The peloton race in the Elite Circuit Series around a fast circuit in Otley and a catch up with Olympic hopeful Lizzie Armitstead in her home town.
The Elite race. a 2.25 km circuit takes the riders from the start on Bondgate up the short climb of Burras Lane towards Birdcage Walk. With a fast descent down East Chevin Road and Gay Lane and a sharp left turn into Bondgate and the finish.
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Jun 11
4
10 Mile Time Trial Pacing
Pacing a 10 mile time trial is easy, just go as hard as you can until you pass the finish line, right? WRONG! You can actually complete the same course with the same average power, under exactly the same conditions, and finish faster, simply by pacing yourself more effectively.
Go Hard Up Hill, Recover Down Hill
You may have heard of ‘variable pacing’ before, if not I will explain it here. When you get to a climb or long drag, increase your effort, and when you get to a downhill section of the course, reduce your effort and recover slightly. Doing this alone can shave a lot of seconds off your time!
Go Hard into a Headwind, recover with a tailwind
The same strategy applies to the wind, if you are cycling into the wind, increase your effort, and when the wind is behind you, take the opportunity to recover.
Why not go hard down hills, and easier up hills?
I have done the maths, and there is a lot more time to be saved by going harder up hill than down hill. If you increase your effort by 5% along a 1 mile long, 5% hill, you will save 12 seconds. To save 12 seconds going down that same hill, you would have to increase your effort by… over 230% ! You don’t have to take my word for it, just try it and see what happens to your times!
How much harder should you go up hill or into the wind?
You will have to be the judge of how much to increase or decrease your effort by. If you will be cycling into a 30mph head wind for 5 miles, don’t go all out, you need to pace each individual climb and section of road separately. This is why pre-riding a course is a very good idea! As you do more time trials, you will get a better idea of how much you can push yourself.
So that is how you can save more time during a time trial, you may not think it works, but it really does, providing you don’t go too hard too soon!
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May 11
11
Road Cycling – Descending Downhill
One of the most fun and frightening things about road cycling is descending downhill, you can hit speeds in excess of 45mph, even as much as 60mph. Although it is fun to reach those speeds, you need to know how to do so safely; corners, traffic, potholes and gravel could turn a fun descent into a hospital visit or worse.
One of the main dangers of cycling at high speed is that your stopping distance is greatly reduced, and small things such as gravel or small bumps in the road become much more dangerous as your speed increases.
Relax
People have a tendency to tense up and grip the bars like their life depended on it when descending. The problem with this is that every little bump in the road causes your handlebars to be shaken quite dramatically if you tense up. By relaxing your arms, the bike will straighten itself out over any bumps in the road, and you will be able to control it much more easily.
Look Ahead
DO NOT stare at your front wheel as you descend, look far down the road, and look out for potholes or other hazards on the road, and manoeuvre away from them well before you need to. Looking ahead will also help you with cornering, which brings me onto my next point.
Cornering
Cornering is something which you need to gain experience with, no online article will help you corner better, you need to get out on your bike and gain confidence, however here are a few tips: Shave off any excess speed before the corner, do not enter a corner faster than you are comfortable. Next look as far as you can through the corner, if you do this you will automatically lean the bike the correct amount for the corner. Lastly pull the handlebars with your hands, this will increase the amount you can lean and keep the bike under control. Do not be worried about your bike sliding out from under you, a bike with good tyres can be leant to really extreme angles. You need to watch that your pedal doesn’t strike the ground, so don’t try and pedal through the corners, and make sure your outside pedal is at the 6 o’clock position.
Speed Wobble
Some bikes can go into what is called a “speed wobble”, I’m not sure about the exact science behind them, but the way to stop a speed wobble is to lean forward to put more weight over the front wheel, and clamp the top tube between your knees.
Practice
The only way to get better at descending is to do it more often! Start out by going much more slowly than you normally would, and as you gain confidence and experience, start increasing the speed gradually until you can take the descents at full speed.
So that is how to descend downhill on a road bike, the most important things to remember are to not go faster than you are comfortable, relax, and look ahead, especially through corners.
Check out our other advanced cycling techniques
Posted in Road Cycling Techniques Road Cycling Training Tips by .
Apr 11
29
Time Trial Equipment Time Savings
Not mine but it looks good!
When I was at the time trial the other night, my ride was a Planet-X SL Pro Carbon with clip-on aero bars, with standard wheels, nothing fancy.
There were people with aero helmets, skin suits, disc wheels, deep dish wheels etc. and I started thinking “How much time do these actually save?”
From my research, I could only find time savings for professional cyclists (or extremely strong club cyclists!), so for most cyclists the time savings wont be as drastic, but will still be noticeable.
For our hypothetical rider, lets call him “Henry”, Henry is a very strong rider, and has a PB of 22:00 for a 10 mile time trial. (I know that’s a very fast time! But keep reading, you will see how much of a difference aero equipment makes!)
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Apr 11
28
A New Time Trial Personal Best!
No thats not me - I'm in the picture at the bottom of the page
Before last night, my personal best for a 10 mile time trial was 26 minutes 15 seconds, which I set last year.
My target for the year was to do a 10 mile time trial in under 24 minutes before the season was over.
I entered the Barnesbury CC 10 mile time trial, it was a spur of the moment decision, I really had no intentions of participating, especially since I had just had a hard workout the day before.
I signed on and got my number, assembled my bike
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Today we will look at the three advanced abilities, what they are, how and when you should train them, and in which circumstances each ability is needed.
So we’ve covered the 3 basic abilities of road cycling training: Endurance, Force and Speed Skill. Today we will be looking at the three advanced abilities, Muscular Endurance, Anaerobic Endurance and Power. I will repeat what I said in the other post now, because it is very important!
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Apr 11
22
Road Cycling – The 3 Basic Abilities
Endurance, Force and Speed Skill are the three basic abilities, you must be strong in these three areas before moving on to more intense training such as intervals. How can you train these abilities, and what are they? Read on 
At the start of your training year, you want to focus on these three abilities, if you take the time to train those areas properly, you will set yourself up for an excellent season. If you get carried away, and turn your club runs into races, and start to really push yourself to the limit during winter, you will burn out, either mentally, physically or both, before the season even gets going.
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What is periodisation? Why should cyclists follow a periodised training plan? What are the benefits? This will all be explained in this article.
You may have heard someone in your club talk about ‘base miles’ or ‘peaking’, these are just two of the six annual training periods, and will be explained in this article.
You may be wondering why you shouldn’t just train hard all of the time, and whether long steady rides are even necessary.
Periodisation helps you train at the right intensity at the right time of year, achieving your peak fitness during winter when there are very few, if any races is obviously not a good use of your time and effort! You may not even peak at all, and burn out mid-season, by following a structured training plan you can solve these problems!
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Exactly where do the Unparalleled road cycling training tips derive from? From professional riders are the dons and know the event and can advise you how to maximise your performance from each outing. You may be getting an ear full from those wannabes, but they’re not going to be able to tutor you tips on how to correctly train and they’re not going to know techniques to teach you how to reduce the likelihood of injury. If you want to ride like a expert, you have to know the right techniques employed get ahead of the rest You can get those types of road cycling tips by just clicking on the links.
Not everyone who will take up cycling does so because they want to ride like a pro. Many do so because they will really want to up their cardiovascular system output and they desire the discipline to be able to say that they completed the marathon task.
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PERSONAL TRAINER?
Even though there is some price involved, it might be less than you think. And an excellent coach can allow you to reach your potential by customizing a training plan to your needs and goals.
To discover one, ask local shops, cycling clubs, or check in classified ads in cycling mag’s. Some may use phone conferences and information collected with your heart rate monitor and cycle computer.
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Following are a series of coaching guidelines and teaching aids applied by cyclists to enhance their personal effectiveness. Although they are already employed for improving cycling functionality, the ideas could be adapted for other aerobic sports at the same time.
AERO BARS
A nice approach to take the pressure off your hands, add another position for a selections on a road bike, and increase your typical speed about 1 mph with out any additional effort. For distance cycling, this may be the 1 easy accessory which will add the most in your efficiency.
Posted in Bike News Cycling Training Road Cycling Training Tips by .
Aug 10
2
Cadence Cycling Training Tips
If you’re just setting foot into the fascinating sport of road cycling, you may hear the phrase ‘cadence cycling training‘ and not get what it means. It’s just rider lingo meaning how often the pedal turns completely in sixty seconds.
You’ll also see it referred to as RPM or revolutions per minute. That’s an area where people new to cycling fail to understand the importance. Your cadence is the energy unleashed. It’s that smooth stroke that some grasp the power of and it makes them winners.
Some of the professional cyclists and those who’ve been riding for years-can keep a cadence going of 100 rpm without any strain at all. Beginners usually start out below 70 rpm.
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Aug 10
1
Teaching The Kids To Ride
Teaching a kid to ride a bike is easy if you have the correct tools. Put on some training wheels, a dash of patience and a splash of pain (your young children WILL fall) and it may be done within a few days. Weaning your young children off the instruction wheels will be a great deal harder. This dependency created by the wheels will shock and maybe even alarm you.
So, if you’re thinking of better ways on how to teach a kid to ride a bike, then I’ve got a solution.
Do you understand about the reasons that make it incredibly challenging for the children to master the bike. Pedals, for example! Youngsters concentrate all of their time and energy on the pedals instead on focusing on their balance or co-ordination, surely you witnessed it yourself
Posted in Cycling Training Kids Bikes by .
Aug 10
1
A bike without pedals!
A bike without having pedals?! Not so long ago, no-one had heard of such a thing unless it was a bike that was thrown together at home and assuming the idea of putting a chain and pedals on was just a bit too tricky for the DIY daddy or mummy.
Now these bikes are offered for sale as they have been discovered to offer a unique benefit above those which do have pedals. As parents, we’re know the decisions we make today will impact our youngsters for years to come. It’s necessary to take time to contemplate your children’s needs, especially when it comes to relatively ordinary things you didn’t believe would truly matter.
Road cycling & training tips have searched the web to find the best prices available so you don’t have to. These prices are updated daily.
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As a young An I once courted a young lady from Plympton, I remember thinking that it was quite a soilder town and they didn’t even have a McDonald’s, Well seems now there may be another reason to visit Plymouth in the near future. the Shred is on!
The Shred Classic Bicycle Race is a brand new event that will take place on Plymouth Hoe on Wednesday 25th August and which promises to be a great evening for the city, local businesses and the area’s cycling community.
The event kicks off at 6pm, with the main action beginning at 7pm when 100 of the region’s top amateur cyclists will be battling it out around a 1km track on Plymouth’s
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Aug 10
1
Balance Bikes From The Beginning
Have you seen them balance bikes down at the park with those bikes with no pedals? My first impression was what!!! Some people will buy anything, a total waste of money as by the time the kid learns to ride a balance bike they are itching for the real thing a bike with pedals, but I ws wrong I have done a load of research and am now a bit of fan. Here you can read a little about these strange kids bikes
The Origins Of The Balance Bike.
Even though balance bikes have been traditionally a kind of early bicycle they are now more associated with young children understanding bikes and learning to ride. Balance bikes have been seen as an ideal way of getting young children into riding
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