As we struggle with the shorter, colder days, it’s that much easier to give in to our ‘inner laziness’, wrap up warm on the sofa with a hot cocoa and a blanket for endless hours of trashy movies. We all long to spend hours on the bike, just as we did on those “warm, dry” summer days. But just because it’s dark and cold outside, doesn’t mean to say we shouldn’t enjoy being on the bike any less. After all, bikes are made for riding And that’s which what @keepcycling wants you to do.
#keepcycling’s goal is to help motivate those of you already considering packing the bike away for the winter. And there are plenty of ways you can still enjoy your prized possession. So, here’s some ideas from Cycling Shorts to keep you going this winter. And, if you do get out on the bike, don’t forget to share the winter riding love by posting your photos on twitter with the tag #keepcycling and put yourself on the map.
1) Get back to basics- for many, training in the summer is highly focused – all about ‘getting in the miles’, increasing stamina and endurance. Throughout the winter we have the opportunity to put our training goals on the back burner, or at least have a more relaxed approach. So why not go back to basics? Just enjoy getting out on the bike, be it on your own or with friends and family. Take a different route, try something new, go off road, stop to admire the views and hell, stop for that cake (or 2!), you’ll certainly need the coffee to get you warm again.
2) Stay warm – There are no excuses these days to say ‘it’s too cold’. With some fantastic solutions from some of the best brands out there, there’s got to be a something to help keep you warm. And if not, go with the classic stuffing your jersey with bubble wrap, putting your kit on the radiator the night before, lining yours shoes with tin-foil and plastic bags, and maybe add a little tipple to your water bottle (shhh, no one need know!)
3) Rule #12 – n+1 – We’re always looking for excuses to buy *that* new bike; so why not use the winter as one of them? Try something different – get off road on a cross or mountainbike. By doing something different in the winter, you’ll not only be more motivated to get back to your usual training schedule come spring, but it’ll help keep your fitness at a decent level and use different muscle sets too. Who’s up for some muddy trails?!
4) Feel the burn! – For some, getting out in the cold just isn’t going to happen, more so if you’re not keen on riding in the dark (although there are some fantastic lights out there these days). A turbo trainer or set of rollers are a fantastic solution to getting the time on the bike with a focused effort. If you’re not sure you can handle staring at the wall for 90 minutes at a time, there are some great DVDs on the market designed to motivate and help you gain fitness levels you’d think not possible from riding indoors. If you’d rather work out with others, try a spin class at a local gym. Or, there’s always Google Hangouts!
5) HAVE FUN!
Hayley Davies
Writer
Riding since Feb 2011 Hayley is a 30 year old female who loves adventures. If she’s not on one of her many bikes or in the water on a bodyboard/surfboard, then Hayley is probably out looking for something new to keep the adrenaline pumping! Website: www.hjdonline.co.uk
Great news, funding for the following project has been approved, which means Electric Pedals are off the Malawi early next year! Woo Hoo!
A meeting with Elspeth Waldie founder of Purple Field Productions the other week has sent us off on yet another adventure….
Purple Field Productions is a charity that makes films and videos for educational and humanitarian purposes. Their mission is to not only increase awareness and understanding, but also to give people a voice.
A few months ago, Elspeth and team just happened to be out in Kisoro, Uganda making a film about protection of the environment and improving livelihoods in the face of climate change, and bumped into our old friend Denis Agaba from the Wild Life Clubs of Uganda. We met Denis in 2009 having handed over our first prototype of the Field Cinema to support the conservation work he and GAFI were doing in the surrounding schools. Denis gave Elspeth a demonstration of his field cinema and talked about the good work it was doing (see Purple Production’s director having a pedal above). Elspeth and her team were excited at the prospect of using this system in some of the regions they support in Africa. They currently take their films about HIV/AIDS, disability awareness, cerebral palsy, agriculture/food security and the environment to Malawi, Ghana and Rwanda and beyond.
For each project Purple Field Productions works in partnership with a collaborator – usually a small charity or NGO who work in the field and see the need for a film, but cannot afford to make one themselves. At the moment many of the educational films end up being shown on a TV powered by a petrol generator. The equipment is heavy, and fuel for the generator is not always available. One of Elspeth’s potential partner groups in Malawi sent this statement and pictures:
“This last year we have found it has been an extremely difficult year with regards to running mobile film shows, there has been (and there still is) a fuel crisis in Malawi, obviously we cannot run film shows without fuel as we use a generator to power it. Our staff have been walking to reach projects when we do not have fuel.”
We met Elspeth and talked through some ways we could solve these issues. One of the things that was clear was that our Electric Pedals bicycle generator and bicycle combination was not the solutions. They felt that it was just too cumbersome and heavy. So we needed to devise a energy generating unit that was fit for purpose; light, efficient, rugged and ultra portable.
This is what my dad and I have come up with so far (to be fair, he’s done most of the work!).
It’s early days yet, we’re meeting with Purple Field Productions again in a few weeks to continue discussions and iterations of this new design. We’ve tested the kit and it works brilliantly and at a mere 7kg, you can put it on you back and climb a mountain with it. Fingers crossed we’ll start sending these out to Africa next year to continue the great work the field cinema started.
Aside from anything, it’s been ace working with my dad on this project, who I have to say has been a legend…thanks Dad.
New riders Lauryn Theryn and Joanne Blakeley will join current riders Eve Dixon, Frankie White, Melissa Bury and Nicola Soden for the 2013 season.
Lauryn joins the team with a wealth of sporting experience and success. Athletics was her main sport up until the age of 20. She was a thrower who competed in the Javelin and Discus at World Youth Games and Commonwealth Games standard. She finished her athletics career in 2006 in order to focus on Bobsleigh where she competed for Great Britain on the Europa Cup Circuit, World Cup Circuit and at the World Championships. She finished Bobsleigh in 2008 ranked 6th in the World, the best result for a British Women’s team in over a decade.
Lauryn Theryn Bobsleigh
Lauryn took up cycling in 2011 after attending a talent transfer programme run by UK Sport called Girls 4 Gold. She joined the Cardiff Jif Cycling Cluband raced for them on the road and track winning Welsh National medals in both disciplines. During the winter she took up playing Rugby and was selected for the England 7’s Development Squad. After sustaining three serious injuries early in her rugby career she took up cycling again to keep fit. She moved to Manchester in April this year to work for British Cycling setting herself the goal of competing in the British Track Championships and won a silver medal in the Team Sprint.
Champion Systems Maxgear
Lauryn commented “I am really excited to be given the opportunity to race for a local team and am really looking forward to racing with the other girls. My goal for next season is to be a reliable rider who works hard for the team and isn’t afraid of pushing my own physical boundaries in order to rise to any challenge.”
Jo is relatively new to cycling after coming from a running background. She was shortlisted for the Girls 4 Gold programme along with Lauryn. She joins the team after a year of riding with local club Seamons CC in which she achieved a great deal. She won the TLI National Road Race Championship and has produced some solid top twenty placings in National Road Race Series Races. She is also a very strong time triallist with several wins and podium places and 5th at the National Hill Climb Championships this year.
Jo wants to build on her road racing experience next year and is “eager to start racing with and learning from my new team – who love cycling as much as me! I’m particularly excited about racing in Belgium with them next year and gaining more experience on the track and in other areas.”
Ian Bury, team manager, said “Lauryn has had a spectacular sporting career so far both on and off the bike. She is a very driven individual and has much to offer to the team with vast sporting experience and a strong team ethic. Jo is also an exciting new addition to the team with a lot of raw talent. She can do a strong time-trial and is super enthusiastic to work hard with the team. We are very excited about 2013.“
The team have worked well as a unit this year with top tens and podiums in the National Women’s Road Race Series, National Women’s Team Series and races in Belgium and Holland. There has also been top National Championship performances, with Nicola placing 10th in the National Scratch Race Championship, Melissa winning Rollapoluza National Championship and second in the Grass Track 800m National Championship and most recently hill climbs with Eve winning the National Junior Women’s title for the second year running.
2013 line up:
Eve Dixon
Frankie White
Joanne Blakeley
Lauryn Therin
Melissa Bury
Nicola Soden
As an asthma sufferer, albeit one who hasn’t had many problems in the last 8 years or so, I recently had a routine check up at the local GP practice. Taking a peak expiratory flow test, I recorded a breath volume – essentially a derivative of lung capacity – about 1/3 below that of the average 18 year old of my height.
A peak expiratory flow (PEF) test is undertaken on a peak flow meter, with a sliding dial which moves further up the measurement tab the harder you blow. I remember from reading It’s Not About the Bike that Lance Armstrong went off the scale in a PEF test, blowing the dial to the very end of the meter despite having just finished his first session of chemo. Now I know what you’re all thinking, but however you look at it and whatever you think of the guy, Lance’s athletic credentials can’t be disputed. For reference, I got the dial up to about halfway.
Lance is by no means the only cyclist with extraordinary lungs. Miguel Indurain, for example, had a lung capacity measuring 8 litres, which is 30% larger than that of the average man. 30%! Larger lungs means you can simply breathe in more oxygen. More oxygen means more oxygenated blood, which in turn means more red blood cells. More red blood cells means a higher aerobic threshold. Any cyclist with a basic knowledge of a ramp test or a time trial knows what this means. Simply, you can ride faster for longer. Other methods of obtaining more red blood cells include altitude training, or taking performance enhancing drugs such as the red blood cell booster EPO, showing the natural advantage possessed by riders with enormous lungs. It’s hardly surprising that Big Mig was such a dominant rider.
This suggests that in the same way as Usain Bolt has an incredibly rich supply of fast twitch muscle fibres and Jenson Button has reaction and reflex times dwarfing those of standard people, the best cyclists are physiologically perfectly matched to the sport we love. The one downside to this discovery is that I now realise that my poor lung capacity renders me as unsuited to flying up mountains with Froome & co. as Dawn French is physically unsuited to the High Jump. Okay, maybe not quite that unsuited, but the point still stands. Whilst it is impossible to ignore that dedication and application are of fundamental importance in obtaining athletic success, that genetics play a massive part in selecting our sporting champions is also undisputable.
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As we struggle with the shorter, colder days, it’s that much easier to give in to our ‘inner laziness’, wrap up warm on the sofa with a hot cocoa and a blanket for endless hours of trashy movies. We all long to spend hours on the bike, just as we did on those “warm, dry” summer days. But just because it’s dark and cold outside, doesn’t mean to say we shouldn’t enjoy being on the bike any less. After all, bikes are made for riding And that’s which what @keepcycling wants you to do.
