Away from ultra light carbon fibre bikes, I enjoy the aesthetic beauty of an old fashioned traditional bike. Typically, they are one colour (the modern mountain bike often  seems to be garishly painted) These bikes are solid, reliable and built for comfort rather than speed. You see quite a lot around Oxford.

I think this is another Pashley. Note: chain guard, dress guard, front basket, rear basket.

A Classic Pashley, with Rolls saddle, pointing to the sky.

In an age of £40 D Locks, I like this flimsy chain and Sturmey Archer 3 speed. Great Colour. Hope it doesn’t get stolen though.

A single speed Raleigh with springy saddle.

Nice assortment of silver, blue and black. Even has a matching lock.

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These days interval training is very popular. It also has the advantage that in theory, you can get quick with a relatively short amount of training time. In the last part of my interviews with former pro, Flavio Zappi, I asked him about his approach to training.

It was an interesting answer, perhaps not what I expected. Whether it would work for everyone is a matter of debate. But, I should point out that Flavio went from 4th to 1st cat in his first season racing after a 25 year lay off. He gained quite a few victories and many 2nd places. His training with lack of intervals is working well for him.

How do you approach training?

In my last year as a professional cycling. It was the first time in history of cycling a coach was doing intervals. His name is (Assasi). Year before, 1984, he was training Francesco Moser. (Although Moser told me later he didn’t actually do much. It was just for sponsorship)
So that year we did a lot of strange of intervals like big gears on longer climbs. There were 15 of us. In the previous year, we were going really well. But, that year after doing intervals, only 3 finished tour of Italy. Basically we had worse season ever. We all lost our job. only 3 found a contract next year. Basically we became like strong weightlifters but nothing to push on a bike, no speed. The guy changed a lot afterwards. he now runs a very famous training scheme. Cadel Evans is one of his clients now. But, he changed alot.

But, I’m very sceptical about intervals. I think probably good for time trials and track and speed. But, for road racing I’m sceptical because road racing is a mixture of everything. You are climbing maybe 1 min, 3 min maybe 50 minutes. Very difficult to train, unless you want to train for one particular side.

Everyone is trying to convince me the best thing to do is intervals. I’m still thinking about. On one side there is the mental stress. To win a race, you really have to be focused on the race and fresh in the mind. You can have the best legs in the world, but, if you don’t have the right mind, you are not going to win. It happened to me. The last thing I want to do is to go out and ride 6 intervals and then after 3 you think ‘O know, not another 3 to do’. I’d rather ride as we did the other day go up and down Boars Hill seven times  but then you go a little bit slow and have a little bit time to chat time to enjoy. So  the hammering is part of the fun and not just pain. And when you road race you don’t have a set time for what you need to develop.
It’s like if you want to polish the wheels on the car, you need to have a good engine first. There’s no point in polishing the wheels until you have a good engine.

Intervals is like that. Before you do intervals you need to make sure you can ride for 3 to 4 hours at a good speed. That’s my old fashioned style.

Q. How long do you get to train these days?

These days I’m doing what I can with my job. But, I’m riding most days.

When I’m racing, I’m normally racing on Sunday and a  Criterium on Thursday. So I have my speed training, my race and 4 days left to do easy rides to make sure I am recovering properly. It is very important to eat properly, sleep well, massage or stretching. I still like to have massage rather than stretch.

I will keep doing intervals, but, it’s a good point that even intervals should be good fun. When intervals become boring and something to dread, it is time to try a different approach. Whatever kind of cycling you are doing, mental freshness and a sense of enjoyment is important.

• Interval Training Tips
• Interview part 1
• Interview part 2

Related Books on Cycle Training

Serious Cycle Training at Amazon.co.uk

Cyclist’s Training Bible - Joe Friel

This has been an intense weekend. On Saturday, the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team were organising a 24 hour Running race in Tooting Bec. I was counting runners go round the athletics track from 12pm to 10.30pm. (I was supposed to be onto midnight shift, but, thankfully I got relieved a little early. After a shortish sleep I drove to Burrington Combe for the Bristol South CC hill climb.

It is one of my favourite hill climbs. It is over 2 miles, not too steep, but, with a couple of ‘kicks’ towards the end. With A 7min ascent like Burrington Combe, you need to pace yourself well, and avoid going to hard at the bottom.

I had an eye on the course record of 7.02 (my personal best in 2005 was 7.06), but with a crosswind (it felt like a headwind, of course!) I finished in 7.21. It was good enough to win though. Second was Jeff Jones of Chippenham Wheelers in 7.39. There were 51 starters.

I was pretty tired on the way back.

Next week is the National hill climb championship in Matlock, and that will be the end of the racing season until March 2009.

• Hill Climbs

By the way, the 24 hour running race was won with a distance of over 150 miles. Out of the 40 starters, 21 completed over 100 miles.

In a previous post, I mentioned how the cycling bug often inspires people to come back, after a lay off of 5, 10 or 20 years. I’ve heard many people say who they got back into cycling after a long break (for whatever reason). Often on coming back to cycling, people say they enjoy it more than ever.

In the case of many professional cyclists, cycling becomes a job - a routine. Countless miles and no break from the ‘bubble’ which surrounds the almost year long caravan. Whilst something like the Tour de France can seem glamorous, we forget the year long training.

Therefore, I was interested to hear how Flavio got back into cycling after a break of nearly 25 years. When chatting with him, (see: Interview part 1) one thing was clear - he had a great passion for cycling, undimmed and if anything as strong as when he was pro.

Q How much Have you enjoyed coming back to cycling after a break of 25 years?

I think it has been a cure for my life. It has given me inspiration of doing something. Between these 20 years I did something for my sons. I pushed my competitive ego into them. - Playing football So at the end of all that  - at the end of last year I was redundant from sport. It was my family who gave me the interest to get back being fit. I like to be fit onto the way to work. Then I start coming to work and I see some people on a racing bike, I was just trying to get  on the wheels of other commuters with my town bike, really struggling. Then going back home I would do a longer loop, just to see what it feels like. And I always remember calling my son and I was down in Eynsham and I said. “I have the same sensation as when I used to train and I really like it.” and after that it was all history.

Flavio’s famous town bike. He tells me it cost him £1.50 to rescue from a skip. It’s done ‘hundreds of miles. At one time the bottom bracket was completely bust. It just shows, it’s the person who rides the bike, not the bike itself which is important. (note San Pellegrino in bottle cage.)

I went to ride with Oxford University. They accept me and I go for a ride. Actually, before they left I was sitting on the other side of the road pretending that my mates hadn’t turned up. But, actually I was watching to see when they were going! But, they accepted me for ride. They tried to drop me because I turned up on a town bike in my gym shoes and Oxford United top. But, they couldn’t! The guys were pushing to try and drop me. But afterward it was nice to talk to the guys.

(I remember Steve McKeever telling a version of this story, and thought it was a great cycling story. He said the guys didn’t realise who they were trying to drop…)

Flavio Zappi - former Pro Cyclist

A few days ago, I was doing some interval training around Boars Hill when I bumped into Flavio Zappi, Flavio happens to be a former wearer of Green Jersey in the Giro D’Italia and top 12 finisher of Milan San Remo. We rode up and down Boars hill a few times and then Flavio kindly invited me to his sandwich bar (Harveys) in Gloucester Green, Oxford.

As I arrive Flavio is just helping to formulate a training plan for a young rider. For next year, Flavio has organised sponsorship of some top of the range Milani bikes for the local Oxford University cycling club. You can tell the genuine enthusiasm Flavio has for cycling and encouraging young road racers in particular.

It was a fascinating 30 minutes, and there’s enough material for quite a few posts. In the first section, I will mention Flavio’s experience has a former professional cyclist. Tomorrow, I will post about coming back to cycling after a 25 year lay off.

Q. “What was life as pro-cyclist like?”

“It was very exciting at the beginning, then it got between boredom and frustration later. The excitement was the crowd, the caravan, the attention. The fact you feel like you are somebody. Gradually you see the downside, which is you are a product, you can be left without a job any moment, then the drugs. Boredom because it is becoming such a routine. You are becoming part of a job rather than a competition to win.

Q. “Were you a domestique when you started?”

“In the beginning I wasn’t. I had the freedom to do what I wanted.”

Asking about his team, Flavio mentioned “My manager, was someone who had a bottle of wine by his car door. He was very popular but was not a coach. He was good at getting sponsors and paying people. Training was very basic. There was no intervals. We would get together at 9am and all the professionals in the area would meet and we would ride for 4,5,6 hours.

A Young Flavio Zappi riding for Hoonved Bottecchia (81-83)

Q. What were your highlights as a procyclist?

In the Giro del Trentino I was leader for 2 days but lost in the last day - A time trial. I was a professional, but, nobody told me how to ride a time trial. I had never done a time trial in my life. The only advice in the time trial was “You start hard, you go harder, and you finish hardest. So you can imagine. I was 18.

That year we went to the Giro D’Italia where our team won the team trial. It was like going in a breakaway.  We beat Moser’s team - He wasn’t very happy. Almost got white jersey. But, another rider on our team had it so I didn’t compete for it.

Couple of years later, highlight I got green jersey in the Giro D’Italia for 2 weeks, but lost it on last day to a Mr Laurent Fignon (1984) (result). He passed all the peleton and got 50 points.  Also that year I was Top 12 Milan San Remo in 1984 (result)

Q. Could you tell me About Riding Paris Roubaix?

“Paris Roubaix is an amazing race. A combination of skills, luck, endurance, speed. You name it - It’s beautiful.”

“For 100km you do nothing, just go along with the pack at under 50kmph. But, then all of a sudden, you are 10km to first major piece of cobbles. Then it becomes like last 10km of a race. I was lucky enough to enter into 5th position. I used my sprinting skills to get to the front. I sprinted for the corner of the road. - Madness, but, I knew how important it was. I came out in the top 5 and ended up in a break with Greg Lemond, Frank Vanderaerden, Eddy Planckaert and 6 of us had a minute and a half over the peloton. - or what was left of the peloton. I remember that day there were so many crashes. I remember a backwheel coming up before me and then pushing it out of my way. You got to imagine the road is like a bridge, to go fastest you have to be on the top. But, your wheel can go anytime. I crashed 3 times. I got took down by Sean Kelly’s team car. I wouldn’t have done much anyway I was too tired. That year I finished with Steven Roche. I beat him in the sprint. He wasn’t very happy because for the last 20km I was on his wheel.”

Beautiful, Beautiful. The cheer when you get into the velodrome. I would compare it to a cheer at the top of a mountain passes. The loudness of these people is amazing and the volume, they enter your veins so badly, you don’t feel anything. you don’t feel the tiredness, you don’t feel the fatigue. It’s amazing. Of course, between the bits of cobbles you’ve got the normal road with sidewind, and here you die as well. You got no option. It’s really hard.”

The day before, we rode a quarter of the race. We told by some of teammates you must never hold the underneath of your handlebars, no rings; otherwise you get problems with your knuckles.
Of course we forgot. I remember one team mate who ended up with blisters, even just riding a quarter of the race the day before.”

Q. Why Did you Retire from cycling?

“some private situation with family. and the same reason is the drug scheme.

One of my friend used to ride with me, part of a very famous team. We were riding together because we live in the same area. He was told to take steroids as part of the training scheme. So, you can imagine what the team leader was taking. I stopped because of the frustration.

One incident I never forget. After a race I went for drugs test. I went to the dope control and I had a doctor watch me give a sample, while another guy, who was leading the race, went to toilet on his own. I never forget that. This kind of things kill the morale of a young cyclist. especially someone who is 20

Q. Do you think it is better now?

I thought so, until I got disappointed badly by Riccardo Ricco. I really, really, swear, I really didn’t talk to anyone for a day when Ricco tested positive. It was so awful for me.

Q. Does it give you any hope they are catching people?

It’s nice to know that this is better now. But, it seems like to me anytime you find a way to catch them, they find a way to stay ahead. So it was a very bad culture. It was in the blood even when I was an amateur, seeing all these things going on. It was missing that kind of purity. I found that purity when I was in the states racing for a few months. I also found that purity racing here. I’ve been told there is no real problem here. Though there should be more testing.”

As the interview was coming to an end, another young cyclist, enters the bar. Hetti tells of breaking her chain on a freshers ride 10 miles from Oxford. She was thinking of hitch hiking back, but, Flavio insisted on pushing her all the way back to Oxford!

It feels like Harveys in Oxford is becoming a great place for Oxford cyclists to meet. I certainly left with lots of enthusiasm for the sport of cycling. Did I even make promises to do some road races and not just time trials next year ?

Notes:

• Will be publishing another section from this interview tomorrow on - Coming back to cycling after a 25 year lay off.
• I recorded our interview with a mic and tried to write down the words. But, sometimes it was a little difficult to catch all the words, especially names in Italian. In some places it may not be Flavio’s exact words but I tried to convey the meaning.
• Flavio Zappi at Facebook

Flavio Zappi’s Teams

• 1981 - 1983 :Hoonved - Bottecchia (Italy)
• 1983 - 84 Metauro Mobili - Pinarello (Italy)
• 1985: Murella - Rossin (Italy)
• 1986: Veloforma (Italy)

Other Posts

• Part 2 coming Back after 25 years off bike
• Perspectives on Interval Training

Since starting a cycling blog, I fear I may have become a bit of a cycling evangelist. Anyway, out of interest I asked my students and work colleagues why they don’t cycle to school. The distance they travel is about 1.5 miles, some up to 3 miles. The journey is not straightforward as the shortest route is not open to cyclists. These were the most common reasons they gave for not cycling:

• Cost of Bike. (Cost of a monthly bus pass is £40).
• Rain. I reckon it rains on less than 10% of bike commutes. But, the prospect of getting wet was a big factor in putting people off.
• They live at the top of a hill. (Headington hill is an ascent of about 20 metres - It’s hardly Alpe d’Huez.)

Other Reasons I Suspect

• Safety Issues. Interestingly not many gave this as a reason. It was only after prompting that people said yes it might be dangerous.
• Laziness. I know quite a few of my students do NO exercise. Therefore, this is probably a reason to not start cycling.
• Image Conscious. I think this might be true for women more than men. But, girls may worry about the image of being a cyclist. I think if one girl started cycling to school it would encourage others. But, there is often a reluctance to be the first and stand out from the crowd.

I think part of the problem is that cycling through the city centre is not so easy, there are quite a few traffic lights and heavy bus routes. The interesting thing is then when asking others about cycling most had a fairly positive attitude to cycling. They like the idea but just have some reason / excuse why they don’t. I think many who don’t cycle could easily be encouraged to cycle, if some things changed a little.

My racing season is winding down, but, I’m still doing some interval training for the remaining hill climbs. These are some of the training sessions I like to do.

Train like a Race

One of my favourite type of interval training is just to ride up a hill as if it was a race. This enables you to check your times and see what kind of improvement you are making. The length of the hill will determine the intensity of the hill. If it is a short hill which takes 2 minutes, it is pretty much a sprint. In this kind of session you will be getting are trying to get close to your maximum heart rate / effort level. After doing one all out effort, you will never be able to replicate the same effort level in other intervals.

Do As Many as You Can.

Another way to do hill intervals is to race up a hill pretty much as fast as you can. Measure your time and then try to ride up the hill as many times as you can, keeping within 20% of the initial time. For example, if the first hill interval takes 3 minutes. See how many times you can then ride the hill in under 3 minutes 30 seconds. It gets harder and harder and means you work on the ability to race with lactic acid in the legs.

Train With Other People.

Sometimes when you train with others it might inspire you to try a little harder. There is nothing better than a bit of competition to motivate yourself to keep training hard. It can be difficult to find someone of similar ability, but is good if you can.

Fartlek.

Fartlek is just when you go on a training ride and sprint for certain signposts or the crest of hills. It is an unstructured form of interval sessions as the gap between intervals is not fixed but it makes it a bit more interesting.

Pyramid.

Pyramid is where you start off with intervals of a certain intensity say 80% of your heart rate (or you can use a power output, if you have a power metre). Then in the next interval, you increase the intensity to say 85% of your heart rate. Then 90%, 95%, 98% before reducing the intensity back down to 80%. This kind of closely monitored session is best to do on a turbo. I can’t say I ever do it.

When you are doing this kind of interval sessions, you really have to learn to listen to the body. Sometimes, you just can’t maintain effort levels close to your maximum. It is better not to force it. But, if you do feel strong, it is good to make most of the day. Also, I don’t advise getting into a routine of doing intervals every week. It is the kind of training good to do in cycles. Some months off, some months on.

• Interval Training Tips

Good Shoes are essential for commuting, make sure you don’t lose them

In a previous post, I looked at factors which determine the % of journeys made by bike in a city.

These are tips for commuting, I have learnt from the past 10 years.

Don’t Worry. Cycling is perceived as a dangerous activity. However, in practice it is less dangerous than people may fear. The slight chance of being involved in serious injury, should be set against the health benefits of moderate exercise.

Enjoy It! Cycling can be difficult, bad driving, cold weather e.t.c. But, it can also be good fun. Driving into city centres at peak times stuck in traffic jams is pretty joyless; cycling gives you greater freedom. see: How to enjoy cycling

Do Wait At Lights. Many people cycling have a tremendous impatience to wait at a traffic light. Therefore, they will ride through lights often causing traffic to have to stop when they have the right of way. I see this everyday in Oxford. However, you will not enjoy commuting if you ride dangerously and inconsiderately. You will always be worrying and have nervous tension. If you change your attitude and accept waiting at lights, not riding on pavements, is the right thing to do, you will enjoy commuting alot more. Just set off 2 minutes earlier and give yourself time. Of course, you also won’t be breaking the law and putting your life at danger, see these as bonus benefits.

Panniers / Basket It is not pleasant to cycle with a heavy rucksack. It also makes it difficult to look over your shoulder. If you get a good basket and / or panniers you will be able to carry your shopping and increase the usefulness of your bike.

Practise Basic Maneouvres.

There are certain maneouvres which are important for defensive cycling. One important move is the ability to look over your right shoulder before turning right. If you can do moves like this you will have more confidence and be a better cyclist.

Anticipate bad Driving

Never expect other road users to be perfect drivers, you will soon be frustrated. Be careful at junctions and roundabouts where motorists may fail to signal or see cyclists. Cycling requires common sense, and the ability to predict possible dangers.

Avoid Dangerous Manoeuvres.

One of the most dangerous manoeuvres is squeezing along the inside of a heavy goods vehicle. This is quite a common cause of serious accidents as you can easily be invisible to the driver. When they turn left they can drag a cyclist underneath.

• You always have to be careful when cycling on the inside of cars. For example, a car may stop to allow another car to turn right. The cars may easily forget or be unaware a cyclist could be coming on the inside lane.

Puncture Proof Tyres. The best investment for a commuting bike is to buy Armadillo tyres. They are not completely puncture proof. But, since I have ridden them in the past 18 months, the number of punctures has dramatically fallen. The tyres also last for a long time.

Choose Your Route Carefully. The best route by car, may not be the best by bike. Choose a route you will enjoy cycling even if it involves a longer detour around busy road junctions.

You Don’t Have to Dress Like a ‘Cyclist’. There are some benefits of wearing helmets, fluorescent jackets. However, if you don’t want to wear these, you should not feel cycling is not for you. What you need is a good roadworthy bike and lights for when it is dark.

• Although, you don’t need to dress in lycra like a ‘cyclist’, I think it is important to be visible. This is something motorist often claim about cyclists - ‘I didn’t see you’. Therefore, there are definite advantages to being dressed in bright clothes and using lights, even in the fading light of the day.

Whenever I buy a new bike, I always promise myself that I will always keep it spotlessly clean. In practise, my good intentions last for a few weeks. After a hard 3 hour training ride, giving your bike a proper clean never seems that appealing.

Nevertheless, since I keep one bike in my dining room, there is a good incentive to try and keep the bike clean. What I try and do is always give it a quick wipe to get the worst off. The problem is once you start, you want to get every bit of dirt off. Then it can become quite time consuming because it is really difficult to access all parts. But, you never regret cleaning a bike.

Some Tips for Cleaning the bike

• Use muguards on winter bike, to reduce the amount of mud to clean.
• Washing up liquid is great for removing oil.
• Don’t use a brush which is too harsh, as it may damage paintwork, especially on racing bikes with thin paint.
• For an impressive display, use a bit of WD-40 spray and then wipe with paper towel. This will help give it an impressive polish / finish.
• The best time to clean the bike is as soon as you return and in are in your cycling gear. Otherwise, it takes more effort to go back to the bike.
• I always clean a bike before taking it into a shop for repairs. I think shops dislike having to mend dirty bikes. If you clean it you are more likely to get a better service. It is also more respectful.
• You never regret cleaning your bike, because it does look good and will inspire you to go riding. A clean bike makes it easier to spot problems such as cracks in a frame, worn bolts e.t.c.
• Use special brushes for getting to awkward places.
• Turning the bike upside down, helps reach inaccessible places.
• If you have to hose down the bike, you will need to re lubricate the bike afterwards.
• At various times, you want to clean the chain with a degreaser machine.

X Lite Ultimate Cleaning kit at Evans Cycles

As a hobby, I like to take photos of cycling. Quite a rarity is to a see a cyclist smiling. Perhaps we are too busy concentrating on dealing with other traffic, or the effort of cycling. Nevertheless, when people see that you are taking photos, some will obligingly smile for the camera.

The only time when it was easy to catch people cycling and smiling was at Bleneheim Palace Cycling festival. No coincidence the cycling was on traffic free roads.

So anyway, if you see a tall, lanky person taking photos of cyclists in Oxford, smile and you might just become famous overnight (well, famous to the 20 readers of this blog anyway.)

This lady had spotted some friends on the other side of the road.

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I think this is a smile. Ed Silverton enjoying the cyclo cross season.

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Mike Potts shows his beautiful teeth - after Continue reading →