ASK THE COACH…

I’M DOING VEGANUARY, WHAT MEAT FREE FOOD SHOULD I BE HAVING TO STOP ME GOING HUNGRY

Well done for picking a month to try out going Vegan. Hopefully, given the results you will stick with it!! The main reason people go hungry when they “switch diets” is they simply don’t eat enough energy, aka calories. When you switch to this type of diet and you are making a drastic change there is an increased risk of nutrient deficiency. You are either consuming less of one food group or perhaps not at all. If you add in age, gender and how active you are then of course it can make matters even worse. So, to stop feeling hungry then factor in two things, eat a variety of plant-based foods to ensure that you are getting your amino acids throughout the day and second choose foods that are high in protein. A good place to start would be soy products like soybeans, tofu or tempeh and of course the good old chickpea plus beans and pulses. The Plant Based Cyclist by Nigel Mitchell Head of Nutrition EF Education First Pro Cycling and Ex Team Sky is a great book to give you menu ideas if you are active. Likewise, Isa Chandra Moskowitz is one of the top plant based chefs who is very active on social media and her cook book “Vegan with a Vengance” has great tasty and cheap recipe ideas too!!

DURING ALL THE LOCKDOWNS, I HAVE BEEN FINDING IT REALLY HARD TO TRAIN. DO YOU RECOMMEND ANYTHING I CAN DO AT HOME TO KEEP THE TRAINING UP?

We ride our bikes why, well we like being out in the fresh air and the freedom that two wheels gives us. Take that away and yes we have the good old turbo and things like Zwift, RGT, BKOOL that we can do virtually but there is generally only so such much that we can continually do with that too. If you are faced with a long lockdown like the ten weeks we had here in Italy and endless time on the turbo, mix up your training and try other things like Yoga, Pilates, Bodyweight Workouts, Zumba, heck you can even do dry swimming with the use of bands. When one door shuts another opens l always say and lots of gyms and fitness experts moved to online sessions most of which were either free or greatly reduced.

Good to do core work also to help with your cycling which will help with your climbing and prevent back and shoulder injuries. Try GCN they have some great core and strength videos that you can follow also.

DOES IT REALLY MATTER WHAT CLOTHES I WEAR FOR CYCLING?

Absolutely not, no need to squeeze yourself into figure hugging lycra if you don’t want to, wear what you like to ride on your bike…. Although I would say it also depends on how long/far you are riding as there is a reason we have bike shorts with a padded insert and of course many jerseys are designed to keep you cool in the summer and jackets to keep you warm in winter. If it’s a short ride to the office or the shops or even say a picnic in the park with friends then not an issue. Companies like “The Discerning Cyclist” or “Always Riding” have some incredible street cred clothing lines at great prices check them out

I CYCLE A LOT ON COUNTRY ROADS BUT I WANT TO DO MORE HILL CYCLING. DO I NEED TO DO DIFFERENT TRAINING OR CAN I GO STRAIGHT INTO IT?

Firstly, well done for not shying away from hills. Want to get stronger on the bike do hills, end of. However, don’t start straight away with the steepest and hardest thing you can find. Start small and get the technique right and from there move onto longer, bigger, harder climbs. First up, it’s about the approach to the climb. As the road starts to go upwards then change the gears accordingly so that you keep on top of the gear not the other way around (aka you spinning and bouncing on the saddle). Maintain the cadence so that you keep a nice steady pedal stroke and can then cruise over the top. Don’t forget to change gears as you go down the other side !! For a shorter hill you can keep the gear bigger so it forces you to stand up and this way you can power over the top…likewise you can do hill repeats, lots of times going up and back down a hill you enjoy so building strength. Another good way to increase climbing and get stronger is for EVERY climb you go up, you turn around go back down and do it again….the downside is you don’t tend to get very far over a given time but boy can you get some climbing in your legs !!! And finally ride at threshold or in a bigger gear than you are used to also. This is a great way to get stronger on a bike for hills if you live somewhere there isn’t very many but also a good way to build strength for climbing.

I LOVE CYCLING AROUND THE COUNTRYSIDE, BUT MY SPORTS BIKE SEEMS A BIT MUCH FOR GOING TO WORK ON. WHICH IS THE BEST BIKE FOR COMMUTING?

This is a “depends” sort of answer… Depends on…length of commute and how many hills, if wearing normal clothes to arrive in the office, do you have somewhere safe to lock the bike plus bike park, showers…budget…what bike you like to ride…the list can go on…. BUT…. Firstly, you can use your ride to work to do your training so you might want to rethink whether that’s not the right bike for you here. Then if the commute is a longer one back and forth you might want to look at more comfortable wear too so again its going to force your decision on what to buy. Generally, most people are commuting from just outside the city into town and back again say 5 miles, tops. In this instance a fixed gear bike with straight bars and maybe a rack is the best bet. For general city riding you don’t need gears, its flat virtually zero hills and even if you do have a bike with gears you will find that you ride in the same one all the time anyway. Next thing to think about is bike registration and a really good lock if you don’t have a safe place to lock it up. A bike is stolen every six minutes in London so security is paramount to keep hold of your prized possession.