Ride Like A Pro

Look to the professionals for inspiration

As cyclists, we're constantly seeking inspiration to enhance our rides. Not just to blindly copy but to look at what others do and adapt their ideas and strategies to work for us.

I know deep down that there is more to cycling than meets the eye, and if like me you’re aiming to build your cycling fitness one of the best places to look is the professional peloton. Not to mimic killer sessions or replicate epic rides, but to delve into the finer details of how they approach cycling - their mindset, their strategies, and yes, even the way they ride.

As an aside, whatever the online frenzy might suggest, there is no One Golden Session that will take your fitness to an amazing peak or guarantee that long-awaited win. Nope, building endurance and strength on the bike comes down to getting the basics right, day in day out.

Why?

Because the single biggest determinant of endurance performance is consistency in our training.
If you want a reminder on that, check out my post on consistency here: The Secret of Consistency

So what can the professionals teach us about riding a bike?

Many things… they are masters of consistency, they know how important fuelling is, they can deal with setbacks but also, and the point for today, is they think about how they ride a bike.

It’s easy to only think about our cycling in terms of ride data: How far did I go? How fast was I? What was my average heart or max power? Did I get a QOM or KOM?
But I challenge you to think about how you conduct your rides too.

It’s time to…

Ride Like A Pro

I have cycled for over 40 years and been a coach for over 10 and in that time I have helped many people as they start taking cycling seriously. From young youth riders who are now riding in the World Tour, to more middle-aged riders building up for their first challenge or sportive.
The common trait that many of us seem to have is that when we first start cycling our rides are pretty erratic and so not as useful to us as they otherwise might be.

When we’re new to cycling we just tend to ride. We don’t think about it and if we come to a hill, we batter up it, hurting our legs and getting way out of breath. We then freewheel down the other side, even when the descent is gentle. And then when on the flat we hardly press on the pedals and freewheel quite a lot. The result is a ride that is pretty start stop and uneven. But more importantly, if we were pushed for time and our cycling must fit in around many of life’s other commitments; work, family, school… Then it wasn’t as efficient as it could be. We could get more bang for a temporial buck by riding in a different way.

And this is where the pros come in. Let me expand on the idea...

Professionals ride in completely the opposite way

When the pros are doing an endurance ride (with no specific efforts or intervals) they’ll ride at a constant effort or power level for as much of the ride as they can. On rises they’ll back off, use small gears and pedal smoothly up the climb. But as the gradient shallows, they will go up the gears and if the drop the other side isn’t too steep, will keep pedalling down that too. And then on the flat, they’ll ride at the same effort level as on the rises. The result is a ride that has them pedalling for most of it and if you could see the power profile of it, would be pretty consistent.

Sounds like a lot of effort I know. But trust me, riding like a pro in this way will seriously improve your cycling.

It’s time efficient. If you are out for two hours, apart from the extreme downhill, tight bends and bits through towns, you’ll be pedalling all the time. You’ll do more work and so build fitness quicker than if you were erratic.

It boosts endurance. Riding this way makes your rides more consistent and they naturally end up in the ideal endurance building effort zone. Each extra hour you can do a week will have a positive impact on your fitness, getting you close, quicker to your challenge ride goal.

You become more cycling efficient. The very act of thinking about how you ride the bike means you start thinking about how you sit on the bike, how you pedal and your technique. Backing off on the rises means you have to think about your gears, pedal more evenly and (hopefully) with a higher cadence. All of which are great ways to change your riding to boost your base endurance. It takes time to learn the sensations, so do keep thinking about it and you will soon feel stronger and more in control, of your rides.

So, there you are, riding like a pro is one simple step that can dramatically change your individual rides, your cycling style and ultimately your fitness. In my coaching the sooner I can get people riding this way the sooner they move forward. It is no accident that the pros ride like pros….

A Thought...  and possible help

I know that when preparing for a challenge ride it can be confusing to know what rides to do, and when. That is why I created the Cent-Soulor. It's designed specifically for new and returning riders, and builds your fitness, skill and confidence. Starting from a modest base the 16-week course will take you from hardly riding to doing over 100km in one day.

To find out more and to see if it could help you, check out the info page here: CENT-SOULOR