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RACING Programmes |
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Training for events such as the Etape (the amateur version of the Tour de France)
Tour Photos by kind permission of/and copyright Dave Lawrance: http://www.davelawrance.co.uk As one British Cycling Coach says, the following principals hold true: 1. When you train, you train your body to do whatever it needs to do in the race you are training for - i.e. if you are riding a ten mile commute twice a day at an average of 15 miles per hour, that is what you are training your body to do in a race or event. 2. Conversely, if you identify what you wish to achieve in an event or race, then you can identify what you need to do in terms of training so if you set yourself a goal of riding twenty miles at average of 20mph then training aiming to do just that gradually building up your training routine, going into progressive overload.
To know the rules, British Cycling publish rule books which are downloadable by clicking here and gives you the rules for the various disciplines. Likewise, so does UCI, they are international governing body for cycling and it is their rules that are applied at events like the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and various Tour(s) such as the Tour de France for example.
Click on the link to meet the team of professionals including Wendy Houvenaghel and Nicole Cooke and read their blogs from the Olympics. In 2008 Team Halfords Bikehut secured Olympic, World and three National Road Championship titles, a World Road Championship title while riding Boardman bikes! For 2009 the team are once again competing and training on Boardman bikes for both road and off road events. Also Bradley Wiggins, Mark Cavendish and Chris Hoy have now all published their biographies as well Nicole Cooke's two books on cycling and health. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Check out this link .. http://www.everydaycycling.com/edc/news/WiseWords/20080506_etape_training.aspx
Cyclists who want to take the sport to the next level tend to gravitate towards road racing. For many indeed this is how they caught the two-wheel bug in the first place. Every child who ever picked up a tennis racket will tell you it was Wimbledon that first captured their imagination. In the world of cycling, it is the sight of the Tour de France leaders battling their way down the final few metres of the Champs Elysée, faces contorted in determination as they summon up the last dregs of energy from their calves to reach the finish line. Interest in the Tour during the course of the past 10 years has been driven, as with so many other sports, by the television broadcasters that have recognised the unique drama that each stage of a major road race can produce. The famous yellow jersey claimed by the winner of the Tour may be out of reach for 99% of those that take up the sport, but it is emblematic of the physical and mental heroism needed to put the body to the test over such a gruelling schedule.
If all these challenging aspects of road racing simply make you hungry to get started as quickly as possible, how do you do it? A good starting point may be membership of a cycling organisation. This can also point you in the direction of a local club, and lists the major UK national and international events on the road racing calendar. The starting point for road racing should be locating and joining a local club. Not only will you have access to events for all ranges of ability but the fact that you will be surrounded by fellow enthusiasts will mean that you are never far from either encouragement or advice.
However there is a down side, some road racers don't have particularly good bike control skills for everyday riding due to only ever riding on closed circuits ........ that has come to light because two such people have approached a colleague here in the south, to go back to basics for precisely that reason. Road racers who only participate in such races, being used only to having the roads closed off do not think about traffic so can concentrate on their speed and tactics instead. Any budding racers amongst us, could do a lot worst than to get some help coaching to get yourselves into shape. Another useful link is http://www.britishcycling.org.uk which will give you the rules of road racing etc., who knows with the 2012 Olympics being home grown, perhaps now is the time to find out what you are really made of? Those of you in the Falmouth region, BikeRadar.com have come up with this 65.4km route from Falmouth to Helston to Goonhilly and back to Falmouth again .. *check it out! Check out an article on the Everyday Cycling website - it makes for interesting reading. It's about training for the Etape du Tour and is written by someone who lives in the Pennines but appears to be nameless. No contact is given either but it appears the author had only ever ridden 50 miles in a day previously and was in his mid thirties when he made the commitment.
*Falmouth - Helston - Goonhilly- Falmouth - 65.4km It's title on it's own is interesting although a little confused by the way it's written however I read it as 'Preparing for the Etape du Tour with the aim of finishing .. with something to spare'. Golooksee at http://www .everydaycycling.com/edc/news/WiseWords/20080506_etape_training.aspx Another site, although it is an American site which you can subscribe to or not as the case may be, is http://www.roadbikerider.com/index.htm which will also give you access to Road Bike Rider's eBookstore for different aspects of training from technical issues to strength training and racing to nutrition. And check this out, again from BikeRadar.com about training and the exercise physiology effect on your body, in terms of 'getting some air'. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BOOKS ON THE SUBJECT: to name just a few, from Amazon or similar although I have not read any of them so they are not on personal recommendation .. .. Tour Photos by kind permission of Dave Lawrance © 1991 - 2008: http://www.davelawrance.co.uk
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I
know some very fit cyclists enjoy participating in various
Cyclo Sportive events when time permits. When I asked
someone I know who does it he replied:
Road racing takes
place on both public highways and circuits, and
distances and course difficulty vary depending on both
age, ability and sex. The discipline is not simply a
test of basic cycling ability and stamina, but tactics,
mental strength and specific skills, for example,
sprinting or handling steep gradients. In some events,
riders work in teams, which calls for individual
interests to be put to one side in favour of the group.
A race may be split over a number of days, or stages.
This requires both physical and mental discipline in
planning strategy for the entire duration of the event
to avoid burn-out and being able to handle the
psychological challenge of spending a number of hours in
the saddle at a single stretch.
Always remember that
road racing skills are acquired over time, and there are
no short cuts to avoid having to follow the learning
curve. Developing at a steady pace means both skills and
experience will be acquired at the same rate, producing
a more rounded rider ready for the progressively more
difficult challenges that each event presents. Even if
you never get within touching distance of a yellow
jersey, reaching personal goals is a more modest but
nevertheless equally heroic pursuit.
