Operation Etape du Tour: March update

This month's Etape du Tour training was about continuing to get in lots of climbing and miles, but also adding some speed. I have been trying to get to the Herne Hill velodrome regularly, and have renewed my British Cycling racing licence in a hope of doing some races. I have yet to find a race I feel comfortable about doing though.

This month has been about increasing the overall number of miles as well as doing longer rides.

The plan had been to do a few rides of 100km+ and also to do nearer to 700km.

I also hopes to get in some fast paced rides - they could be done in any format - as a criteria race, track cycling, or latching onto a group at Regents Park. 

At a Herne Hill Velodrome training session

I am pleased to have got in a few sessions at Herne Hill Velodrome. The best day for me ability wise is the Thursday morning, which is intermediate training for Vets and women. However, it's not always possible to go on that day so I try another session. 

On one day I went to the Friday morning session, called Intermediate training. In theory I should be okay in that session as it's intermediate. But because it's all ages, I end up riding with young men less than half my age - well I am not really with them, but hanging onto their wake if I am lucky. Usually after a quarter of a lap the become a speck in the distance before the eventually lap me!

Or they don't get to lap me because I am spent up and out of energy so quickly that I have already swung up and am sauntering around the top of the banking trying to get my breath back by the time they come around again.

That process repeats itself a few times before I am eventually able to join a group of guys who have tired themselves out and are riding at a more normal pace. That "normal" pace is more like my race pace, and by then I can then slot in. This way of riding is a little scary as you know it's going to start as a few rounds of being chewed up and spat out by the bunch. But in the spirit of "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger", I hang in there.

On another day I went to the Tuesday morning session, which is Vet's an Women's skills. As this session is very much about skills (as opposed to speed), and is the next level after the initial track induction session, the level is quite light and the exercises are easily manageable. What I noticed was how long the breaks were between the exercises, and at times I found it bothersome as I could feel my body cooling down. Besides, I wanted to get my money's worth, as well as getting in a decent mileage on my bike.

So what I have learned is that it pays to go to the session that properly suits your fitness level. I hope to do more Thursday sessions than other sessions, and if possible, even move up to the Friday session.

This month I had hoped to take part in a criterium race. After all, I had renewed my British Cycling racing licence, so it would be good to see if I could get some points. Interestingly there were a few races going on over Easter that I could have taken part in, but all of them had something about them that put me off.

Firstly, there was a women's race at the Castle Coombe racing circuit, near Bath. The distance to get there didn't put off.  The issue was that there were two races - one for 4th category only, and then the other one was for Elite, 1st,2nd and 3rd category racers.

I am 3rd category, but there was no way I wanted to race against elite riders. Interestingly, multiple Paralympic medallist Dame Sarah Storey was on the start list in the E123 category race. What chance would I have in that field?? In actual fact I had the fitness and skill of a 4th cat racer and the age to be a 3rd category racers, But this would have been my first race in maybe five years - and even then, that race had was the first one in about eight years and I was easily dropped.

To be honest, I think that 3rd category racers should be given the choice of racing with category E12 or category 4 riders. This should especially be the case for we oldies because according to British Cycling rules people over 40 can never drop lower than 3rd category even if they don't score points or race. Whereas riders under 40 drop down to 4th category if they don't race or score points, meaning they have the chance to start from scratch if they make a come-back, where we are somewhat thrown in at the deep end. 

So with all that in mind, and the added complication of strong winds on an exposed racing track, I decided not to race there.

Another race taking place at the Milton Keynes Bowl was one to consider. However, looking at the results sheet from previous rounds of the race series it seemed that the fields were so small - barely into double figures. I just didn't feel minded to spend all that time travelling up the motorway to Bedfordshire to do something not more than a small team time trial.

The final option for racing was a veteran's league. The British Masters Cycling league is a separate entity from British Cycling and operates under separate rules.

The issue with that was that people aren't put into categories based on points earned, but instead based purely on age group. So a 50-year-old would race others of the same age without taking into account that one 50-year-old might be a former national champion or elite racer, while the other may be a new racer. 

In general, hardly any women turn out for these races so we get lumped in with 60-year-old men. But don't underestimate them. There are still some national champions in there. The women I've seen on the start list are people I raced against many years ago and who wiped the floor with me then.

So all that, coupled with windy conditions on the challenging Hog Hill circuit didn't appeal to me.

So in the end, I didn't do any racing. Hopefully I will get to use my cycle racing licence in the near future, but as you can see, finding a race that is right for me is easier said than done!

Westwood Park, one of my local hills in South London

The positive thing is that I managed to get in some good climbing, and found a route which took in lots of hills in my local area at Crystal Palace. I did my regular 8-hill circuit three times, and then ventured further into Upper Norwood and Thornton Heath for more hills. In the end I did more than 30 hills over 40 miles and with 1500m of climbing. That was tiring, but very satisfying.

This is a link to the route that I took.

So I might not be riding so fast these days, but I can say I have found my climbing legs.

Related posts

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South London Spin: Flèche-Chislehurst

Operation Etape du Tour: December update

To stay motivated in my Etape du Tour preparation its important to ride often over short distances rather than seldom over long distances 

As soon as I got my place in the Etape du Tour I set about training and establishing a rhythm of getting out on my bike regularly. 

I regularly cycle, provided I am not ill or injured. Thankfully that doesn't happen very often - or at least sports injuries don't often affect my cycling.

The last twelve months have been a little different though. Last summer, after spending a lot of time training and taking part in cyclosportives (Fred Whitton/Lion and Lamb, and Ride London-Essex 100) plus trips to Lombardy and the Côte d'Azur I experienced a bit of burn-out and didn't ride my bike much, apart from for short commutes. I got into motorbike riding too, which required a bit of time and dedication in order to prepare for my tests. That was quite the antidote to sweating it out up hills for kilometres on end.

In the first part of this year I was able to ride a little, but without any real objective. In some ways it was refreshing to not feel under pressure to ride to a particular mileage or speed. Coincidentally, I found I couldn't ride far as I had a prolonged bout of patella syndrome, which kept me from doing cycling or running. Even swimming had become difficult for me.

So after various trips to podiatrists and physiotherapists and following a rehabilitation programme I began to feel an improvement and gradually got back into cycling regularly. 

In terms of my preparation for the Etape du Tour, the key is to get out and ride regularly, even if it is just to do modest mileages in this initial phase. Continuity is key. It is better to do four 20-mile rides in a week, than to do one 80-mile ride and not riding for several days.

Not quite Promenade des Anglais, but the Parc du Vinaigrier, in Nice

It's important that I feel a "pull" towards cycling rather than feeling like I am being pushed into doing it. My rides need to be doable in terms of ability and time management, and it shouldn't feel like a slog.

There's nothing worse than that moment when you've been riding for four hours, it's a Sunday afternoon and you pass country pub after country pub where people are enjoying a slap up lunch and you have another three hours' cycling to do! You then have to will yourself along, working hard to stay motivated and keep the pedals at a reasonable cadence - all while trying to convince yourself that this is good for me.

So this month has been about doing short regular rides a few times a week, with one ride being at a faster pace, and another ride including hills. For November I was riding 125km per week and then in December the aim is 150km per week. These are low mileages, but that will make the rides feel more accessible, fun, and quality training miles rather than junk "pootling around to a café" miles.

My faster miles have been around Regents Park, generally latching onto a group that's riding at a training pace I can sustain. I also want to restart regular trips to the Velodrome. That should definitely help.

In the meantime I aim to keep my eye on the target - the start pen at the Promenade des Anglais, in Nice, and happy to be there.

Related posts 

Another cycling mission for 2024 - Fred Whitton Challenge 

Operation Etape du Tour - Understanding the challenge 

Rides on the Côte d'Azur - Col de Turini 

Photo of the day - 7: My top six South London Hills

Part way up the wall aka Canonbie Road

 As part of my regular set of rides I like to do a loop taking in my local hills near Crystal Palace. I am "blessed" to have these hills right on my doorstep so I can get in some good cycle training and leg strengthening - or at least that's the intention. So once every week or two I do a loop that takes in a few hills. I usually do six, though if I am pushed for time I do four, and if I am feeling motivated and time rich I do at least seven. This morning, I did the customary six - Crystal Palace Park Road, Kirkdale, Westwood Hill, Canonbie Road, Elliot Bank, and Wells Park Road. Crystal Palace Park Road is a nice little leg warmer, with the slopes getting steeper up to the 18% Canonbie Road. I then finish with a "gentle" 10% on Wells Park Road. And after that, I am ready for breakfast! 

This is the route on Strava.

Tiffany Cromwell's tips on training for your first 100km bike ride

Tiffany Cromwell in the Rapha Women's 100 kit (photo: @wmncyling)

Now that the weather is getting nicer we can turn our heads to fun summer events. One established event on the women’s cycling calendar is the Rapha Women’s 100 on September 14^th, where women all around the world cycle 100km.

You can ride as part of an organised group, with friends, or just on your own – on your local roads, through a challenging mountain range, or out to your favourite café stop. Wherever you ride, you will be part of a global celebration of women’s cycling.

While a few women may find this distance fairly standard and can ride around it quite comfortably, many of us may find it a challenge. Professional rider Tiffany Cromwell, of Canyon//SRAM shares her tips on how to prepare to cycle 100km.

Tiffany (centre) at the Women's Tour alongside Lizzie Deignan (in blue)

Tiffany Cromwell was in the UK recently to race in the Women’s Tour alongside Hannah and Alice Barnes. Racing in the limited edition Women’s 100 kit, the team celebrated Kasia Niewiadoma’s second place finish, behind Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo).

Here are Tiffany’s top tips for those tackling their first 100km-cycle ride

1. Build up gradually to the distance.

Don’t just think you can go out and do 100km without having done anything beforehand. Riding 100km is a long way for anyone, even for us. In our pre-season training they say you need to build the foundations before you can build the house. It’s about starting with a 20km- or 30km-ride, do a few of those, build up to 50km, 80km and then you know that you are ready to ride 100km.

2. Ride indoors if the weather is too bad

These days indoor turbo trainers are much more interactive and much more easier than in old-school days when you had to do turbo sessions for one, two or three hours staring at a brick wall.  Something like Zwift is an awesome platform. Even if you only have an hour, do an hour and challenge yourself with the sprint points and high intensity, because that’s also going to help build you up to take on 100km.

If it’s really bad weather all week, then sure a few turbo sessions are good to keep things ticking over and keep your muscles working and understanding that level of loading. Then when the weather gets good again you can do your longer rides out on the road.

3. Ride indoors if you don’t have time to ride outdoors

Cycling is more about consistency than being able to do these one-off long rides. Even if you have the chance to do two sessions a day, that would help build that endurance, say if you had an hour in the morning before work. Just get on the trainer, do an easy ride and then an hour after work and maybe stretch that to two hours, and add interval training in there as well. Because you are spending time on the bike and getting your muscles used to cycling and then you’re getting on the bike day after day, it’s a way to build up strength consistently.

4. Balance long rides with short high intensity sessions

You can do 100km quite aerobically but you can also get quite fit by doing short, high-intensity efforts as well. It’s about balancing things out. I don’t actually use the trainer so much but when I do use it it’s for short specific sessions of high intensity, and short recovery. It’s always a fantastic tool to use when you want that extra little edge for racing.

5. Fuel your body correctly

That is super important. When you are training, if you have never used gels or bars I’d say get your body used to those.

During the 100km-ride ideally I would have a piece of food for every thirty minutes on the ride. I’ll start eating thirty minutes to an hour into the ride and then every thirty minutes after that. Then I drink about a bottle every hour. If it’s hot then you definitely need to take on more liquids, and a mixture of water and electrolytes.

6. Dress appropriately

Check the weather. If you know it’s going to be a sunny day all day, great! Then you need just a jersey and shorts. But if the weather’s maybe changeable, or if you’re going into the mountains where perhaps the weather can change very quickly I always throw in either a vest [gilet] or a rain jacket, because having something that can cover your chest is really important. When you get to the top of the mountain and it’s a little bit colder then you have that vest [gilet] to put on for when you’re going back down again.

7. Don’t forget the coffee shops!

I’m all for stopping and finding a good coffee shop, and having a light lunch along the way and really enjoying the ride. Don’t have anything too heavy when you have a proper food stop or it can be a bit hard on your stomach.

Tiffany (right) with her Canyon-SRAM team-mates

8. Enjoy the ride

The best thing about cycling is really enjoying being outside, enjoying the scenery, riding with friends, and having a good little rest along the way.

If you are mentally prepared for the 100km ride, you will get through it.

Remember:

Check your bike is roadworthy and carry basic tools with you like a spare inner tube, tyre levers, pump and a multi-tool.

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One day one photo - 14: Royal Parks lunchtime bike ride

Working in Central London near the different Royal Parks means that I can get out a couple of times a week and do some kind of sporting activity.

I usually run, and I also get my bike out (naturally). I am not quite sure which is the best park to use for this. Years ago when I worked in Westminster I would go around St James's Park, but I stopped going there because the traffic lights and pedestrian crossings meant that you would have to suddenly decelerate after riding a short stretch, and be mindful that the stray tourists randomly crossing the road along Horse Guards Road could make for a high risk situation!

I then found that at Hyde Park as you could get a good work-out going south to north on the Broadwalk, which is slightly uphill. The stretch along North Carriage Drive is on the road and has no traffic lights. Then the rest of loop has a cycle lane that is part of the Cycle Superhighway network so you could get up a good speed with only minimal stoppages along South Carriage Drive, and just a brief slow-down just before the Broad Walk. That seemed ideal as the stoppages were just right for me to get a quick breather during my laps.

Cycle training in Regent's Park

Unfortunately things have changed there now. In their wisdom Royal Parks have decided to put speed bumps on the Broad Walk, and put a 10mph speed limit. Furthermore, they have made the Broad Walk shared use, basically giving pedestrians carte blanche to wander into the cycle lane, and they will always take priority. An accident waiting to happen, in my opinion. Also, different events going on in Hyde Park mean that cyclists get diverted onto the pavement on North Carriage Drive, so overall you end up sauntering around Hyde Park, and not getting a beneficial work-out. And it does nothing to help my Strava segments either!

So today, I tried out Regent's Park. I know that club cyclists tend to meet up and do a chain gang around the Outer Circle. I didn't do any chain gang, but I just went there and rode fast laps. There's quite a nice atmosphere as a number of other cyclists train on that circuit too, and there are sections where you can get in some hard intervals over a long stretch. However, there are a few traffic lights in rapid succession in the area near Baker Street and Marylebone Road.

The worst thing about this circuit though, is the ride back to the office. On the straight road from Park Crescent to Piccadilly Circus, a stretch of less than a mile, there must easily be 10 sets of traffic lights, making the homeward ride seem interminable. And the traffic fumes can't be great for my lungs either!

I can't really say which Royal Park provides the best cycle circuit, but I think that for the time being I will just alternate between the three Parks. I guess, having traffic lights will be good interval training, allowing for a short breather in between. And I always welcome a bit of rest whenever possible!