Canadian Cycling Magazine

Technique

Mixing cycling discipline­s with Lachlan Morton

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get yourself both physically and mentally prepared.

Depending on your trainer setup, you can adjust the grade using the trainer’s software. Use Zwift to climb on a smart trainer. Or invest in a climbing accessory, such as the Wahoo Kickr Climb. Riser rings and old textbooks also do a great job of lifting your front wheel and angling your bike, too.

Tackling punchy climbs that resemble an Ardennes Classic

Short, steep, punchy climbs are beasts. Fortunatel­y, training for these intense efforts can be done to great effect indoors. These climbs are usually tackled at threshold intensity and higher. So, that’s how you should train for them as well. Perform a mix of durations ranging from one to eight minutes in length at a low cadence in the 50 to 75 r.p.m. range. As you become more familiar with these intense efforts, try standing for the last third of each interval. When it’s time to blast off on event day, you’ll be glad you did.

Dropping some watt bombs for a sprint

Sprinting indoors is tricky. Before you begin, make sure your indoor training setup is secure. Remember, the goal here is training your sprint, not necessaril­y trying to do your all-time best 10-second power. Seated, low-speed, big-gear work is great for building strength. Keep your core engaged. Think of this work as strength training on the bicycle. Really focus on generating torque. Try to rip the cranks off the bike!

A great exercise to perform while working on your sprint is a sit/stand/ sit. This effort lasts 10 to 20 seconds. It starts in a gear you can spin up fairly quickly. Begin by building as much speed into your legs as you can before shifting to a harder gear as you stand and stomp out more torque. Finally, as you start to fade, return to the saddle while aiming to finish as you spin at more than 120 r.p.m. Great sprint power is the combinatio­n of torque and leg speed; this exercise helps build both.

Building your endurance engine Tempo can be your best friend. You can almost never go wrong by choosing endurance and tempo as the target of your training block. Keep an eye on how you feel. For example, how recovered do you feel in the morning? What’s your resting heart rate? If you have no red flags – feeling too fatigued, high or low resting heart rate – tempo is a sure bet to make you stronger. Target a lower cadence in the 55 to 75 r.p.m. range. Stay seated as much as possible. Power in your tempo zone is ideal, while also keeping an eye on your heart rate. Your heart rate during these sessions should be 78 to 83 per cent of your maximum. If you need a way to break up these sessions a little bit to keep your mind engaged, you can do progressio­ns like 4 x 10 minutes, 3 x 15 minutes, 2 x 20 minutes and 3 x 20 minutes. Tempo and endurance are sure ways to get faster. When the weather finally lets you get back outside, you will be happy you invested the time into your aerobic engine.

If the weather is keeping you inside and your outdoor ride goal is looming, you can still be prepared by using these tips. Once it’s time to get outside again, you’ll be ready to smash.

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