Little tips that go a long way when preparing for Yeats Tour
THE weeks are counting down to the Sport Ireland Yeats Tour of Sligo and your training should be going to plan to have you right for the April event. 60k Lough Gill Circuit Aim to complete a two hour cycle at a comfortable pace. Cycle out for approximately one hour to a coffee stop. Enjoy the stop and return home. On 1 or 2 days, cycle for 1 hour, with 4 x 5 minute efforts at a fast pace that can be maintained for the 5 minutes. Arrive home feeling that you could have done more. 100KM Innisfree Tour Aim to complete a long cycle. This should be approximately 15% greater distance than the longest cycle you have completed in the last two weeks. Do two shorter cycles of 1 to 2 hours. One of these should include 2- 4 efforts of 10 minutes duration at a challenging but comfortable speed. The other cycle should include 4 x 5 minutes efforts at a fast pace that can be maintained for the 5 minutes. Arrive home feeling that you could have done some more. 160k the Ox Mountain Challenge Aim to complete one long hilly cycle of around 15% greater distance than the longest cycle you have completed in the last two weeks. Do two shorter cycles of 1.5 to 2.5 hours. One of these should include 2- 4 efforts of 10 minutes duration at a challenging but comfortable speed. The other cycle should include 4 x 5 minutes effort at slightly faster than conversation pace on slight 3- 5% gradients. Ensure that you arrive home feeling that you could have done more. Tips and Tasks Wind direction: Check the wind direction before you leave. Cycle out against the wind to ensure you have a tailwind on the way home.
Nutrition: For cycles over 90 minutes aim to eat / drink 50 - 60 grams of easily digested carbohydrates per hour: bananas - breakfast bars – energy barssports drinks. Begin snacking and drinking 30 minutes into the cycle and have little snacks and drinks every 15 minutes or so.
Bike Handling/ Safety: Get into the habit of changing to a lower/ easier gear when stopping so that it’s easier to start when moving away again. Always park your bike where it can be seen, and, if necessary, lock it if stopping for tea/ coffee snacks.
Hill Climbing: On long hills, cycle at a pace and use gears that you know you can maintain to the top. This approach will get you to the top faster than going too hard on the early sections of the hill and slowing on the last part of the hill.
On very steep hills the smaller chain- rings and bigger sprockets will be more efficient.
Mental tips: Break long hills into smaller sections, e. g. I will focus on getting to X point.
When this is reached change focus to another point further up the hill. Enjoy your cycling. Paddy. www. peakendurancecoaching. ie