Cycling Training and Lessons
With the onset of spring the amount of cycling I’m doing is ever increasing. Completely against my will, but as I have described before, all of us who cycle together on a Sunday sneak off on other days of the week for a bit of quiet practice. There is no choice, since as soon as one person does it, we all have to, or be left far behind.This has escalated, since I have now started to do my ‘unofficial’ practice with one of the others on a Wednesday, so I also have to do my even more unofficial practice on a Monday and Friday. Worse, the practice used to be me alone, cruising gently through the countryside on a nice gentle ride - now, like on Sundays, it is a long hard fast slog. So I am more or less always on my bike, or recovering from it.
I am also increasingly aware that everyone else I cycle with is munching through dried apricots and energy bars, while I have an occasional sip of water, so I am going shopping soon for a wide range of dried fruits. Mrs B has bought me something experimental that I can add to my water and will apparently increase my performance by 19%. Completely legal as well (it’s from the supermarket), I’ll be amazed if it works but it’s worth a try.
There is a big difference between this type of cycling and the leisure cycling I did when I was younger. Those days a hill was to be feared, approached slowly, and then ridden up as slowly as the bike would allow without actually falling over. Now a hill is a highlight, to be raced at and conquered as quickly as possible.
As part of my studies of cycling I have learned quite a lot, so I will condense it here for you into a couple of simple rules, in case you too feel like torturing yourself twice a week. I am sure you agree it would be a crime to live in France and not be a cyclist, so this might help you get started. In part obvious, but follow these and you won’t go far wrong:
1. If you want to be a better cyclist, get on your bike as often as possible and get cycling.
2. Always pedal fast. You can choose the easiest gear you like to help you along, but you should almost always be pedalling at 90 pedal turns per minute (’cadence’, as we cyclists like to call it). This puts the pressure on your cardio-vascular system, which is stronger than, and can recover faster than, your legs and knees. This speed of pedalling should be more or less maintained uphill, downhill and on the flats. It is a constant rhythm that you are looking for, not bursts of pain and bursts of pleasure.
3. Return to point 1. Yes, that’s all there is to it.
So go get your Penny Farthing out of the garage - you don’t need a superlightweight handmade titanium frame with carbon-fibre wheels quite yet - and take it for a spin. Start with 10-15 kilometres or whatever seems OK for you - a little less perhaps if you live in high mountains - do that a few times, then start extending the distances slowly. In no time at all you’ll have Lance Armstrong on the phone asking for good advice.
I’ll see you at the Tour de France, and remember: hills are your friends, pain is your friend.
