FEBRUARY TRAINING HINTS

January was a good month to start getting fit – particularly in the mild weather. In February it is good to continue this – but also to start thinking about more specific training.

There are two main challenges in this year’s Etape du Tour. These are climbing and endurance. This month I’m going to put special emphasis on climbing – but first let’s look at some more general aspects of training for the Etape du Tour. I shall also give the type of bike you need a mention.

Training

The object of training is to improve your fitness for the event. In the case of the Etape the main strengths required are endurance and climbing ability.

How do you improve in these areas? By specific training! Hours of training on a rowing machine probably won’t help much!

How does training work? By making your body work harder than before, after which it will grow stronger. Adequate rest before the next strenuous session is important!

How many training sessions do you need a week? People vary, and it depends how busy you are, but two training sessions a week is good at this time of year. For most people, more than three sessions a week might be excessive, though of course it depends on how hard you train in each session!

Endurance

The plan is to gradually build up the length of your rides. If you haven’t exceeded a 50 mile ride yet this year – February is a good time to do so!

For your first ride of a given distance, take it at a steady rate, and maybe stop for refreshments. On future rides, if the opportunity arises, you may want to increase the speed or the number of hills.

It is good to keep a training diary to compare your speeds over a given distances on similar routes as the weeks go by. You will find one to print off on this web site.

Climbing

After last year’s Etape, I realise how important this area of training is. Although I have not yet done a very detailed analysis of the 2007 route, it is clear that it has more climbing than most.

Let’s take a detailed look at climbing. You will have noticed that it is possible to climb at a steady rate, breathing steadily, for quite a distance. However if you increase your climbing rate above a certain level, your breathing rate escalates rapidly, limiting your speed. At this point you have crossed your aerobic threshold.

On a long climb, if you keep below this level you will be able to almost climb for ever (assuming you have done sufficient training). Pacing yourself in this way is useful to practice, and is one aspect of hill training. Typically you might be doing 7mph up a 7% hill, though it depends how fit you are at the time.

However the other aspect is raising your aerobic threshold.

The graph below shows what would happen if you measured your heart rate during such a climb.

As you increase your climbing rate, your power output increases steadily as your heart pumps increasing amounts of oxygenated blood to the muscles. However, there is a point (150W on this graph) where the increase in heart rate tails off, and your lungs fight harder to supply sufficient oxygen. This is the aerobic threshold. Training near this threshold should improve your climbing ability, and may raise the threshold. However don’t overdo it – pushing yourself too hard could set you back a couple of weeks rather than advancing your fitness! Intense training may also not be advisable if you are not in good health.

It is important to build up your fitness by stages rather than rushing it.

Temperatures have been warm this year. However this type of training is not recommended in very cold conditions, as breathing a large amount of cold air will chill your core body temperature.

Nutrition

Now a more pleasant subject – food! You may have read that cyclists need lots of carbohydrate. This is partly true. However the object of training is to build up your body.

To do this you need a good mixed diet – protein, carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals.... Especially things you enjoy!

Special mention should be made of fish such as salmon, trout and sardines which contain large amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids – these are good for the joints and cholesterol balance. Some fat in the diet is probably essential, and research has shown that such fish oils are much healthier than saturated fats found in meat, and considerably better than the trans fats found in some processed food.

Results

The results of a hard (possibly too hard?) training session is obvious. Exhaustion. Legs that ache when you climb the stairs the next day! Maybe you trained too hard? But there is nothing like a warm bath afterwards though. But two, three or four days later you will probably feel really keen to get back on that bike again to race over the hills! And you will amaze yourself with how much fitter you are - if you are lucky!

Type of Bike

Everyone has their own favourite bike manufacturer, so I won’t attempt to recommend a specific model. What I will do is to give an indication of the properties required from a bike to help your endeavours!

Here are the key properties:

Tyres: Despite being rather humble components they have a huge effect on bike performance. High pressure (100psi) tyres with a low rolling resistance are essential.

Weight: the lighter the bike, the better it will climb. Modern materials such as aluminium alloy and carbon fibre make very light frames a possibility

Rigidity: A rigid frame improves power delivery and makes the down hill handling more controlled.

Gears: Climbing in high gears may seem macho until you have to get off and push…A good range of gears with some really low bottom gears is useful on mountain courses! A good high gear is ideal for powering down descents and along the fast flat sections. A choice of intermediate gears for the slight gradients helps you to optimise your climbing – in short a triple changer! The latest compact changers are now a close rival.

Riding Position: A comfortable riding position will help prevent too many aches on a 100 mile plus ride. Riding positions are individual. Generally a fairly high saddle position is of benefit as it gives a more efficient power delivery and should put less strain on the knees. Some people find the rider measurement systems available from companies such as Bikefit and AW Cycles very helpful for setting their bikes up exactly.

Bike Shops: Good bike shops with a large range of racing bikes are fairly scarce, but they do exist. Companies such as AW Cycles (www.awcycles.co.uk) carry a large stock and have helpful staff. A number of Etappers have told me that they have found De Ver Cycles (www.devercycles.co.uk) very helpful indeed. De Ver is run by Maurice Burton, the ex-professional racing cyclist who takes part in the Etape and other events every year. In the West Country Ricci cycles (www.ricciltd.com) also carry a good range of excellent bikes.