Those of you who watched the Olympics last year (so that’s pretty much everybody, unless you managed to get one of the seemingly mythical “great deals on a foreign holiday while everyone else is glued to the plasma screen”..) will remember the cycling road race for some great rides and exciting racing. Lizzie Armistead’s silver medal ride in the rain was, for me, one of the stand-out rides in recent years. Up against the undisputed best rider in the world, Marianne Vos, Armistead proved that she is an all-rounder and a formidable talent. Like Nicole Cook in the Beijing Olympics 2008, Armistead again showed that women’s racing is every bit as exciting as the men’s, and getting faster too!
Cav’s ride in the road race prompted a lot more discussion about team tactics and the, quite frankly, dubious winner! However, as most people said at the time, which nation was going to drag the fastest sprinter in the world over the course only to have him beat your sprinter by a country mile at the end? That, unfortunately, is road racing, negative or not….
A bonus of the Olympic legacy is having the opportunity to ride the road race course and conquer the legendary Box Hill in the Prudential RideLondon 100 http://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/Prudential_RideLondon___Events/Prudential_RideLondon-Surrey_100.htm
This challenging ride also features the opportunity to ride on closed roads (Wow! Closed roads for a cycling event in Britain! How far cycling has come…) in the hours before the Professional race comes through. This makes it a battle against the clock for most people, with a maximum time of 9 hours allowed.
To put this into context, Marianne Vos rode the women’s race at 26.9 miles per hour for just under 87 miles. The men’s road race over 155 miles was ridden at an average speed of 26.09 mph. Now doesn’t that make you feel a little inadequate? BUT for anyone who is riding an event for a time (that could be to beat your previous time or just to get round in the cut-off time) the effort level to reach your goal is the same – 100% over the distance. Now clearly that doesn’t mean start at a sprint, do the first 200m like Jason Kenny then slow to 7mph for the remaining 99.whatever miles…no, you have to pace correctly based upon what you know about your own limits and this has to be set in training. Even experienced riders can get carried away when they are in an event of this size – jump on a fast group at 15 miles in, hammer the hills like you’re Nibali, experience that “legs beginning to feel like lumps of wood” sensation at 60 miles then limp home after numerous re-fuelling stops. So…what’s the answer? Well, don’t get too carried away and try everything out in training – nutrition, climbing strategy, heart rate strategy, equipment and clothing, everything!
This year I am pleased to be helping a number of riders towards their goals in this particular event. One is Ben Connelly and he has been very kind in making this contribution to the blog. Ben is riding for a charity close to my own heart – they helped his Dad when he was young as they helped my Mum when I was 22. If you want to help Ben raise funds then his page is here http://www.justgiving.com/BenConnolley
Ben will be contributing again to the blog nearer the event – here is his diary to date and I hope it helps those of you who are reading this post and toying with the idea of riding a long event!
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In the summer last year, I watched an advert on TV for the first ever RideLondon event. Feeling pretty lazy and, if we’re being honest, overweight, I decided that I needed a challenge. Before I knew it, I’d registered, selected a charity to ride for that was close to my Heart and I was in! I’d signed up to ride 100 miles on a modified version of the Olympic road race course in August.
The confirmation of a place came at the end of February and I decided that, if I’m going to tackle this properly, bike fitness needs drastic improvement. I put together a 4 month training programme that I felt would work. However, with little knowledge of putting together a structured plan and knowing the finer details of training with a turbo trainer, I thought it best to send it to Tim at Black Cat Cycle Coaching. As I had thought, the plan needed work!
Firstly, I needed to know when I could train and what the best type of training was for me. The first session of course, was to find out what my maximum heart rate was – that was an interesting session! It wasn’t long before Tim sent over a structured programme that fitted in with a busy work life and enabled me to work to a structure that was tailored to me.
Being a guy who likes his gadgets, and one who my father always though had too many fads, I decided to treat myself to a few toys to help the motivation. Although pricey, I bought a Garmin 500 that spits out all the stats you need and has really helped focus me on the particular training session I’ve got on the go. I then get to bore my wife with the graphs showing heartrate and cadence etc! She tells me it’s very interesting!
So far, I’m about 4 weeks into the training programme; focussed on 2 interval training sessions on the turbo trainer on weekday evenings and a weekend ride. Already I’m noticing the weight drop and having to work a little harder to get my heartrate into a particular zone. It’s an amazing feeling heading out at the weekend feeling as though it’s really paying off, spurred on by the stats on the Garmin and the fantasy that I might, one day, become a pro! My dad also thought I was too much of a daydreamer!
Initially, I found that a stressful day in the office and a long commute didn’t help the programme. I had to make a conscious effort to stick with the plan. Without a structured plan I think my training may already have come unstuck due to time pressures of my work life. However, having turbo trainer sessions that satisfy my training needs and are around an hour long enable me retain a bit of an evening with my wife too. As time goes on, I know some people say that turbo training can be boring, but working to a structured plan really works for me. I can already feel that I actually want to get on the trainer and train!
The first phase of the training plan is almost complete – I’m sure there’s a lot more hard work to come. But, I’m really enjoying this!
Let’s see how the next 4 weeks go!”
theblackcatscyclingwhiskers 