Coaching For Cyclists

Cycle Coaching So you’ve been road cycling now for a little while and you’re thinking… maybe I should try racing. You think you’re reasonable fit, you can beat most of your friends up the hills, and your sprints not bad either.

You bowl up to a local fun race and compete in your first event, maybe 100kms in length, and you discover.. damn that was hard. You didn’t do nearly as well as you thought you would.

While riding with your friends on the weekends is getting you fit, it’s not getting you race fit.

Race training requires a plan that builds up to your event. It requires training at least 4-5 times a week, while focusing on improving various skills and techniques. It will also include rest and recovery periods within the plan. It will most likely be 3 months or so in duration, requiring you to do set drills or set distances in your build up on set days.

I’ve tried various training programmes, and they all work if you follow the plan. The hard part can be that if you’re the only person in your group who’s on the plan, you’ll find yourself riding alone a lot of the time. That being said, the results can be dramatic, and come race day, if everything else pans out you will be astounded at your improvement.

So what are the coaching options?

A Personal Coach. Who will meet with you, hear your goals and objectives and set a programme accordingly. Normally you will meet with them on a regular basis to check progress, and fine tune if necessary. This is the best option if you can afford it, as typically the cost is reasonable high.

Buy Training DVD’s. There are countless numbers of these available, teaching everything from hill climbing to sprinting to strength training. These are great tools but don’t often tell you when to do them in relation to your goals.

Event Website Training Plans. Some cycle event websites include a training plan as part of their information. These tend to be basic plans, a build up of miles getting your body used to the distance of the event, but better than nothing and at no cost.

Web Based Coaching. There are plenty of these around as well. Basically, you sign up to a website and download a plan or plans, usually listed as for beginner, intermediate or expert cyclist. Most also have options for how much time you have to train, as well as specific programs to improve one particular area of cycling such as hill climbing, everyone’s favourite discipline. These programs are obviously generic rather than personally for you, but they should have enough variety to suit most people.

I’ve used all these options over the years, and as I said previously, they all work to various degrees, it all comes down to how much you want it, and how deep your pockets are. And at the end of the day, any structured and focused cycle training will definitely improve your fitness. Just follow the plan and have fun with it.

Happy training.