Revitalise Your Ride
Refresh your cycling in 2020 with our blueprint of inspiring new ideas, skills, challenges and change-ups to help crank up your motivation and ambitions for the year ahead
Whatever Santa Claus brought you for Christmas what you really need this new year is change. Whether you’re an experienced racer in need of inspiration, a novice hungry for new skills or a weekend warrior ready to progress to the next level, this is the perfect time to shatter your old routine and try something new. From exploring different routes and riding styles to learning game-changing new skills in the gym or workshop, committing to positive change will boost your motivation and ensure 2020 is your best year yet. Here’s how to hit refresh…
Learn to be a masterchef
Imagine two friends going for their first big ride of the year. One eats soggy cornflakes for breakfast, a bland energy bar mid-ride and a quickfire bowl of microwaveable rice and tuna when they get home. The other fuels up with a hearty egg and chorizo pitta, snacks on tasty homemade oat and date cookies and returns home to find a proteinpacked sausage and bean casserole simmering away in their slow-cooker. Which would you rather be?
Learning how to cook hearty but healthy cycling grub will revolutionise your riding in 2020 by enhancing your energy resources and elevating your daily moods. Get started now with Dr Allen Lim and Biju Thomas’s The Feed Zone Cookbook for orange and almond mid-ride macaroons, Hannah Grant’s The Grand Tour Cookbook for postride meatballs in hazelnut pesto and British Cycling’s handy online recipe finder for tasty chocolate protein recovery balls.
Target an event that terrifies you
If you spent last year wallowing in your comfort zone, rediscover your potential by signing up for a hardcore UK sportive like the Fred Whitton Challenge in the Lake District, which features 3950m of ascent, or the brutal 298km Dragon Ride in the Brecon Beacons. Even better, commit to a major European challenge like the seven-day Haute Route Alps or Majorca 312 (312km in one day). A healthy dose of fear will drag you out of bed on Sunday morning, push you to the front of the chain gang and stop you pedalling into a McDonald’s drive-thru on the way home. “Be ambitious,” advises six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy. “There is no harm in having a big goal – the bigger it is, the greater your motivation.”
Become an explorer again
Riding a new route turns a mundane training ride into an invigorating new adventure, so embrace your inner Indiana Jones and make 2020 a year of exploration. With sites like Strava, Komoot and MapMyRide, it's easier than ever to uncover hidden hills and challenging circuits in your area. You can swap ideas with local riders, scour the internet for new routes or simply embrace the art of getting lost: turn left when you normally turn right, ride clockwise instead of anticlockwise, pinpoint a village you’ve never been to, or venture into a neighbouring county and see what sort of new adventures and killer climbs await.
Try a different kind of bike
Rediscover the pure childish joy of cycling by trying one of the amazingly varied two-wheeled toys available today. Whether you invest in a secondary ride or just hire a bike for a weekend, a mountain bike will boost your leg strength, a gravel bike will upgrade your bike-handling skills, a cyclo-cross bike will improve your balance and a fatbike will help pump up your pedal power. But best of all, any off-road bike will unlock a hidden network of scenic tracks, canal paths and mountain trails, which were previously off limits on your road bike. Or you could even treat yourself to a velodrome taster session, which will sharpen your pedalling efficiency while giving you the most exhilarating indoor workout of the year.
Toughen up your body
Shoulder pain, backaches and leg strains will soon suck the fun out of your rides, leaving you wincing and sulking at home. So it’s time to commit to that conditioning regime you always talked about but never started. “The aim is to build strength, improve mobility and balance for improved performance and reduced injury risk,” advises cycling physio Nichola Roberts ( velophysio.co.uk). “Key exercises include squats for hip and spinal flexibility and glute and quad strength; lunges with a medicine ball moving into chest rotations for glute strength and spinal Above mobility; and planks and side planks, which are great for challenging your glutes, core, upper neck and shoulder muscle endurance.”
Get your hands dirty
If you enjoyed Lego as a kid, consider bike maintenance as the next step in your creative and constructive evolution. Finally learning how to fix or service your bike will not only save you cash, it will deliver a raft of knock-on performance benefits: after all, if you can lube a bottom bracket, you will experience a slicker pedalling motion; and if you can calibrate your own gears, you will benefit from smoother gear changes. Most local bike shops provide basic workshop courses. But industry specialists Cytech also offer a special two-day home mechanic course, during which you’ll learn everything except how to hang out of the window of a Skoda on an Alpine pass while fixing a broken seatpost on the hop.
Give something back
Jump-start your training motivation with a mood-boosting act of altruism. By volunteering as a marshal, driver or commissaire at a local race, coaching some youngsters, or guiding a newbie friend into the sport, you’ll enjoy a scientifically proven surge of endorphins. It’s what Allan Luks, author of The Healing Power of Doing Good, calls the ‘helper’s high’: in a survey of thousands of volunteers, he found that 43 per cent felt more
Riding a new route turns an otherwise mundane training ride into an invigorating adventure so embrace your inner Indiana Jones and make 2020 a year of exploration and excitement
energetic after doing something helpful, while 21 per cent felt an increase in self-worth. Ex-pro Chris Boardman agrees that meeting bikemad children or excited newcomers is a great way to restore perspective. “I love bumping into someone who is discovering for the first time what a wonderful machine the bike is,” he says. “Their enthusiasm never fails to remind me why I love this sport.” Find interesting ways to volunteer at britishcycling.org.uk/volunteering
Give your bike a makeover
Updating the look and feel of your bike will give you a fresh surge of inspiration for the year ahead. “There are some really simple, quick and cost-effective ways to update your bike,” advises Jonathan Hunter, head of buying at Wiggle. “New bar tape or a fresh saddle can make a bike feel almost brand new again. Lizard Skins has a huge range of bar tape colours to choose from and Selle Italia has an impressive selection of 96 different saddles in a range of sizes, padding and styles. A comfortable saddle is the difference between a great ride and one you’d rather forget.”
Team up with a club
If you’re accustomed to cycling solo, expand your social circle this year by joining your local club. And if you’re already a club member but have become fed up with the bland banter, find a better one. Group riding will keep you motivated on cold days, gift you a neat schedule of training rides to add to your diary and help you discover new routes and training ideas. “I always like meeting someone for training because there is less chance I will skip it,” admits former world champ Lizzie Deignan. “It’s more fun to socialise because you don’t really think about the distances you cover.” Find your nearest club at britishcycling.org.uk/clubfinder
Inject some training innovations
Pro cyclists regularly refresh their training regime and so should you if you want to swerve boredom and explore your full potential. Try introducing new intervals and training techniques every two months to keep things exciting. “This year, try a new technique that we call a ‘mixed interval session’, which works your top-end effort (VO2 max) and the endurance fibres in your muscles,” advises former national champ turned coach, Matt Clinton ( clinterval.com). “Our 90-minute 'ouch' session is broken up with two sets of Tabata (20-second) intervals – two lots of five minutes at 110 per cent of your threshold power, and 20 minutes at threshold. It is one of the toughest sessions our riders will face.”
Pro cyclists regularly refresh their training regime, and so should you to keep things exciting and swerve boredom. Try introducing new intervals and training techniques every two months
Upgrade your apparel
No cyclist needs an excuse to buy new clobber, but a new year wardrobe refresh will give you the confidence and comfort to explore the roads in any conditions. “A better-fitting, lighter and more ventilated helmet with the added head protection technology of MIPS or WaveCel is a good start for your refresh,” suggests Matt Spurgin, clothing buyer at Evans Cycles. “New bib shorts with a highquality chamois and a multi-panel construction for a supportive fit will also keep you riding longer. And a lightweight but windproof softshell jacket is a good addition, giving you an ideal transitional piece to suit any conditions.” According to psychologists, red is a colour that the human brain associates with energy, passion and action, so invest in some red kit for the ultimate moodboosting get up.
Build your dream machine
Whether you have always dreamed of building your perfect performance bike, or just a stylish bespoke ride for your commute, making your own bike will ensure you want to ride it more often, look after it better and show it off to the world. “Building your own bicycle is enlightening, enriching and empowering,” says Jenni Gwiazdowski, author of How to Build a Bike. She suggests wannabe bike builders start with a singlespeed design. “It's great for commuting and the singular drivetrain components – one chain, one chainring and one freewheel - are more robust and hard-wearing so you’ll save a few bob. Don’t skimp on things like cables and pads as they are vital in ensuring your brakes work. And always keep the bigger picture in mind – when things go wrong, consider it a lesson, not a mistake.”
Check out sheldonbrown.com and RJ The Bike Guy on YouTube for more bike-building help.
Spoil yourself with a cycling holiday
Turbo charge your cycling inspiration this year with a trip to a sunny cycling mecca, such as Majorca or Tenerife, where you can enjoy warm weather and tackle iconic climbs like Sa Calobra and Mount Teide. You’ll return home with thousands more metres of climbing in your legs than the frozen hordes back home.
Bikepacking is also a great way to stay fit and enjoy a refreshing change of scenery in spectacular locations closer to home, from the Cornish coastline to the Highlands of Scotland. Invest in some bike storage - frame packs, seat packs, tube bags and handlebar rolls are as popular as panniers these days – then line up some bike-friendly hotels (see cyclistswelcome.co.uk and bedsforcyclists.co.uk) and get ready to explore the UK’s finest hills, valleys, lakes and landscapes.
Become a cafe aficionado
The cafe stop is the heart and soul of any bike ride, so start ticking off all the interesting farmhouse cafes, tea rooms, trendy delis and cosy pubs in your area. The Cafe Network ( cafenetwork.info) lists almost 4000 bike-friendly venues to try.
“Every cyclist needs a cafe to aim for,” says Yorkshire triathlete, Jonny Brownlee. “My favourite is the Wharfe View Tea Rooms in Burnsall, which has amazing cakes.” Undoubtedly, you’ll find training much more enjoyable this year if you have a buttery flapjack waiting for you halfway through your ride.
Red is associated with energy, passion and action – invest in some red kit for the ultimate moodboosting get-up