Articles

 A raft of info to help you on and off your bike

The following articles have been compiled to help you become a better cyclist, whether you are a novice buying your first bike, or an Olympic  Champion, the search for knowledge never stops. Here we hope to bridge the gaps between science, experience and performance. Trial and error may go a long way,  but here you can learn from the errors made by a number of cyclists and scientists to make you rise towards great potential rapid!

Successful cycling doesn’t just stem from ability on the bike. British Cycling have dominated the track cycling world with their motto “an accumulation of marginal gains”. One should consider positioning on the bike, nutrition, tactics, strategy, planning and understanding oneself.

All this information does little good unless you remain committed to cycling. I repeat myself constantly when talking to clients about the three C’s; Consistency, Consistency, Consistency. If you follow the four fundamental steps to training, I guarantee you will become a better athlete:

1.     Know yourself. Acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses. If you are a poor climber, are you wiling to spend time on the hills to improve your ability? What will keep you going when times are tough?

2.     Set goals and targets? The old adages “if you don’t know where you’re going how d’ya know when you’ve got there?” and “Failing to plan is planning to fail” couldn’t be more apt.

3.     Be tough on yourself. What are you willing to give up in order to achieve your goals? Will you do long rides in the winter? Will you work out in a gym?

4.     Have a plan. Do you have a year long schedule, designed to peak performance at certain points throughout the year? Do you keep a training diary?

We all have potential to improve. Training is literally about stressing your body and teasing out gains. It is the way in which we do this that gets us results. Over the coming months I will add a series of articles that will build up a library that you can use to reference and build you own training goals and knowledge around.