Cycling uphill

How to increase average speed cycling?

November 22, 2015November 12, 2015 by tejvan

Readers Question: I’m a commuter/leisure cyclist and I’m looking to getting into race fitness for a few sportives next year. I’ve never raced before and would like to know the best training methods to start increasing my fitness and speed. When I go out for a ride it’s usually only 20 miles and I ride just under my threshold to average 17mph. What should I do to start seeing that go up? I’m also going to start longer routes. Looking forward to your insight.

I remember when I started getting into cycling (quite a few years ago, I forget the number) every ride was just below at threshold, and I was obsessed with average speed. It was in the days before heart rate monitors and power meters. The only thing you had on your bike was speed, time, distance and average speed. I remember my first ever ride with a speedometer. Menston to Burnsall and back – average speed 13.5mph. Every time I went out, I always tried to get higher average speeds for my usual routes. I remember being very happy when I averaged 18 mph for a 35 mile ride from Menston to Burnsall and back.

Congestion in the bicycle lanes

November 22, 2015November 11, 2015 by tejvan

Since the end of the racing season, I’ve been paying a little more attention to the other aspect of cycling – Commuting. If you like dividing cycling into different tribes, I’m proud to be a member of most cycling tribes. Commuting has a very different mindset and rhythm to racing.

Congestion in the bike lanes

Since students have came back to Oxford, you notice a significant rise in the number of cyclists in the city. Cycling into town around 9am, and you get caught up in cycle lane congestion. As cycling problems go, cyclist congestion is a pretty good problem to have.

Needless to say, if every cyclist converted into a car, there would be fundamental gridlock on the narrow streets of Oxford.

People streaming into town. And shorts in November, what is the world coming to!

Dahon Vitesse review

November 22, 2015November 11, 2015 by tejvan

This is a review of Dahon Vitesse, I originally published on old cycling blog. I have reposted it here, with some updates

My search for a suitable foldup bicycle took me to try a Dahon Vitesse at a local shop Warland cycles on Botley Road. The first advantage of a Dahon Vitesse is that it is relatively cheap – only £400-£430. This makes it half the price of the cheapest Brompton foldup. For a relative occasional user of a foldup – it is hard to justify spending much more on a foldup.

Proviz Reflect 360 Cycling Jacket Review

November 22, 2015November 10, 2015 by tejvan

This review of a Proviz jacket is written by a friend Adam Thornton, who is a bike-ability instructor in Sheffield.

Proviz REFLECT 360 Cycling Jacket Review
Or, how I feel like auditioning for the next Tron film

I write this review after going out for an early-morning ride on a bleak morning. It was raining – that fine rain that I quite like cycling in because it’s soft when it hits your face. I’m now looking at my jacket drying on the clotheshorse and, despite it being on the far side of the room and away from the window (the only source of light), the jacket has an ethereal quality to it in the way it reflects light. This ability to reflect light and its chameleon-like quality is the jacket’s primary selling point, but we’ll get to that later.

First impressions

Back when the jacket arrived in the post I could immediately see it was well finished, with tissue paper wrapped around the zip pulls and a quality-looking product. The material has an unusual feel to it due to the technical nature of the special fabric. It’s a bit like a gore-tex jacket, but smoother.

A closer look: The inside-out test

One of the tricks I’ve learnt to do when considering buying an item of clothing I’ll be using for sport is to turn it inside out and have a good look at the sewing and the inside. I’ve found that because of the vigorous nature of training and the frequent putting-on and taking-off of the garment, if the sewing inside isn’t top notch or even if there’s a tiny thread loose then it only takes one catch as you’re putting your arm in to cause proper damage. The Proviz REFLECT 360 is advertised as having sealed seams for waterproofing so it was particularly important that the stitching is top grade. Also, sometimes I’ve had clothing with a soft cotton mesh inside which isn’t good quality, so once something snags on it in a sleeve, then it’s not long before the whole inner-sleeve becomes shredded. Throughout the whole Proviz jacket it is clear that the seams, stitching, and material quality are very good and that jacket will have a long life. In fact, the stitching is very well hidden and on the outside is completely sealed to make the jacket very waterproof.

Life without cycling

November 22, 2015November 8, 2015 by tejvan

This week I experienced a most unusual phenomena of not doing any training. Well, when I say a week of no training – I mean no training all week – excluding Mon, Tues and Saturday.

To be honest, it would be easier to say I had three days off the bike. Though when I say off the bike – that obviously still includes cycling 10 miles into town and back every day. Never miss an opportunity to clock up miles – even when you’re not training, that’s my motto.

So, to clarify, it was three days without any ‘proper’ training. It’s quite an interesting experience to suddenly have lots of free time to do things like er. visit a science museum and art gallery. Walking around town, thinking about going shopping, but not even having the enthusiasm for that.

For the first day of no training, I had the odd anxious thought that my grand plans to do a bit more of the ‘long stuff in Summer 2016’ was taking a monumental and irreversible set-back. Winter miles missed in November and the long-term grand plan is already going out of the window.

Fortunately, I had a sufficiently rational mind to realise that a day off in November, not only – doesn’t hold back goals for eight months hence – but may even do a bit of good.

Long slow steady miles

November 22, 2015November 4, 2015 by tejvan

The national hill climb now feels like a long time ago. The season has changed – both in terms of weather and the approach to cycling. Rather than eyeballs out for 4 minutes, it’s time to dust off the winter training bike and get ready for relatively long slow miles through the foggy Oxfordshire surroundings.

The day after the national hill climb, I got the winter training bike down from the loft, the difference in speed and weight was too much, and I wanted to put it back up in loft. So I’m still riding the Emonda whilst the weather is relatively good. I know from bitter experience that by early Dec, many of the quiet roads around here become barely indistinguishable from muddy farm tracks, and I will have surrendered to riding at 15mph on thick Armadillo tyres, mudguards, winter overshoes and three pairs of gloves. But, if I can get a few rides in November on a summer bike, that is an added bonus.

Getting lost – finding new roads

Oxford is a great place to cycle, if only for the sheer diversity of routes, roads and directions you can take. I’ve been in Oxford since 1994, and I still am finding new roads to rides. When training, I tend to stick routes I know well – the last thing you want when you’re really training hard – is getting lost and wondering where to go next. November becomes a good opportunity to follow the proverbial nose – head in a general direction and take which ever road appeals. This is one of the best ways to learn all the intricate lanes and stock pile possible training routes for next year. It’s OK, so long as you don’t head completely in the wrong direction.

2006 national hill climb championship

November 4, 2020November 2, 2015 by tejvan

The national hill climb championship in 2006 was held on Peak hill, Sidmouth in Devon.

James Dobbin (Arctic Shorter Rochford RT) won the championship in a time of 4.44. A big winning margin over 2nd place, David Clark Nippo KFS 5.07. 3rd was 2004 national champion Jonathan Dayus (Arctic Shorter Rochford RT)

1st women was Ann Bowditch 6.41, Science in Sport. Lyn Hamel was 2nd women. (7.02) 3rd Jane Kilmartin 7.05 (London Phoenix)

The best junior was Luke Rowe 5.42 Glendene CC-Bike Trax (17th overall) who just finished ahead of Alex Dowsett 18th overall (5.44). It goes without saying that both juniors went on to even greater things than 17th /18th in the national hill climb championship. James Gullen (Scarborough Paragon was 62nd) (2nd in 2013). There was a very young Hugh Carthy in 89th place (4th in 2013).

hugh-carthy — Hugh Carthy. Photo Ann Owens

My race

It was my second national hill climb championship and I finished 7th, which was a good result after little racing or training throughout the season. In 2006, I did a couple of time trials, and two hill climbs. They were Streatley HC (Reading CC) ,and Brighton Mitre hill climb – where I won the second leg on Shoreham in a time of 7.21.

2006 national. Not sure about those socks, somethings don’t change. At least I’d taken off the bar tape to save 10 grams.

I remember it was a good day. Warm, sunny, dry. I think I paced it relatively well, going quite well on the steep second half. In those days, I never rode a climb before racing, it was a question of starting off and hoping for the best.

Pacing hill climbs

November 22, 2015October 29, 2015 by tejvan

There are different ways of riding hill climbs.

One approach is to start very hard and hold on for dear life.
The other is to start hard, but then try and put in even more effort in the last section.

Evidence of emptying the tank.

Both have there merits and demerits, though they usually end up in a similar pain cave at the top. Also like any pacing strategy – they depend on the physiology and capacity of the rider.

If you look at splits from national hill climb – you can see quite big variations in the relative pacing strategies. Two people may finish with a similar time, but may have reached the half way point at very different speeds.

After the 2013 national hill climb, I started writing about pacing strategies, but then thought better of it and decided to forget all about it. Perhaps I didn’t want to remind myself of the crazy split that emerged between myself and other riders. I took the option to enjoy the winter training without worrying about a pacing strategy that might have been better.

As a wise man once said, the best pacing strategy is the one the winner had.

Different pacing strategies

It is worth bearing in mind that one person’s best pacing strategy may be different to someone else’s. It depends on your physiology e.t.c. Athletes can have different composition of muscle fibres, different tolerance of acidosis e.t.c. What works for one rider, may not work so well for another.

The world of cycling according to G – Review

November 22, 2015October 28, 2015 by tejvan

The world of cycling according to G at Amazon.co.uk

The world of cycling according to G at Waterstones

I received this book a couple of weeks ago. I enjoyed reading it, and it is one of the more interesting insights into professional cycling. You feel a strong sincerity in that this is how Geraint Thomas sees cycling and life, there’s no sense of pretence or writing what a pro cyclist is supposed to say. From those looking from the outside, it is interesting to read.

The story of Geraint Thomas’s career is well-timed because it neatly co-incides with the rise of British cycling. Thomas along with the likes of Ed Clancy, Mark Cavendish were some of the very early members of the British Cycling development squad run by Rod Illingworth, the squad which went on to achieve Olympic success and then perhaps more impressively success on the road.

The book is written in quite a light, easy to read format; (it is written with Tom Fordyce). It is good humoured and generally quite a positive insight into professional cycling.

It is not written like a chronological autobiography. “I won Olympics, then rode for Sky… ” But, focusing on particular aspects of cycling separated into short chapters. For example:

The Fringe benefits of being a professional cyclist (e.g. Being brilliant at go-karting racing, getting drunk very cheaply…)

Geraint Thomas 2015 Ghent-Wevelgem

Rain
The Perfect Ride
Cafes
When the Wind Blows
I never take the stairs

Even more on hill climbs

January 7, 2017October 28, 2015 by tejvan

There is a well known cliché in cycling ‘let your legs do the talking’. But, I sometime surprise myself how much there is to write about a short race up a hill.

In the run up to the national hill climb, I didn’t have much inspiration to write, but since the national is over, my mind is a stream of hill climb consciousness; and – for better or worse – it tends to get written down. To be honest, it’s a lot more fun writing about hill climbing than working on my next A level economics revision book. I should really be writing about UK fiscal policy, but hill climbs is a very welcome diversion.

Some random thoughts on hill climbs

Photo Dan Monaghan cadenceimages.co.uk/ @13images

Since Cycling Weekly’s relaunch earlier this year, there has been more of an effort to cover domestic racing, and coverage of the hill climb season has been good. I think the hill climbs get quite a lot of interest because:

It’s a bit quirky (polite way of saying it hill climbers are a bit nuts.)
Everyone can relate to riding up a hill. I think the Strava effect has made more people conscious of riding fast up hills; and perhaps there is a realisation that doing it for real in a race, is even more fun than relying on electronic virtual competition.
The race lends itself to really great photos (see also: Russellis photos) – it certainly makes for better photos than 100 riders covered up in aerohelmets, visors and silly socks riding up and down on dual carriegaways, being overtaken by lorries. Instead, in hill climbs, you can take photos of riders with cloth caps, faces that look like they have been tortured by a medieval rack, and, in some cases, well wearing silly socks.
The hill climbs comes at a quiet time of the year, and there is a huge wide range of different types of riders, with the results often hard to predict. In fact, Paddy Power claim there was as much betting on the national hill climb championship as a stage of the Tour de France. I like the amateur ethos of hill climbing – so the arrival of small time betting does feel a little strange, if not uncomfortable. (And I’m sorry to the 1.6% of you who put money on me. Still at 16/1…)