Who's It Gonna Be?

If you've read my blog before, you know I'm hooked on Graeme Street's Cyclo-Core programs for cyclists. I'm a member of the Cyclo-Core "team". We don't race, we're just a cross section of male and female riders of all shapes, abilities and ages who share a love of riding and a commitment to fitness through Graeme's programs. The cool part of being on a team is having Graeme as a coach and wearing the team jersey.

Like all coaches, Graeme seems to anticipate my shortcomings as a cyclist. Just last week, I was thinking to myself that I'd been letting a few things slide, like periodic stretching and recovery. I mean, really letting them slide. No sooner had I started to feel guilty than an email from Graeme arrived. Just a reminder that if you're not a flexible cyclist, you're not as strong as you could be. And I quote, "A stiff cyclist is a restricted cyclist and even though you may have strength and fitness, the lack of flexibility will always hold back your true potential to perform and ride with more strength and power." What a waste. I made a mental note to stretch after every other ride.

The second part of the email was a little harder to digest. Recovery. As in, stay off the bike for a day here and there. Yes, I know this is important. Why just yesterday I read an article about Dave Lloyd, a former TI-Raleigh pro rider who now coaches racers. Dave said, "The most important sessions are rest. You have to train hard, but you have to give your body time to adapt. I didn't do that, and sometimes it cost me."

But Graeme, I live in an area of the world that doesn't see the sunny side up until June. And even then the season may only last three months. And you're asking me to watch a day of that go by without being on a bike? Without feeling my tires humming down a favorite road? Without the fragrance of summer flora teasing me on?

A mental tug of war ensued. Graeme on one shoulder, the "dark side" (personified by VW's "Fast" for some unknown reason) on the other. Graeme wouldn't be deterred: "Your fitness will slide, you'll become a grouch, you'll be tired, you won't be able to sleep, you'll feel like you're on a treadmill; why are we doing all of this if we're ignoring recovery?" Fast just growled into my ear, "Lose this guy. I want to ride."

Graeme, can we compromise? Does a four hour ride in Zone 1 constitute recovery? What do you think? Would that be okay? I won't push it or anything; I'll go very easy. Graeme? Graeme? Aw, come on, Graeme..........

Tailwinds,
Georgena

talktous@terrybicycles.com
www.terrybicycles.com

We just want to ride

This morning I was cycling along the Wildlife Drive at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Coming toward me were two cyclists, looking like serious types and riding really fast for this road, which is a great place to cool down and mellow out after a good ride. We traded the usual wave and hello in passing. I looked back and saw they had turned around and were coming back my way, so I stopped and waited for them.

"Do you know where we are?" one of them asked me. "I can't find it on the map." He hauled out a map of bike rides around the county. "You're on the Wildlife Drive. How did you get here?" "Dunno, but we don't know where we are." Sure enough, the Wildlife Drive isn't on the map, so I showed them where we were.

"Where do you want to go?" I asked. They both grinned from ear to ear. "We don't care, we just want to ride." Ah, I understood. This wasn't about sight seeing, this was about riding long and riding hard. About going for a solid burn, from legs to lungs. Yep -- that would put a grin on any cyclist's face.

So, I showed them a good route that would take them about 60 miles and off they headed. I found myself thinking about them as I continued chasing a little burn of my own. Did they find shelter from the brief thundershower that blew through around noon? When they got to Hooper Island, did they stop at the little convenience store for a snack? Buy something and ask politely and the guy behind the counter might let you use the bathroom. In Vermont, they call that "Snickers bar diplomacy".

And when this great day on the bike inevitably came to an end, did they think, like me, how lucky they were to be cyclists?

Tailwinds,
Georgena

talktous@terrybicycles.com
www.terrybicycles.com

No Whining

A few years ago, one of the cycling magazines ran a cartoon entitled "First Hill of the Year". It showed a steep, serious looking hill dwarfing a tiny anxious cyclist at the bottom looking at a sign which read, "You are here."

Not that we have any hills to speak of where I ride, but I was smiling and thinking about that cartoon a couple of weeks ago when we had one of those rare warm Saturdays in January that makes you reach for the bike and head out on the roads you ride regularly in season. I was smiling because that usually means that although I'll enjoy the ride, I'll be doing a little whining later on when I encounter some inclines and headwinds. But that didn't happen this time. As a matter of fact, I didn't feel a whole lot different than I feel in the middle of the season.

A week prior to that, I had ridden two back to back long rides in Maryland. Granted, it was dead flat there, but I rode in two days what I normally ride in about a month in January. No whining there, either.

Holy cow, Batman! It works! "It" being not something I bought on eBay, but a structured, cycling-specific off-season training program. The little "testers" Mother Nature allowed me really brought the point home. Just hopping on the trainer and plugging away is better than doing nothing, but not much.

In an earlier blog I wrote about the importance of core strength and flexibility. I put that to the test this winter by committing to one of Graeme Street's twelve week off-season programs. It was written by "Coach Al" Lyman. It's where Graeme's Cyclo-Core and Cyclo-Zen programs meet you and your bike on your trainer and encourage you to have fun and get fit for the season ahead. Just follow the simple instructions, stay hydrated and keep smiling.

Well, I'm sold. And I still have six weeks to go. Just how good is a ride going to feel by the time spring comes? I'm more convinced than ever that a good fit and good performance on the bike can't be left to adjusting saddle and stem and hoping for the best. Your body needs some tweaking too.

Tailwinds,
Georgena

talktous@terrybicycles.com
www.terrybicycles.com

Best Rides: Real and Imagined!

Everyone has a favorite ride. One we've imagined (the century with the endless tailwind....) or one we've actually done (the metaphysical ride that starts in Prosperity, PA.)

Hannah Reynolds, known to you from an earlier blog, sent her favorite ride and then some:

My favourite road route is the Marmotte in France. You start by heading up La Vaujany, over croix de Fer, over the Telegraph, then Galibier and finishing up Alpe d'Huez. It has 5000m of climbing in a bit over 100 miles. They are all classic Tour climbs and in some places you can still see the painting on the road from the Tour de France. Galibier is my favourite climb. It is over 2000m and when you get to the top you are looking down on the snow capped peaks around you. Amazing. It feels really clean and pure at the top - not least because you have had to hurt yourself so much to get there. The descent back to the foot of Alpe d'Huez is pretty phenomenal as well. Descending Galibier is fast and technical - particularly when you are feeling all the climbing you have already done and it's cold. There is a cafe at the foot of Galibier before you start the descent down the valley toward Alpe d'Huez. I was once so tired and cold when I got to the cafe I didn't have the strength to unclip my feet. I walked into the cafe in my socks and left my shoes on the bike! After the cafe - great pancakes - the descent goes on for ages with big sweeping bends and some dark tunnels. It must be a good 20 minutes of free wheeling.

My favourite rides would involve big mountains, sunshine, great cafes and good company. Pretty much the same for an off-road excursion with the inclusion of some big rocky descents and a few "Will I? Won't I?" moments on the technical sections. Fast sweeping bends are the best; on- or off-road they always make me grin.

The rides I remember most are the ones that were really hard. Winter rides where you get home soaking wet and freezing cold, completely blown. One day I went out with the 'boys' - all decent riders and even a pro and former pro. I blew so badly I needed to be pushed and cajoled for the last ten miles 'till they abandoned me at a shop with some pocket money for a Coke to get me home. When I got in I crawled into bed in my kit- including shoes!

Ah, well, we can't all have it as glamorous as our European couterparts, can we?

Tailwinds,
Georgena

talktous@terrybicycles.com
www.terrybicycles.com

Hannah's Perfect Job

Do you ever fantasize about the perfect job? I think mine's pretty close, but if I didn't have it, I'd want a job riding in spectacular places on new bikes made of trendy materials, sparked by great tips for being a better rider with a wealth of cycling information at my fingertips. If I could write about having this much fun, I'd tell the world.

Meet Hannah Reynolds. Is there, doing that! On a weekly basis. But not at a store near you. Unless you happen to have a subscription to Cycling Weekly. In January, 1891, this weekly UK magazine was born to satisfy riders who felt the current dozen magazines of the time just weren't doing the job. "The Comic", as it's known in the UK, has come a long way since then. For a weekly dose of European and local cycling news, fitness and technical reports along with a shot of straight-up editorial and fresh humor, nothing else comes close.

Hannah is the Fitness Editor of Cycling Weekly. Week in and week out, she churns out pages of articles to benefit all cyclists, from the racer to the club rider. Recent topics include "Fitness Myths", "Sports Testing - How Fit Are You?", "Common Cycling Afflictions", "Hydration Tips", "Know Your Strengths", Get Ahead, Get a Coach" and "Guide to Climbing". Of course, good bike rides are the stuff of inspiration, so Hannah is no stranger to cycling the European haunts of cycling lore. Much like it is in the US cycling scene, she is a woman in man's world in the UK. And enjoying it thoroughly!

I asked Hannah how she happened to land the job:
I started work at Cycling Weekly soon after graduating from University where I studied Sport Science. A friend of mine worked at CW and said she could get me a temp job. At first I was an editorial assistant - glorified secretary - but I got more involved with products and start to contribute to the fitness pages which at the time were being written by a free-lancer. After about 6 months the decision was made to get rid of the free-lancer and for me to take over the fitness pages full time. That was a bit of a shock to go from an under grad to a secretary to having to churn out fitness features week in week out for a national magazine with 30,000 cyclists listening to my training advice! I remember being out on a club run and hearing a couple of guys behind me talking about a feature I'd written - without knowing it was me in front - that made me realise that what I write counts and makes a difference to the way people think.

Where do the ideas come from?
Generally I write about things I am interested in. If I read a new science paper or an article in another magazine and it makes me think about my own cycling and training I want to research it so I can share those ideas with others. Often ideas come out of long rides with my friends when we start pondering whether we could be fitter, faster or thinner! The main thing is that I ride and race myself. By being interested and engaged in the subject coming up with the concepts is easy.

It must be a blast testing all the new bikes that come in.
Bike tests are great - they can be hard work and you often end up riding bikes that aren't quite right but then you also get to ride bikes that normally you could only lust after through a bike shop window. A lot of a photo shoot is riding round and round the same corner for pics which gets a bit dull - but it is normally a beautiful hairpin with fantastic views and the sun beating down which always makes it a bit more enjoyable. We also manage to squeeze in a few rides and a couple of bottles of local vino tinto at the end of a hard day.

Aside from Fitness, some of the most inviting articles in CW this year have been about the UCI'sGolden Bike Series. Have you had a chance to participate in any of those events?
I have done lots of sportivs - the Etape (ed: a stage, always mountainous, of the Tour de France) in 2002 and this year the Beaumes de Venise Mont Ventoux ride and the UCI Golden Bike Quebrantahuesos. The Mont Ventoux ride was great - it went over Ventoux twice in 120 miles. I was very pleased to come second in my age group. I also took a sabbatical last summer and went cycle touring on my own in the Alps - I wanted to ride all the climbs over 2000 metres! I think I've bagged most of them now.

Whew! Not bad! 

Tailwinds,
Georgena

talktous@terrybicycles.com
www.terrybicycles.com