Ride Fit Ride Fit 2020

Winter is the hardest time of year to be a cyclist. Grim weather and slippery roads don’t make for particularly inviting conditions, but fortunately there are many other ways we can work on our cycle fitness and stay in peak condition. Fairly recent technical innovations have made indoor training far less of a hardship than it used to be and there’s a whole load of body conditioning that will reap huge benefits when you’re back on the bike too. Inside this issue you’ll find training tips, expert advice and inspiration to get you through the coldest months and emerge into the spring fitter, faster and the best possible shape. Here’s to 2020! See you out on the ride.…

Whether you love core workouts or loathe them, strong abdominal and lower back muscles are essential if you want to maintain a comfortable position on your bike and maximise the power output of your pedal stroke. But many standard core exercises suggested by personal trainers, such as sit-ups, aren’t the best choice for road cyclists. That’s because riding a bike involves some major body imbalances (each pedal stroke sees one leg extended downwards while the other is bent and raised upwards) and some unique challenges (such as maintaining a still upper body on climbs while your legs are pedalling frantically), so you need much more functional core exercises. “It is much better to focus on asymmetrical exercises, which mirror the challenges of riding a bike,” insists Robby Ketchell, a former sports…

Turbo trainers and indoor sessions are great for maintaining fitness levels over the winter but venturing out into the cold for regular road rides still has its merits. Pro coach Liam Holohan insists that riding in the cold not only builds physical stamina and mental resilience, but also equips the rider with a greater range of road-handling skills, and a true appreciation of getting out on the road more often when the good weather returns. Group rides in the winter help build bonds and iron out strategy ahead of the new season, too. There are plenty of plus points, but to fine-tune your frosty condition skillset, try these pro tips… 01 SURFACE LAYERS It’s an oldie but it’s true. You want to layer up rather than rely on one big warm jacket.…

Human beings are asymmetrical. Bikes, are universally symmetrical… unless you’ve got them set up wrong! Accommodating the asymmetrical rider to their symmetrical machine is a huge part of my job. I’m comfortable with asymmetry, and if it isn’t causing you an issue, I believe in not correcting it as you can cause more problems than you solve. We all have ways of compensating for our asymmetry in our day-to-day lives, but when you transfer yourself to a bike, sometimes those strategies break down. One of the biggest subjects that cyclists talk about is leg length. There are different approaches to cope with actual leg length differences – where bones, such as your femur or tibia are longer in one leg than the other – and, what in my experience, is more…

ROB WAKEFIELD, LEVEL 3 COACH, PROPELLO.NET “For a newbie cyclist the most important thing is just getting out on the bike frequently, having fun, exploring routes, getting to know your bike and understanding how your body feels when you put in certain levels of effort. Three rides a week is a good place from which you can make progress, gradually increasing the duration of your longest ride each week. Don’t worry about mileage as this will be very dependent on topography. Start with say three times 60-minute rides in a week and build up to two times 90-minutes with one long weekend ride of three hours. Once you have progressed the volume of your riding to four to five hours a week you can then think about increasing intensity by including some…

NIGEL MITCHELL HEAD OF NUTRITION, EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC PRO TEAM “When you first start out cycling you’ll hear tales of superfit endurance cyclists whose metabolisms are such that they can ride all day having only had a suck on a teabag for sustenance. The reality for newbie riders is that you’re going to need a decent amount of energy – especially if you’re joining a group with more experience than you. The novice is more likely to ride into the wind, to accelerate irregularly, to ride less efficiently. All of which means they need more energy. You can’t go wrong by having a pre-ride breakfast of slow-release energy in the form of porridge, with some fruit. When you’re out on the bike you should be taking on around 40g of carbs…