New Year’s Revolutions

What things should you cut down on in 2020 if you want to speed up?

01 Unnecessary expenditure

Cut costs so you can reward yourself with a better bike. “Keep on top of little repairs and you’ll save yourself a big outlay,” says Richard Salisbury, director of bike fit specialist, Pedal Precision ( pedalprecision.com).

“Clean and lube the key parts of your bike on a regular basis and check bolts, cables and housing to avoid a trip to the mechanics. Keep your chain, cassette and chainrings clean to avoid creating a grinding paste of road filth.”

Neil Holman, mechanic at 247cycleshop.com, says: “If you get a deep cut in an expensive tyre, use superglue to glue it back together. Cut up an old tyre and zip-tie it to your chainstay to use as a protector (especially on mountain bikes), and cut the bead off an old road tyre and fit it inside another tyre to make a puncture-proof setup.”

To save more, turn every pair of shorts you own into warmer ‘tights’ by investing in some decent leg warmers, rather than having to buy bib tights.

If you do want to invest in a new bike, hold out until March or October for a ‘nearly new’ one, as that’s when new models are released.

02 Gluten

“Switching to wheat-free pasta is a very simple move that can reduce potential problems associated with wheat intake: bloating, allergies, aching joints and difficulty losing weight, ” suggests nutritionist Matt Lovell.

A University of Colorado study among 300 endurance cyclists found that when they reverted to wheat foods containing gluten, 84 per cent claimed it negatively affected their training. “Try having oats at breakfast in place of wheat-based cereal, use rice cakes as a snack instead of sandwiches and fruit instead of biscuits,” suggests Lovell.

03 Alcohol

If you’re looking to get lean, restricting your alcohol intake could get you there faster. One US study found that drinking just 24g of alcohol – less than two pints – reduced the body’s fat-burning ability by 73 per cent. Even when it’s swilling around in your system, alcohol skews the water balance in your muscle cells and hinders gluconeogenesis – the formation of energy-giving sugar glucose – and relieves you of the energy you need for endurance.

Jonathan Edgeley, addiction consultant at soberservices.co.uk, has ideas for cyclists who like a tipple...

Make a safe house

Remove all the booze in the house and keep it that way – this will encourage you not to have a quick drink and lose your challenge. You can decide how best to ‘remove’ any booze you have.

Get a non-drinking buddy

Challenge a pal to a non-drinking contest and allow yourselves to hold one another accountable – check in with each other on a daily basis to stay on track.

Replacement therapy

Replace your drinking activities with something else (cycling instead of bottle recycling comes to mind). Have non-alcoholic drinks when you’d usually have wine or beer, or add an enjoyable food into your diet to feed your pleasure sensors.

Break routine

Create an alternative structure to your day and plan free evenings and weekends differently. If you always reach for a beer when you get home or when the football comes on, switch to a more constructive habit – take a shower or have fruit drinks instead.

Take steps

Break the month down into manageable chunks so you can make a commitment not to drink for one