Keep Your Head Up

My head is up, honest

When you're cycling at speed, several competing forces come into play.

Mechanically, you're fighting friction and aerodynamic drag.

Physically, you're pushing the limits of your physical strength, stamina and aerobic capacity.

And mentally you're battling against the urge to reduce the discomfort.

So, for aerodynamic reasons, when you're travelling fast you need to make yourself as small as you can.

But you actually make better use of your core strength, and breathe more efficiently and pedal more strongly when you sit up. Nonetheless, when we need to 'dig in', we habitually crouch low over the bars, because aerodynamic drag is the main consideration.

Now, unless we're serious racers, we'll be riding somewhat slower up hills than on the flat, so aerodynamic drag is much reduced and that habit of 'hunkering down' actually makes us less efficient. Still, we often do it anyway and make the summit through shear bloody-mindedness.

(There is something to be said for bloody-mindedness.)

But getting the best out of ourselves physically has a psychological aspect to it, as we all know.

We perform better when we feel optimistic than when we feel mentally 'down'. Our physical and mental states are closely related.

Plus, it works both ways - when we're physically strong we feel better mentally, too. This is bio-feedback in action, and even our body language, our posture, has an effect on our mood.

Now, do you feel more optimistic when your head is up or when it's bowed? Do you feel stronger when you walk tall or when you slump? You know the answer.

How about when you're on a bike? Do you feel happier when you're 'hunkering down' and 'digging in' or when you relax a little and sit up?

And do you feel stronger when you can see the summit of the hill quite clearly or when all you can see is the endless road in front of you?

I find, and you can test this for yourself next time you go out, that I am much stronger, mentally and physically, when I keep my head up and my eyes fixed above the top of the hill.

Because any problem you can look down on is smaller than you are.

It takes practice and some mental discipline, but the pedals spin faster, you'll breathe more easily and, above all, you will enjoy climbing more when you keep your head up.

Work harder today, and stay tall - be even stronger tomorrow.

Roy

You Don't Need Matching Jerseys

... to be a team, as you can see from this team picture taken in Keswick, on our coast to coast trip in September.

By the time we assembled at Carlisle, we had already done a few hundred miles between us, by various means. John C and I had cycled from North Shields after driving up from Suffolk, John H had taken a couple of trains from somewhere in the Cotswolds and JR had taken the train from Nottingham, via Newcastle.

Staff at the Travelodge in Carlisle were friendly and very obliging about bike storage overnight and we did some team bonding over a Mexican meal near the station.

Next day we rode about 80 miles to Keswick, via Workington, and we were already a team.

The best test of a team's cohesion is when things go wrong or tempers are tested, so it might be a pity that we're all so even tempered and get on so well. We didn't even have a puncture to deal with. The nearest we got to being grumpy with each other was when the pre-lunch stretch to Workington turned out to be longer than anticipated and our blood sugar levels dipped.

We mostly stayed together on the flat stetches. And while we all climbed at our different speeds (because you can't really help each other at those slower speeds) the top of every hill was a reunion of sorts, where every word was an encouraging one and every greeting came with a smile.

And the end of each day was another little triumph, a social occasion and a time to share stories of that day and other days - even when we couldn't get a proper meal on Saturday night!

So, while we all face a unique and almost solitary challenge on every climb, being part of the team makes it doubly worthwhile. That, and the promise that, with the team's support, we can take on even bigger challenges in the future.

That's the point, really. Challenging yourself is one thing, but you can do so much more as a team.

Next year, The Alps.

Roy

Celebrate Your Successes

celebrating a very minor triumph

...but not for too long.

Reaching the top of a big climb, like the culmination of any big effort, brings a real sense of triumph. It doesn't really matter how many people have done it before, especially if it's your first time.

So we should recognise our achievement and allow ourselves to enjoy it.

Sometimes that's a hot chocolate from the cafe at the summit, as we enjoyed at the top of Hartside in September or the Col de Tourmalet two years ago. Sometimes it's the fantastic descent that you've worked so hard to earn.

In scientific terms, what you accumulate by climbing is potential energy, which you lose as you descend again. In fact, you convert some of that potential energy into kinetic energy - the rest is lost to friction - and that will get you a little way up the next hill, as you know.

But it can be disappointing to discover how quickly that energy is lost and how soon you have to start pedalling again.

So our triumphs are inevitably short-lived. Does that mean we shouldn't bother achieving in the first place?

No, because today's triumph is, if nothing else, great training for tomorrow's bigger challenge.

The biggest success stories come from people who took on the biggest mountains. And they did that after starting with the foothills and building their strength (physical or mental) with ever bigger challenges.

Because the more you do today, the stronger you'll be tomorrow.

Roy

Yes, Literally Tomorrow

It's an odd thing about cycling.

It doesn't work the same in running. And it never worked for me at the gym.

Some people say the same thing about swimming, but I'm not sure.

But you really can be stronger tomorrow when you cycle today.

I saw evidence of it in the Pyrenees, when I was just the back up driver, but I thought it was because the guys had prepared so well that they were just warming up.

Then I found out for myself last year, when I did the coast to coast. I had prepared, but not enough, and I know I hadn't done enough hills. Yet, despite feeling shattered at the end of days one and two, I was definitely stronger next day. By day three I was enjoying the climbing.

This year, doing the coast to coast 'there and back', on even less training, I felt sluggish on day one and tired at the end of a long second day, but I was disappointed not to have a bigger climb at the end of day three, the longest day of the trip.

In other words, however tired I felt at the end of each day, I was definitely stronger the following morning, and I was less fatigued at the end of day five than at the start.

If you stick at it, you'll find the same.

So, as long as you don't push so hard you make yourself ill - and a healthy person can push pretty hard - you will feel stronger tomorrow.

To get the most from your cycling, whether training or touring, it's important to 'refuel' properly, and often. Unless you're a regular cyclist you might be surprised how important refuelling is, and I'll talk more about that soon, but for now, the lesson is ...

... work harder today - be stronger tomorrow.

Roy