Cross training is one of the most important and helpful things you can do to prepare for the up-coming bicycle racing season. You might think that spending time on other activities is wasting time you could be spending on the bike but that’s not the case. Lets explore this.
Bicycling does not build as much bone mass
Bicycling is a low or no impact sport for the most part. That means that cycling does not cause the physiological adaptations that make your body build more bone mass. This may not be as important to you if you are younger but as you age, especially if you are a woman, this will be very important. So put on your running shoes and go for a jog every once in awhile.
Avoid Burn-Out
Cross training also helps you avoid burn-out by giving you something else to do for a while that is simply not cycling. Too much of any one activity is bad for us mentally and physically. We all need a break from our normal routines sometimes. Its best to take a break from the bike in the off-season pre-season so your mind will be able to stay focused when it really counts.
Teams Sports are a nice choice
Cross training allows you to play team sports like basketball or indoor soccer. This is great because you get to interact with other players more like, well, a team. You used to have friends, we all did. Playing a team sport during the pre-season can help you rebuild those friendships that we neglected during the racing season
Cross Training will make you stronger on the bike
Cycling is really good at working many of the major muscles in your legs, lower back, and lower abs, but many other sports that force you to move laterally like racquet ball or basketball, work entire muscle groups that get totally ignored on the bike. By strengthening these muscles you build a better base for your cycling specific muscles to work from. When the other muscles are strong your primary cycling muscles do not have to work to stabilize the movements as much making you more efficient.
Keep your aerobic base
The main thing to keep in mind during the pre-season, before the heavy training starts, is to keep as much of your aerobic base as possible. This is how you build performance from year to year. That means you should pick cross training activities that also give you a good aerobic workout.
Good luck and happy training.
If you’re like most amateur cyclists you also have to work a day job to pay the bills. That
doesn’t always leave much time for training in the winter months. Sure you could strap lights onto your bike and head out on the road, but sometimes that’s not safe. The weather gets bad and then there is no chance of getting in any real miles out on the road. So that means spending time on the indoor trainer. Anyone who has used one of these for any length of time knows that it can be painfully boring at times. So here is what I do to fight the boredom and ride.
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Get a few Carmichael Train Right DVDs.
These training DVDs produced by Carmichael Training Systems
are a great way to add some variety to your workouts. They give very clear and specific instruction and have decent music. Each video is tailored to a specific type of racing but I like to mix it up and rotate the different DVDs so I don’t do the same workout twice in a row.
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Create a good play list for your IPod.
When I train I like to listen to music that is roughly the same tempo as the ride I’m doing. So on easy days I play chill music like Ben Folds or Augustana but on hard rides I like to rock out with harder stuff like Deftones, Finger Eleven, and Rage Against the Machine.
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Improve your training space.
Make your training area as nice as possible. Make sure it is clean, and well lit. Hang up a poster or two of your favorite pro cyclist like Saul Raisin, Floyd Landis, or Dave Zabriskie for inspiration. By making it visually pleasing, you won’t dread spending so much time in there and it will keep you in a better mood.
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Have a Group Training Night.
Misery loves company so invite your friends over or find a place to meet once a week, or more if you can, to train together. Just being in the room with others and being able to talk to someone helps tremendously.
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Get a fan or two.
Staying comfortable will help you stay focused and keep you from burning out. This is really important on longer training sessions. You can also over heat indoors because you don’t have the wind in your face that you would outside. I find the optimal fan configuration to be a ceiling fan and a box fan straight ahead of me on a coffee table. Of course any fan setup will be better than nothing.
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Fuel up like its an outdoor ride.
You should prepare for an indoor trainer ride just like you would for any outdoor training ride. Fill your water bottles with an electrolyte drink and plain water and keep some energy gels within reach. Keeping your body fueled will keep you focused. Having plenty of energy will give you one less reason to stop a training session.
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Watch a movie on your easy days.
I often throw in a DVD movie to watch during my easy days. I put on the heart monitor and set the alarm for my max heart rate for that ride. Then I just pedal and watch the movie. If I start working too hard the alarm beeps and I back off a bit.
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Set a minimum length of time goal for the ride and stick with it.
In the early part of the pre-season training it is important to do longer lower intensity endurance rides to build your base. Time on the bike is more important than miles. So, for example, I might set a goal of 2 hours minimum. I ride for at least that long, no excuses, and if I feel like it maybe I’ll ride a bit longer but not a lot longer. This gives you something to work for and a clear goal that you can stop at for that day.
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Get a set of rollers to switch it up a bit.
Rollers are a good training tool because they are good at helping you develop a smooth stable riding posture and pedal stroke. They can also be a nice change up from the stationary setup of a normal trainer. Most roller setups don’t provide much resistance but the benefits to your pedal stroke and stability will be worth it.
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Take your girlfriend/wife/husband/significant other/whatever out to dinner.
They have been setting around bored while you ride on the trainer every night so skip a training session and go out for a nice dinner. They won’t mind you spending so much time on the bike, and you need a break every once in awhile.
Do you have any tips for staying focused and fighting boredom on your trainer rides? Leave a comment and share them with everyone.
So last week was pretty busy. I was out of town 2 days for my day job and I had a wedding to go to. So I hadn’t gotten a great start to my pre-season training. I’ve decided not to call it off season because that gives the impression that I can be off and not work hard.
This is a common problem for all us amateur cyclists that do not get paid to ride. Life gets in the way and forces us to adjust our schedules. We have to prioritize our time and not get bent out of shape when scheduling gets in the way of training.
When you do have a set back you have to stay motivated and keep moving forward. I find it good for me if I just get on the bike for 30 minutes if that’s all the time I have. I know that a 30 minute ride this time of year isn’t going to produce big gains for me but it helps me stay on track. At this time of year, if I miss a workout, I just go on the next day with what I had scheduled. So if today was supposed to be a 4 hour endurance ride and I have a meeting that runs late then I ride as long as I can. So tomorrow would then be a recovery ride. Even though I may not need the recovery ride because I only rode for an hour the day before, I do it anyway. I stick to the schedule better that way.
You also have to learn what rides you can skip. During the pre-season training you need to focus more on longer endurance mile rides so if you can do it try and make those rides. Just remember not to let it get to you if you have to miss a few. The important thing is to stay focused and keep moving forward.
Another thing you can do to help stay on track is to let everyone around you know your intentions. So tell your girlfriend or wife what you want to do. Tell your friends. Possibly tell your boss or manager if that would be appropriate for you to do. By letting the people in your life know what you are trying to accomplish, they will be able to help you. They will be more understanding when you turn down going out for happy hour after work so you can ride your bicycle.
Good luck, stay focused, and keep riding.
Last season was pretty much a wash for me. I tore some ligaments in my shoulder in 
February when I slipped and fell on an ice patch in my driveway. That set me back about 6 weeks. Then I had a string of being sick combined with bad weather and scheduling conflicts that amounted to not being ready to race last season. I had lost a lot of motivation to train.
Then Ebby asked me to help out with the Sedalia Historic District Crit and the Otterville Road Race and that boosted my motivation to ride. Then the Tour of Missouri rolled through the state and I was able to be in St. Louis for the circuit race. That raised my desire to train and race even more. Last weekend Matt and TJ both come home with 1st Place finishes from the OZ Midwest Fat Tire Series Mountain Bike race at the lake. TJ clinched 1st Place in Series Points as well. Now I am more motivated to train and race than I have been before.
In an effort to help keep myself motivated I am going to post about my training. So if I get off track everyone will know. I am also doing this so that someone that is trying to get started in bicycle racing can learn something and hopefully be motivated to try it.
I am by no means a professional trainer and I don’t have an official coach. My training regiment comes from the Carmichael Training System by Chris Carmichael who was Lance Armstrong’s coach through all of his Tour de France wins. What I don’t get from the Carmichael books and DVDs, I get from Ebby. Ebby is also not a coach or certified trainer but he has raced bicycles for a long time and knows a thing or two from just real world experience.
In up coming posts I will layout my intended training schedule for the next 4 weeks as well as what my average, max heart rate, average cadence, and time for an 8 mile TT that will be used as my baseline to build my training program on. At the end of 4 weeks I will do the field test again and post the results.
So good luck next season, stay motivated, and start training.
