Hard Times

I have had a hard past few weeks: it’s coursework and exam time. And, I work in a demanding and successful comprehensive school where the pressure is relentless in ensuring we exceed last year’s results. It’s an enjoyable and challenging environment and I have really missed getting out on my bike.

However, riding and racing my mountain bike complements my approach to working.

You see, I am an Assistant Head of English (hence the plagiarised literary titles of all my blogs!) and have a lot of responsibility when it comes to achieving results. But, I have noticed that I have this extra energy and focus in comparison to many of my colleagues and I owe this to being an athlete. Recently, I have spent many after-school hours administering coursework and result predictions. However, all those hours I have spent in the wind, rain, hail on the Kentish marshes and pushing my body to the limit in training and races have paid their dividends in my ability to deal with the pressures brought by my work. I have played hard and can therefore work hard and understand why my Head Teacher is so supportive of the athletes he employs.

The down-side has been that the challenges of my job, I haven’t yet been able to apply to my racing! (Although, the on course aggression fails to rustle me – I teach teenagers, after all!) My most recent race, the British NPS at Drumlanrig Castle was very hard. I began as a teacher and not an elite athlete. I have huge respect for the women who are able to get out there (putting aside their working lives and other external pressures) and compete at such high levels. It’s an art I’ve yet to master … but I will!

I’m a mountain biker.

Oh, I will!

Quality Matters with Carbs

I’ve been gradually increasing the amount of training I’ve been doing on a weekly basis and this has prompted me to reassess my nutritional intake. Up until recently I had viewed carbohydrates as something to limit as much as possible but now with longer rides I am discovering that I need their help more than ever!

Of course, it does make a difference as to the quality of carbs consumed as to how you perform on the bike – complex (low glycemic) or simple (high glycemic). Complex carbohydrates are best generally for any individual, but especially for a cyclist as they provide sustained energy over a longer period of time. Try plenty of fruit and vegetables, brown rice, pasta, wholegrain cereals etc. Before a ride, be it short or long, it is important to fuel-up at least an hour before starting with low glycemic index foods, for example porridge and banana or wholegrain toast and yoghurt.

If your ride is longer than 60 minutes, then refuelling throughout is key to not ‘hitting the wall’. Studies suggest that 30-40g of carbs every 30mins thereafter need to be consumed. However, again it is the type of carbohydrate consumed which is crucial. During a ride, your muscles require instant energy in the form of glycogen – something which the body cannot hold on to over 2000kcal and as such has to be consistently replenished – this can be provided by simple sugars which make energy available after approx 20 minutes; try gels, glucose cereal bars, even jelly babies (well, they worked for me when I was training for and running the marathon).

Equally important to what you eat before and during your ride, is how and what you refuel with post-ride. In order to prepare for your next ride and to help your body replenish its energy stores, it is vital that you refuel within 60 minutes of finishing your ride. Which type of carbs this time? A combination of the two – simple carbs to aid immediate refuelling and complex carbs to provide sustained energy.

Remember – just as imperative is replenishing any fluids lost during the ride. Happy riding and refuelling!

How many hours?!

I've done far too much exercise this week and I don't say that very often!

Sunday - 2 hour 16min ride with trailer and son in tow                                                                 Monday - Rest day                                                                                                                               Tuesday - 45min short spin                                                                                                                 Wednesday - 1hr 48min interval training on bike (hills, fast spinning and speed-work)                            Thursday - 1 hr 26min medium intensity ride with trailer and son                                                           Friday - 2hr round trip commute to nursery/work with backpack, trailer and son                                     Tomorrow - 3 hour medium to high intensity road ride

Total (projected) 11hours 15mins !! A record !

The kiddy trailer is an excellent training tool and probably gives me double the workout! However I do notice that I have to be careful when pushing up hills so as not to strain my knees. Yesterday I did an excellent loop of Milton Keynes which included a long steep drag up to the city centre and a great view of the city and surrounding countryside as a reward. You can't beat that absolutely shattered feeling followed by a rest! My son, however remains completely oblivious to all the hard work his mummy is putting in and sleeps peacefully throughout the entire bike ride! Typical!

Tomorrow it's going to be 20 degrees and sunny so I'll be out there somewhere in Buckinghamshire on my road bike totting up the miles - give me a honk if you see me! :)

Go By Bike

I know it doesn't sound like much of a big deal, but I rode into work today. "Ha, easy", I hear you say, "I do that everyday." No, it probably doesn't impress you that much and quite rightly.

But think about this: getting up at 6am to get all my kit ready, get washed and dressed, make breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. Get my 20 month old son up, get him washed, dressed, fed, teeth cleaned, helmet and shoes on. Sort out my bike and the kiddy trailer. Load it and me up with his kit for the day and mine in a huge backpack. Then cycle the 8 mile journey to nursery. Drop my son off, then cycle the remaining 2 miles to work - all by 8:30am.

Now, it's impressive. Well, it is to me.

There are several reasons why I'm happy I made the effort this morning:

1) I didn't contribute to the huge amount of traffic on the roads or the nasty emissions                        2) I didn't sit in any traffic jams and was completely in control of my journey                                       3) I saved petrol and money (increasing amounts daily, it seems)                                                        4) My son got fresh air and fun - and a sleep in the latter stages of the journey                                   5) I got even more fresh air and a strenuous workout                                                                         6) I burnt 600 calories and will burn another 600 more on the way home                                              7) I feel great, energized and ready for a day of work

Now my journey by bike is really worth it and I hope to be making the effort more on the days I work. You could benefit too.

Go by bike.

Great Expectations

Saturday saw the beginning of my 2008 mountain bike race season: it was the first race of the British National Points Series held in Thetford Forest, Suffolk. And, ouch, it was a hard welcome back.

However, I owe a lot to my coach who had not only prepared my legs for this but, more importantly, had encouraged me to see a tense and nervous situation positively and with more calmness.

I love mountain biking; I really do. I love being on my bike and enjoying the freedom it brings. I needed to apply this love to my racing too. And, I did. Thetford should have been my most challenging course – it demands a lot of continuous power - but when it hurt, which was from lap one onwards (there were five), I consciously reminded myself why I enjoy this sport so much. The quick, flowing Thetford single track did help.

This isn’t just true for racing. There are days when the weather is grey, grim and ghastly. There are times when my legs don’t want to turn the pedals anymore. There are moments when effort is needed to even leave the house! However, what I have learned this weekend is that can’t won’t.

From now on, when I’m on my bike and it’s starting to hurt, I’m going to think about happy things: hot summers’ days; blue skies; my lovely bicycle; my garden; my cats; my husband (sometimes!) – not necessarily in this order. I need to remember what it is that mountain biking gives to me: I’m not stuck in a classroom teaching 11.4 or sat at my desk marking papers, I’m outside pushing my body … and now my mind.

Down and Out

Not me - my bike. It's down from the rafters and out the door. (But it might be going back up again if it snows!) I have already bagged two rides on my two wheeled road friend and boy, it feels fast - especially after a winter season on the mountain bike.

I have a 2005 Trek Madone 5.9, which I've modified a little to make it faster - well, it does when I go above 20mph! I've got some slick Bonty aero wheels and carbon aerobars, as I had planned on doing a couple of triathlons this year - it looks the business. I love the aerobars - it's the first time I've ever used them and it's great to have another position on the bike; I love the tuck. I don't have enough confidence to use them all the time yet though and they can get a bit hairy when I go over bumps! My plan is to train with the heavier componentry until June, when I'll ditch the aerobars and get some lighter wheels to make climbing easier. Hopefully this should make me faster and lighter up the hills of the dreaded 'Dragon Ride'.

With only 9 weeks to go, I've got to step up my training quite a bit in the next few weeks. I'm up to rides of about 1hour30mins but I know the ride will take me well over 5 hours. Got to put in the miles or there will be no smiles :) (Strangely, I don't think I'll be smiling at the end of the Dragon Ride....)

The Time Machine

Who says ‘it’s not about the bike’? After a weekend’s riding my Trek 9 Series at a favourite trail centre in South Wales, I have to disagree.

My husband and I were mountain-biking in Afan Forest last weekend. I wanted to try my carbon fibre race machine on more challenging off-road trails than offered by the Kentish countryside; and, because it was my birthday, I chose where we went.

Saturday’s ride was a wash-out; literally. It rained and rained and rained. But the weather could not dampen my enthusiasm to test my bike. Our first ride was Cwm Carn’s Twrch Trail and within a few minutes of riding … wow! I realised how fantastic a carbon fibre bike was going to be at climbing. It made me feel awesome: it was nimble, quick and light. Riding this bike was no effort at all, despite the horrendous weather and the loss of brake pads (my fault). And, I completed one lap faster than I have ridden that course before. This bike was fast!

We rode my all time favourite trail on Sunday: Skyline. This course begins with a long and gruelling climb from the trail centre. However, this bike took the ‘gruelling’ and the ‘long’ out of the climb and we were climbing comfortably and enthusiastically.

It wasn’t just the climbs where I knew time was being saved but technically too. This bike did as I told it.

I never thought the material of a bike would affect me. However, I can fully empathise with carbon converts: what fantastic bikes they ride. I really can’t wait to see how well this bike performs on the race scene which is all about quick times; I’m so excited and if it wasn’t snowing right now … !

Track Attack

I'm at a loss as to what do in the evenings now. I shouldn't really be saying that seeing at we're now officially into British Summer Time and that means more time on the bike. I'm referring however to the end of the UCI World Track Cycling Championships. What a fantastic way to spend each evening - I loved every minute of it. We have some pretty fantastic riders now, thanks to the British Cycling Performance Plan and how they nurture the upcoming and promising talent. Roll on Beijing! Watching people cycle round a track has never been so interesting and fantastic!

Light at the End of a Long Winter Tunnel

Can it get much colder or darker than this? I hope not. I was really looking forward to getting some much needed exercise on the road bike this Easter, up and down a few hills and dales in Swansea and the Gower, but the weather was so terrible that no trips out on my trusty steed were possible. Instead I had to settle for a good book and a few chocolate eggs! Not good!

Easter normally marks the start of some reasonable weather and moderate temperatures, but not this year. We had snow! I do wonder if this is a freaky one-off this year or whether this may be the sign of things to come. Maybe it's because I'm just anxious to have some decent weather - this winter has definitely been too long coupled with a fit-for-nothing summer last year has left us all yearning for even a glimmer of sunshine and just one degree over 10C.

But there is some light at the end of the tunnel. This weekend British Summer Time officially commences, providing an extra hour of light (and therefore fun!) each day and with it the chance to finally get out on the bike after work with my family. Add to that some warmer temperatures - which have to come eventually - and that's all I need to put a smile on my face. Until September, that is.

Remember to put your clocks forward on Saturday night! :)

Measure for Measure

Four years and 10 months ago, the penultimate instalment of my student loan was used to buy my first ever mountain bike. It was a Trek 8000 WSD in white and silver.

I hadn't ever had a mountain bike before and therefore had never considered the importance and the effects of bike set-up. As far as I was concerned, provided I could reach the pedals and could touch the ground while sat on the saddle, what else mattered? However, the local shop (and, of course, the husband) did advise me. And, over the following year(s), I took their advice as essential: forgetting one thing, they were all men.

You see, there is a reason for a WSD. Us girlies generally have smaller hands, narrower shoulders, smaller frames and our main centre of gravity is generally sat on the saddle. It has taken me four years to realise this! And, it is owing to my confidence in other women mountain bikers that I realise this: my coach and watching 'competitors' at the Champery World Cup last year. We do sit differently; we do ride differently; and, I shouldn't be trying to mimic my husband's bike set-up for a more 'racier' experience!

This week, I received this season's racing bike: a sophisticated, gun-metal coloured, carbon-fibre machine. And, this week, I used a tape and a level to measure it up to my WSD. 

It fits perfectly!

I have three weeks now to get myself up to my bike's readiness. For once, bike set-up seems easy ;)