There was something that was just right about the arrival of the last Silk Route rider to Shanghai, Jan Kramer. Here it was: less than 12 hours before the first kilometers of a 12000+ kilometer cycling journey across seven countries, the gear for the entire tour lying out, half-sorted, in the parking lot of Shanghai’s Panorama Hotel. That was when Jan rolled up, with four months of gear strapped to his bike and his back, looking equally absurd and awe-inspiring. Airport shuttle? Not for Jan; he’d ride his bike. For the final piece of the puzzle, this seemed exactly right.



During the last several days Shanghai has been an appropriate backdrop to assemble of the tour’s intricately interlocked pieces. The bold ambition of the Silk Route finds a perfect home amid the city’s audacious energy: it feels like a place where anything can happen. For Silk Route riders the hours here have been a blur of preparations large and small: shuttles from the airport, jet-lagged 5AM along the brick-cobbled Bund, map study and meeting notes, beguiling authorities at airport customs and the hotel reception desk. Most importantly, it’s also been a time for riders to introduce themselves to the likeminded cast of riders who will share some very high highs and very low lows over the next months (many of which will happen while wearing cycling shorts). Everyone has been busy: In roughly the same time it takes a rider to navigate scooter-gnarled streets to replace a bent bike spoke and slurp some hand-pulled noodles, the tour’s chef barters her way through the city’s culinary market to build mobile kitchen from scratch.



The first informal ride – to “get the cobwebs out” as one rider put it – was last night, when Bill Gaylord, leader of Shanghai’s SISU cycling club, led a 36k ride under the Technicolor glow of Shanghai’s futuristic skyline. Passing the site of the 2010 world expo, the tour included a healthy dose of insight about China’s vibrant southern city. And while the first impressions of China included plenty of moments of singular, surreal beauty – kites floating over the skyline rigged with LED lights to resemble UFOs, a crowded ferry ride across the dark currents of the Huangpu River, the glistening sparkle of a freshly constructed Louis Vuitton shop  – when the group got split in half at a frenzied stoplight and was forced to violate a fair share of the city’s loosely observed cycling conventions, it was also a good introduction to one of the tour’s fundamental elements: the importance of staying cool amid chaos.



Tonight, on the eve of the convoy ride out of Shanghai and official opening to the tour, riders and staff retreated to their rooms sharing a heady mix of excitement, anxiety, apprehension and elation. But then again, if you didn’t have butterflies on the eve of facing the most unpredictable suite of physical and psychological tests, check your pulse.

  -- Nate Cavalieri

Mental Toughness

I shared in a recent guest post at a friend’s web site about a story of one of my toughest Road Races when I first started racing. It was about how I decided I wasn’t a very good climber and how I just couldn’t seem to do well when the roads turned up. My coach was out riding the course with me and he shared some great tips with me.

I was complaining about how hard and long the climbs were and that I wasn’t any good at climbing. He stopped me in my tracks and said. “As long as your thinking that way you wont be good at climbing.” We rode along and talked about Mental Toughness and positive self-talk and how it could be applied in my case. It was a great lesson that I think back to often.

What can we learn from Olympic athletes?

I love watching the Olympics and hearing the athletes being interviewed. You will hear the athletes say that almost all athletes participating are on equal ground when it comes to fitness and ability but that winning or loosing comes down to mental toughness.  So what is mental toughness you might ask?

Mental toughness is having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to cope better than your opponents with the many demands (e.g., competition, training, lifestyle) that are placed on you as a performer.  David Yukelson, Ph.D., Coordinator of Sport Psychology Services Morgan Academic Support Center for Student-Athletes, Penn State University

But I am not a competitive cyclist

All cyclists could learn and apply the characteristics of mentally tough athletes to their event rides and tours. Doctor David Yukelson, mentioned above, has provided four easy to remember characteristics that everyone can learn from when trying to become mentally tough. I am going to adapt these to be more appropriate to the tour and expedition rider but they will still be applicable to competitive athletes. So here are some characteristics of mentally tough athletes.

Self-Belief

You must believe in your ability to complete your cycling goals! You must also understand that you bring unique abilities to your ride that allows you to complete your goals.

Motivation

You need an unflappable desire to train and ride in order to meet your goals. You must not look at training or riding setbacks as the end to your goals just as new challenges.



Focus

When things aren’t going to plan or your body is not living up to it’s potential you need to be able to remain focused on the task of training, riding and touring. You need to be able to discern what is a distraction and what is a priority.

Composure/Handling Pressure

I like to think of this as “Grace Under Pressure”. The ability to not cave in to negative self-talk when the ride gets harder than my body or mind is use to. This may be the hardest to train for.

While its helpful to read over tips on mental toughness it requires a consistent and concentrated effort and practice to develop mental toughness. In training we need to recognize that all training is planned, training doesn’t just happen.

If you find that you are no longer enjoying riding due to one or more aspects of your training, riding or touring you need to ask yourself why. If you cannot find the answers to this question I strongly suggest you seek out more knowledge on sports psychology or even speak to a sport psychologist.

I hope you have enjoyed all of the articles and come away with some knowledge that has helped you on your way across the Silk Route. In the final article for Silk Route participants I will be answering some questions from readers and providing some common questions and there answers too. I look forward to hearing how everyone does on Tour!

I hope you found this article on mental toughness helpful and if you have questions related to this or other articles please feel free to email me.

“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.” - Vince Lombardi

Have a great ride,

Coach Rob


Coach Rob Grissom is a competitive cyclist, runner and duathlete who coaches both competitive and recreational cyclists. Rob is also the owner of Positive Performance Coaching and the co-host of the popular Cycling360 podcast. When Rob isn’t racing, training or coaching he can be found spending time with his wife and two children at their home in Central Kentucky. 

Related articles

The Secrets to Becoming a Relaxed Cyclist
Preparing to Train & Race in the Heat
Squeezing more Training out of your day
A Relaxed Cyclist is a Fast Cyclist
Becoming a Supported Cyclist



Related Podcasts

Pushing Your Limits
Cycling Tactics
Cycling Lifestyle
Structured Training

I get asked all kinds of questions about sports nutrition as a coach. What I share is practical knowledge based on my own experience as an athlete and a coach. It also doesn’t hurt to be coached by one of the best Sport Nutritionists in the industry, Kelli Jennings of Apex Nutrition LLC.

What I am going to share is just the basics of in ride nutrition strategies. I also want you to think of nutrition on the bike as fuel!

When fueling for a ride you must first think of the day in its entirety not just the time you are on the bike. When you eat and what you eat will play a very large part in how well you do on the ride.

What I eat during the day

On the day of a race or a long training day I like to keep it simple. My daily nutrition consists of whole foods with little to no processed food. I will consume more protein than your average person due to my high volume of training. My protein sources come from lean meats, fish and whey protein. When I am concerned with daily carbs I also like to limit it to fruits and vegetables. I try to limit/remove sugars and starchy carbs as well as they can lead to insulin spikes and the inevitable low energy crash. The healthier I eat the more this “crash” is noticeable when I cheat and eat something I shouldn’t.



So where do all of the gels, sports drinks and protein bars come in?

In normal weather conditions I only consume sports drinks, gels before and during rides and races lasting longer than 1.5 hours. If it’s hot and the humidity is over the top I will consume sports drinks on rides 40 minutes or greater due to potential electrolyte loss. I will only eat protein bars after a long race or ride when it is not easy to consume a recovery shake of my own design.

That’s it?

I hate to say it but I like to keep it simple when it comes to my nutrition concerns and rarely change my diet. I have found that the longer I train and race the less time I want to spend over analyzing what I am eating.

What if I don’t have access to my favorite nutrition?

I recently received a comment from a reader of the Silk Route Blog that liked my sports drink formula in the hydration article but when they calculated how much they were going to need they calculated about 100lbs of Sports Drink Mix in an effort to meet my requirements for hydration. To answer I have a simple response to all concerned. “Do the best you can with what you have.” This is actually some of the best advice I was ever given as a child from my Grandfather and it has helped me through many a tough decision.

It may be impossible to get your favorite nutrition on a cycling expedition but there are few rules that you can follow on an expedition that will help you stay healthy.

•    Eat cleaned whole foods (Fruits, Vegetables, Roots, Nuts, Berries, Lean Meats/Protein)
•    Stay away from packaged foods that have ingredients you do not recognize
•    Stay away from packaged foods that do not have ingredients listed
•    Drink only water that has been purified or bottled
•    Stay away from packaged foods that contain sugar alcohols, as they can be tough on digestion especially in hot climates
•    Stay away from High Fructose Corn Syrup as a sweetener used in many packaged sports drinks and supplements

As I said before do the best you can. You may be in the middle of nowhere and only have a handful of power bars and can of coke to fuel with. Its not the end of the world its just not the best fuel for the long haul.

As I wrote at the beginning of this article this was going to be very basic and non technical and I will give you one more piece of advice that has served me well on long rides. “Eat before you are hungry and drink before you are thirsty.”

I hope you found this article on nutrition strategies helpful and if you have questions related to this or other articles please feel free to contact  me.

Have a great ride,

Coach Rob

Coach Rob Grissom is a competitive cyclist, runner and duathlete who coaches both competitive and recreational cyclists. Rob is also the owner of Positive Performance Coaching and the co-host of the popular Cycling360 podcast. When Rob isn’t racing, training or coaching he can be found spending time with his wife and two children at their home in Central Kentucky. 

Related articles

•    Dealing with illness as a cyclist
•    Garbage In Garbage Out
•    Quick Protein Smoothies
•    Weight loss strategies for cyclists Pt 1
•    Pt 1 of 4: Supplementing for cycling performance?

Related Podcasts

•    Carbs and Cycling
•    Weight Maintenance for Cyclists



 

The decision to change the route of the Silk Route Tour to include the Pamir Highway was made a couple of years ago, and we can tell that a lot of people are very happy that the decision was made.  The section is nearing capacity and at this time we have room for only 3 more participants. 



If you’re on the fence now is the time to sign up!  When the section does fill up completely, we’ll make a waiting list, and if we get enough people on the waiting list to make it worthwhile adding more vehicles and support on the ground then we’d be able to let more people come.  



Hurry up and join our merry group of adventurists this summer!  It’s going to be an unforgettable ride in some of the most stunning mountain scenery on earth.

Having completed two of our tours Ross is a veteran TdAer. The Silk Route will be his longest tour with us and most likely one of the most challenging.  I caught up with  Ross recently to get his thoughts on the tour.


Hey Ross, just to be thorough, tell us your full name, age, occupation and anything you'd like to tell us about yourself:

Ross Thomson, 61, retired forester, currently employed as a cyclist in training for a cross Asian bike tour. 

I bet there are quite of few people who are envious of your current ‘job’, why did you choose the Silk Route bike tour for your next adventure?

I've biked across Canada and Europe, this will complete the round the world journey.

Nice. We’ve got a round the world adventure in the works coming soon, its still a bit of a secret so I’ll tell you more about it when we’re on tour. 

What makes you a little nervous about this trip?

Cycling at high elevations, cycling up long steep hills, cycling through burning hot deserts, eating different/strange foods for 4 months.

What do you look forward to the most?

"Cycling at high elevations, cycling up long steep hills, cycling through burning hot deserts, eating different/strange foods for 4 months.

Also, seeing different people and cultures. "

I hear you, the Silk Route certainly has its share of extreme condition, I have a love hate relationship with them myself.  This tour has set the bar for what the term “hot” means for me.  I imagine the Pamir Highway will set a few benchmarks.

What kind of bike are you bringing?

Aren't they supplied???  Okay, a titanium cyclo-cross, disc brakes, Shimano mountain bike drive train, no campy gear (that's for you Paul!) - note: Ross historically rides a bike with a Campy drivetrain, something that has caused him, and our tour mechanics more that a few headaches....

How have you been training? Do you feel prepared?

Training has been going slowly as the weather has been cold, damp, and windy. I hate cycling in adverse conditions. I'm not as well prepared as I would like but I'm confident that I will quickly get in "tour shape".

If you could give one piece of advice to someone going on their first tour with us what would it be?

Embrace Everything. The different people, cultures, foods, language, the uniqueness of all that you see, the scenery.  Embrace and enjoy any "bonus tours" (we don't get lost).

That is very good advice.  As I recall you have done quite a few “bonus miles” over the years with us.  Attitude is everything when things go a little astray. 

Any final thoughts?

Don't forget to enjoy the diversity of the group.  There is a wide range of personalities and yet there is the common bond of tackling an incredible journey together.  You just might find a new friend for life.

Thanks for your time Ross, I guess I’ll be seeing you in about two weeks in Shanghai!

Bike fitting: The next level of obsessiveness or just common sense cycling?

So far I have been writing about how cyclists can utilize basic tactics, hydration, climbing techniques and how to become a more efficient rider. The most recent article helped cyclists discover why good posture is important for various types of riding.

All of the training, technique and tactics are great places to start but if you hurt while you ride none of the above is going to be much good to you after mile 100. So lets answer some pretty common questions about a bike fitting experience.

Why do I need a bike fit?

I am strong proponent of getting a bike fit to you the day you purchase a brand new bike. However there is something to be said for getting your bike re-fit to you each and every season. Our postures, flexibility, power and physical size are not static as our fitness changes from year to year. Having a bike fit to a cyclist use to be a service offered to elite competitive cyclists but is now available to anyone who wants it done. Getting your optimal position fit to a bike will make for a much more comfortable ride, improve your efficiency and ward off over use injuries



Who offers bike fitting services?

Most local bike shops offer some kind of fitting service and there are even dedicated bike fitting studios in most major cities. Many bike fitters are now certified in one or more of the popular bike fitting services such as Guru Dynamic Fit, Serotta, Retul, F.I.S.T., PowerFiTTE and others. As you can see there are several certified services from reputable bicycle companies, sports scientists and physical therapist to choose from. I would strongly recommend doing a little research on each of the certifications before spending any money.

What does a bike fit cost?

A bike fit from a local bike store can cost as little as nothing to as much as $800.00 usd. You do get what you pay for! Bike fits cost an average of $200.00 a session and the average bike fit session lasts 2.5 hours. You may be advised to purchase updates to your bike such as a different saddle, handle bars, stems, cranks and even pedals. This will of course add to the overall cost. Just remember that if you are asked to purchase upgrades to your bike ask why changing this or that part will help you perform better or alleviate this or that ache and pain. You should also walk away from a bike fitting session with your measurements in case you ever need to apply them to a new bike.

When should I get a bike fit?

The best time to get a bike fit is just before you purchase a brand new bike. You can get a fit done anytime you want with your existing bike but I would not recommend doing it just before a big ride or race. It can take your body a few hundred miles to get use to the changes. A safe schedule would be to have your bike fit done 3 months in advance of an important ride or race.

Where can a bike fit help me the most?

It depends on what you want to focus on. If you want to become faster, more efficient or deal with a nagging physical problem such as an achy back, IT Band Syndrome or cyclists palsy (Numb Hands). I would split the difference and look to optimize performance with out compromising comfort. If you are about to give up on cycling due to a nagging injury than work with a fitter that either has a physical therapist on staff or partners with one to not only discover what is causing the problem but give you the necessary work outs to rehab the problem.

How does a bike fit get performed?

Bike fits may start out doors where a bike fitter will watch you ride. They will look at your pedaling technique, posture and how you navigate corners and hills. More often than not the bike fitter will put your bike onto a trainer or an ergometer or have you climb aboard a dedicated stationary bike designed for fitting. Your pedaling technique will be monitored again. You may even be video taped and data captured on cadence, left and right leg dominance, power, heart rate and speed. This information will be used through out testing to quantify changes in performance.

The fitter through experience, various measurements and performance data will potentially change the following:

•    Saddle height
•    Fore and aft position of your saddle
•    Saddle level
•    Cleat position
•    Position of break levers
•    Change the width of the handlebars
•    Change stem length and or rise.

Fitters may also make additional adjustments and suggestions based on their experience and the data collected such as:

•    Moldable foot beds for shoes
•    Changes in pedals or crank lengths
•    Changes in bar tape
•    In extreme cases may recommend a new smaller or larger bike frame

Fitters will also make suggestions on how to improve your performance through their experienced observations and the data they have collected. I know some of this sounds subjective and expensive and some of it is but much of it is based on the science of biomechanics.

So should you get a bike fit?

If you are about to invest considerable time in training and preparing to ride in an expedition tour wouldn’t you want just a bit more assurance that you have done everything you could to make your trip successful?

Lets recap some of the benefits of a bike fit:

•    Helps to prevent over use injuries
•    Addresses cycling posture problems
•    Addresses cycling technique deficiencies
•    Helps you to become more comfortable on the bike
•    Helps you to become more efficient on the bike
•    May just make you a bit faster to!

I think it’s only fair to talk about potential cons to bike fits:

•    Bike fitting services can be very expensive
•    You may need to make several visits to get your fit right
•    May “require” expensive upgrades to your bike

Buyer beware



I would also like to mention that I have heard horror stories from friends, teammates and athletes I coach on their journey to get a great fit to their bikes. So asking a few questions could save you some time, money, headaches or even prevent an injury.

•    Ask your bike fitter for client references
•    Ask around your bike club for who is recommended in your community
•    Check on bike forums for fitters in your area
•    Don’t be afraid to use a reputable bike fitter who isn’t certified (certs are new)
•    Steer clear of fitters who are upgrade happy
•    Ask lots of questions before laying down your hard earned cash
•    Run away from any bike fitter that makes you a guarantee on results

I hope you found this article on bike fitting helpful and if you have questions related to this or other articles please feel free to email me.

Have a great ride,

Coach Rob

Coach Rob Grissom is a competitive cyclist, runner and duathlete who coaches both competitive and recreational cyclists. Rob is the owner of Positive Performance Coaching and a co-host of the popular Cyling360 podcast. When Rob isn’t racing, training or coaching he can be found spending time with his wife and two children at their home in Central Kentucky. 

 

Related articles ·                The importance of leg speed ·                Q&A with Coach Rob ·                Tip: It’s High Cadence not a Rodeo! ·               Tip: To Ride Faster Soft Pedal d@m9 it!

Related Podcasts ·                The Climbing Show ·                The Cycling 360 Mailbag ·                Buying a Bicycle Computer

 

In preparation for my big adventure this summer I have been experimenting with different bikes.

In order to avoid the hassle of putting up my tent in the afternoon and then taking it down in the morning.....



And in case if sudden rains, here is a solution that should help out.....

 

And then there is the problem of staying hydrated during the ride.  No problem now, I can even share......



And with the issue of safety being paramount, my new bike helmet.....

 


--  Ross Thomsom, Silk Route Full Tour rider 2012

Improving your form through proper cycling posture

In a previous article I covered how cyclists can improve pedaling efficiency through increasing cadence. This was accomplished using pedaling drills and several interval based workouts that smooth pedal strokes and increase leg speed.
   
While pedaling efficiency is very important aspect of becoming and efficient cyclists there are many other things we can do to improve our ride as cyclists. In this article we will learn how to become even more efficient and confident on the bike when the ride gets technical!

Cyclists often don’t understand that there is proper posture when riding. Cycling posture isn’t static and needs to be adapted to various riding conditions. Many of the tenants of good cycling posture are applicable to all riding conditions such as relaxed riding or technical riding.

Relaxed riding is when a rider is sitting up in the saddle usually on flat stretches of smooth road. Technical riding is about riding in the aero position, cornering, climbing and descending.

Relaxed riding posture

Relaxed riding isn’t just about riding through your neighborhood or to the coffee shop. Relaxed riding is what cyclists do when it’s time to recover from hard efforts. So if you could ride a bit more efficiently and confidently wouldn’t that make for a nicer ride?

Proper relaxed riding posture is the foundation for all types of riding conditions but the basics should be practiced on relaxed rides before trying in high speed riding.

•    Sit high in the saddle
•    Hands on the tops of the bars or the brake hoods
•    Hands should not have a death grip on the bars
•    Elbows should never be locked but slightly bent
•    Shoulders should not be hunched but relaxed
•    Looking forward never down at the road
•    Knees should not stick out past handle bars
•    Sitting towards the middle to the back of your saddle

So why is relaxed riding posture so important?

Most posture concerns are about being relaxed on the bike. A tense cyclist is using energy that they do not need to waste.

•    If you sit high in the saddle you will find it difficult to slouch or look down at the road.
•    Keeping your hands on the tops of the bars opens up your chest for easier breathing. Riding with hands on the break hoods still keeps your chest open but gives you a bit more control over the bike and gives you a slightly aero position.
•    Not having a death grip on the handlebars keep you relaxed and ready for jarring bumps on poor road surfaces. 
•    Keeping your elbows bent allows your arms to work like shock absorbers for the upper body.
•    Having your elbows bent will allow you to make more relaxed line changes. Trying to make a line change with elbows locked can lead to erratic bike handling. When pedaling with your knees behind the bars and close to the top tube keeps your legs out of the wind more.
•    Ridding towards the rear of saddle will utilize major muscle groups where as sitting towards the front of saddle while faster can exhaust fast twitch muscles much sooner.

Technical riding posture

So if relaxed riding posture is about remaining relaxed to further enhance your efficiency, what does technical riding posture accomplish?  Technical riding posture addresses a rider’s aero position, riding in a pack or pace line, cornering, climbing and descending.

Riding in an aero position, riding in a pack or pace line

•    Same as the relaxed posture +
•    Sit towards the front of the saddle
•    Hands in the drops

Cornering

•    Same as the relaxed posture +
•    Sit towards the middle of the saddle or hoover just above the saddle
•    Hands in the drops

Climbing

•    Same as the relaxed posture +
•    Sit at the back of the saddle
•    Hands on the tops

Descending

•    Same as the relaxed posture +
•    Sit towards the middle of the saddle or hover just above the saddle
•    Hands in the drops

Is technical posture about being relaxed?

Yes and no. Many experienced cyclists would argue that there is nothing comfortable about riding in an aero position. I think it’s easier to think of technical riding posture as how can you become more confident and stable on the bike.

So how does technical riding posture help cyclists?

Technical riding posture follows the same guidelines, as relaxed riding posture but is specific to technical riding.

Cyclists can gain greater stability, efficiency and confidence when applying the following:

Aero position riding is needed when riding in packs of cyclists, pace lines, windy conditions or riding with the purpose to gain and maintain speed. The aero position keeps the cyclist body in a position that streamlines airflow over the cyclist’s body. Riding with hands in the drops, bottom of road bars and sitting forward of the saddle.

Cornering is often an uncomfortable topic for recreational riders who have not been taught to corner at speed. There are few things cyclists can do to help relieve some of the nervousness that comes with high speed cornering. Riding in the drops just as you do when riding aero is the biggest tip. While riding in the drops gives you an aero position it also lowers your center of gravity making you even more stable while cornering. Sitting in the middle of the saddle while keeping a light stance in the saddle allows a rider to shift their weight easily in the corner. While not a posture concern I will add that when a cyclist rides into a corner they are not steering a bike but leaning into a corner. To do this into a left hand corner means that your right pedal should be in the 6 o’ clock position and your right foot should be heavily weighted on the right pedal. You do just the opposite for a right hand corner.

Climbing posture may actually be the simplest to grasp when practicing good technical climbing posture. We climb seated to the back of the saddle with our hands on the tops of the bars. As mentioned before when our hands are on the tops of the bars our chest is opened up allowing for easier and more complete breaths. While not a posture guideline but more of a tip for climbing, try pulling back on the bars gently when your dominant leg pushes down on the pedals. This should be a subtle motion and should feel like you are rowing not rocking.

Descending posture is the same as cornering but I would add two additional tips. Instead of actually remaining seated try hovering just off of the saddle. When descending short straight hills with no corners you can also bring your pedals parallel to each other when coasting down hills for an even more aero position on the bike.

I want to caution everyone reading this article that all of the above should be practiced before trying to use in a group riding or technical ride. I would also strongly recommend that if you feel that this article has shown that you are lacking in many of these areas that you seek out a local coach and ask if he or she hosts a skills clinic. A skills clinic offered by many coaches and cycling clubs will address many of the above posture and technique concerns. Please remember that while these are skills taught to competitive cyclists all cyclists can greatly benefit from this knowledge.

I hope you found this article on posture helpful and if you have questions related to this or other articles please feel free to email me.

Have a great ride,

Coach Rob

Coach Rob Grissom is a competitive cyclist, runner and duathlete who coaches both competitive and recreational cyclists. Rob is also the owner of Positive Performance Coaching and the co-host of the popular Cycling360 podcast. When Rob isn’t racing, training or coaching he can be found spending time with his wife and two children at their home in Central Kentucky. 

Related articles Tip: Riding in windy conditions Tip: Use more of your saddle when climbing Tip: Keeping the descents fun Tip: Riding over rough roads Drafting – AKA: Free Speed

Related Podcasts Group Riding Etiquette Is fear keeping you from riding? How to improve your hill climbing skills

  

Cyclist’s love their bikes and love to ride them everywhere. We ride in all kinds of weather and terrain. We ride in tours, expeditions and even races. Why? Because we love cycling, pushing ourselves and getting outside and rarely give thought to how we are actually riding our bike. What if I told you that you could become an even better cyclist with some simple tips and a work out or two?  

Becoming an efficient cyclists means learning a few things about riding a bike.

Lesson 1  “A Relaxed Cyclist is a Confident Cyclist and a Confident Cyclist is a Fast Cyclist.”

Lesson 2 “To use less energy you need to spin those gears!”

Lesson 3 “Changes to behavior must be practiced to be learned.”   The simplest of tips is to relax.

Relaxing on the bike starts with an attitude adjustment followed by good cycling posture and some mental skills. To become relaxed while riding you need to not let negative self talk creep in. An example of negative self-talk would be “This is to hard or I can’t do this or I stink at this.” You need to replace the negative self talk when it happens with more positive inner dialogue like “Almost there or this isn’t so bad or this is going to make me stronger.”  

Becoming relaxed starts with the face. If you are squinting or grimacing every time you need to put tension in your legs you are causing your entire body to become tense and this is wasted energy! To relax your face try the following: Let you face go slack just open your mouth and visualize your lower lip flapping in the wind as you ride. It’s an instant muscle relaxer!  

To further relax you need to use good cycling posture. Good cycling posture includes keeping elbows slightly bent, never locked, shoulders relaxed, not tense, looking forward, not down at your front wheel. I also strongly recommend that you keep your elbow and knees in. Your elbows should not stick out beyond your handlebars. When pedaling you’re knees should almost brush the top tube of your frame. If it is physically impossible to follow any of the above suggested cycling posture then you might have a bike that is the wrong size for you or a poor bike fit. You can seek out the assistance of your Local Bike Store (LBS) to confirm this.  

The next of the simple tips is to rev up your legs.

Mashing pedals is not only taxing to the cardiovascular system it is also taxing to muscular endurance. Once a cyclist has a great bike fit, mastered relaxation and proper posture the next thing to train is the development of the cyclist’s ability to spin pedals faster. We are going to need to train your neuromuscular abilities and in doing so I cannot over emphasize The Importance of Leg Speed. Using pedaling drills and training intervals designed to tax your legs neuromuscular abilities will cause legs to spin faster. Legs that spin faster can create more useable power without using as much force hence making you more efficient. When I say neuromuscular training what I am referring to is making the motor neurons that are responsible for muscle contraction fire quicker. I won’t bore you with anatomy behind neuromuscular junctions but I highly suggest using the workouts outlined below if your average cadence is 80 RPM or less.  

How do we make these new tips learned rather than understood?

We practice all of the above and apply them to training rides, group rides, tours and even racing. It sounds simple right? But if you don’t have becoming an efficient cyclist as one of your goals you are not going to have it in the forefront of your mind when you are ridding. By following a simple pedal drill on your easy ride days you will make great strides in increasing your ability to pedal faster. On your next easy ride try the following: Using easy gears (Small Front Ring and Bigger back cogs) try pedaling at 90-100 RPM for 5 minutes and then go back to what feels natural for 10 minutes. Repeat this through out your entire ride. You may notice that your legs will be sore in a different way than you are use to. You may find that your hips, glutes and IT Bands ache. This is because you are training your body to recruit more muscles through out your pedal stroke. It usually passes in a day. After you have tried this pedaling drill for a couple of weeks it disappears all together as your body adapts to the new demands. While this pedal drill is fantastic for getting muscles adapted to moving faster it is only going to help so much. To further increase your leg speed you will need to use interval training to make further adaptations. Follow the below suggested workouts to make the ultimate improvements!  

Quick and short workouts for faster legs

You can develop pedaling efficiency quicker with these 2 workouts done twice a week and in 4-6 weeks you will see your average cadence/RPMs increase with out you even thinking about it! You will need access to safe roads or a stationary bike/trainer a bike computer that measure cadence/RPM and two 30-minute sessions per week for 4-6 weeks. You should also make sure your regular doctor approves of you doing this kind of training. If you have knee or hip issues, injuries and other ailments consult with a medical professional before trying the below.  

Super Spins

Time: 00:30:00(beginner) – 01:00:00(advanced) Gearing: Easy (Small front chain ring and larger rear cogs) Efforts: 12X1x2 (12 intervals = 1 set, followed by 2 minutes of Recovery) (advanced do 2 sets) Warm Up: 5 minutes using your normal cadence Interval: for a count of 10 seconds spin as fast as you can seated with out bouncing in the saddle. You should be trying for an RPM range greater than 90 RPM. Just remember that you have several of these to do so pace your self and finish strong! Recovery: Soft pedal for 2 minutes putting zero tension in your legs and no force on the pedals Cool down: Soft pedal for 5 minutes and you are done  

Spin Ups

Time: 00:30:00(beginner) – 01:00:00(advanced) Gearing: Easy (Small front chain ring and larger rear cogs) Efforts: 12X1x2 (12 intervals = 1 set, followed by 2 minutes of Recovery) (advanced do 2 sets) Warm Up: 5 minutes using your normal cadence Interval: for a count of 30 seconds gradually spin up as fast as you can seated with out bouncing in the saddle. You can break the interval into 3 segments First 10 seconds 90 RPM, Second 10 seconds 95 RPM, Final 10 Seconds 100RPM or greater Recovery: Soft pedal for 2 minutes putting zero tension in your legs and no force on the pedals Cool down: Soft pedal for 5 minutes and you are done  

I hope you found this article on pedaling efficiency helpful and if you have questions related to this or other articles please feel free to email me.  

Have a great ride,  

Coach Rob  

Coach Rob Grissom is a competitive cyclist, runner and duathlete who coaches both competitive and recreational cyclists. Rob is the owner of Positive Performance Coaching and a co-host of the popular Cyling360 podcast. When Rob isn’t racing, training or coaching he can be found spending time with his wife and two children at their home in Central Kentucky. 

 

Related articles ·                The importance of leg speed ·                Q&A with Coach Rob ·                Tip: It’s High Cadence not a Rodeo! ·                Tip: To Ride Faster Soft Pedal d@m9 it!

Related Podcasts ·                The Climbing Show ·                The Cycling 360 Mailbag ·                Buying a Bicycle Computer

 

For the First Time Ever the Silk Route Bike Tour will Travel the Pamir Highway, "the Roof of the World", and Through Iran in 2012

Tour d’Afrique Ltd, the company known for pushing the boundaries of conventional bike touring, has made significant changes to its Silk Route Bike Tour including adding sections that will tackle the M41 Highway in Tajikistan, also know as the Pamir Highway or “Roof of the World” and a section that will take riders through Iran.

The Pamir Highway is the second highest international highway in the world and seldom travelled by foreigners. Vestiges of the old Silk Route can be seen in the cliff top fortresses and Caravanserai along the highwayQuote end

Even though the company has run its Silk Route Bike Tour 3 times previously this years tour is almost entirely new. “Its essentially like running the tour for the first time” said tour director Paul McManus. “Not only has much of the route been changed but we’re cycling from East to West, instead of the traditional West to East direction”.

The company is very excited about two new sections of the tour, The Pamir Highway Section from Kashgar to Dushanbe in Tajikistan and The Garden of Eden Section which passes through Iran.

The Roof of the World



The Pamirs is a mountainous area in the Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) of Tajikistan – known as the Roof of the World (Krisha Mira). It’s composed of some of the most remote and untouched areas in the world, including some of the tallest peaks in Central Asia.

The Pamir Highway is the second highest international highway in the world and seldom travelled by foreigners. It follows paths created long ago by traders on the ancient Silk Route and vestiges of the old route can be seen in the cliff top fortresses and old caravanserais along the highway. There are only 2 roads leading through the Pamir Mountains. One is a summer one which is covered by several feet of snow until the end of May. The other is open year-round, but is longer and in such poor condition, that you really need a 4×4 vehicle in order to get through. True to their mission of running epic bike tours, the Tour d’Afrique will be taking the longer road.

Cycling Through Iran, Finally



The company first started considering adding a section through Iran in 2008 and even went so far as to scout the route. And now, after a few more years of planning and discussion the route has been approved and the decision was made to give it a try. The 2012 route enters Iran near Quchan and spends 19 days in the country including rest days in Bojnurd, Tehran and Tebriz.

Though Iran has a deservedly bad image in the media the company stresses the difference between governments and people. “On the scouting trip we found the people of Iran to be some of the most welcoming and friendly people we’ve met on any of our tours” Says company founder Henry Gold. “It’s important for people to realize that a government is not always a good representation of its people. Its big reason we run tours through these lesser travelled countries like Iran, so riders can see for themselves the reality of a place and not just form opinions solely on media reports.”

Dates and Details

The 2012 Silk Route bike tour starts on May 19th from the Bund in Shanghai, China and finishes on September 24th on the Bosporus in Istanbul, Turkey. The tour travels though seven countries and covers more than 12,000 kms. The tour is 129 days long with 104 cycling days, for an average of 125 km cycled each day, and 25 rest days. The length of each day’s ride will range from 80 km on really bad terrain to more than 180 km on good paved roads.

The tour is fully supported and includes 3 meals each riding day, vehicle support, local guides and Tour d’Afrique staff, including a medic and bike mechanic. Riders typically cycle 4-6 days in a row and then have a rest day, a day with out cycling, in a major city or place of historical interest.

Participants can register for the full tour or for one of eight shorter sections. More information can be found on the Tour d’Afrique website

Related Articles:

Silk Route 2012 - Highlights and Changes - Tour d’Afrique Blog
The Pamir Highway - Journey to the Roof of the World - Boba’s Adventures Blog
Designing from Bones - The Ancient Silk Route - Tour d’Afrique Blog