ASK THE COACH…

I AM THINKING OF DOING MY FIRST CYCLING HOLIDAY WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO GO?

Well living in Italy at Lake Garda of course I am going to say here aren’t I?!! Seriously though, there are a few things to think about. How much riding you do and what sort of riding you like? Do you like or dislike the heat and hills for example? Do you want something that gets you from one starting point and ends at another across say 7 or 10 days?

As always, the list is a bit long. Bear in mind that anything you do at home will increase by probably +50% when you get abroad and the week will catch up with you, even if you are an experienced cyclist. Waking up to beautiful weather and wanting to explore the open road in another country will pull you to get out on your bike and ride more km’s and probably more hills too. The best parts to explore though are France with Provence and the Loire, The Italian Lakes of course as well as Tuscany, Croatia, Spain and Holland too. If you want to go further afield then look for Boulder Colorado, Vancouver’s North Shore and Stavanger in Norway…of course not forgetting the Alps and Dolomites, just make sure you have your climbing legs ready for those two places……

Great news that you want to take your cycling up a notch but looking for the right plan can be tricky. Being a British Cycling Qualified and Training Peaks Coach then I am going to point you in the direction of both of these places. Not that I am trying to sell you anything at all but both places of

course have qualified coaches, experts in their field, the plans are easy to follow and you know that a professional has written them so balancing the training.

British Cycling will have a choice of plans that you can download and likewise with Training Peaks you have bespoke plans available if you want to train for specific events or Sportive’s or simply want to be able to ride 100 miles. Ensure that you pick a plan given how much time you have to train each week. No point in picking one that means you have to train for 20 hours if you only have 7… Likewise if you are riding with virtual training, like Zwift then you can use the plans on these virtual tools also.

I SUFFER FROM CRAMPS WHEN ON MY BIKE WHATS THE BEST WAY TO PREVENT THEM?

Cramps is one of those things that we still don’t really know what causes them. However, what we do know is when the neuromuscular system works well, your exercise routine can continue for hours. When the system is perturbed by low blood glucose, muscle glycogen depletion, dehydration, accumulated muscle damage, high body temperature, severe salt loss, accumulation of metabolites, or reduced muscle blood flow, fatigue will gradually or suddenly set in and we cramp.

So, the best way to deal with it is to focus on the things that we think causes them. Ensure adequate hydration, fuel well, drink electrolytes and do some strength work too. The other thing is, try not to do more work than you are used to. So, if you decide to go up Mont Ventoux on a hot day and only say commute to work then you are probably setting yourself up to experience cramps on the climb. If you are going to train for an event, then make sure that you have done enough work before hand and you have the endurance base to deal with it.

DO I NEED TO DO A LOT OF TRAINING TO BE ABLE TO RIDE A LONG DISTANCE?

These questions are great, as what is long for one is not maybe long for another. A long distance for some people could be, 20, 50 or 100 or 300km. However, let’s take the mantra that long is 100km and the answer can be adapted for any multitude of distances. If you plan on doing a 100km ride then, like doing a marathon you don’t have to actually do the full distance before the day. If you can do 80km then you can do 100, the euphoria of the last 20km and getting to the end will take you over the line but aiming to do some longer rides to approx. This distance is a must. With training it’s all about the longer time you have to do something and a slow build up and with THE most important factor, consistency then you will achieve you goal with the minimum of issue.

Everything you do has a consequence. So, going hard and long at the start of training means that you will then have to rest up to recover, possibly get injured and, even worse, hate it. The other thing is, doing lots of shorter rides together, rather than one big blast once a week, is going to work better for you. Doing one 50km ride on a Sunday, although pushing your fitness, also pushes your fatigue. If you then do nothing for 6 days and do the same again, then all you are really doing is undoing over the course of a week the work you have done on the weekend. So far better to do say, three 20km rides in a week, then a 40km on the weekend. This means that you will carry the fitness into the following week. You can then either increase these distances or add in other days and of course use the weekend to push the km out also. If you’re going from zero to hero to cover 100km then give yourself 6 months. To keep the focus each month, set a mini goal for the main distance. So, say month 1 its 25km…. month two 40… month three 60…and so on…. Seeing the progression will keep the focus!! And best of luck !!

I CAME OFF MY BIKE TODAY AND A SLIPPY ROAD MEANT I SLID FOR A GOOD 5KM. I FELT SORE ALL DAY WITH ROAD RASH BUT MANAGED TO CYCLE HOME OKAY. I GOT HOME SHOWERED AND NOW I FEEL LIKE I HAVE BEEN HIT BY A BUS WITH BODY SHIVERS AND ACHES ALL OVER. IS THIS NORMAL? HOW THE HELL DO THE PROS GET BACK ON THE BIKE IN THE MORNING IF THEY FEEL LIKE THIS?

Firstly, I hope that you are ok and of course the old question, the bike is ok too!! Pros can get back on a bike for a few reasons, one it’s their job, two they will feel that they will let their team mates down if they don’t and finally you get used to crashing getting up and doing it all again. There is of course a fine line between having a bump and a scrape and riding with serious injury like broken bones or concussion which is of course more than stupid.

The feelings of body shivers and aching is of course due to shock and this can take time to kick in. During an accident, the body releases huge amounts of stress hormones to help us overcome the danger. That is the flight-fight response kicking in and we literally shake with fear. This shaking is known as neurogenic tremors. These tremors help to reduce over-activity in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis. The body’s complex neuroendocrine system that regulates our stress response, our emotions, energy storage and release so a natural way to deal with things like this. I would recommend that you keep moving as normally as possible which will help prevent stiffness and opening wounds once the skin heals…. Also, the best way to deal with falling off is of course to get back on the “horse” which will help prevent any anxiety you may feel after the accident and expect for this to take a few weeks to pass also.