO2
• VO2 Max intervals to improve your climbing

It's all downhill from here

Recent training

• Sat 14th – 70 miles – 4 hours – 17.5mph –  Long ride to Lambourn and White horse.
• Sun 15th – 27 miles – 1.50.00 – av 15.0 mph – Slow recovery ride
• Mon – rest day.
• Tues 17th – 42 miles – 2.05.00 – av 20.0 mph – Fast ride, with about 1 hour at threshold level or just below. For this section was averaging 23 mph. Fastest ride of season. Felt good. But, temperature was cold. I’m glad it wasn’t any longer.
• Wed – off day
• Thurs 19th – 40 miles – 2.07.00 – av 18.8 mph. First hour and and a half steady ride to Buckland. Last half an hour included 20 minutes at threshold level. With strong tailwind, I was averaging over 25 mph, which felt great fun.
• Fri -20th – 30 miles – 2.05.00 – av. 14.5 mph. Very steady recovery ride. Usually, I find this kind of ride quite boring. But, I really enjoyed this recovery ride to Oakley. I think I enjoyed it because my  mind was quite quiet and I enjoyed the quiet you often get on January days, when no-one else is out on the roads.
• Sat – 21st – 85 miles – 5.00.00. Av 16.9 mph. I did think about doing a 100 miles, but the first 40 miles was all into a strong westerly headwind, ad it felt tough going. At Stow on the Wold, I turned round and enjoyed the tailwind on the way back. It was 4pm by the time I got back and starting to get dark, so I was glad I didn’t go any further. It may have been only 85 miles, but at this time of year, with winter training tyres and strong wind it felt like 100 miles! It was still the longest ride I’ve done for over 8 months. I can’t believe how many energy bars I got through on the ride. Perhaps 9-10. For a two hour ride, I might have 1. But, on this 5 hour ride, I was really burning a lot of calories.
• Weekly total = 220 (+42 commuting miles) = 260 miles. I’m definitely motivated by national 100 mile Time trial hence the effort to do more miles at this time of the year.

In addition, every day, I have a 6 mile commute to Oxford and back. I usually start the day in a coffee shop and do some work and blogging. Those first 6 miles are good to see how legs feel. I work in the morning because after cycle ride, I don’t feel like working!

I have been mostly keeping up my New Year’s resolution to stretch for 10 minutes at the end of every day. Definitely starting to feel a little more flexible, easier to touch the old toes.

Related

• Training for longer distances

Threshold training involves riding at an intensity which can be maintained for an hour without creating excess burning  in your legs (lactic acid creation). Your threshold is the level which makes full use of your aerobic capacity (oxygen) but doesn’t tip over into anaerobic exercise (which creates lactic acid).

Threshold training essentially involves a level which might be described as ‘comfortably hard’. It is not race pace, but it requires focus and determination to keep at that threshold level. If you go slightly harder than your threshold level you will fatigue much more quickly.

Your threshold level will be important for any endurance event. Increasing your threshold capacity enables improved performance for distance events.

Other Terms for Threshold Training

Note: There are quite a few terms relating to threshold training. They can mean slightly different things. Also, I wouldn’t get too concerned about being at exactly ‘right’ level, in practise there is no clear line. Some other terms:

• Anaerobic Threshold (AT) The maximum level before you start using anaerobic parts of energy creation. Also referred to as blood lactate accumulation (OBLA)
• Lactate Threshold - the maximum level before you start creating lactic acid faster than you can remove it. Same principle as Anaerobic threshold.

• Functional Threshold Power (FTP)- the maximum power you could sustain for an hour.

Relation to VO2 Max

Heart Rate Zone for Threshold Training.

• For cyclists, threshold training may be between 85% – 90% of max heart rate.
• For runners, threshold training tends to be higher 90-93% of max heart rate.

Threshold Sessions

You could do threshold sessions for 30 minutes, 1 hour or longer in a continuous training zone. Alternatively you could split them up into ‘intervals’ of 20 minutes or if you like variety, 4*10 minute or other combination.

Personally, I prefer to do in continuous sessions, I don’t feel need to split up into intervals.

I’ve found over the years that with improved general fitness and a bigger accumulation of miles a greater ability to train at this threshold level. Everyone will have a different capacity, but to start off with 10% of your training at threshold level is good.

Just Below Threshold

Riding at the upper end of your aerobic capacity is also a good training session. For example, at 80% of your heart rate.

Increasing Threshold Power

Before, working on threshold power, it is good to have a reasonable base of cycling in the legs. You need to be comfortable with the distance before moving onto harder session.

During November and December, I have not done any intervals, and most riding is at a steady or moderate intensity. In the early season (January onwards), I like doing threshold sessions because it is a good way to get back into the grove of riding at higher intensity.  In January, I start adding some threshold sessions in, to acclimatise body for early season races and later harder efforts.

• I will do one or two sessions per week, with a duration of 20 mins to 1 hour. As the year progresses, I will increase time and frequency of these threshold power sessions.
• When doing these threshold sessions, I am fully concentrated on the training. I concentrate on a breathing exercise and am concentrating on every aspect of cycling – such as maintaining a smooth cadence. It requires a persistent effort to keep at this intensity.
• I like to choose a flat smooth road, I also like having a tailwind, this gets you used to riding at 25mph + which is good for later time trials. (plus it feels great to be riding at that speed after plodding around at 16mph all winter)
• After a threshold sessions I will have a rest day or recovery ride.

The advantage of threshold training is that:

• It’s a very nice tempo to be training at. It feels fast, but it doesn’t completely knock you out.
• You definitely will get a buzz from training at this level, you feel all the right chemicals released from exercise, but not as painful as higher end sessions.

Increasing Threshold Power Through Harder Intervals

High intensity interval sessions (close to VO2 max), are intervals above your anaerobic threshold. Here you are riding at above the pace of a 10 mile time trial. You are definitely using anaerobic capacity, and you will feel the accumulation of lactic acid. However, by training at above your threshold power in a higher hear rate,  you will also see an increase in your threshold power.

Research suggest high intensity intervals are an excellent way of also increasing aerobic capacity.

• High Intensity intervals (90-95% HR max) increase VO2 Max more than threshold training (link) Intervals and Threshold power (link pdf)

For well trained athletes, it’s even more important to use higher end intervals to increase aerobic capacity. However, these higher end intervals are harder are place more stress on the body. Therefore, these threshold sessions definitely have their place in improving overall fitness.

Related

• Tips for Cycling Fitness
• Tips for Interval Sessions

Over the past few years, my training has evolved from a general ride the bike, to more specific targeted training sessions. Specific training aims to target and improve those areas which will be most beneficial for your goals and type of races.

Both Eddy Merckx and Fausto Coppi gave pretty much the same advice for would be cyclists

- ‘ride a bike’.

For simplicity you can’t beat that advice. It’s a good quote to remind you of the fundamentals. Eddy Merckx himself was quite a mile muncher, upto 30,000Km per year. It was classic old school. Train 5-6 hours a day in the winter, then race unto 170 days a year in the summer. It didn’t do him any harm…

Riding a bike, will definitely get you fitter. If you are just starting, whatever kind of riding you do – you will see huge gains in performance just because the body is adapting to cycling. In the beginning, just riding the bike will make a big improvement.

However, at a certain level of fitness, just riding a bike isn’t enough to maximise your potential, this is when you need to be more specific and target certain areas of improvement. The good thing about specific training is that you can also maximise your limited training time. Even if you have a full time job, you can see yourself competing at a high level.

Principles of Specific Training

Clear Target

Is your target to complete a 100 mile sportive, to do a faster 1 hour time trial or to get a 2nd cat road license? If it is a sportive, the main target is to be comfortable with the distance and have practise on the training. For 10 mile and 25 mile time trials, the endurance aspect is much less important. There are only so many goals you can have at once.

Each Training Session has a Specific Focus.

If it is a recovery ride, you need to make sure you actually recover. For example, keep your legs spinning, use a heart rate monitor to prevent yourself going too hard. These recovery rides can require quite a lot of patience. The temptation is to cycle fast because you enjoy it, but then you never fully recover. If you don’t recover, you won’t be able to train as hard on the rides where you need to stretch yourself.

Train at levels which you need.

If you are wanting to go faster in a 40Km time trial, you need to train at the kind of intensities that you will be racing at. Long hours in the saddle, can give a certain base endurance capacity. But, the key training sessions will be those focused on stretching your capacity for one hour efforst. For a 25 mile time trial, you need to increase your threshold power you can maintain at that level and time.  I would do several 5 minute intervals at just above race pace. This is stretching your capacity. Also, I would see doing a 25 mile time trial as training for the next race. It is quite a common mistake to do a lot of riding, but not very much at what you will actually be doing in a race.

Focus During Training and Racing.

As well as having specific training sessions, it is also very important to be fully focused during the actual training session. If you have a training session where you train at just above your threshold, you have to be very committed and focused on keeping that level. You can’t allow your mind to start wander and give up half way through because it starts to rain. For example, concentrating on a breathing technique can make sure you remain fully in the present moment of the training session.

Adaptability

With targeted training, you have a clear goal and clear training sessions. But, you still need room for adaptability. If you are over-tired, an interval session may do more harm than good. The goal is always to get the most out of yourself. But, this may require a juggling of training sessions. Specific training doesn’t mean you become overly rigid.

Issues in Specific Training

To do your specific training it may require a willingness to train alone. With a group you may end up going too fast for recovery or too slow for high end improvement. But, on the other hand, it is important to maintain enthusiasm and the joy of cycling. If you find it very boring on your own, try to find a small group of similar riders. Some people tell me they can only stretch themselves when riding with other people. So there is no hard and fast rule about what works for you. But, in my case I tend to end up training a lot on my own.

Training Periods.

Breaking the year up into different training blocks helps to peak for the right time of the year. See more on training blocks

Questions to Ask yourself to help focus your training

• What do I hope to get from cycling?
• What are goals for this year?
• What do I need to do well at that distance / type of race?
• What is purpose of each training ride that you do?

Related

• Interval Training tips
• Training cycle sportives

In Graeme Obree’s training manual, he devotes a chapter to his own breathing technique he developed. If it had been anyone else, it would have been tempting to brush it off. But, given Obree’s success, I was motivated to give it a go and see how it affects my performance / cycling.

We tend to think that, if there’s one thing we know it’s how to breathe. But, sometimes, the easiest and most important things to improve are the most obvious.

During December, my riding was fairly unstructured, so I tried breathing off and on. But, on January 4th I felt inspired to do a proper, very focused training session. Rather than ambling around at 16mph, I would do a two hour training ride at a fast, focused pace. The aim was to ride at about 80-85% % max heart rate to improve aerobic capacity close to threshold. With a focused training session, it made sense to try the breathing technique for the whole two hours.

Obree Breathing Technique

Tongue

1. When breathing in, keep tongue at top of mouth (this helps warm incoming air)
2. When breathing out, keep tongue at bottom of mouth.

Mouth / Nose

1. When breathing in, breathe in through both nose and mouth
2. When breathing out, breathe out only through mouth.

Nostrils.

1. When breathing in, allow your nostrils to expand outwards to get maximum airflow.

Diaphragm

1. When breathing in, don’t just use your chest, but use the lower diaphragm to get maximum airflow.
2. When breathing out, also make use of the diaphragm.

Rhythm of Breathing

1. On first count, breathe in a full breath, and exhale fully
2. The second incoming breath should be half the length of the first breath.
3. The third breath should be quite short on inhalation and exhalation.
4. Start the rhythm again with a long inhalation.

(Note: This is just my rough overview of the breathing technique. For a full comprehensive guide, I would advise consulting the book.)

Observations

• There are quite a few things to think about when breathing. It takes a bit of practise to get used to it. This practise can be done anywhere.
• On slow recovery rides, I tended to stop doing it after a while.

On the first training ride of the year, I decided I would do technique for the whole ride.

1. Having a breathing technique to focus on, reminded me it was a serious focused training session, and not just an amble along the roads. It felt quite a contrast to the previous two months of riding around. This was definitely good. It helped me get into the mode of focused training. This psychological aide helped keep focus on keeping close to threshold level I wanted to aim at.
2. It was marvellous at clearing the mind. The second observation is that by focusing on this breathing technique, you were really in the moment of cycling and breathing. When you amble along, all kinds of thoughts come into your mind. But, when you’re training and breathing in this focused way, there’s really no room for anything else. I really enjoyed this ride, and kept a focus almost to end.
3. It came to feel quite natural. When you read all the things you have to do with tongue, nostrils and diaphragm, it feels hard to conceptualise. But, once mastered it comes quite easily.
4. Later in the week, I was commuting into town, just breathing normally, but for some reason I got inspired to race up a gradual incline (almost instinctively, I found myself doing this breathing technique on the previous training session. I didn’t consciously try to to do, but as I was getting short of breathe, I started flipping my tongue, using whole diaphragm and squeezing out the nostrils
5. If nothing else, I’ve learnt how to spell rhythm and diaphragm when writing this post. Now, if that isn’t a reason to learn a whole new breathing technique , I don’t know what is.

Does it Make You Go Faster?

There’s no way you can say after one proper ride. It will always be very difficult to measure how much benefit you get from it because there are so many variables. Obree mentioned 8% gain amongst his friends. This would be quite something for just a different method of breathing.  I shall see how it works out throughout the year. I’ll let you know how it works out after a few races – whether I keep it up or drop it.

I remember in my first season of racing, I made tremendous progress. There was one patch where every time I raced, I seemed to set a personal best. I imagined this upward trend continuing and at this rate, I reckoned I would be in the Tour de France by about 2008. Well, of course, I’m still here racing domestic time trials. Progress is never as simple as we would like!

Often after a great first season, we will find that our performance stagnates or even appears to go backwards. This can be demotivating and it is important to work out how to deal with this.

Tips for Dealing with Stagnant Performance

1. Firstly It is quite natural. Everybody will have this experience at some stage. We cannot expect consistent progress in a straightl ine. To make progress part of that is the plateau’s. Even the best athletes face this at some time in their career. If you see it as part of the experience, you won’t feel so motivated. However, although it is natural to have plateau’s we need to also have the confidence and determination to strive for a higher peak.

Also, one other note: be wary of measuring your progress by times produced in time trials. Your time can vary enormously depending on weather conditions / position e.t.c. Power is a better guide.

2. Don’t be demotivated Don’t be demotivated by the feeling ythat ou are going backwards. Don’t dwell on a disappointing set of results, it is important to move on and think of the next race. These set backs are just as important to our progress as the times when we do better than expected. It is natural to be disappointed, but just think about next race, next training session.

• If you can remain cheerful whatever the result, you will retain the enthusiasm and energy to progress.

3. Re-evaluate your Training schedules. Don’t always stick with the same training routine. Consider doing something quite different. Either vary distance, duration or intensity. Or perhaps you need a complete break. Try stepping back  and evaluating your training.

• Do you allow proper recovery rides, where you really recover? (try using a hear rate monitor and keep below 65% max heart rate on recovery rides)
• Do you really push yourself when doing intervals training? (VO2 Max intervals)
• Are all your rides pretty much at same effort level and speed?
• is your training targeted to what you are achieving? e.g. if riding a 10 mile time trial, are you training at that kind of intensity?

4. Are You Overtraining? As we train more, it becomes just as important to rest and allow sufficient recovery. Sometimes stagnant performance may be due to overtraining. Taking a short break may actually help us to regain our progress. See: Tips to avoid overtraining.

5. Don’t be Too Goal Oriented. It is good to have goals. But, we shouldn’t get too dismayed if we don’t achieve our ambitious targets. Keep persevering, just because we don’t achieve things at once, means we need to have more patience.

6. Train with Others – Take help from a coach. If we are the only ones to monitor our performance and training schedule, we can become too introspective, losing sight of the bigger picture. Talking to others may help put our performance in perspective and remind ourselves we can do better in the future.

7. Break Season into Periods

After racing season ends in October, I take a break from intervals and concentrate on endurance. This is as much as psychological as physiological rest. By January, I start to feel motivated to do some threshold training. By February I feel the hunger to do some Vo2 intervals. I like this approach as after taking a break, I feel from listening to the body, when I want to come back to hard training. Also, there is no harm in taking a break in the middle of the racing season.

8. Check Non-Bike Aspects.

Nutrition can play a key role. When you are training hard, your body is more sensitive to the food you take on. Make sure, you are eating good quality food, that gives sufficient energy and aids recovery. See: Food and nutrition.

9. Cycling Efficiency.

One thing, you can try and do is to improve your cycling efficiency.

10. Cycling Buddy

Even if you don’t have a coach, it is good to have someone to bounce ideas off. If you speak to your average club member, they will all have experienced similar levels of progress in their training.

Related

Winter Training

At the end of the hill climb season, I was quite motivated to keep cycling. Instead of short intervals, I went out for longer steady rides. In November I did 800 miles (including 200 miles commuting). I really enjoyed the cycling, there was no real structure to the training apart from to enjoy getting some miles in. Towards the end of November I got a cold, so took a week off. A bit like the UK double-dip recession, it re-appeared after a brief respite. Anyway, as a result, I’ve not done much in the past few weeks. But, I guess this is the ideal time of the year to get a cold. In fact, there must be a bit of psychology at work. During the racing season, I’m almost saying to myself, I don’t want a cold now. Wait until end of racing season! So the gods of colds duly obliged.

That’s my philosophy for a winter break. – You’re always going to lose a week or two to colds, and then another week to bad weather. I’m glad I didn’t stop on November 1st. There would have been more to catch up in the new year.

The weather forecast is pretty grim for next few weeks, so it will be a case of going out when weather permits. Nothing too adventurous or demanding, but just keep ticking over ready for start of new year, and perhaps a more structured training plan. Mind you, at this time of the year, when you are riding into a strong Arctic headwind, even a 35 mile training ride, can feel pretty heroic. It’s not ideal, when you plan your ride in the direction of least likely to experience snow.

I hope your winter cycling is going well.

Related

• Winter Cycling Training

Hot Pads for Cold Feet – pack of 40 for £21

Hand Warmers – pack of 10 for £12

Personally, I find these hotpads are an essential extra at this time of the year. They keep feet and hands warm, whatever the weather.

I have poor circulation in both hands and feet. I feel the cold more in the feet because the toes are mostly immobile whilst cycling. When the temperature drops below 7 degrees, my feet can’t survive for more than an hour without extra  heat. – (no matter what combination of socks and overshoes I try)

I have had electric socks, but last year they broke and so stick to these hot pads. (at Amazon.co.uk)

Basically, when you take them out of a plastic wrapping some chemical reaction creates heat which lasts for seven hours. I put them in my cycling shoes just above a pair of socks. They are great for long rides.

They can be expensive if bought individually, you can pay up to £2 for a pair. But, buying them in bulk means I can get them for 50p a pair. They are disposable, so its a little extravagant, but before I found these  I really used to suffer. I used to wear about three pairs of socks and overshoes and go from cafe to cafe warming up my icey feet (which actually puts you at risk of chilblains)

Also, when you’re feet get very cold, the temptation is to wear several layers of socks, but when you squeeze into your cycling shoes, the socks can actually constrict your blood flow, a key factor in making you cold.

Review of Hotpads

They really do work. It’s not a gimmick. They are 100% reliable. Even after 5 hours, you can still feel the heat.  I always use a thin layer of socks, then put the hotpad and then a thicker layer of socks to keep the heat. This particular brand is good because the pads are quite small, but provide just the right amount of heat to avoid feeling scorched, but also to provide a heat source.

Also, useful if you get a puncture in freezing weather and have to take off your gloves to mend a puncture.

Alternatives to Hotpads.

I have tried the re-usuable hotpads. You can re-energise them in hotwater or microwave – depending on the model. However, these tend to be bigger, and much more difficult to get into a pair of cycling shoes. Also, I find they may only last for one or two hours.

My philosophy is that winter cycling is tough enough. I always try to do anything to make the ride more comfortable, enjoyable. Hot pads are my saviour for winter riding. If you have very good blood circulation, you may not need them unless it goes below freezing. But, if you do suffer from cold hands and cold feet, definitely give these a try, buy a box – forget about the cost. And then you have one less excuse for not going out in winter!

Related

• Cycling through Winter
• Best winter cycling gear