Ride time

Last week we spoke of Spring being ride time. With the triathlon season coming around fast, we need to make the most of our investment. The things I always consider before I ride are-

Preparation

• The night before I make sure my bike and everything I need for the ride are in order, especially what clothes I might need and that everything is charged.  
• And I make sure I am clear on the course we are riding.

Nutrition,

• while there may be some merit in occasionally trying the no carb thing, inevitably if the body wants to work hard it needs to be fueled by carbohydrate. Carbs provide energy quicker and at a higher rate than fat, so your challenge is to make sure, your muscle and liver glycogen stores are topped up and you supply the body with enough carbohydrate during the ride to conserve these stores.
• So, it starts the day before where you top up on carbohydrates (anything up to 8-10grams of carb per kg or body mass). I would also load up on a significant amount of carb and potentially some protein before I head out in the morning.
• Once the ride gets out over 3-4hrs you need a clear plan for nutrition. It will depend on ride intensity, how big you are and the session purpose, but in training somewhere around 30-60grams per hour of carb would be required and try to eat everything you take with you. Being 30km from home is still a long way when you have been out for 4hrs.
• Fluid is less likely to be an issue while the weather is cooler, unless it is a warmer day, so mostly drinking to thirst will do. However, we don’t stop a lot on the A rides so if you get a chance to top up at a tap, it is always a good idea to drink as much as you can and then refill your bottle.

Purpose and execution

• My aims for now are to smooth out my pedal stroke and work on changing speed with cadence. As I get tired, I am aware that I tend to just stomp on the pedals, yet when I focus on smoothing out the pedal stroke and spinning my legs, it feels much easier, my speed goes up and I am not so laboured.
• Tactically I have a plan for the numbers I want to hold for the ride and how I will ride each climb. I like to press the first climb to get a measure of progress and create a bit of fatigue, but after that I usually hold a lower power number on the climbs, working more on some strength efforts, especially on the steeper climbs.
• As with any hard session there is always a mental game. How to keep on enduring when the body is saying Stop! The positive thing is that I have learnt that everything is salvageable. Sure, I can have bad patches, but little by little I can get things back on track.
• When you climb if you do have to get out of the saddle then make sure you change to a bigger gear first, this will prevent you from falling backwards when you get out of the saddle (affecting anyone on your wheel) and when you are out of the saddle make sure it is the bike that is going side to side not your upper body- that should stay relatively stable.

Recovery

• Post session my legs are cooked. There is significant muscle damage and I am physically tired. So, this is the time to work on recovery strategies.
• Immediately I take on some fluid with protein, carb and electrolytes. Then 30-60minutes later I eat again, usually a big bowl of left over pasta from the night before.
• During winter it works well to dip my legs into my pool (it’s usually sitting at 12-15degrees)
• After that it is about rest, sleep, staying off my legs as much as possible.
• Then it is a matter of whatever else works for me- stretching, compression, rolling, massage…

While the first few rides have smashed me a bit, I know that each week I will adapt. Give it 4-6 weeks I should be fit enough to train and then we can get into some serious training.