TRAINING WHEN UNWELL.....

SHOULD I TRAIN WHEN SICK........

In short NO ……But its also the Coaches favorite comment of DEPENDS…..So why?

There used to be a saying that below the neck no and above the neck its ok as long as its light/short/easy, but it’s a little more complicated than that. Of course below the neck we are generally dealing with bronchial issues and we need our lungs to be fully operational to perform exercise. Therefore, a headache/head-cold/fever it should be ok then. Well with headache yes as cycling is a low impact sport and this will open blood vessels increasing blood flow and easing the headache, but fever is another thing entirely. So, lets look at what is happening then if we exercise when unwell.

ELEVATED HEART RATE……AND MORE

This is a minor issue as you will FOR SURE be de-hydrated have aching muscles, maybe joints too …Plus you FEEL LIKE S**T!! Add into this that training will impair immune system function due to the increase in stress hormone production that occurs following an intense workout.

I CAN SWEAT IT OUT……

NO, YOU CAN’T!!! It’s a myth, on the back of exercise keeps you fit and prevents you from being ill. For sure doing regular exercise helps fight off infection it doesn’t when you are already sick.

THE RISKS…..

1.      Fluid loss in the body decreases muscle strength and makes an athlete feel more tired.

2.      Exercise raises body temperature making an athlete feel far worse.

3.      Exercise causes the body to lose water through sweat increasing the risk of dehydration especially if you have vomiting or diarrhea.

4.      Ear infections (remember that above the neck rule) can cause imbalance and dizziness putting you at risk from serious injury.

5.      Chest symptoms is a no-no – chest tightness, difficulty breathing or coughing WHY do you want to try to work out…..

CONCLUSION….

Pushing yourself when sick will only lead to MORE time away from training. The body cant do it all with recovering from training and illness- something will snap leading to EVEN MORE time off the bike. Remember REST TRUMPS S**T WORKOUTS…..There is NO fitness lost with a week off the bike – Your body needs the rest so take it ….

HOW TO RIDE IN THE WIND

There is always wind. Makes no difference the season, even if you think there isn’t a lot of wind at the start you will find some at some stage during your ride. Riding in the wind makes you strong, end of. It also helps with bike handling and confidence on the bike. So, embrace wind and follow these tips to help you deal with it better.

HEADWIND…

If you are riding into a headwind then treat it like you are riding a climb. Drop the gears adjust the cadence and keep the same pressure. Don’t let the gearing get on top of you. All those surges in and out of the saddle to get back on top of the gear are going to catch up with you. So steady pace and pressure are key. If you are on an out and back, then remember on the turnaround the wind will be behind you!!

TAILWIND…

So, if a headwind is all about going up a climb then a tailwind is all about going downhill and you treat it the same. Its all about working to increase you speed. If you put in an effort to lift it when you can, the wind behind you is going to hold that speed allowing you to recover from the effort.

CROSSWIND….

First thing, move out into the road a little more and stay away from the gutter…it gives you a bit of space if you get caught in a blast and you have room to counter that preventing you crashing. Keep a firm grip on the handlebars too, this is not really a time to relax too much, come forward a little more on your saddle and adopt a more stable riding position by dropping deeper over the bars.

Of course its safety first…if you feel the wind is too strong then turn and head home….Hopefully working out a route that gets you back with a tailwind !!!!

WHY A TRAINING CAMP WILL MAKE YOU A BETTER CYCLIST……

WHY A TRAINING CAMP WILL MAKE YOU A BETTER CYCLIST……

Thinking of a training camp, wondering exactly how that’s going to help you for the following year. Then relax as we have you covered with all the benefits of attending one. The timing of a camp is also going to ensure that you get into top shape at the start of the season for your events!

So, let’s dig into things…..

COACHING……

A Coach is going to give you pointers as to where your technique can improve, you can ask questions and understand a little more about the data side of things so helping to analyze your workouts better and ensure that the training you are doing is correct and going to benefit you in the long run. Training is a constant changing science so having a coach on hand with the latest info is better than listening to “Dave” that has read an outdated technique on Facebook, so giving you incorrect info!

LEARNING ABOUT YOURSELF….

There will be some tough days for sure as in a camp you are probably going to be increasing your time on the bike by maybe as much as 60% so leading to some tough days in the saddle and pushing you to a few places you may never have been before…Mental toughness will come into play at some stage within the week get ready for that.

“TEAM” SPIRIT…

Nothing pushes cyclists like other cyclists. Riding with people better than you will lift you up. Likewise for that tough day on the bike there are people around you to help you get to the end of the ride ensuring stories to tell at dinner parties for years to come. Riding together also ensures that the km’s tick by pretty quick. Happy cyclists are always faster cyclists remember that!

MORE VOLUME….

For some more than double what they would normally do in a week. With increased base work and altitude, km’s in the legs coupled with good recovery post camp, when you get back home you will be flying. Post camp cyclists generally note changes in FTP, EF and TTE. So, timing a camp to fit in with an “A” goal is going to benefit you no end.

FOCUSED NUTRITION & HYDRATION….

Once on a camp you get to see a little differently the needs of hydration and nutrition on the bike and off also. With the support of a vehicle with you, there is an endless stream of nutrition and drinks. Also, post ride a chance to eat well and focus for the following day. You will learn very quickly the need for food/drink/sleep and the benefits of this you will take home with you for your general riding.

Training Camps…great fun…beneficial…AND a chance to ride some epic climbs and roads!

WATTS PER KILO AND HOW TO IMPROVE YOURS.....

WHAT’S WATTS PER KILO ALL ABOUT THEN??

 The days of cyclists using power meters to measure effort and improve training and pro riders data post races its all we hear about ….But what is it and why is it important?

In cycling, energy transfer is the pushing of the pedals by the cyclist, transferring mechanical energy to kinetic energy (speed/movement) and potential energy (from gravity when going uphill).

wk/g is a power to weight measurement. We get the number by dividing the watts by the weight of the rider at the time of the effort. The ratio is a ratio of watts produced per kilogram of bodyweight and this determines how fast they can go uphill.

When the road is flat, power and drag are the factors deciding the speed of a cyclist. Due to gravity, power becomes a more important factor on a climb with drag still a factor on lower gradients where the speed can still be fairly high.

NOT ALL W/KG ARE EQUAL….

 With higher speeds and shallow gradients heavier riders fair better than lighter riders as aerodynamic drag is a greater force to deal with than gravity. As the road goes upwards it is easier to produce higher w/kg at lower weights.

One reason why you can see a bigger rider like Ganna smashing it up the early part of a climb where the gradient is say 3 or 4% but once over that his 90kg frame is working against him with the gravitational pull.

HOW TO INCREASE YOURS…..

 In short you are trying to get the max power output for your weight so, want to push more power on a climb then you can do it three ways.

* Increasing your power output whilst keeping a constant weight,

*  Keeping your power output constant whilst losing weight,

*  Increasing your power whilst also decreasing weight,

Losing body weight but keeping the same power output is generally more beneficial than staying at the same weight and simply working on your aerobic fitness.

If new to cycling then do more aerobic work as this will help you shed some weight an improves your aerobic fitness. Add some max power bursts on climbs allowing sufficient recovery between efforts will also help improve your power. Adding in some strength work will help loss of power during weight loss. Interval, hill and strength training will also help you to improve your VO2 max, which in turn allows you to perform outside of your lactic threshold for longer durations, as increased oxygen efficiency helps the body to buffer lactic acid, so you’ll spend less time in an anaerobic state before your next sprint or big push. So, by concentrating on your power to weight ratio, not only will you be building a more efficient body for cycling, but you’ll be building a much healthier and more efficient body overall.

WHY INDOOR TRAINING IS HARDER THAN OUTDOOR TRAINING.....

Its not in your head its fact. Lets go with the reasons why it feels it is and actually WHY .....

HEAT/WIND....

Training indoors, then get a fan and good air movement. The air circulating the body has been shown to lower skin temperatures when riding outside. Inside cooling is lower which leads to an increased sweat rate, leading to dehydration and cardiac drift or higher heart rate in relation to effort. All leading to a feeling of increased exertion....

BODY POSITION.....

Riding outside we are adapting our position to what's happening on the road with cornering, climbing, descending, braking and free wheeling....All these micro changes help to relieve muscle tiredness and body stiffness, not to mention the point of where we are in contact with the saddle !!

We generally use one to two body positions with a hoods/bars/drops combo and plenty of time in the same position. This leads to rapid fatigue with muscle fibers being used for longer periods of time. Outside we spread the load easier also with out of the saddle bike movements.

ATTENTION/FOCUS.....

Riding outside time passes quicker as we focus on changing scenery, breathing, road ahead, daydreaming even what's happening on our device. Riding indoors time passes slower we are purely focused on the intervals and what we are doing. Virtual riding helps us to disassociate ourselves with what we are doing. One reason for the popularity of this medium the last few years.

WATTS/POWER DIFFERENCE....

Generally as Coaches we work on a +/- 20w difference with inside/ outside...PERSONALLY I would not worry tooo much about that unless doing long periods of inside in relation to outside in which case have two FTP's to cover your bases. (Remember FTP is a range not a number so dropping it down a few % will help you out !!) The reason for this number is that studies have shown that over time with athletes training inside and outside they can produce somewhere between 11 to 23w difference when outside.....

SO TIPS TO GET BETTER AT INSIDE TRAINING .....

*Stay cool with fans and good ventilation,

*Move around as much as you can with your position both standing seating AND drops/bars/hoods

*Stick some music on/video/get on Zwift/Rouvy/Trainer Road and go virtual

*Adjust your FTP or be prepared to suffer a bit to hit your targets

Indoor training can give you some SERIOUSLY focused sessions when the weather/time is short so if not a fan of indoor use these tips to think about how to improve your focus !!!

HOW TO RIDE A PACE LINE LIKE A PRO

So, you ride a bike, at some stage you are going to find yourself in the middle of a paceline might be you planned it, might be by chance, but whizzing along sitting a few cm from someone’s wheel with someone doing the same behind you can be an unnerving experience. Makes no difference your ability, leisure cyclist, racer, club cyclist, even a pro, you will at some stage screw it up….so here are some tips to help you do a better job….  

1.      THE SURGE……The whole idea is to go from A to B as a group using the least amount of energy to go the fastest speed over a given distance. The surge comes from you sitting second wheel and knowing that when “Fred” leaves the front its down to you. The general thing that happens is that you are now exposed, its your glory moment to show how strong you are and how big your balls are so you push the pace….NO….. When the rider pulls off keep the same speed that they were, so the speed is kept fluid, keep an eye on the pace before they move off and follow the same. Focus on about 2 mins or so then pull off and the next rider follows.

2.      THE ELBOW…. Everything you do needs to be liquid motion. We don’t need the big pull, the flick of the elbow, sharp exit off the front and then we go again with what I mentioned above. Check over your shoulder, when safe to do so gently flick of the elbow and move across. If someone is overlapping your wheel, then a sharp flick out from the line can cause a pile up as you take them out. A look over your shoulder gives them a “ok he is about to move off” notice.

3.      EASE OFF THE PEDALS….. You need to join the back of the line so ease off the gas let the guys come past you and join the group…you don’t need to ride hard here. You are already in energy saving mode. Stay seated too…you might need that little out the saddle effort to get back on at the back if the pace is high but save your effort.

4.      CALL OUT…..Last man in the line needs to shout “last man” as the group is circling its not always a given that “Jonny” is always your last man, if someone has missed a turn then who you dropped back behind may have changed….likewise you have a lot to think about, are you really always going to remember who you were sitting behind in a bigger group and everyone is in club kit ….i think not !!

5.      TAP THE BRAKES…..You will brake in a pace line to hold the position you are comfortable with but remember ANYTHING you do has a consequence its all about EASY riding…hard on the brakes and someone is going to go straight into the back of you. Think of when you drop a stone into a pool of water…. the rings are biggest further out….same here….use the front brake to just keep you in check. Any big effort will have HUGE consequences further back in the line.

6.      RIDE SLIGHTLY OFF CENTER…. Yes, yes, yes, I know its all about sitting cm’s from someone wheel and we are not talking about half wheeling here, but most accidents are caused by riders always looking down. Riding slightly off the side means you can see where you are going, gives you an exit strategy AND if something goes wrong up ahead then you can correct it with no major incident.

7.      MISSING A TURN….. In a paceline you will have riders of different strengths and abilities, so be mindful of that…Remember my first point going A to B fast and as easy as possible. Its not about you trying to prove how hard you are…think of others and even if you need a break then no issue or keep your turn really short.

8.      HEAD WIND/TAIL WIND….. Easy one, tail wind longer efforts at the front…..head wind shorter…simple as that.

9.      TALK TO EACH OTHER….If you get left behind then words like “OFF” or “EASY” tells the person in front what is happening behind…. Likewise “LAST MAN” remember from point 4.

10.   BE SAFE…..Every time you get to a point where you can get in a group then do it…the more you practice the better you will be become. There will also be people that you are happy sitting behind and those that you don’t like…..Avoid getting into a pace line when there are lots of traffic lights, roundabouts and street furniture too as it means more braking and an increased risk of pile ups….and likewise talk to people tell them whats coming and pass it down the line too !!!

Happy pace line….now go out and practice with your friends/team mates !!!

HOW TO NAIL A PERFECT SLEEP PATTERN

WEIGHT GAIN

Being short on sleep can really affect your weight. While you weren't sleeping, your body cooked up a perfect recipe for weight gain. When you’re short on sleep, it’s easy to take an extra-large latte to get you moving. You might be tempted to skip exercise (too tired), get fast food for dinner, and then turn in late because you’re uncomfortably full.If this happens a few times each year, no problem. Trouble is, more than a third of people aren't getting enough sleep on a regular basis. Yet experts agree that getting enough shut eye is as important to health, well-being, and your weight as are diet and exercise.

Skimping on sleep sets your brain up to make bad decisions. It dulls activity in the brain’s frontal lobe, the locus of decision-making and impulse control. So, it’s a little like being drunk. You don’t have the mental clarity to make good decisions. Plus, when you’re overtired, your brain's reward centers rev up, looking for something that feels good. So, while you might be able to squash comfort food cravings when you’re well-rested, your sleep-deprived brain may have trouble saying no to a second slice of cake.

METABOLISM

Sleep is like nutrition for the brain. Most people need between 7 and 9 hours each night. Get less than that, and your body will react in ways that lead even the most determined dieter straight to crap food. Too little sleep triggers a cortisol spike. This stress hormone signals your body to conserve energy to fuel your waking hours.

Translation: You’re more apt to hang on to fat.

Sleep deprivation makes you “metabolically groggy," University of Chicago researchers say. Within just 4 days of insufficient sleep, your body’s ability to process insulin -- a hormone needed to change sugar, starches, and other food into energy -- goes awry. Insulin sensitivity, the researchers found, dropped by more than 30%. Here’s why that’s bad: When your body doesn't respond properly to insulin, your body has trouble processing fats from your bloodstream, so it ends up storing them as fat. So, it’s not so much that if you sleep, you’ll lose weight, but that too little sleep hampers your metabolism and contributes to weight gain.

SLEEP AND EXERCISE RECOVERY  

Sleep has a significant impact on muscle recovery. Sure, we know the importance of sleep and that if you don’t get enough of it, you’re not going to feel rested in the morning, and your muscles will not recover properly. Aside from being groggy the next day, another pitfall of not getting enough quality sleep is that it affects your efforts in the gym. While you may be able to ‘function just fine’, on a few hours of sleep, doing so still shortchanges your body composition goals. Sleeping for 7-9 hours per night is crucial, especially if you are looking to change body composition, increase muscle mass and/or if you want to be ready for your personal training session the next day. Sleep enhances muscle recovery through protein synthesis and human growth hormone release. If you want to grow or lean out, stop procrastinating and get to sleep!

TOP TIPS TO GET A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP

 1.Get yourself into a sleep routine, if you have kids then the family need to be in on it too…. Time to calm and slow things down, go to bed at the same time every night, tough yes but this is HUGELY important in getting into a bedtime rhythm.

2.Absolutely no coffee tea or booze after 5pm these are all stimulants that will interrupt your sleep and keep you awake. Don’t even think to say, yes but I can drink tea at 9pm at night it doesn’t affect me, as it will, and it does so ditch it…

3.Stop looking at your bloody phone and leave it in another room when you go to bed. Find a time that you say after 8:30 for example my phone goes on charge and I leave it in the kitchen, when I go to bed I will unplug it. Blue light before bed will interrupt your sleep.

4.Soft lights at night, so use lamps etc. and try to avoid all bright lights on in the house especially after say 7pm.

5.At night use nightlights if you need to go to the bathroom. If you get up to go to the loo and put the light on your brain thinks its morning and you can find it tricky to get back to sleep.

6.If you have a TV in your bedroom then get rid of it or don’t watch it in bed in the evening. Your mind needs to know that the bedroom is for sleeping (yes ok we don’t need any puns here) but your brain doesn’t need the stimulants again of blue light etc.

7.TV, speaking of which…. If you are watching something like Killing Eve or an action movie then before you go to bed switch to another program say a documentary to calm the brain and switch off from the stimulants of the film…Start to get ready for bed!!

8.Sleep with a window open so air can circulate. The best sleep comes from a cool room so ditch the heating and heavy PJ’s too…Cool is king, keep cool and you will sleep better.

9.A warm bath around 2 hrs. before you go to bed has been proven to improve sleep by up to 40%...Not too hot and only soak for around 10 mins or so will set you right. Showers work just the same.

10.Get a memory foam mattress they are a god send and good pillows, don’t underestimate a good pillow. I use Latexco they are just brilliant they are used by Deceuninck-Quickstep Cycling Team, although I only realized that after I bought them. I have been known to take pillows with me when I go away…sad I know but there is a reason why!!

FUNCTIONAL RESERVE CAPACITY (FRC)

What is this and why is it important in training ?

FRC is the set amount of energy you have available when riding over your critical power. Think of it as a battery that begins depleting when a certain intensity level is reached and this starting point of depletion occurs when you ride at intensities above your critical power.

When you ride at intensities above your CP, (Critical Power enables you to determine the highest average effort you can maintain for a specific period of time. It empowers you to accurately understand the average wattage you are capable of sustaining, without blowing up and burning out. ) you essentially put yourself on limited time before your battery’s capacity completely drains.

The rate at which your battery drains depends on how far over your CP you’re riding, i.e. how intense your effort. You can ride really hard for a short period of time and deplete the battery quicker, or ride slightly easier and have your battery last longer, but what’s important to understand is that the size of the battery remains the same in all scenarios, i.e. you have the same capacity no matter how hard or easy you ride above your CP.

In really simple terms, i tell all my Athletes that when doing intervals, the temptation is to hit the first one hard, your legs are fresh and you bash the life out of it....Problem is as you go onwards you cant hit the same efforts and you start to fade which can mean that you under perform the schedualed session...So start easier, hit the target and if you want to push on then do so with the last few intervals.

If you want to improve your FRC then look at short, hard efforts in the region of 30-120 seconds in duration, where each repetition will be performed at an intensity that’s close to, but not quite maximal effort.....

Happy interval training !!!

THE FOR & AGAINST FOR USING ERG MODE

ERG mode that “easy way” to get your workouts done……We all know the benefits but what about the downsides to using this….

ERG mode will hold the pace for you during the actual interval AND will keep you in check during the recovery during efforts also. When we ride outside and the interval is done there is a tendency to back right off and go into “relax mode” but with ERG it still keeps you accountable.

You can of course deliver a consistent power over a given effort and ERG will keep you answerable during the effort no easing off the power for you, there is not a lot of option for that….In short ERG allows you to complete workouts EXACTLY as intended maximizing your training time, hitting your TSS targets and 100% perfect return on training time…..

BUT……..

If you are trying to improve your FTP or do sprint workouts then ERG is going to “cap you out” as of course it is working on your FTP values and this is a fixed value…If you want to go above this then its tricky…sure and before people challenge me on this, yes but you can drop this mid session and switch to no ERG….BUT why do you want to add all that into a concentrated session you are doing ??

Most people also don’t realize that FTP is a “floating value” which is an ever moving target…..if your FTP is at 250w that’s not to say that its 250w for the whole year…train more it goes up…train less it goes down. Somedays as I like to say you feel like the hammer…another the nail ERG wont counter for that…it doesn’t know what your internal suffering on any given day is measuring….

Its also not listening to your body, yes a little of my comment above but if you want to dial it back and take more recovery to do the next interval…that is not going to happen. Of course this works the opposite too you can easily breezze through workouts if you have consistent sessions under your belt and good recovery your smart trainer has no idea that you are currently on the money and can happily push out an extra 15 or more watts on an interval.

By far the biggest issue I find as a Coach where athletes are using ERG is that when they switch to outside they have NO IDEA how to ride at Z3 for 40 mins say on a climb…and isn’t that the whole idea of working with power that we can monitor the value and ride to it when it matters.

Like most things technology can make our life easier but don’t be a slave to ERG as in the long term its going to have the opposite effect of helping you and will hinder your development in the long term…..

MANAGING YOUR TIME FOR TRAINING EFFECTIVLEY

Training Time Management Top Tips

“Either you run the day or the day runs you” Jim Rohn

Time management, never enough time in the day…you never have time for all the important things…family…free time…heck even training so how can we shift the balance?

SET GOALS

Once you know your goals it becomes easier to plan better and focus your time on the right things to achieve those goals. If you have a bigger goal a long way off, add in a few smaller ones to help keep the focus and motivation.

PLAN THE DAY

The next step is to make a plan for your day, your plan needs to be realistic and take into account what time you wake up and what time of day you are at your most productive. Be mindful of what time will be feasibly available, for example if you have children it may not be possible to train for 6 hours on a Saturday. By visualising your plan, you will become aware of the time constraints necessary to achieve what you want. It will become difficult to procrastinate as it becomes clear that by doing this you are only making achieving your goals all that more difficult.

TWEAK THE PLAN AS YOU GO

After a few days, you will start to notice small changes you can make to your plan that will increase your efficiency, you can replace parts of your training sessions with high intensity regimes for example.  Conversely you may find that you have overestimated your ability, this happens to everybody at one point or another so simply adjust your plan accordingly. Do not keep pushing to complete your original plan if you are truly incapable, this will only lead to burnout which will delay you from reaching your goals.

GET YOUR FAMILY FRIENDS ON SIDE

Explain to those around you that this is important to you and what you want to achieve from it.You can also get them involved in the plan with you so they are on board too and you set things out right from the start with everyone knowing that at 5pm each day for one hour is “your time”. Likewise move your training area to another area so a garage, shed, outhouse and make this a “comfortable” area to. One to where you are happy to train even in the depths of winter !!

INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF YOUR PLAN

In increasing the efficiency of your plan, you will also start to notice distractions, a distraction would classify as an activity that does not positively affect your life. This means that time you spend de-stressing does not count, as of course this is vital. However, if you know that the first day of the Tour de France is on TV on the weekend and you know you won’t recover this time later, you must find a way to eliminate this distraction. This doesn’t necessarily mean missing such a momentous moment, instead, shift the plan and fit this around what you now want to do. Maybe shift your rest day or add in something extra to account for the time you wont be training.

They say that it takes 21 days to form a habit so not too long to remain focused and if you use this acronym as a guide it will help you cross those days off to forming that positive routine !!

POSE:

-        Prioritise

-        Organise

-        Streamline

-        Economise.

HOW TO OVERCOME THE FEAR OF TESTING.....

Testing…who actually likes this…pretty much no one, well maybe a few at the end of the day cycling is all about pain and suffering and there is a fair bit of that with a test……any test to be honest.

Whilst we need testing to ensure that we have our zones correct for training, as an example, we also need to see progression which motivates us further. What happens though if you are a “bad tester” we know that a good test is all about motivation but a poorly executed test will of course have the opposite effect, so how do we go from shying away from testing to embracing the journey and getting great results.  

First up is always the good old FTP Test…Its good to not beat yourself up about this…most cyclists compare each others 20 min effort…The invariable 300+ a point where most people think that someone is a  great cyclist…sure it’s a great benchmark but a high FTP does not constitute a great cyclist. First up we have to consider bike handling and confidence then look at what the cyclist is actually doing…Someone doing Crit racing for example will want to work at a good 5 min effort or for endurance we want to be looking at better 60, 90 and 120 min efforts…Yes FTP is important but not the be all and end all

So the big one how do we do a good FTP test then. There are many options now, no more 20 min all out effort, maybe a Ramp Test is better for you or an 8 min option…a few choices try to find the one that suits you better and will give you a better result

The next thing is a positive frame of mind….With anything in cycling the mind is generally the first thing to go before the legs or the lungs…..so if you can keep a positive take on things then you can do better too. If you want to work on a positive mind set then try to focus on the shorter or longer efforts so start with 5 sec or 1 min or go the other end of the spectrum and tackle 60 and 90 min efforts….From there you can look at 5 and 10 min and of course the dreaded 20 min. If you also put Test Goals into your calendar regularly then you will get used to a test looming…Most people will stick one test in the calendar which is like a weight around you neck…the days tick towards its inevitable arrival…doom, gloom and failure are on the horizon..

Finally, lets go back to the start of this post, don’t set your goals so high, that 300w golden chalice !!….Cycling, training and fitness is all about the long term…small increases over a longer period. No point in setting your goals through the roof…So if your FTP is at 220..then don’t set a test target at 250, set it at 230…if you end up beyond then great but if you push into a place that is beyond you then you are setting yourself up for failure…Better to have a few other tests along the way to build to that. As a Coach I know how hard testing can be for athletes so generally I try to set workouts and a training calendar with feedback and direction that inadvertently is working at test level so you will almost do a test without you realizing it…..

Embracing testing, we all need to see that we are moving forward and when we see that we want to train and ride more…..

HOW TO DEVELOP MENTAL TOUGHNESS

All athletes at the top of their game have developed mental toughness, whether that is on or during a race, pushing through with training, trying to stay focused through tough times or working towards a goal or objective.

But how do you develop that strength…

The first point is focus and this is tricky especially if you suffer from things like low self-esteem, depression, anxiety and mental health issues, but you can do this. Focus of course on the goal ahead but factor in smaller goals along the way to keep you motivated and chipping away at the bigger prize at the end. Find a way to the end goal which can sometimes be a long way off and hard to focus on but smaller steps keep the focus….

See the past as information on how to get better and improve from where you were before and don’t dwell on what was previous. Mistakes, errors or losing doesn’t define you as an athlete but experiences will strengthen you for the future and you can use this info to better yourself. Nothing is wasted its all invaluable information in your development

Take a gamble and risk it all. If you don’t know and test yourself then how do you know where you are in the grand scheme of things. Like above it can give you a rain check on where you are or what you need to do to get better. Mentally tough athletes accept that they may miss the mark sometimes but its worth the risk to achieve greatness.

Strive to be excellent but not perfect. A mentally tough athlete knows that they will make mistakes along the way but they are focused on the long term goal not what is happening now. These are also important moments as it may mean that you change your journey path with your training program as what you are doing at this moment may not be working for you….

Don’t try to please others or resent someone else’s success either focus on yourself, your talents and improving yourself as well as implementing your game plan and achieving your laid out in front of you too….

Not all athletes are born with mental toughness of course some, faced with adversity battle through using that to focus on the goal at hand. You can work at it though and improve your mental toughness…If believe that you can do that then you are already on the right path to it becoming an important habit in your training arsenal……

HYDRATION & THE HEAT

Hydration

With only a 2% drop in body weight due to sweating resulting in a measurably lower capacity for muscular work, keeping well hydrated is essential for optimal performance. As the mercury rises, you’ll sweat more and the amount of liquid that kept you going on long winter rides will no longer suffice. Find out everything you need to know about hydration on the bike, including how to monitor your hydration levels, how to work out how much you should be drinking, the dangers of over drinking and the difference between isotonic, hypotonic and isotonic fluids.

You can also freeze your second bottle so that, by the time you come to drink it, it has thawed but will still be cool. Don’t fill fully before freezing though as the contents will expand, so only fill three-quarters.

Pacing

Be aware that you will probably need to re-evaluate your pacing strategies if faced with unusually hot conditions. Ride to the lower ends of your normal training zones and, on long rides, pace ultra-conservatively early on until you’ve got an idea how your body is reacting to the heat. This especially applies to long climbs where your lower speeds mean you won’t benefit from the cooling effect of a headwind.

Acclimatisation

If you know you have got an event coming up abroad where the conditions will be hot or humid, you might want to consider adopting some form of acclimatisation protocol. The ideal is to head out 7-14 days before the event but, unless you are a professional athlete or have a very understanding boss and family, this is unlikely. You can however derive acclimatisation benefits by training indoors at home, such as a turbo in the bathroom, and mimicking the conditions you’re likely to encounter. Begin this process 7-14 days out from your event and, for the first 3-5 days, just train gently and for relatively short periods in the warm conditions and save longer and harder efforts for outdoors. Throughout the acclimatisation process, closely monitor your hydration levels and ensure fluid and electrolyte intake are optimal. After 5 days, aim to be riding for at least an hour in the heat and, if your recovery is good and you’re maintaining hydration levels, consider two workouts per day. Try to schedule so that you arrive in the location of your event three days beforehand but, if this is impossible, continue your home acclimatisation until the day before you travel.

Riding Time

For general riding and training, especially if you’ve got some higher end efforts planned, look to ride either early in the morning or late in the evening when temperatures will be lower. Seek out routes that offer shade, especially on climbs but ensure you are wearing clothing that is visible to other road users. If possible, when training abroad or during unusually hot spells, avoid riding during the middle of the day when the sun is at its most intense.

Clothing

Look for jerseys and shorts with technical fabrics that will wick sweat away as the process of evaporation will keep you cooler. Mesh back panels on jerseys can also increase the cooling effect as can a string or mesh vest worn underneath. Look for full length zips for long climbs but make sure you zip back up for the descent and once back on the flat or you’ll be wasting valuable watts. Hot feet can be especially uncomfortable so ensure your shoes are well ventilated and you have quality wicking socks. Choose a helmet with as many vents as possible and, although you may pay a small aerodynamic penalty for this, it’ll easily be outweighed by the time gained from not overheating. Finally, in the mountains, although you might have been uncomfortably hot on the valley roads and climbs, if you’ve been sweating heavily, it’s very easy to become chilled on long descents. Always carry a windproof gilet to prevent this happening.

Fuelling

In hot conditions, it’s not unusual to have to adapt your fuelling strategy. Although the basic rules of how much food you need still apply, certain common cycling food items, such as chocolate, just don’t work in the heat. Also many riders suffer from a reduced appetite so it’s important that the food you choose to carry inspires you to eat. It’s worth experimenting with more savoury items as you’ll often find that you crave these.

Sun Block

Although crisp tan lines are seen as a badge of honour among cyclists, the dangers of over exposure to the sun, including increased risk of skin cancer, are now well known and should be avoided. Use a quality sweat and water resistant sunblock with an SPF of at least 30 and pay particular attention to the back of your neck which is especially exposed on the bike. Look for sunblock with lasting protection and be sure to follow the instructions as some require you to apply them up to 90 minutes before going out into the sun. With heavy sweating though, even the best sunblock won’t protect you over the course of a long day in the saddle. Carry a small spray bottle in your jersey pockets or saddlebag and re-apply every hour or so.

Insects

Flying insects can easily be sucked into the vents of your helmet, hit you in the eye and sting you. Many helmets have insect mesh over the vents and you should always wear glasses when riding to protect your eyes from insects, road debris and to prevent streaming on long descents. Carrying some non-drowsy anti-histamine tablets or some topical cream can significantly reduce the impact of an insect sting or bite. If you know you are allergic to insect stings, make sure that you are carrying the appropriate medicine, you have the necessary personal medical information on you and that you have informed your riding partners.

Air Quality

In urban areas hot weather can lead to a significant reduction in air quality and, in poor conditions, riding should be avoided. Most weather forecasts now also carry air quality and pollution level warnings. Riders with asthma and other respiratory conditions need to be especially vigilant and should always carry their inhalers or other medicines. In rural areas, high pollen counts can be an issue for riders who suffer from hay fever and again, weather forecasts should be consulted and, if necessary, riding plans altered and appropriate medical steps taken.

Post Ride

Along with following your normal post ride routine to optimise recovery, if you’ve been riding in the heat, bringing your body temperature back down to normal levels should also be a priority. Get inside and into the cool as soon as possible, don’t be tempted to sit out in the sun and consider blending some ice into your recovery drink. A cool shower or bath will also help and, once clean and dry, you should aim to relax inside or in the shade until you feel as though your body temperature has returned to normal.

Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke

If you follow all of the advice above, heat exhaustion and the far more serious heat stroke shouldn’t be an issue but, with gruelling events often pushing riders close to their limits, it’s important to be aware of the symptoms and treatments.

Heat exhaustion results from a decrease in blood pressure and blood volume. This is due to the loss of fluids and electrolytes when exposed to the heat for a prolonged period of time.

As well as general fatigue, symptoms include, feeling sick, faint and heavy sweating. The skin will be flushed and hot to the touch, heart rate elevated and the rider may also complain of feeling dizzy and appear confused.

Any rider displaying these symptoms should stop cycling immediately and find somewhere cool out of the sun. They should be given fluids to sip, ideally water or a sports drink, and may be cooled with a wet flannel or light spraying with cool but not cold water. They should recover within 30 minutes but, if they are still displaying symptoms after this time, contact the emergency services.

If the symptoms of heat exhaustion are ignored and the rider continues to push themselves, exertional heat stroke, where the body temperature rises to dangerous levels, can occur.

Heavy sweating will suddenly stop, the riders skin will feel cold and clammy and they may complain of feeling cold despite the heat. Heart rate and breathing will be significantly increased and they may also be suffering from muscle cramps. They may vomit, complain of having a headache and be confused and disorientated. In severe cases, fitting and a loss of consciousness may occur.

The priorities are to get the rider out of the sun and to contact the emergency services. While waiting for them to arrive, if conscious, the rider should be given fluids to sip and can also be cooled with a damp flannel or spraying. Avoid complete immersion in cool water and do not give any form of medication. If fitting, remove nearby objects and do your best to avoid them hurting themselves. If unconscious, place them into the recovery position.

THE WARM UP AND COOL DOWN

WARM UP AND COOL DOWN

Warming up is essential to prepare your body and mind to perform at its very best, especially when you are facing a hard effort such as a race or an interval session. Not doing so will normally compromise your performance. 

HOW LONG

A good rule of thumb is that the shorter and more explosive an event is, the longer a warm-up needs to be. Before an all-out effort such as track sprint, riders may spend more than an hour building up to the race.

For events such as time trials, shorter circuit road races, XC mountain bike and cyclocross events, a warm-up will typically be in the 20-40 minutes range.

SHOULD STRETCHING BE PART OF MY WARM UP

The consensus is that static stretching before exercise does not prevent injury or enhance performance. In fact, there is some evidence to suggest that static stretching may be detrimental to the rider. A warm-up should prepare the body for the range and type of movement that the activity demands. A rugby player may use bounding and dynamic twists but, for a cyclist, the most appropriate type of warm-up is on the bike. 

DO I NEED TO WARM UP BEFORE A SPORTIVE ?

Typically the first 10-20 minutes of a sportive will be spent progressively building up to your intended pace or intensity, there is no physiological reason for you to do a specific warm-up. That said, you may still benefit from a systematic warm-up as it will help prepare your mind for the event. For example, it may help relax you, reduce adrenalin levels and help prevent you starting too fast. Additionally, if there’s a testing climb straight from the start, you will benefit from warming-up. Of course, with many larger events, because of the sheer number of riders, you won’t have any choice but to start off slow until the crowds thin out.

WHY COOL DOWN

A cool down helps return your body to its pre-exercise state and will aid recovery and adaptation processes. It should be viewed as the first step to preparing your body for your next training session, race or event.

HOW LONG ?

As with warming-up, higher intensity efforts require longer cool downs to return the body to its pre-exercise state. As a rule, enough time should be taken to progressively bring the heart rate down to near resting levels while still turning your legs over. This will typically take 5-10 minutes and should ideally be factored into the end of every ride.

 SHOULD STRETCHING BE PART OF MY WARM UP ?

Surprisingly, mainly due to the difficulties in constructing valid studies, there is no clear consensus on whether stretching as part of a cool-down is effective in reducing injury and enhancing recovery or not. What flexibility work does address is a heightened sensitivity in the muscle to ranges of movement beyond those which you experience when sat on your bike or at your desk. This perceived tightness, if left unaddressed, can easily lead to imbalances, poor muscle function and potentially pain or injury.

You may find that your body has become stiff after being in a fixed position on the bike for hours and stretching may help your body return to a normal range of movement. The ideal time to spend 5-10 minutes stretching is as soon as you get off the bike, as your muscle temperature will still be elevated and they will be ‘more open’ to stretching as a result.

However the last thing you’ll want to do after a cold and wet ride is to roll around stretching and you’re unlikely to do a good job. Have your recovery drink, a bath or shower to warm up, put on some warm clothes and then stretch

DO I NEED TO COOL DOWN AFTER A SPORTIVE?

I am not suggesting that you have a turbo set-up at your car to do a full Team Sky post Tour Stage style cool down but, if you haven’t ridden easy for the last couple of kilometres of the ride or got sucked into a sprint for the line, 5-10 minutes spent spinning easily followed by stretching before jumping in your car would definitely be beneficial.

HOW TO MAXIMISE YOUR BODIES ABILITY TO BURN FAT.......

If your goal is to maximize your body’s ability to burn fat as a fuel, then Zone 2 is definitely the fat burning zone in which your body relies most heavily on fat as its primary source of energy. That being said, it doesn't necessary mean that by spending more time in Zone 2 you will increase that ability. There are other ways to burn fat effectively dependant on your requirements

ZONE 4 & ZONE 5

If you are trying to lose weight and burn off excess fat, then you actually need to train more in zone 4 and 5 in order to stimulate your fat burning metabolism.  There is a myth out there that staying in the fat burning zone helps you to lose weight.  Actually, it just makes sure that you don't burn carbohydrates as fuel and the intensity stays low.  If you want to lose excess body fat, then you have to 'stoke' the fire so to speak and that means exercising very intensely.  By exercising in Zone 4 and 5, then you burn off all your carbohydrates and then in the 4 hours after your workout, you burn a ton of fat as fuel. That's the key to really losing some excess weight.

EXTENDING ENDURANCE

If you want to burn fat in order to extend your endurance range in a racing situation, then I would offer a few different suggestions. Many pros that want to improve their ability to burn fat in races and therefore spare essential glycogen reserves for later in the race when they need them most. This means teaching your body to use fat first and foremost in every workout.  One of the ways to do this is to start off every ride early in the morning before breakfast and ride for at least 2 hours before starting to feed. Ride at Zone 2 and 3 for those 2 hours and then your body is forced to burn fat. At the end of 2 hours, start eating some carbs and protein and then finish your ride with intensity and intervals. This will help to teach your body to burn fat at a higher level of exercise intensity, thereby sparing your carbohydrate stores for later.

THE BENEFITS OF TRAINING ALONE

MOTIVATION

Solo training allows you to focus on yourself and builds your mental toughness. You have your objective and it is solely up to you to complete. It comes down to you, your bike and the ride. With no other cyclist to use for motivation and chase down or ride away from, you find your own personal motivations. Done successfully, you will not only make yourself physically stronger, but now you are mentally stronger.

FOCUS

Your plan is unique to you. Whether you are working directly with a coach, using a training plan, or have set out your own plan, that plan is designed to get you where you need to be. It is based on your time constraints, strengths, weaknesses and goals.

Focusing on your individual plan provides several key benefits. First, even if your teammate or riding partner is on the same schedule for the day, most likely your target numbers for efforts, or even your recovery between them, are different. You do what you are supposed to do and they do what they are supposed to do, it’s that simple. Next, we all have a competitive side. Training with others can tempt you to compete against each other, forcing you to go above and beyond what you are supposed to be doing. It can also have the opposite effect if you have to tone down your workout for your partner. Riding solo keeps you in check and allows you to focus on your form too. You are able to pay more attention to your position on the bike, pedaling technique, etc.

Riding on the road has enough natural distractions. Your buddy riding next to you chattering away can take your mind out of the game. The less you have pulling you away from your objective, the more you can concentrate at the job at hand.

INDEPENDANCE

From a purely selfish standpoint, a big benefit to riding solo is that you only have to answer to yourself. There is no meeting time, other schedules to accommodate or having to wait for those that are late. You are not dependent on those around you to dictate the pace or effort. You get to choose the route. If you feel good you can extend it, or if the legs are shutting down you can simply soft pedal back home.

Whether you have structured your own plan or you are working with a coach, your schedule was written with specific goals or targets in mind. Each day is a separate puzzle piece that when put together will hopefully help you achieve your target. Training by yourself allows you to follow your prescribed workout by concentrating on your plan without distractions

RULE 5'S TOP 6 SPORTIVE ERRORS

NOT ENOUGH TRAINING BEFORE THE EVENT

Setting realistic sportive goals that reflect what you have achieved in training is essential. Although you don’t necessarily have needed to have completed the event distance in training, you should have ridden close to it, have done so fairly comfortably and at a pace and over similar terrain to your target event.

You should have a solid winter’s training behind you and for longer or more arduous events, skimping on training is definitely a recipe for a poor result, not finishing or at least a long day suffering in the saddle. There are always stories of riders successfully winging an event on minimal training but these are always a tiny minority compared to the ill advised epic failures of under prepared cyclists.

Be honest with yourself about the training you’ve done and if you haven’t put in the kilometres, consider postponing your sportive challenge and targeting an event later in the year.

POOR PACING

Your training will have taught you the pace and intensity that you’re able to sustain on the bike. Heart rate and power provide an objective and reliable measure of intensity and either or a combination of both should be used to pace your sportive. Don’t expect a miracle event day boost and, right from the start of the ride, stick to the heart rate or power zones you established in training.

If you’re riding with mates or find yourself in a group of stronger riders, if you’re being pushed out of your target zones, don’t thrash yourself trying to stay on their wheels. Sit-up, ride at your own pace that you know you can sustain and wait for a group more suited to your ability to come along.

POOR FUELLING

As with pacing, your fuelling strategy for pre, during and after long rides is something that you should have practiced, refined and nailed down in training.Stick to your plan religiously, don’t do anything different and, if you’re unsure what food will be available at feed stations or haven’t been able to try the products on offer in training, plan to be self-sufficient.

Pacing and fuelling are intrinsically linked so, if you push harder than you’re used to, your fuelling strategy will probably fail. This will leave you feeling boated, unable to stomach food and potentially with gastric distress.

NOT DRINKING ENOUGH

Keeping well hydrated is not just essential on hot rides but also on the coldest winter day. Again, training is the time to determine your hydration needs and to experiment with which drink mixes and concentrations work best for you. Event day is not the time to try new products so, consider making up measured doses that you can simply add to the water supplied at feed stations.

MECHANICALS

If you’ve trained really hard for a specific event, you don’t want your bike to let you down on the big day. If you’re mechanically gifted, give it a complete overhaul in the lead up to the event or, if you’re not confident in your own skills, book it in with your local bike shop a couple of weeks before the sportive. Don’t leave it until the last minute as they may need to order in some parts and any new cables will also need some time to bed in. Give it a thorough clean before you travel to the event, check all bolts are properly tightened, ideally with a torque wrench if you have a carbon frame or components, and that chain, cables and pivots are properly lubricated.

As well as taking steps to avoid punctures, carry spare tubes, levers, pump/CO2 inflator and know how to use them. Also, make sure you have a decent multi-tool that has a chain-tool and that you have a “quick link” that is compatible with your chain.

THE WRONG CLOTHES

It’s always better to have too much spare clothing rather than too little, especially if your sportive takes in mountainous or upland roads. A sweltering day in the valleys can easily be freezing up high and getting chilled on a long descent can easily end your ride. At the very least always carry a windproof gilet but, with modern wind and waterproof jackets packing down so small and weighing so little, consider carrying something slightly more substantial. Arm and leg/knee warmers are great on mixed days and for cool early morning starts and a pair of full finger gloves and a windproof beanie for under your helmet can make a real difference when descending.

YOU DO ALL THE ABOVE RIGHT AND IT’S STILL A NIGHTMARE?

You could follow all of the above to the letter and, due to some uncontrollable factor, still not have the ride you were hoping for. If this happens, take any positives, you may still have got a decent training ride in, learn from any mistakes you did make, honestly re-appraise your pre-event expectations and move on.

IS YOUR FORM STAGNATING......

If you’ve been doing ok but starting to stall with training, then here are 5 tips to get you out of that cycling rut and back on the path to improved form.

ADD VARIETY TO YOUR WORKOUTS

One easy trap to fall into is to do the same bike route repeatedly and quickly find you are losing interest to get out there and ride. You critically need variety in your training. Look for hilly rides, flat rides, shorter and longer rides. In addition to road cycling, look to try some mountain biking, fixed gear riding, track or a fun tandem rides for a while. 

BUILD IN RECOVERY

Another easy rut to fall into is “diary syndrome”. With diary syndrome you are basically trying to keep up with your training diary weekly goals and forget to listen to what your body is telling you. Remember, if you start to feel achy on every ride and motivation is waning, check your recovery.

You can’t actually get fitter without letting the body build itself back stronger, so you must recover adequately from every workout you do.  If you want cycling form to quickly turn around, back off training for a few days. Resume training by responding to your recovery needs first – and let the training diary follow!

WORK ON YOUR WEAKNESSES

Going out ‘training’ for ‘training’s’ sake is a common mistake and one that leads quickly into a fitness plateau.  Getting faster at cycling is not just about ‘more training’ – it’s about “focused training”.

The best way to focus on training is to work on a cycling weakness. For example, say your weakness is climbing, instead of piling on more miles – ‘focus’ specifically for about 3-6 weeks on improving your hill climbing. This will quickly focus all your training and whip you into new cycling shape in no time.

SIGN UP FOR AN EVENT

A quick way to turn your form around is to sign up for a cycling event. By signing up you’re ‘committing’ yourself to completing the event. This gives a new boost in motivation and fresh perspective on all your training: shifting you out of a motivation rut .

DO INTERVALS

Doing all your rides at one pace leads to stagnation in your cycling fitness. If you’re finding your not improving and still cycling at ‘one’ pace all the time, it’s time to experiment by switching up the intensity.

As long as you’re well recovered, then doing some short interval training can give you significant results in just a week or two – flipping you out of plod pace and into feeling like a pro…Intervals are the fastest way to improve on a bike.

We all at some point get into a cycle fitness rut and need to quickly adjust, working on the above will kick start your form and get you back on track

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT LIKE A PRO

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT LIKE A PRO’ CYCLIST

For most cyclists seeking to reduce the effort of climbing, far more significant gains can be made by loosing some of the midriff than by spending vast sums on superlight equipment. If there is a bulge in your cycling jersey around your middle then you can probably count the potential loss in kilos rather than the grams that the bike can shed.

Essentially weight loss or gain is a matter of accounting.

Take in more calories than you spend and the excess is stored on deposit as fat under your skin. Spend more calories than you are taking in and the body has to make up the deficit by taking from the fat stores under the skin.One kilogram of body fat holds 7,700 calories of energy. Riding at a steady comfortable pace will use up somewhere between 500-700calories per hour. Cycling for 11-16 hours would burn the equivalent calories to 1kg of fat.

However when we are riding along at a reasonably comfortable steady pace only about half of our energy is coming from our fat stores. The rest is coming from glycogen (stored glucose) in the body. This would suggest that to shed 1kg of fat from our body we would need to do 22-32hrs of steady cycling. It would take a long time to get rid of 3kg of midriff if we relied solely on upping the mileage on the bike.

So what can be done to speed up this fat loss? There are a number of “do’s and don’ts”.

Don’t:

Drop your calorie intake drastically. Your body will think it is starving. It will preserve its fat stores so that it can last as long as possible. The body will break down muscle to provide energy. You will get lighter because muscle is much heavier than fat. There are two main negative consequences of this crash-style dieting:

Lower power output due to muscle loss. Muscles are much heavier than fat and are high consumers of energy.

Lower basal metabolic rate (the bodies tick over rate) due to having less muscle. This means when you return to normal eating you will put on fat faster.

The best approach is to begin by improving your diet without worrying about the calories too much. In general the less processed a food is the better it is for you. Processed foods tend to be high in sugar, fat and salt. High sugar foods tend to make our bodies store energy as fat. Below are some guide lines.

Do:

Reduce/remove all confectionary and processed snacks. Replace with fruit, nuts and seeds.

Reduce/remove all sugary drinks (coke, fanta etc). Replace with water, sparkling water.

Reduce/remove all high fat processed foods and foods containing hydrogenated fat/oils (that is, most ready meals, some low fat spreads). Replace with home cooked meals.

Reduce/remove all fried food. Replace with grilled, baked, steamed, boiled foods.

Remove gels, energy bars (keep these only for racing) and energy drinks from training rides. Replace with sandwiches, fruit, home made muesli bars, water or zero calorie electrolyte drinks

Increase intake of fish (especially salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines, trout), nuts, seeds, salads, veg, fruit, beans.

Reduce/remove alcohol consumption.

It is likely that this approach will cause fat loss in most people. If this approach is not enough, combining it with a 10-15% decrease in total calories taken in will bring about fat loss. Remember that losing fat is a slow process. If you are dropping weight fast then it is probably fluid loss. This is not good as it means you will be dehydrated.

HOW TO WIN A SPRINT

HOW TO WIN A SPRINT......

Many races are decided in a sprint finish. They can be long or short sprints. The sprint can be either from a small group who have broken away or in a large bunch sprint. Whilst every rider can’t pretend to be Mark Cavendish, you should seek to improve your sprint in training.

In most cases with either road or circuit races in the UK lead out tactics they use in the Tour de France won’t be used. So normally there is little or no supporting team involvement, the actual sprint can be very short indeed. No single rider wants to act as lead-out man for the rest, and consequently ruin their chances. So what happens is the break goes slower and slower until someone’s nerve cracks.

Whether sprinting from a big bunch or from a small group, certain principles apply. Firstly, stay in the most sheltered position for as long as possible. Which means, find a good wheel to follow, (preferably your targeted opponents). Move out into the wind only to make your effort. It’s a good idea to practise this in training with mates and see what a difference it makes.

The finishing sprint is often but not always the highest speed during a race. Therefore, wind resistance is a big factor. Be aware of not only the best wheel to come off but from which side the wind is blowing, try to come off the sheltered side.

The second principle is correct gear selection. Consider if the wind is against you, if it is a uphill finish or the distance is from the last corner. You may want in these cases to gear down. But on the other hand if there is a bunch sprint at the end of a long straight on flat or descending roads, then you should gear up.

Trying to change gear once you’ve launched your effort is fatal, a missed gear change at this speed- the consequences are not appealing.

Thirdly, make sure you have somewhere to go. Don’t allow too many riders in front of you for the wind-up to the finish. The riders in front will not move out graciously to allow faster you to go past then! Be aware of the opposition and consider where in the bunch are the good sprinters. If one should make an early move, too early in your opinion, try to get over onto their wheel.

If you can, place yourself, where you won’t be forced into the wind. Good bunch positioning skills come into play at this point. Access your ability compared to your rivals. If you consider you are the strongest and the finish is either up a hill or into the wind, then launch a long sprint. This should hopefully tire the more specialists who would normally win in shorter contest.

Conversely, if you’re tired but a talented sprinter then do your utmost to engineer a short sprint. Many sprinters can be seen to be yo-yoing of the back of the group only to come alive at the finish and win with a short devastating sprint. This is why the strongest rider does not always necessarily win.

If on the other hand you’ve decided you’re a no-hoper, then go for a long one before anyone expects it, certainly before the 200 metres to go sign. Maybe the sprinters figure you will fade and concentrate too hard on watching each other thus enabling you to win, it has happened.........