​During the past 21 years or so I have been privileged to have had the opportunity to training with many different training groups both locally and international. Usually these are great experiences but every so often there are situations caused by riders not familiar with general group riding etiquette let alone the “code of conduct” of that particular group.
 
Whether you are a road cyclist, mountain biker, triathlete or a track rider, at some stage you will and SHOULD be doing group rides.
 
The group dynamics are interesting and ever changing. As the pace and terrain changes the pack stretches and compresses like a rubber band. You have to remain alert at all times as this rubber band effect of a group can cause some very tight quarters and even the occasional crash…
To be safe, its important to ride smoothly, don’t over react, avoid hard braking, be alert and anticipate what the traffic will do.
Inexperienced riders who panic or touch a wheel may crash or cause a crash; however by following these simple rules you can help to avoid these situations:
 

1. Stay alert at all times
2. Hold your line
3. Don't overlap wheels
4. Don't look back
5. Relax
6. Focus on the rider(s) ahead
7. Beware of potholes in the road
8. Don't brake unless absolutely necessary
9. Pass carefully
10. Always move through the pace-line at a steady pace and make sure you are clear of the front rider before moving across

 
When riding in a group it's important that the group acts as “one” so that other road users are not surprised by an unexpected move by one or two riders.
 
The leader(s) of the group will usually announce that the ride is starting and move off slowly. The other riders will fall in behind and take up position two abreast. As all riders fall into position the speed should slowly increase.

The lead riders should rotate off the front frequently to avoid fatigue. If you are tired, rotate through the front quickly. If you are feeling comfortable on the front, spend a little longer on the front rather than riding faster, but do remember your partner. The group rotates anti-clockwise when the outside lead rider accelerates to move up and across in front of the inside rider. The outside riders all move forward one place while the inside riders move back a place. The inside rear rider moves over to become the tail rider.

The lead riders call out hazards such as bumps, gravel, potholes, road kill (etc) and point out the position of the hazard so that the following riders know on which side to pass. This information is passed on down the line to ensure that everyone is aware of what hazards are ahead.
 
When riding uphill, its best to adjust your speed to that of the slowest rider to maintain formation. If the formation breaks up on longer hills, riders should stop at the top to allow the group to re-form. Don't leave slower riders behind as they will not catch up and their safety may then be at risk.
 
The tail rider must indicate when there is a car behind the group. If it's dangerous to overtake he should attempt to delay the car until the front rider indicates that its safe to overtake.
 
When approaching a single rider or a slower group from behind, check that the way is clear then pass allowing plenty of room. Do not cut in front of the riders you have just passed. If there is oncoming  traffic and the road is not wide enough for both groups side-by-side, then the group leader should either wait until its safe or change to single file and then pass. If there is traffic following the group, the tail rider should indicate that the group is going to overtake and that the following traffic should wait.
 
From past and sometimes bitter experiences, I know its not always easy to communicate the groups intentions to motorists, however if you stick to the golden rule that the group acts as “one” the chances of achieving this are better.
 
So, why ride in a group? Well, other than the safety benefits, there is the aerodynamic benefit.
 
When riding at over 25km/h the major factor restricting movement is air resistance. To overcome this air resistance, up to 80% of the cyclists total power output is used and a “small increase in speed” requires an exponential increase in power output. By riding in formation, you shield the following riders from the wind thus allowing them to “draft” or “slipstream” and ride at the same speed using less energy. Using oxygen uptake as a measurement of improved performance, riding behind one rider reduces oxygen uptake by around 18 percent, and by up to 39 percent for a group of 8 riders. There is some variance in the aerodynamic benefit depending on bunch size, speed and the gaps between the cyclists.
 
In addition to this aerodynamic gain, training cyclists enjoy more social riding in groups with a “gentleman's agreement” that each rider will take their turn in the lead. Bunch riding allows slower cyclists to ride faster and further than they would be able to alone thus permitting riders of varying fitness levels to train together.
 
One final point that should be mentioned is that if you are on your time trial bike do NOT ride on the aerobars in a group as you have very limited bike control while in an aerodynamic position placing yourself and other riders at risk.
Experienced riders may feel comfortable riding at the back of the bunch or just hammering away on the front , however it is not recommended and you did not hear it from me...:-)
 
Until next time...
Ride safe

Let’s face it, cycling is a great sport and pastime, especially when the sun is shining and the sky is blue, however getting out of bed when you know it’s below freeing outside can be a challenge.
 
So, why do we do it?
There are many reasons, but for some the biggest reason has to be the fear of loosing all their hard earned fitness because they know is gonna hurt like hell trying to get it back.. :-)

Another obvious reason would be the fact that with winter we all tend to eat a little more “comfort foods” than required and this tends to result in a few extra kilos that we as athletes can ill afford. Speaking of weight, there is no “magic formula” when it comes to weight loss. Its all about input – output!!!
Simply put, if you eat more calories than your body is utilizing, you will put on weight and visa versa. Obviously what you eat will have an impact on your ability to perform but that is beyond the scope of this article…
 
Now that we have an “idea” of why we train through winter, achieving this is often easier said than done.
At the start of winter so many riders have great plans of just what training they will be doing, how they are going to do it… bla, bla, bla… Once the first cold snap hits, they find an excuse why they should NOT train and the next thing they know… its spring, and all is lost… Sound familiar?
 
The best advice I can give is for you to set yourself some goals. These goals can be a mid-winter race or two but a more important race towards the end of winter or early spring is vital. The mid-winter races are there to help with the motivation and should be used more as a “hard training ride” than as a “win at all costs” race. Having an important race towards the end of winter will help give you a valid reason to train. So, when you are looking for a reason why you should NOT train, think of that important goal.

With the lack of light and freezing temperatures, winter also presents you with a perfect opportunity to get in some good cross-training. Along with the obvious cardiovascular benefits, cross-training helps maintain balance skills, muscle strength, hand-to-eye co-ordination and an improved range of motion.
If you have the facility, then a little gym work should be good for you. You don’t really want to add any weight or pack on bulk so keep the weights low and the reps high. Focus on your core and upper-body but don’t forget to stretch…  

Ply-metrics, Pilates and yoga along with your general circuit training should fit the bill. While cycling may not help you build your core, a good core will help improve your cycling as it aids your cycling technique and will help improve your power.

Running is also excellent as it will give you a tough cardio workout in a limited amount of time while also helping with your bone-density.

Swimming, hiking, skiing and ice-skating are other good examples of sports that will benefit your cycling come the summer months, don’t worry about a structured program, just have some fun and go for it!
 
Another “trick” I use with my athletes is to give them shorter more intense workouts during the week and then let them get in their longer slower rides over the weekend.
The fact that these week day rides are shorter makes it easier for them to be completed on an indoor-trainer. If the weather is “acceptable” however, make a commitment to a training partner and set a time and place to meet before hand. Why, well if you break your commitment you are not only letting yourself down, you are letting your training partner down, and THAT is not “cool”!!!

If you have problems with a runny nose in cold weather, here is a tip for you. Vasomotor rhinitis occurs when cold air makes your nose run, but nasal spray works well to help prevent this. Just make sure that what you are using is not on the banned list of substances :-)

On the weekend, you should have a little more time available so find a group that will enable you to get in some longer rides at a “controlled” pace and not at “race pace’… It’s ok to have a few “sprints” or surges here and there but you don’t want to be hammering it all day long. If you feel the pace is too high, sit in, get sucked along and enjoy the company that only a group ride can give. If you feel that the ride is too slow, then get on the front and do some work. Remember though that this is not a race, so ride within your training zones. Cycling is a sport that has a fair amount of etiquette so make sure the group you are riding in suites your needs. You don’t want to be the "that rider" messing it up for everyone else!
 
Those of you with a little extra time could look at a cycling training camp, preferably in a warmer climate. The objective behind these training camps should not be to simply “ride yourself into a coma” but rather to get in some steady miles over a rolling terrain. The change of scenery and added camaraderie will do wonders for your motivation and obviously aid your winter training.
 
On a final note, you don’t get bad weather you only get bad clothing… :-)

Ride safe, 

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined pretty much the entire world would be forced into lockdown. That sort of carry on only ever happens in Hollywood, right? … Wrong,  2020 took care of that!!!

For the majority of us, our training has been limited to indoors, for others limited outdoor training has been allowed provided we remained within our bubbles and geographical region.

At this point in time racing and events in general are pretty much on a wait and see basis. 
Not ideal for you as an athlete or for your coach as training with a plan is always the best way to achieve those results.

Now that I have gotten the doom and gloom out of the way, there does appear to be some light at the end of the tunnel. Restrictions in parts of the world are starting to lift and hopefully sooner rather than later the world will be returning to a new normal. 

With this in mind, as an athlete you need to start thinking about your training not only going forward but just as importantly what have you been able to achieve whilst still in lockdown? 

I was amazed at the incredible rides athletes were able to achieve indoors and while I can't really agree with the logic behind them I do tip my hat in admiration. I guess it's fair to say mental toughness has been taken to new heights. I was also taken back by the amount of intensity so many riders were training at day after day. All I can really say to this is as with most things in life, moderation is almost always the best approach.

​If you are lucky enough to have some indication when your racing is likely to resume I would highly recommend adjusting your training accordingly. Now is the perfect time to chat with your coach and get the remainder of the season dialed in.

If you have not yet made the commitment to getting a coach another option could be to purchase an online training plan. Again, think about what your training has been like over the past month or two, then decide on what you are expecting to achieve on the bike and choose a suitable plan that will help you achieve that.

As a small token of our appreciation to our athletes and friends we would like to offer a 15% discount on all our online training plans purchased from now until the end June 2020. Simply use the discount code Covid.
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Stay safe and happy training. 

As I've previously mentioned I'm not really a fan of riding indoors however, with the lockdown I did spend a fair amount of time training inside.
As a cycling coach and a rider who has pretty much always ridden to a structured workout having my PC screen "showing me" the watts I needed and my smart trainer trainer making all the resistance changes really did make the workouts "easy".
By this I mean I never had to think about my training, I just rode and my PC and trainer made sure I stuck to the plan.
With Level 3 came a little less restriction so I decided it was time to hit the road once again.... freedom never felt soooo good... :-) 
As good as it was, I suddenly realized that I was struggling to remember just what I had to do, in many ways I felt I was riding blind. In the old days, I would just write what I needed to do on a piece of tape and stick that on my stem and away I went. 
Well, this got me thinking, I have all the technology why not simply load it into my Garmin and take all the guess work out of it, hence this weeks blog as I'm sure I'm not the only one with a memory like a sieve... :-)

As I use TrainingPeaks and a Garmin Edge 520 when riding a quick Google search gave me the info I needed to get myself sorted. Obviously you would need to read up on the system you are using. 

Having used this on a few rides now, I can say with confidence that it does work way better than the old masking tape on the stem trick. It's simple enough to setup and really does help you hit your numbers.

A few pointers before heading out, for sure if its a basic ride, something like a recovery or aerobic workout where its pretty simple to remember your numbers I would not bother but add in some intervals and a bit of mental and physical fatigue and for sure you will start to struggle to recall everything that's required.

Another thing I would look at doing is opening up your workout in TrainingPeaks before you upload it to your Garmin and enable your "lap" button to determine just when you start the interval phase of your workout especially if you have some traffic to navigate or need to ride a few extra miles to find an appropriate section of road that's both safe and practical.

Once you are riding you can scroll through your Garmin pages as normal and at the start of each step you will be notified by a beep (actually 5) with the targets flashing up visually as well. 

It's also important to note that you can set this up for power, heart rate or perceived exertion. 

The link below is the YouTube clip that I used to navigate my way through the setup.
https://youtu.be/_j2LkXqNArw

I hope you find this to be useful, now all you have to do is get out there and ride... :-)

Ride safe & enjoy
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