Chris Hursey

When I was a teenager, growing up in Leeds, music was a big part of my life. As the 70’s ended and the 80’s begun I discovered simultaneously the joys of Tommy’s cycling café in Otley and the charms of heavy metal music. In the same way that the most incredibly distracting and, usually, appalling song pops into your head when you are training hard I find that certain songs stay with me over the years…..bear with me here.

The coach’s role is to motivate, encourage and plan the best possible programme for his or her riders. As I’ve said before, I can plan a fabulous progression of sessions and bring clients to their  peak performance. However, they still have to pedal hard and I am not involved in that “business end” of things! So, going back to the music and 1980: I used to go and see a lot of heavy metal bands and one of them was a local band called Factory. They had a song (a pretty bad one, sorry guys) called “You are the music, we’re just the band” and this still plays in my head on my Wattbike or in a TT. Why am I mentioning it now (other than to get the attention of anyone who was around in Leeds at this time and is searching frantically for references to the band on search engines)? Well, that’s me (the band) and that’s you (the music); you being the rider I’m coaching……I can only plan, you bring it together!

In no other sense is this better illustrated than when you look at someone who works ungodly hours, lots at night or early morning starts, and is still training for a major event and sticking to the programme! Enter Chris Hursey, his story is here:

“As a school boy and into my teens I was always a keen  cyclist, travelling around the district for something to do on my 10 speed  racer
which was stuck in 10th gear! Good for hill  training!!

When I grew up ( some say I haven’t) cycling went by the  wayside as I got a job and moved around the country.

In February  2010 I was persuaded by a friend, who is a Cat 3, rider to clean off the  cycling clips and start to find the pedals again. I hadn’t been completely idle as I was a regular visitor to the gym where I did CV work but was mainly  lifting weights. My weight at the time was around 189 lbs.

During  the following 18 months I ditched the weights and concentrated on CV work on the  gym bike. I started riding out on a road bike, which was given to me, and during  this time I completed a 70 and 100 mile sportive, but suffered with back  problems. This was due to the bike being too big for me so it was time to  invest in a new bike. How I love a 0% credit card!

During this  period I was thinking of what I could do to in my 50th year and decided that I  would tackle the Etape du Tour. I told lots of people who were full of  encouragement so the deal was done. The only problem was I was not very good at  going up hills and it was too late to back out. It was at this time  that I decided I needed help and through my membership of Deal Tri I came into  contact with Tim.

I booked a FT test with Tim which I did in  November 2011. This gave Tim all the data he needed to work with a 48 year old  and I was very pleased when he didn’t fall over laughing, a true professional!  We spoke at length about my home and work life which gave Tim the insight he  needed to prepare for my personalised training program. This we agreed at the  time would start in January after all the Christmas feeding and after I had  laser eye surgery.

I work as a train driver for Eurotunnel and  do shifts with a 6 on 4 off pattern for 15 weeks then a 4 on 2 off pattern for 5  weeks. The shifts start anywhere form 4am right through to 6pm so fitting  training in can sometimes be very difficult.

I email Tim every week  with the my training stats for the week done, and then give him my shift times  for the following week so he can prepare my training program around these.  There are times when it is very difficult to fit the training in. This  could be because I’m late back from work or I have to give it up to spend time  with my very understanding wife and 5 year old daughter, or because I am totally  exhausted!

I turned 50 on April 15th and hopefully I am almost  ready for my challenge.  I have come out of the winter  training feeling strong and lean. My weight has dropped considerably,  despite trying to eat enough calories and I now weigh around 162 lbs. and  have a new wardrobe!

The training program always has a turbo  equivalent so during our great winter there was no excuse for not getting on the  bike. When I first met Tim I explained to him that I was a bit like a dog. I am  able to run after a ball but I can’t throw it!! That’s how I have  treated  this training. I don’t have to think about it I’ve just got to pedal. Sounds  easy but the training has been relentless.

For anyone who is  thinking of taking up training  to achieve a goal, do it.  My event is just 10 weeks away and I’m under no illusion that my training  schedule is going to be ramped up, but I feel confident that thanks to Tim’s guidance  and my hard work I will reach the  top of the mountain in Annecy.  In  the words of Bradley Wiggins, Train Hard Race Easy.”

I have a number of clients who work shifts. If this is you then keep this maxim in mind: a little every day is better than nothing at all. Even if you only manage 20 minutes on the turbo it will keep you ticking over. When the time comes for more effort or time, remember that rest is as important as training so don’t attempt the training session if you are physically exhausted.

Chris and my other shift working clients always bring REM Day Sleeper into my head when I write their plans. Now…anyone visit the badge shop in the Merrion Centre, Leeds in 1980?

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the Wattbike. When I was looking for a rig to test clients I thoroughly investigated lots of options and, frankly, the Wattbike ticked all the boxes that needed ticking! Because I rate Wattbikes so highly I was delighted to be asked to feature on their blog http://wattbike.com/uk/blog/post/theres_nothing_else_out_there_to_match_the_wattbike .

As I say in the post, the adjustability and real “road feel” of the Wattbike are two of the major plusses for me as a coach (and user – a busy work schedule means that my own training time is limited and precious so I have to make the most of it!) and my clients agree – after they’ve got their breath back! The great thing for a coach is the amount of data you can get from a test – this has really underpinned my riders’ training schedules. It’s no surprise to me that so many riders are using Wattbikes: it’s also no surprise that more and more athletes from other disciplines are too.

Not every rider can work with a power meter. Why the Wattbike is invaluable to me is because test/re-test protocols on BlackCat clients can show progress based on power output for a given heart rate. This shows me the client’s progress and means I can tweak their programme to make them go faster….

Watch here for a future post on my favourite Wattbike workouts for the time-poor! No Wattbike? No power meter? You can also do these on a turbo using heart rate. Just not the same great road feel………

In November 2011 I received an email through the contact section of my cycle coaching website www.blackcatcyclecoaching.com . It was from Ken Jones and he wanted to bring structure to his training with the dual aim of the London2Paris ride and a foray into time trialling.

In our initial consultation it became very clear to me that Ken was going to be great fun to coach – he seemed willing to give me lots of feedback (coaches love this – the more the better) so that I could plan meaningful sessions for him. He was also keen for me to have bike fits (all part of my service) done on his road and TT bikes to optimize the power he could put out in an aero or, in the case of his long sportive targets, road bike position.  This is relatively straightforward to do with a Wattbike: replicate the position on the Wattbike, pedal at a certain wattage, record power and heart rate, change the position, monitor power/HR again and arrive at more power for less effort.

It was also very apparent that Ken had been a class performer in other sports: anyone who has read the fabulous “Feet in the Clouds” by Richard Askwith will know how tough running up mountains is…..here are Ken’s words from my initial rider questionnaire (when I sign a new client I always ask them to provide as much information as possible about their athletic history…or lack of it!) regarding his previous sporting life:

“1990’s, to mid / late – running, mainly mountain running, and orienteering. Competed at elite level in Mountain Marathons (middle of elite field, not top!), usually over about 60 miles in 2 days, best result was 17^th in elite race (KIMM, now the OMM) in 1993 (about 3,000 in whole race). Running road racing times a lot slower (much too short!), best was 34 min for 10k.”

And his mountain climbing, again from the questionnaire:

1980’s – climbing, reasonable standard, best performance was a sub-2 hour climb of the Matterhorn in 1986 (just over 1,000m of roped ascent on rock/snow/ice).

So…Ken was also no slouch on the bike having finished in the first half of the field in the 2006 Etape (Alpe D’Huez) in 40c heat, and finishing 86th out of 800 in The Dragon Ride 130k 2010. He’d also survibed in Group 2 of the London2Paris 2011.

After we had adjusted Ken’s position I got him to work over the winter on specific intervals to build his Functional Threshold – roughly, the power he could sustain for 60 minutes (in turbo training classes I always tell the class members that it’s the pace they could sustain for an hour if someone held a gun to their head….uncomfortable, but do-able!). This would be crucial in developing both his cruising speed for the L2P (don’t forget this also has race sections and Ken was going to be hanging on to the likes of Stephen Roche and Maurizio Fondriest…) and his ability to reduce his personal best times in short distance time trials. We worked first at long “Sweetspot” intervals (read Allen and Coggan’s bible Training and Racing with a Power Meter for more explanation) with decreasing periods of rest, and then added shorter intervals with more recovery at his threshold heart rate. Ken is one of my clients who usues a power meter and so the added metric meant that we could target his threshold power more precisely (and for him, more uncomfortably – heart rate can vary but the meter doesn’t lie!). The result? Faster! Here are Ken’s words…..

“When my running legs finally gave in, aged 53, I decided to focus on cycling, and sought advice from Tim. I’d done a few sportives before, and wanted to improve my performance and try some racing. Tim carried out an initial RAMP test using his Wattbike to determine my training levels and set targeted sessions designed to improve my threshold power. Further RAMP and 12-minute sub max tests showed I was making excellent progress!

2012 was my first season focussing on cycling: a best of 24.03 cut over 3 minutes from my 10 mile time trial time. I also improved my finishing positions in sportives, with a good result of second team (out of 35) in the London to Paris with its racing sections”.

Ken is targeting short to middle distance TT’s for the early part of the season and has a long distance multi-day sportive target at the end. Watch the blog for updates!! And check the picture out below – Ken at the summit of the Matterhorn 1986!

It’s always great to welcome new clients, particularly those who are coming into cycling as a sport which is new to them. The spirit of adventure which humans have always had can sometimes appear to have been obscured a little in this age of technology and instant reward: how nice, therefore, that the (usually!) pleasant pastime of riding a bike can throw up challenges so severe as to motivate individuals to find their physical and mental limits…..

The Etape du Tour is one such challenge and this year Rod Archibald and Tom Sandifer are attempting the event with coaching from BlackCat. Both these young men are also being ably supported by their employer, Canterbury Chartered Accountancy firm Burgess Hodgson http://www.burgesshodgson.co.uk/ . How many other employers would provide the opportunity for staff members riding this type of event to design their own kit and then have it made for them? It’s great to see a firm who are committed to supporting their employees in this way!

Rod and Tom are relatively new to cycling and I first met Rod back in Autumn 2012 when another of my clients referred him to me for a test and some training advice. Rod plays hockey for his home town of Canterbury and has a “can do, will do” attitude towards physical exertion. He loves training and is very competitive. He and Tom will be riding the Etape together but are coming from slightly different places physically and, therefore, have different training programmes. Tom needs to build his engine (not shoddy in the first place at over 320 watts for a 3 min max effort on the Wattbike) in preparation for a long event but, like most people, has limited time to train. Solution? Lots of intensive endurance work: sub-threshold but hard enough to be super-tough for 2-3 hour blocks. Sweetspot, Tempo, Z3….etc etc it’s all in the same ball-park. Working with time-poor clients I have consistently found that this approach gets the best results. Rod, too, needs endurance training but he has an added goal of road racing this year so has to also work on more explosive efforts. As an example, Rod has a dedicated session including 30s-3 min efforts at full-gas, as well as including 10-20s sprints in his longer rides.  Rod has some impressive power, too, having recently improved his w/kg figure to 5.3 with a 3 min max Wattbike test topping 360 watts. There is more to come from both these guys – please watch the blog for posts of their progress.

Tom and Rod share an office and get on really well….however, when they tested together there was a lot of good-natured ribbing about who pulled the best faces during the 3 min test…pics of Rod show he may well have won this one! Or did he?? Newly updated pics of Tom show he can suffer too!!

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