Professional Cycling

The seasons are changing signaling the end of another year of competition. Hopefully you have taken a little away from training to refresh your mind and body for the important work ahead in the off-season. The next phase of training will involve strength training and other specific cross training activities to begin preparing for next season. While events are still fresh in your mind it’s a good time to look back on the season and decide what you need to focus on for the next year.

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Intense exercise causes all manner of damage and demolition to muscle and other cells and systems in the body responsible for immune function, energy metabolism. Your intake of protein must be sufficient to affect repair of this damage on almost a daily basis. Even though protein does have an energy yield of 4 calories per gram it is not to be considered an energy source in the athletic diet. Protein’s job is to repair, rebuild and replenish.

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Recovery rides are an integral part of you weekly training plan but they do not need any specific nutritional consideration. Recovery rides are a chance to chill out and just enjoy some easy miles and social riding with friends or teammates. Since these rides are generally under one hour no there are no special energy requirements. If you want to take a snack along that’s fine. Otherwise stop by the local coffee house and relax with and little java and a yummy pastry. Fluids are always an important consideration on the bike so take a bottle and sip on it along the way. Plain water is fine.

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Bringing back the “Good Ole’ Days”. Applying the old school art of “feel” in the modern training environment. Thankfully, there are a few old school, fundamental principles about cycling performance and training that never seem to loose their polish. For example, the importance of recovery is making a strong comeback. Much to the delight of many coaches, myself included. Another old school concept that is regaining popularity is developing the ability to make decisions about your workload based on accurate perceived exertion or “feel”. The simple art of monitoring the work you do on the bike by feel is experience a modern day renaissance.

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One of the best features of road and mountain bikes is that you can change gears (chain ring/cog combinations) to suit the terrain and conditions, which allows you to maintain a steady pedaling rate, or cadence, regardless of whether your bike is going fast or slow. This is a good thing, since we all intuitively know that both pedaling too slowly or too fast is not as good as pedaling at the right cadence. But knowing what that optimal cadence is for each of us and learning how to ride at that cadence is another matter. Let’s see what expert coaches and sports scientists have to say about this, and then let’s figure out how to use that information to make us better cyclists.

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Interval training will be your most strenuous training activity of the weekly cycle. On other rides you are concentrating on endurance and aerobic development and using oxidative metabolism for most of your energy supply. The focus now shifts to anaerobic metabolism and the use of greater amounts of carbohydrate.

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The conditions you train and race can have a dramatic effect on how you perform. Heat, cold, rain, wind, humidity and altitude can all have adverse effects on your performance. However, if you are well prepared for the elements they will have less of a negative effect on your performance and in some cases can even become an ally for you in the race. In all cases just a little extra planning can make a big difference.

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As the competition season draws to a close you need to start thinking about what you are going to do in the off-season to build a strong foundation for next year. By following a few simple steps you will be able to end your season on a positive note and set the stage for a great off-season program.

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With an energy yield of 9 calories per gram, dietary fat, or fatty acids, is a major source of energy in the endurance athlete diet. The energy molecules in the fat called triglycerides constitute the majority of the fat you consume in your diet. Cholesterol, or lipids, makes up the remainder and are more involved in building and maintaining healthy cells. Despite the hysteria in recent years dietary fat is essential for good health. Fat provides energy, insulation and padding for our bones and internal organs and contribute to a strong immune system.

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Regardless of your particular riding interest there is no better way to start the season than several days of full immersion, laser beam focused time in training camp. Pro teams hold pre-season training camps every year to introduce the new riders and staff to the system and help everyone start the season on the same page. For us mere mortals, organized cycling camps are fast becoming a very popular way to learn about the benefits of structured training and how the application of modern sports science can improve our development. In addition to learning camp also provides many hours of the pure joy and fun of just riding your bike and being looked after by a professional staff. Training camps come in all shapes and sizes and price ranges. Depending on what you are looking and how much money you want to spend there is a camp program out there for you.

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