Over the last 6 months, I’ve really focussed on pushing my cycling endurance. I’ve learned a lot in that time and made plenty of mistakes, in this post, I try and give some advice on how to start cycling further.
Goal Setting
Goals are essential to your motivation. It’s a lot easier to pull yourself out of bed at 6AM on a Saturday morning if you know exactly what your doing it for. Additionally, they help give some structure to your training as you can make your training more specific; if you know your aim is an everesting, long, flat rides might not be as useful as slightly shorter, but more hilly rides.
I think it’s essential to be ambitious with your goal setting – even if it seems impossible know, if your really want to do it, with focus, you’d be surprised at how quickly you can achieve your goal. If it seems too massive and out of reach, try breaking it down into smaller sub-goals that you can tick off each week, and gradually, that big goal will start to seem more achievable.
Train Specific – Train Hard
Specificity when training is essential. Build up your fitness based around what you want to achieve – don’t spend your whole time doing short, punchy group rides if your aim is a double century. I’ve found that trying to spend as much time at a similar intensity to the final ride, over similar terrain, will make it a lot easier to feel strong and comfortable throughout the big day.
Additionally, aim to pinpoint your weaknesses and train them as much as possible. On a recent half-everesting, I knew that climbing out of the saddle on one of the steep sections was going to be tricky for me throughout the day, so I spent lots of time climbing out of the saddle, trying to get used to that sort of effort and normalise it.
Training hard is also important. Every hour you spend in the saddle will help to build you as a cyclist and prepare you for the big day…
Gear doesn’t matter
I don’t have a flashy road bike. It’s a simple, aluminium, endurance bike with 105. It has never stopped me from achieving my goals as a cyclist and gear should never be a barrier to stop you from achieving yours.
I rode to Paris on a £250 Carrera Zelos. Not the most comfortable, fast, or reliable bike but it did the job well enough. Will a fast, flashy bike make it easier? Yes. Will a bike stop you from achieving your goals? Absolutely not.
The only thin that is crucially important when it comes to kit is comfort. If you’re sore after a 2 hour ride, it might be wise to adjust your fit a little…
Nutrition
Nutrition is very personal. I’ve always found that I struggle to take in a lot of calories at once when I’m out riding so I tend to stick to smaller snacks throughout. Conversely, a friend of mine prefers a handful of big meals at rest stops. Try different strategies and find the one that works best for you.
Make sure you don’t try anything new on the big day. Untested food and nutrition strategies may lead to some severe discomfort. I made the poor decision of switching to a new brand of gel before a long ride and had to battle a stomach ache for the last 60km or so…
Sending it…
The biggest advice I can give is to go out there and do it. It’s easy to be intimitated and decide to reduce the milage or do something easier, but I guarentee you it’s worth the effort. There is something magical about endurance cycling that I don’t think anyone can really capture in words. The only way to find out, is to go out on an adventure yourself…
Oscar Outdoors 