Thinking about the Olympics and trying to channel my inner Laura Kenny as we made our way through the beautiful Olympic park towards the velodrome at Lee Valley.
Walking inside the flying saucer-shaped building and up into the café gave a sense of the size of the velodrome, it was bigger than I expected! After a quick cup of tea it was time to get changed and make my way to the famous ‘track centre’. Walking down the corridor where so many inspirational people had walked was incredible I loved watching the Olympics in 2012 and now to be here where the magic had happened felt like a real treat.
Coming up into track centre really gave the sense of the scale of the velodrome standing in the middle I felt very small and the corners looked almost vertical! I was soon ready to ride picking up my bike, in the purest form, no gears, no brakes just the power in my legs to control my destiny, whether that was to be flying off or staying up right, at this point who knew!
After a talk through the safety points of not being able to stop pedalling and using pressure to slow or speed up the bike we were allowed on the dark blue ‘safety zone’ this was the inner circle of the track and was flat. After a successful lap and a cheeky extra lap as I couldn’t stop we were allowed on the Côte d’azur a light blue 17 degree angled part of the track once we were riding around our instructor pushed as to go faster and faster, it was odd thinking of speed as safety instead of the other way round. The other odd thing was that you didn’t really have to steer the bike, the angle of the track and your speed turned the bike, no need to lean on the corners. The hardest part was remembering that to slow down you had to put resistance on the pedals to slow your cadence this took some practise but I felt happy with it and was ready to move onto the track!
Staying on the black line I worked up my speed and confidence before venturing out towards the blue line. The corners of the track were a 45 degree angle and to ride higher you needed more power, getting up to speed in the short straits was hard but after a few laps I made it above the blue line, the bike clung to the wooden slats of the track as we spun round and round, it was hot work staying high up and navigating the other people also having their taster session.
It was soon time to leave the track, another challenge of slowing down and grabbing the railings! I left the velodrome feeling accomplished and happy that I didn’t fall off! Riding around a velodrome was fun, I haven’t met a two-wheeled sport I don’t like yet but mountain biking is still by far the best in my opinion.
Hello! I hope you are having a fine weekend outside enjoying the warm Autumn weather we are having at the moment. I just wanted to share with you something exciting! Over the next few weeks I have some fantastic guest bloggers writing about their adventures outside by bike, fell running, on two feet, the best wild camp spots and other adventure activities to try out in the UK.
I hope you enjoy.
Firstly, I was delighted to be asked to write this guest blog as it acknowledges my new status as a ‘cyclist’… For a fat fifty-year-old with serious asthma and a questionable approach to fitness, this is a significant badge of honour that I shall wear with pride.
A couple of things happened this year that prompted me to get on my bike. The first was a serious chest infection that put me on steroids and the sofa for almost two months. This led to a complete review of my asthma with the respiratory team at QA, a change of medication and a new lease of life.
The second was my fiftieth birthday… cue mid-life crisis. However, instead of botox and a boob job I opted for a snazzy new bike. I’ve dabbled with cycling over the last couple of years but I felt ready to move up a gear (pardon the pun).
I hate busy roads and I’m a nervous rider, so I wasn’t comfortable with a fully loaded, curly handlebarred, skinny-tyred road bike. Instead, I went for a nice compromise – the Whyte Victoria. Described as a ‘fast commuting bike’, it’s at the sexy end of the sports hybrids, with carbon forks and a seat that makes your eyes water (but I’ve actually got used to). The tyres are still skinnyish but with enough grip to keep me feeling secure on my local patchwork of country lanes that often feature a layer of tractor mud and downland gravel.
To celebrate my exciting new toy, I signed up for a Cancer Research UK challenge to cycle 300 miles over the month of September. Cycling an average of 10 miles a day means I have got to know every nook and cranny of the Meon Valley – and fallen completely in love with it. With a miles and miles of quiet country lanes to choose from, on a sunny day the Meon Valley is a cyclist’s dream. It’s hilly, but for every climb there is a glorious downward stretch with fabulous views to make the effort totally worthwhile.
One of my favourite routes is what I call ‘my easy 10-miler’, which starts in Denmead and loops around World’s End, Southwick and back via Furzley Road. It’s a pretty ride featuring a vast majority of undisturbed country lanes. I’ve done this ride many times solo, with my husband and recently with the lovely Terri Bryant and the Breeze Network ladies. It’s also a great route to take visiting friends because the climbs aren’t too painful and there are two pubs and one of the loveliest tea rooms in Hampshire en route. See Southwick Village Tea Rooms
The only daunting bit for ‘main road haters’ like me is the short stretch up from Southwick towards Portsdown Hill. I freaked out the first time I saw it, with traffic flying past at breakneck speeds and a VERY LONG hill ahead of me… but that was before I realised there was a cycle lane and I was turning left half way up, before the steep bit!! Back on to an idyllic country lane where I can hear the birds tweeting and can happily natter to my companions – hurrah!
Hi guys and girls this week I thought I’d share with you my Monday training session plan maybe have a go at it yourself.
You will need:
A bike
not to have eaten for an hour or two previously
a bottle of water and a snack for when you finish (banana or dates would be my choice)
Find a flattish road where there are no parked cars, tight bends or traffic lights to deal with you need to be able to give it your all safely.
Start by warming up for a good 20 minutes working in and out of the saddle to really warm those legs up.
Interval training is all about balancing high-intensity bursts of speed with recovery time. Not only will they help you improve aerobic capacity and speed, the post workout calorie burn is great. Remember to have something nutritious and protein packed for when you get home.
Start with 30 second (building up to 1 min over a period of 6 weeks) all-out effort. Then have 1 minute rest – repeat this 4 to 8 times. (building up over 6 weeks so not to overload too soon.)
After your reps have a 4 minute recovery spin keep your legs moving at a steady pace to help flush out the lactic acid.
Repeat this set 4 times.
After your final sprint change to a sub maximal effort for 5 to 10 minutes then have 10 minutes recovery.
Repeat this set one more time.
Recovery ride home, make sure you have a good meal / protein shake full of vitamins and protein to help your body recover. Also this session will make you hungry have some nuts (walnuts are great), blueberries and other healthy snacks on hand to stop you reaching for anything naughty.
I hope you enjoy this training session let me know how you get on.
Every summer I run holiday camps for beginner and advanced young riders. These are a great opportunity for youngsters to get outside during their summer holidays and have fun on their bikes and learn some new skills.
Over the course of an hour and a half we move around the trail at Queen Elizabeth Country Park practising different techniques on different parts of the trail based on the group’s ability.
I usually run a beginner and advanced group so that I can tailor the activity to suit the group’s ability.
This week I have also ran a mixed ability group, the advantage of this was being able to use the more experienced riders to do demos not only did this mean the beginners got a visual representation but the more advanced riders got to talk through how they would approach a trail feature and demonstrate their skills which made them feel more confident in their ability.
Here are a few pictures of what we get up to on camps:
If you would like to book your child onto a camp please contact Hannah.
Visit Pedal 2 Pedal for more information on camps and coaching for adults and children.
Whether you’re riding on or off-road after working hard to get to the top of the hill it’s good to be able to recover and enjoy the descent.
In this blog post I am going to give you my top tips for going downhill on your bike with confidence.
Mountain Bike:
Going downhill on a mountain bike is the most exciting part, most of the time, gravity takes charge and with good skill you can navigate down almost any terrain whilst the countryside zips past, with the wind on your face and the ground undulating underneath you it’s a thrilling experience, as long as you feel safe and in control that is.
Here are my tips on riding with confidence downhill on a mountain bike.
Get your body in the correct position. Make sure your feet are level on the pedals, this is called the ready position; raise your bum off the saddle so you can move around on the bike. Have a bend in your knees and elbows, your heels should be down pushing into your pedals.
Keep two fingers over your brakes all the time this allows you to gently squeeze them on as and when you need them. Use your back brake before your front brake.
Stay relaxed. Your knees should be pointing slightly outside your toes, not gripping your frame and your upper body should be loose. Do a few shoulder rolls and you will soon find out if you have tensed up.
Look where you want to go. This sounds like an obvious one but looking further ahead enables you to pick the best line down the trail so you can flow down the single-track not losing any speed and avoiding obstacles.
Practise makes perfect. Practise your descending technique on hills you feel comfortable with and as you feel more confident move to steeper longer descents.
Road bike:
The speeds you can reach on a road bike can be incredible, to enable you to be safe on the roads here are some key points you should follow.
Controlled braking. Control your speed using periods of braking with both your front and rear brake together with equal force.
Descend on the drops. You can get more leverage on the brake levers if your hands are on the drops, rather than the hoods.
Body position. If you want to slow up use your body as a wind brake by sitting up.
Look ahead for hazards. It’s important to spot hazards early, which means looking well ahead down the road to anticipate any potential obstacles, changes in terrain or oncoming traffic. Wet drain covers, painted lines, speed bumps, gravel and leaves should be avoided were possible.
Set your speed before a corner. This applies off-road as well; setting yourself up to carry the speed you are comfortable with around the corner is important for smooth, safe cornering.
I hope you have found these tips helpful. If you would like to find out about coaching or have a question please comment below.
Having spoken to some friends and followers I am going to write cycling tips every other week (I may put in some newbie mountaineering and kitesurfing tips to mix it up a little as well) Follow along my subscribing to my blog (link at bottom of home page). I hope you enjoy, comment with any questions about cycling.
To kick it off here are my top tips for better hill climbing.
Long steady hill climbs can be really tough that feeling like the hill may never end is one I have felt many times before. But don’t fear most hills end, eventually and the reward of the view and a well-earned drink stop from the top can be well worth your achy legs and perspiration on the way up.
Tip one – When reaching the bottom of a climb don’t change down into your lowest gear, not only will your legs be spinning like crazy and you will lose the speed you have gained in the previous flat or downhill but you then have nowhere to go should the climb get steeper or more tricky. Instead if you need to change down one gear lower and work on a basis of when your cadence drops counting to 10 and then changing down, that way you get the most out of each gear change.
Tip two – Breath, as it starts to get harder doesn’t forget to breath, try breathing in and out in time with your pedal strokes in through your nose and out through you mouth if you can. Try not to breath too quickly as this will psyche you out.
Tip three – Look ahead and focus on breaking the hill down into milestones. Once it starts to get hard if the climb in lasting over 10/15 minutes break it down into manageable chunks and see every chunk as a mini goal that way you don’t think of the climb as one mega beast but several small beasts joined together, much more manageable!
Tip four – To stretch out your back and also work other muscles, if the hill is not too steep stand up on the pedals for sections of the climb this will allow you to put more power through the pedals. If the surface is loose don’t stand up as your weight on the back wheel will spin/slip out.
Tip five – Steady cadence, try and keep your pedals going round at a smooth & consistent pace. If you feeling like your pushing really hard on your pedals go down a gear or two, likewise if you feel your feet are spinning then you can probably go up a gear.
So these are my five top tips to improve your hill climbing if you would like more tips and coaching please get in touch.
THIS WEBSITE USES COOKIES
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services. You can review our Privacy and Cookie Policies and at any time change or withdraw your consent from the Cookie Declaration on our website.OkPrivacy policy
