Keep tyres at right pressure

The weeks are flying by for the Sport Ireland Yeats Tour of Sligo on April 30th. 60k Lough Gill Circuit If you have followed most of the programme to date you should now be cycling stronger and faster. This week will help you recover and adapt to the previous week’s training.

Do one two hour cycle and two x 1 hour cycles. All at a comfortable / easy pace. 100km Innisfree Tour This week will be a bit easier to allow you to recover and get stronger and faster from the previous week’s training.

Reduce the distance / time of all training sessions by 30%. Include one hilly session.

One session should include 4 x 6 minutes’ efforts at a fast pace that can be maintained for the six minutes. Arrive home feeling that you could have done some more. 160k The Ox Mountain Challenge This week will be a similar structure to the 100k participants. The 30% Reduction is specific to the amount of training each individual has been doing to date. Tips and tasks Check that your cycling helmet. Is it fitting correctly? The helmet should sit level on your head and quite low on your forehead. If it is worn too loosely, or too high on the forehead it can be pushed back exposing the forehead or fall off in the event of a fall/ crash

The side straps should be securely fastened just below and forward of the ears. There should be little or no slack anywhere in the helmet when the chin strap is fastened.

Practise starting smoothly by beginning with the leading crank / pedal in the ten past 8 o’clock position. Press on the pedal in this position and the bike will just move forward smoothly.

Practise using the drinks and snacks that you will use in the Sportive.

Practise breaking up your long cycle into smaller sections. Focus on getting from A to B then B to C and so on until the final section is completed. Breaking the cycle into smaller sections help you cope with the longer distances.

If you don’t have a group to cycle with yet, link up with your local cycling club through Cycling Ireland or your local Sports and Recreation Sports Partnership.

A lot of cycling clubs have midweek club cycles check if your local cycling club meet midweek.

If you bike needs a service, this week is a good time to do it.

Check your tyres for cuts or excessive wear. Good tyres pumped to the correct pressure will be a major help to a trouble free and easier cycle.

Check out Sport Ireland Tour of Sligo site for more training and technique tips http:// www. tourofsligo. ie/ Enjoy your cycling. Paddy Doran www. peakendurancecoaching. com