Bike Training 101

CYCLING FITNESS

Cycling is relatively safe for the body so training volume can increase week to week faster than running or swimming.

Frequency is still more valuable than duration and intensity but be sure to train all aspects of fitness: long easy rides to help aerobic fitness, hilly rides to improve muscle endurance, rides with short/sharp intervals and steady state, moderately intense rides that expand your top end.

Riding with a group is nice if the pace of the group matches the training stress you need for that ride. Riding alone has value since the majority of triathlon is an individual effort on the bike.

CYCLING SKILL

The majority of triathlon bike courses are rather straight and rather flat. Yet it still only takes one turn or a bit of topography to cause a problem.

Your goal should be to master all aspects of cycling:

• BRAKING requires the use of the rear brake and the front brake at the same time and never skidding.
• TURNING a bicycle at slow speed requires steering; at high speed, leaning and counter steering.
• SHIFTING a bike properly means “soft-pedaling” briefly while the chain moves from cog to cog on the rear dérailleur and soft-pedaling slightly longer to get a quick, clean shift from chain ring to chain ring using the front derailleur.

Race day cadence might be best somewhere between 80-95rpm and different training demands can mean segments as low as 50rpm or as high as 120rpm.

Riding in a group demands that you ride predictably and communicate hazards in the road or changes in pace/direction.

Riding on the road means obeying the laws just like you're driving a car and working with drivers, not against them.

Riding on a trainer can be both good (uninterrupted, safety of home, undistracted focus on pace and pedaling, pre-dawn or eve, etc.) and bad (no skill work on braking, turning, balancing, etc).

Riding on the road is great and routes can be selected that offer bike paths, bike lanes, wide shoulders, low traffic times, etc. There are some great web sites that help with this so seek out bike routes in your area; ones that provide safety and accurate training ground.

Basic Logic: Getting hurt is the worst thing that can happen to you and your training.

• Every workout must begin with a low-intensity warm-up.
• During the workout, if something hurts, STOP.
• Every workout must conclude with a cool-down segment.

Build fitness slowly and invest a few minutes at the beginning of every workout with a complete warm up and end of every workout with a cool down and stretch to reduce the risk of injury.

The body can, and will, adapt to athletic efforts if they begin at an appropriate level and progress upward slowly. Rushing into hard efforts, long efforts, hills, sprints or any highly stressful activity will increase the risk of injury greatly. Start slowly and build slowly; maximize your aerobic fitness and minimize the risk of injury. This gradual progression will allow for joints to adapt, connective tissue to thicken and muscles to strengthen.

Basic Logic: Being well hydrated will only help your training, your racing and your recovery, while being dehydrated will do nothing but hinder you.

Don’t wait until you are thirsty to drink - keep it coming in at a steady rate. Find separate categories in your mind; one for water and one for sports drinks. These are two different, but important, things. In training, and on race day, you will need to consume both to satisfy your body’s needs for hydration.

Clean, cool water is the very best thing that a triathlete can drink. And you’ll need plenty before, during, and after workouts and races. A 150 pound adult can lose a half gallon of water a day just living, and a triathlete in training can lose up to two gallons.

Drink some water up to 20 minutes prior to swimming, and plenty after. Keep at least two water bottles on your bike, and drink 4-8oz every 15 minutes. During runs exceeding an hour, carry a bottle or know the water sources on your route.

Electrolyte replacement drinks such as Revenge, Gatorade, etc. help restore essential minerals like sodium, potassium and others. Some sports drinks contain too much sugar, and this can draw water away from the working muscles and back to the digestive system to help break down the sugar. The salt content in sports drinks is an essential part of hydration.

Basic Logic: Food is fuel for an athlete’s body. Make sure you give it something it can really use, something you know and like!

The first step in approaching a nutrition program for a triathlete in training is to look at how you might eat on race day (and every day of training):

• Rise early and eat early so that your stomach will settle before your start.
• Keep some calories coming in during the event to keep your energy up.
• Eat well after the race to replenish all lost nutrients, restore muscle glycogen and to help restore broken down muscle tissue.

A good physical effort starts with a good meal the night before. Dinners should have a nice mix of the macro nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, fat. Avoid foods that can affect your sleep and irritate your GI.

When you wake up in the morning, you should always eat. Think of a night of sleep as a mini fast; you need to be topped off before the morning’s effort.

It is recommended to take in calories as you train over periods of one hour or more. At 2 hours or more, you’ll jeopardize your goal unless you take in calories.

Basic Logic: Frequent, high quality workouts can be obtained as long as recovery is maximized. Recovery can and should include hydration, nutrition, stretching, massage (even self massage), REM sleep, icing and an oxygen-rich environment.

Training for a long distance endurance event requires an athlete to perform long, intense efforts and it requires them to perform them day after day. Recovery starts before the workout ends. Never let yourself run out of energy during a workout. Learn to take in some easily digestible carbohydrates early and often during long workouts (more than 60-75 minutes).

Eating after a workout is possibly the most critical nutritional consideration for an athlete. For the best recovery, it’s important that you eat a high glycemic food “in the window”, which is within 30 minutes of completing a workout. After the window - say, 30 to 60 minutes after the workout - it’s nice to eat a lower glycemic food along with a complete protein.

Stretching and massage can speed recovery. If massage therapy is not available after every workout (and let’s be honest, that’s a dream), then you can help speed recovery by simply massaging muscles with skin lotion or even in the shower with soap. You can rub the tissue back and forth and with long strokes toward the heart. There is really no “wrong” way to do it.

All elements of this regimen (plus rehydration) will get the body built back up and ready for the next effort.