BICYCLE ROAD RACING 101: Race Tactics – Energy Conservation

THIS IS THE SECOND ARTICLE IN A SERIES REGARDING THE INTRICACIES OF BICYCLE ROAD RACING…MORE TO COME!

All of the disciplines of cyclesport involve tactics of varying depth, but road racing takes the cake.  There are 2 major pieces involved in racing; spending energy and conserving energy.  This article will discuss best ways to conserve energy.  Tactically speaking, conserving energy is more important than spending it as there is a finite amount of energy you can spend before blowing up.  I like to think of it as a credit card with a strict limit; you can spend energy to a point, but eventually you will reach your limit and need to pay some of it back (recover) by decreasing the intensity of your effort.  Fortunately, there are many ways for you to conserve energy during a race to have more of it available for the final few kilometers, or to establish that winning break away and power it to the line.

Drafting

Drafting is by far and away the number 1 way for you to conserve energy during a race.  Unbelievably, in a peloton (group of cyclists), riders can save up to 40% (1) of their energy by riding behind others or to the side opposite where the wind is coming from.  This means that if the rider pulling the pack is laying down 400 watts, the riders behind him only need to put out ~240 watts to keep up.  The further down the line you are, the greater the energy conserved, so if you find yourself coming to the front of a peloton or paceline in a race, slow up a little bit so you stay in the slipstream and make the other riders work.  This will conserve your energy, but definitely wont make you any friends in the peloton.  Plus, you will be labeled a “Wheel-sucker”, but hey if winning races means I need to suck wheels more, so be it!

road-cycling-585248_1280

Descending

Screaming down the backside of a mountain climb can be both an elating and terrifying experience.  It can also be an excellent opportunity to put some serious distance between yourself and the peloton with the best part being you don’t even need to pedal most of the time!  Descending is all about becoming as aero as possible while being able to control your bike in a safe manner.  Performing a reconnaissance of the race course before your big day to practice the descents can really help!  Doing this will shed light on road surface conditions and what areas to avoid, plus you will gain confidence in taking turns more aggressively while at the same time decreasing your chances of over-cooking one and ending up in a ditch.

The above image has the most popular descending positions ranging from safest but least aero (top left corner), a good middle ground between safety and aero (bottom left corner), and the most aero but also most dangerous descending position (right side).  The position you choose should reflect your skills as a rider and also the terrain/road you are plummeting down.

If you want to be on the edge of your seat, check out this video of Peter Sagan putting on an absolute clinic in the Tour de Suisse.  Watch how easy he makes it look and compare that to how hard the others have to work just to keep up with him!  He is surely conserving a lot more energy than the others.

Utilizing a Team

Teams are crucial to win races and especially stage races.  General classification (GC) riders usually won’t feel any wind on their face until the closing kilometers of a race and are kept in the safest position possible to avoid any mishaps.  Remember, a rider in a group can conserve up to 40% of their energy by drafting.  The more energy a rider conserves, the better chances they have of delivering a winning sprint, or attack up the final climb.  This is why you will see the domestiques of a team dropping back to the team car to secure bottles and energy, pulling their leader back up to a break away, giving their wheels or sometimes entire bike to their leader in the event of a flat tire, and basically anything else you can imagine to save the team leaders legs.  The team is sacrificing their chances of winning to improve their leaders chances!

So, if you want to have the best chances of winning a race, CONSERVE YOUR ENERGY!  Don’t race based off of emotions and attack up the first climb, pull back the first breakaway, or try and solo off the front holding 300 watts when you have not been able to hold 280 watts for more than 10 minutes!  Race objectively and utilize tactics to improve your chances of seeing your adoring fans from the top step of the podium.  Also remember, you are racing and not making friends out there.  Don’t feel bad missing a pull or staying in the peloton for as long as possible; do whatever it takes to improve your chances!

Further Reading:

BICYCLE ROAD RACING 101: TYPES OF RACES AND RIDER DISCIPLINES/ROLES

WHAT IS AERO?

For more information on GC Coaching and how we can help you improve your fitness, please visit www.gaffneycyclingcoaching.com

References
https://www.exploratorium.edu/cycling/aerodynamics2.html

How to Lose Weight From Cycling

When it comes to cycling, especially the competitive realm of the sport, the athlete tends to be obsessed with being as lean but also as strong as possible.  This has huge implications in the sport as the lighter and stronger you are, the faster you will be (in most situations).  In order to drop those stubborn last few pounds though, it is necessary to monitor Calories consumed versus Calories expended and ensure there is a deficit.  Of course, this Caloric deficit should be enough to allow for SAFE weight loss, but also not too much so it sacrifices energy and ability to produce power.  There is no more accurate way to judge Calories expended during cycling than by using a power meter.  A power meter has the ability to express how much work the athlete has done during their ride and give them an idea of how many Calories they need to consume to maintain their current weight, or not consume to create a deficit so they will lose weight.  Again, I must reiterate the importance of SAFE weight loss.  I highly recommend seeking out the help of a licensed nutritionist/dietician to have someone to objectively monitor progress and safeguard against any pitfalls, and of course speak to your doctor before embarking on any weight loss program.

Kilocalories

You may have noticed in the opening paragraph that I capitalized “Calorie”.  This is because what we consider to be a food Calorie is actually a kilocalorie, or 1000 calories.  Since we are lazy and cannot be bothered to say or write “kilo”, we dropped it and instead capitalized the C, problem solved!

A Calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise 1 kg of water from 15-16º Celcius. (1)

So, a Calorie is actually a unit of energy that the body uses.

Oxygen and fuel are needed for fire and combustion; your body needs oxygen and Calories for energy production and to produce mechanical force.  Compare the human body to a car engine…

  • The car engine needs gasoline for fuel.  The body needs food that contains Calories for fuel.
  • The car engine needs oxygen for combustion and is taken in via the air intake.  The body needs oxygen for energy production and is taken in via the lungs inhaling.
  • The car engine combines the oxygen and gasoline to create combustion which moves the pistons in the engine, resulting in mechanical force that drives the car forward.  The body combines oxygen and Calories, creating energy and heat, that results in muscular contractions and concludes with you applying force to the pedals, propelling the bicycle forward.
  • The car engine removes exhaust through the tail pipe.  The body removes exhaust by exhaling through the wind pipe.

Kilojoules

A kilojoule (kJ) is another way to express energy, and in some countries kilojoules are actually found on the nutrition label instead of Calories.  You may have noticed when you upload your rides that there is a section of “total work” that displays the ride in terms of kilojoules.

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So, the power meter converts how many watts we produce (remember that a watt = 1 joule/second), multiplies this by the seconds we produce them, and expresses this in kJ.  Put simply, if you produced 100 watts for 100 seconds you would have produced 10,000 joules, or 10 kJ.  As you can see above, I expended 4,921 kJ during my ride which is another way to say how much work it took to finish it.

A joule is equal to the work done by a force of one newton when its point of application moves through a distance of one meter in the direction of the force.  (2)

Total work done is relevant for training purposes and race preparation.  For example, if you know a rider that is of similar weight and fitness to you and has done an event you are training for, you are able to look back at their previous data and see how many kJ (how much work) it took to finish the event.  Then, with this knowledge you are able to plan workouts based upon kJ expenditure to better approximate the needs of the event, pretty cool, right?

How do kJ and Calories relate to cycling?

Cyclists consume Calories by eating, and expend kJ by riding.  If a Calorie is equal to 4.183 kJ, that must mean for every 4 kJ expended we only burn 1 Calorie, right…?

The human body is an incredible machine and continues to boggle my mind every day, but it is rather inefficient at converting food into mechanical energy, i.e. turning that gel you just hastily downed into wattage to the pedals.  So inefficient in fact that it only converts about 25% of the food we consume into actual mechanical energy (1).  The other 75% is dissipated as heat.  So, the people who say you only burn 1/4 of the kJ expended during a ride as Calories are incorrect.  This would mean athletes would be able complete an entire Ironman on only a handful of gels, obviously this is not the case.

Remember from above, the pedals and power meter are only receiving about 25% of each Calorie we burn due to the inefficiency of the body.  Thus, if 1 Calorie is equal to ~4 kJ, but it takes 4 Calories to produce 1 kJ of mechanical energy, for all intents and purposes, kJ expenditure during your ride is equal to Calories burned.

Weight loss from cycling

Now, armed with the knowledge of understanding how many kJ you produce during a ride is approximately how many Calories you burn we can play around with our total Calories consumed for the day to promote weight loss.  Here is what I do myself when I am looking to achieve race weight and has worked very well for me the past few years…

  1. Figure out what your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is.  This calculator gives you an estimate of what your BMR is, if you want a more precise number here I recommend a VO2 BMR test.
  2. Use a Calorie tracker.  I use My Fitness Pal and find it to be excellent.  The best part is it communicates with many other apps (Strava, Training Peaks, etc.) and automatically modifies your Calories and macronutrients for the day based on your exercise.
  3. Keep your total Calories consumed for the day SAFELY below your Calories expended to promote weight loss and keep this process going until you reach your target weight.  Safe daily Caloric debt is ~500-1000 Calories per day, or 1-2 lbs lost per week.  (3)
    1. Remember though, you also need to meet your macronutrients for the day to keep yourself healthy, help your body repair itself after intense workouts, and make those fitness gains.  So, choose foods that have the highest nutrient density without the added Calories, i.e, you can meet your Calorie goals by eating nothing but ice cream and french fries, but good luck performing at the level you want to by eating that garbage!
  4. Monitor yourself closely.  If you are becoming sick more often, irritable, light-headed/dizzy, aren’t recovering from your workouts, or just plain don’t feel like yourself you may be losing weight too fast or have gone below your weight loss threshold (too lean).
  5. Hire the help of a licensed dietician/nutritionist.  Again, the above is what works for me and most of my athletes, but may not work for you.  As always, talk to your doctor before embarking on a weight loss program and seek professional help if you have any preexisting medical conditions.

So, a kilojoule is simply a way to express energy or work and has many uses in cycling ranging from gauging the difficulty of a workout to helping with weight loss.  Make this the year when you trade that steak & cheese sub for a spinach, beet, and goat cheese salad, drop those stubborn pounds, achieve race weight, look even better in Lycra, and push your watts per kilogram to new heights!

References

(1) Buccholz, A., & Schoeller, D. (2004). Is a calorie a calorie? The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 79(5), 899S-906S.
(2) http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/joule
(3) http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight

BICYCLE ROAD RACING 101: Types of races and rider disciplines/roles

Cycling road racing is a category of competitive cycle sport that most have seen before on television, at the local cycling festival, or regional road race and historically dates back to the late 1800’s with it being a part of the Olympics since 1896.  Road racing is usually the “gateway drug”, for lack of a better term, to other aspects of cycle sport racing and is where the author first got bit by the cycling bug.  This article series will serve to educate the newer competitive rider or cycling fan to better understand the complexity, tactics, and culture of road bike racing.

First though, let us start from the top and work our way down…

Major Sub-Categories of Road Bicycle Racing

  • One day races –  These are sometimes called “The Classics” with the most famous races being Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, Milan-San Remo, La Fleche Wallonne, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and Giro di Lombardia.  These races are typically brutal and feature extreme length, winds, cobblestone sectors, gravel/dirt roads, and belgian frites ;-).  Riders like Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellera excel at this discipline.
  • Stage Races – These feature the “Grand Tours” which are the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, and Vuelta a Espana as well as the lesser known (to the general population), but equally exciting elite stage races which include the Tour Down Under, Paris-Nice, Criterium du Dauphine, and the Tour de Suisse.  Stage races, especially the Grand Tours, are considered to be the pinnacle of road bicycle racing and feature the best climbers, sprinters, and time trial specialists in the business with Chris Froome being the most prestiguous stage racer as of yet.  Watts per kilogram is king here!

chris-froome-880364_1280

  • Time Trials – These include both individual (ITT) and team time trials (TTT).

Credit: Sky Sports
Credit: Denismenchov08

ITTs tend to be where the best of the best duke it out during stage races and is called the “race of truth” because it is literally just you, your bike, and the road versus your competition.  If you enjoy pain, then ITTs are for you!  Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, and Rohan Dennis are the big dogs in this discipline with Aerodynamics and watts/CdA reigning supreme.

TTTs are really cool to watch, but terrifying to participate in!  Imagine riding at 25+ mph, in a position you don’t spend much time in, wearing uncomfortable gear and a heavier helmet, riding as close as possible to the wheel in front of you, all while having NO BRAKES in easy reach.  Some of the most spectacular cycling crashes I have seen have been while watching TTTs.

  • Other – These events can be thought of as single day races or multi-stage events, but have become an event in their own right as the popularity of them has grown and they require very specific training to accomplish or excel at.  These include Criteriums, ultraendurance racing (RAAM), and hill climbing events to name a few.

Types of Riders in Road Races and Their Roles

  • Sprinter – These riders specialize in, you guessed it, sprinting out of a peloton for stage wins and could have an entire team providing a “lead out train” to deliver them to the line with only 500 meters to go before unleashing their impressive power.  Mark Cavendish, Andre Greipel, and Marcel Kittel make up the premium selection of this pedigree.
  • Climber – Think of a bag of bones with quads attached for these riders ;-).  Extremely lean, but very high power to weight ratio that enables them to put massive time gains into their rivals while at the same time expending far less energy.  As previously stated, these tend to be prolific Grand Tour winners with Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana, and Alberto Contador making up the elite of this class.
  • Domestique – The working class of the professional ranks.  These are the riders who work for their team leader and are tasked with sheltering them from the wind, dropping back to the team car to get bottles and food, switching their wheels or even bikes in an emergency with them, and most importantly protecting their leader from crashing by keeping them towards the front of the peloton.  Recently a new term has been coined, “Super Domestique“, and is reserved for the riders who may be able to win the race or Grand Tour themselves, but instead work for the team leader to ensure they place highly.  Richie Porte, Chris Froome, and Ivan Basso have been recipients of this title for helping their team leader secure victory.
  • Puncheur – This rider performs best over rolling terrain that involves short, but very steep climbs (Mur de Huy).  Athletes like Peter Sagan, Philippe Gilbert, and Simon Gerrans have made their names winning these types of races.
  • All-rounder – This is where the big bucks are made and entire teams, sometimes entire seasons, are built around providing for this rider.  The big names of the sport reside here: Chris Froome (per usual), Peter Sagan, Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel, etc.

Make this your year to try something new!  Get in touch with us to start your season off right.

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Can Beta-Alanine Enhance Cycling Performance?

Beta-alanine (ß-alanine) has been a supplement in the holster of many endurance and power athletes alike for its purported ability to improve muscular strength, power output, as well as improve anaerobic and aerobic endurance (1).  ß-alanine does this by buffering the accumulation of hydrogen ions.  This prevents muscle blood pH from lowering and acidosis (burning in your muscles) occurring due to its ability to raise the carnosine levels present in the muscles.  If I just lost you there, or for more background on this idea, please review my blog post regarding lactate.  So, this all sounds great and the big-words scientists like to use make it sound legit, but does the research back it up?

Research Regarding ß-Alanine

The majority of the research I uncovered regarding ß-alanine has been extremely positive.  Hobson et al. (2) performed a meta-analysis of studies done regarding ß-alanine and found that time to exhaustion during a cycling capacity test performed at 110% of max power improved by 11.8% as compared to the placebo group.  They also state that the most significant improvements lie within the 1-4 minute ranges.  So, short steep climbs, cyclocross run-ups, turns in a criterium, track racing, etc. will significantly improve with ß-alanine supplementation.

What about exercise lasting longer than 4 minutes?  Smith et. al (3) demonstrated >90 seconds longer time to exhaustion during a 20 minute ramped cycling test compared to the placebo group.  This also translates to other sports; a ß-alanine supplemented group of competitive rowers was able to perform a 2,000m row 4.3 seconds faster compared to the placebo group!  This is a significant improvement, especially because these were highly competitive and well-trained athletes.  So, even though the improvements are not huge with exercise lasting >4 minutes during ß-alanine supplementation, there are still gains to be realized, especially at the elite end of sports.

Let’s put this all together then, the research behind ß-alanine shows that it (1,2,3,4):

  • Improves muscle carnosine levels which can act as a pH buffer and postpone acidosis.
  • Improves exercise performance mainly with activities lasting 1-4 minutes, but there is some positive research regarding exercise lasting >4 minutes.  More research needs to be done regarding it’s efficacy for longer duration exercise however.
  • Improves time to exhaustion by delaying neuromuscular fatigue.
  • Is viewed to be safe to supplement within healthy populations and at recommended doses with the only reported side-effect being paraesthesia (tingling).  This will improve and eventually go away over time and with continued supplementation.
  • Has anti-oxidant and immune boosting properties.

Proper Dosing of ß-Alanine

Dosing of ß-alanine has differed with every research article slightly, but generally each one I have read states to supplement with 2g 2-4 times daily for a total of 4-8g.  This should be done for a minimum of 2 weeks to improve muscle carnosine levels by 20-30%, but ideal supplementation time is 4-6 weeks with muscle carnosine levels shown to increase 40-60% compared to baseline (5).  There have been no long-term studies done regarding long-term supplementation (>6 weeks) of ß-alanine, but the general consensus seems to be that it is safe and after the initial loading phase of the first 4-6 weeks, higher muscle carnosine levels can be maintained with a maintenance dose of 2-3 grams per day.

So, can ß-alanine boost your cycling performance?  YES!

Ideally, ß-alanine should be loaded with 2g 2-4 times per day for a total dose of 6-8g for the first 4 weeks.  This will increase muscle carnosine concentrations by 40-60% and can be maintained with a 2-3g dose once per day.  The increase of muscle carnosine acts as a Hydrogen buffer and prevents acidosis as well as delaying neuromuscular fatigue for activities lasting 1-4 minutes especially, but has been shown to improve time to exhaustion for activities lasting >20 minutes.  The long-term dosing of ß-alanine has not been studied, but is generally viewed as being safe.  Remember to expect paraesthesia (tingling) when first supplementing with ß-alanine which will go away over time and with continued supplementation.

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References:

(1) Balcombe, S. (2007, June 28). Beta-Alanine: Science Meets Real World Results! Retrieved January 6, 2016, from http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/beta_alanine.htm
(2) Hobson, R., Saunders, B., Ball, G., Harris, R., & Sale, C. (2012). Effects of β-alanine supplementation on exercise performance: A meta-analysis.Amino Acids, 25-37.
(3) Smith AE, Walter AA, Graef JL, Kendall KL, Moon JR, Lockwood CM et al.. Effects of beta-alanine supplementation and high-intensity interval training on endurance performance and body composition in men; a double-blind trial. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2009; 6:5.
(4) Trexler, E., Smith-Ryan, A., Stout, J., Hoffman, J., Wilborn, C., Sale, C., . . . Antonio, J. (2015). International society of sports nutrition position stand: Beta-Alanine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
(5) Baguet A, Reyngoudt H, Pottier A, Everaert I, Callens S, Achten E et al.. Carnosine loading and washout in human skeletal muscles. J Appl Physiol. 2009; 106(3):837-42.

6 Reasons to Work With a Coach in 2019

Happy New Year!  I hope 2018 was everything you wanted it to be, but I also hope it left you wanting more for this year!  Now is the time of year that you need to capitalize on your training time and continue to increase your fitness if you want to begin the new season stronger than ever!  Below are some reasons why a coach is beneficial and why you should considering hiring one to ensure your next season is as successful as possible.  Remember too, cycling coaches are not just for the professional athlete.  I have worked with athletes who are literally just swinging their legs over the top tube for the first time!

A coach sees the forest for the trees

Most athletes who hire me have 1 request: “I want to be faster!”.  This is of course what the end result and goal of coaching is, but this should not be the sole focus.  Training is not just riding your bike and killing yourself day after day.  You need to have balance and take rest days, utilize active recovery spins and not think of them as a waste of time, foam roll and stretch, and make sure you are not showing signs of overtraining before it gets too late.  All too often I have seen athletes get really into cycling and just completely bury themselves with their training so by the time June rolls around they are too fatigued to even perform at a decent level.  Having a ton of form is no good if you cannot capitalize on all of your hard work due to being overly fatigued.  So, seeing the tree of “getting faster” is important, but seeing the forest of cycling is bigger still.

A coach is not just someone who prescribes workouts

I think the biggest difference a coach can make to the athlete is being a positive mentor and leading by example.  Yes, the athlete needs to be prescribed workouts to improve, but they also need to be motivated to keep on track.  The coach should be someone the athlete looks up to; they should be practicing what they preach!

A coach increases your learning curve

The coach you choose should be someone who is invested in his/her education and has a passion for teaching.  Imagine starting a business and having access to Bill Gates or Mark Cuban to heed advice from and ask questions to.  Granted, not every coach has the credentials as these two, but when you hire a coach you are also hiring a wealth of information that is readily accessible.

A coach simplifies your life

Numerous athletes have told me they like the fact that their workout for the day is waiting in their e-mail box and they can look ahead to see what is coming up.  The athlete does not have to use resources thinking or questioning what they should be doing, planning for their season, or ensuring what they are doing is actually having a positive effect.  Instead, they can just focus on improving and save their energy for what matters!

A coach keeps you accountable

If you miss an appointment, you can bet the receptionist will give you a call to ask about your whereabouts.  The same is true when you hire a coach.  If you miss a workout it is their job to call you out on it (of course there are times when missing a workout is acceptable).  Even better is that the coach can modify the athlete’s training block to assure they continue to improve.

A coach gets you to where you want to be

Having trouble getting that category upgrade, improving your finishing time, or even snagging that Strava KOM?  A coach can dissect what it is that you are doing, what your event requires you to do, and what needs to be changed to get you to your goal in the most efficient and effective way possible.

So, in 2019 quit banging your head against the same wall and make this the year when you ride that first century, win the race you have always wanted, or just look better clad in Lycra!

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What is Aero?

Aero is short for aerodynamic and can be defined as “the way air moves around things” (1).  Becoming more aero has been an ongoing quest for athletes, bike manufacturers, clothing companies, bicycle accessory producers, and even water-bottle businesses, but why?  Can becoming more aerodynamic really improve your overall speed and finishing time?  And what is the best bang for your buck when trying to reduce aerodynamic drag?

Aerodynamics is the way air moves around things.

Unbelievably, Brownlie et al. (2) showed that wind resistance accounted for 72%-90% of the force resisting the forward motion of a rider, and the faster the rider goes, the more resistance they have to overcome.  Imagine if you are swimming through water and compare that to swimming through Jell-o.  Swimming through water would be similar to riding a bike at slow speeds when there is not much wind resistance, whereas riding a bike quickly would be like swimming through gelatin with lots of resistance present.  Other factors that have been shown to affect forward motion of a rider are tires 15% (rolling resistance), braking losses 8%, and bearing/chain losses 5% (3).  Wind resistance can also be called aerodynamic drag and can be defined as “the force on an object that resists its motion” (4).

Aerodynamic drag is the force on an object that resists its motion.

Factors that contribute to aerodynamic drag

  1. Body position is the largest contributor to aerodynamic drag and has been shown to be upwards of 75% of the total drag experienced by the rider (4).
  2. The helmet can contribute 2-8% of the overall drag with more vents creating more drag and vice-versa (5).
  3. Wearing clothing that is tighter fitting and utilizes zoned fabrics (smooth in areas and dimpled in others) can reduce drag by 10% (6).
  4. Cycling shoes that have laces versus shoes that utilize straps and shoe covers can, unbelievably, differ by 8% in aerodynamic drag (7).
  5. Jermy et al. (8) states that wheel drag accounts for 10% of the total aerodynamic drag when a cyclist is traveling 30-50kph.  Ideally, the tire width should be equal to the rim width to further minimize drag (9).  When there is no crosswind, disc wheels are best, but 3-4 spoked wheels (HED) are best in crosswinds.
  6. Bike frames, when made as aerodynamic as possible, can reduce drag by as much as 14%, but usually average a 3% reduction compared to a traditional round-tube frame (10).

As you can see, there are some pretty substantial reductions to be had if you have the resources to capitalize upon them.

Time savings when becoming more aero

Okay, let’s get down to brass tacks here; will getting more aero and investing in aero equipment really make a big difference?  The answer to this question is a resounding YES!  Lindsey Underwood (11) wrote an amazing thesis regarding the aerodynamics of track cycling and calculated time savings as well as average reduction in drag for each equipment change:

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The above chart describes time savings in seconds over the course of 4000m on a track, but these can be extrapolated to any length.  Imagine the time savings over the course of a 40k TT or even an Ironman!?  The best thing about this is these savings will not cause the rider to use more energy, and will help the rider conserve their energy to be used later during the finishing sprint, or run in a triathlon.  So, you can produce the same amount of wattage, but go a heck of a lot faster!

What is most influential for reducing aerodynamic drag, i.e. where should you spend your money?

Old School

The above pictures are an excellent comparison of not only how far the technology of cycling has come, but also the science of aerodynamics and how it relates to cycling.  Granted, the technology did not exist in the old days to create what the cyclist on the right is using, but just look at the two of them; even if you knew nothing about aerodynamics you would probably guess the rider on the right would be going a lot faster.  Although, the old-school rider definitely wins in style points and dapper looks.

So, where should you spend your money?  Refer to the chart below:

Capture 1

A bike fit is by far the pinnacle of reducing aerodynamic drag and something I highly recommend to my athletes.  Second is surprising to most, but is actually investing in a skinsuit.  I see many people spend a ton of money on their bike and wheels, but miss the fact that these two make up a small percentage of the wind resistance holding you back (although they make you look so pro).  Remember, to reduce drag most you need to reduce your surface area and frontal size.  A frame and wheel see such little air compared to the body which is why a skinsuit reduces so much drag compared to an aero frame and/or wheels.  Besides those two huge areas of savings, you are looking at smaller, but still valuable savings over the course of a long TT or Ironman.

The frame, helmet, pedals, shoes, and gloves all change the drag by less than 3% each, but put them all together and you can easily decrease your total drag by over 10%!  Helmets, shoes, and gloves are also relatively inexpensive compared to a new frame or skinsuit, just make sure whatever equipment you want to invest in is legal according to your local race organization or the UCI.  It’s no fun purchasing something you won’t be able to race with.

So, what is aero?  A measure of the way air moves around things that is crucial to understand in relation to cycling.  Aerodynamic drag is the number one factor that attributes to you slowing down on a bike.  In order to reduce your drag and go faster, I recommend investing in a bike fit and skinsuit first, then helmet, shoes, frame, and gloves for that extra little reduction of drag.

For more information on GC Coaching and how we can help you improve your fitness, please visit www.gaffneycyclingcoaching.com

Further Reading:

Lindsey Underwood’s thesis regarding Aerodynamics of Track Cycling

Get Faster on Flat Roads | Watts/CdA

References:
(1) Dunbar, B. (2011, June 11). What Is Aerodynamics? Retrieved December 29, 2015, from http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-aerodynamics-k4.html
(2) Brownlie, L. 1992. Aerodynamic characteristics of sports apparel. School of Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
(3) Burke, E. R. 1986. Science of cycling. Human Kinetics Publishers, Champaign, Illinois, USA
(4) W. Brownlie, I. Gartshore, A. Chapman, and E. W. Banister. The aerodynamics of cycling apparel. Cycling Science, 3(3-4):44–50, 1991
(5) F. Alam, R. Brooy, A. Subic, and S. Watkins. Aerodynamics of cricket ball-an effect of seams (p70). The Engineering of Sport 7, pages 345–352, 2008
(6) L. Oggiano, O. Troynikov, I. Konopov, A. Subic, and F. Alam. Aerodynamic behaviour of single sport jersey fabrics with different roughness and cover factors. Sports Engineering, 12(1):1–12, 2009
(7) G. Gibertini, D. Grassi, C. Macchi, and G. De Bortoli. Cycling shoe aerodynamics. Sports Engineering, 12 (3):155–161, 2010
(8) M. Jermy, J. Moore, and M. Bloomfield. Translational and rotational aerodynamic drag of composite construction bicycle wheels. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology, 222(2):91–102, 2008
(9) C. R. Kyle and D. R. Bassett Jr. The Cycling World Hour Record, chapter 7, pages 175–196. Human Kinetics, 2 edition, 2003
(10) C. R. Kyle and M. D. Weaver. Aerodynamics of human-powered vehicles. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: Journal of Power and Energy, 218(3):141–154, 2004
(11) Underwood, L., & Jermy, M. (2012). Mathematical model of track cycling: The individual pursuit. Procedia Engineering, 3217-3222

What should I eat during my ride?

This is a common question I receive from athletes in all areas of endurance sports as well as something I have always been personally interested in.  I have tried many supplements, sports drinks, gels, and other items that claim to “enhance your athletic performance immediately!” that usually come with a money back guarantee if you return it in an unopened package (yeah, I don’t get how you’re supposed to gauge it’s efficacy by not opening the package either!).  I will first discuss what the sports nutritionists and research say, then give some personal recommendations based off of both mistakes and victories that I have had nutritionally.

What does the research say?

If we remember from a previous post regarding what to eat before a ride, we have approximately 1500-2000 calories of stored energy before we even begin exercising (as long as you did a good job recovering after your last workout).  So, any exercise that will last >90 minutes is going to require additional energy so you don’t bonk.  With that being said, here is what the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (1) has to say:  (CHO = Carobohydrate, PRO = Protein)

1. Prolonged exercise (> 60 – 90 min) of moderate to high intensity exercise will deplete the internal stores of energy, and prudent timing of nutrient delivery can help offset these changes.

 

2. During intense exercise, regular consumption (10 – 15 fl oz.) of a carbohydrate/electrolyte solution delivering 6 – 8% CHO (6 – 8 g CHO/100 ml fluid) should be consumed every 15 – 20 min to sustain blood glucose levels.

 

3. Glucose, fructose, sucrose and other high-glycemic CHO sources are easily digested, but fructose consumption should be minimized as it is absorbed at a slower rate and increases the likelihood of gastrointestinal problems.

 

4. The addition of PRO (0.15 – 0.25 g PRO/kg/day) to CHO at all time points, especially post-exercise, is well tolerated and may promote greater restoration of muscle glycogen when carbohydrate intakes are suboptimal.

So, if we boil everything down and forget about the brands we like and consume, during intense exercise we need to be drinking 1/3rd of a 26oz water bottle every 15-20 minutes that should not be filled with just water, but contain 6-8g of carbohydrates (preferably high glycemic to prevent stomach issues) as well as some electrolytes to offset what we lose in our sweat.  Remember to always be drinking and if necessary set an alarm on your Garmin to sound every 15-20 minutes to remind you.  Losing only 2% of your body weight through sweat can spell disaster and serious decreases in athletic ability!

As far as solid food goes, you want to aim to ingest 15 grams of protein as well as 45 grams of carbohydrates every hour for exercise >90 minutes in length.  You can get this done via just liquid (Perpetuem for example) or a combination of solid foods and liquids.  Experiment with what works best for you and your stomach and, as always, NOTHING new on race day!  For exercise lasting <90 minutes just focus on carbohydrate/electrolyte replacement and hydration.

What is my plan of attack?

If I am exercising for >90 minutes and I will be riding with a jovial group or solo I will try to pack real food into my jersey pockets.  Some of my standbys are, dates, dried mangoes, rice cakes, PB&J sandwiches, and stroopwafels.  If I will be racing >90 minutes then efficiency and safety are paramount and I will slide a gel or 2 under each bib-short leg so I don’t have to take my hands off my handlebars to reach into my jersey pocket.  Make sure you push the gel back down to the bottom before you open it so it doesn’t get literally EVERYWHERE :-).  I have seen others lick and stick Clif Shot Bloks to their top tube and just take 1 or 2 off every 30 minutes to pop into their mouths.  This just weirds me out on many levels, but hey different strokes for different folks, right?

Hydration is dependent upon how hot the day is.  If it is >80 degrees I will drink EFS.  If it is <80 degrees I stick to good old Skratch.  The reason for the switch in the heat is because EFS contains more electrolytes compared to Skratch.  I sweat a tremendous amount of salt no matter how acclimated my body gets to the heat and EFS helps me replace the sodium lost.   If it is <40 degrees I heat the water before I put it in my insulated bottles which helps me stay a lot warmer.

So, what should you eat during your ride?  If your ride is <90 minutes just focus on replacing carbohydrates/electrolytes and keeping hydrated.  If your ride is >90 minutes, strive to consume 15 grams of protein and 45 grams of carbohydrate every hour.  There are many ways to skin a cat (so the saying goes) so be sure to practice your fueling strategy so it is optimized BEFORE race day.

Further reading: Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition

For more information on GC Coaching and how we can help you improve your fitness, please visit www.gaffneycyclingcoaching.com

References

(1) Kreider, R., Almada, A., Antonio, J., Broeder, C., Earnest, C., Greenwood, M., . . . Ziegenfuss, T. (n.d.). ISSN Exercise & Sport Nutrition Review: Research & Recommendations. J Int Soc Sports Nutr Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 1-1.

Should You Strength Train For Endurance Sports?

Are you ready to jump into the rabbit hole that is strengthening for endurance athletes with me? Never has a topic had more articles written about it and research conducted that leaves athletes and coaches alike scratching their head as to if it is in fact beneficial to use precious training time focusing on not continuing to strengthen the cardiorespiratory system, but instead building muscular strength and power off bike.  I will attempt to let both sides of the strengthening argument be heard, support these arguments with available research, and finally give my opinion on what has worked for myself and my athletes. Before we can begin anything though, let’s define what conventional strength training is to me.

Conventional strength training is using a mass (barbell, straight bar, kettle bell, body weight, sand bag, even a tree stump if you’re Rocky!) to induce a muscular group contraction and create an overloading of said muscle group.  This overloading causes microtearing of the muscle. This microtearing signals the body to heal the muscle so it is better able to handle the stress previously placed upon it, i.e., become stronger.

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Why Strength Train?

Strength training is used to improve neuromuscular power, anaerobic energy system production, muscle size (hypertrophy), bone density,  ligament/tendon strength to help prevent injury, and for a feeling of general well-being.  Usually, strength training is performed in the off-season during the preparation phase and sometimes during the base and build phases of the training periodization cycle.

What Does The Research Say?

Minahan and Wood (1) took 8 previously untrained men and had them perform an 8 week conventional leg-strengthening program (squats, lunges, etc).  The men exercised 3 times per week.  After 8 weeks of strengthening they saw “a significant increase in time to exhaustion at 120% VO2 max as well as an increase of oxygen uptake”.

Sunde et al. (2) took 16 competitive cyclists and, similarly to Minahan and Wood, had them perform 8 weeks of maximal strengthening.  They took it a step further though by including a control group that did not perform any exercise except for their normal endurance training.  They found that the exercise group had an increase of squat 1 rep max of 14.2%, squat rate of force development increased by 16.7%, and time to exhaustion at pre-intervention maximal aerobic power increased by 17.2%.  The control group improved in work efficiency by 1.4% and no other significant changes were found.

Numerous other studies have found an increase in cycling economy, work efficiency at 70% of VO2 max, lactate power profiles, increased oxygen consumption, peak power outputs during a 30 second sprint, increased average power for shorter TTs ranging from 1k-5k, and an increase of time to exhaustion at 85% of VO2 max in both trained and untrained participants (3), (4).

This all sounds fantastic, right!?  No matter how trained or untrained you are, you can benefit from strengthening to basically improve all the determining factors that make-up a good cyclist.  However, there is another camp of athletes and coaches who think strengthening is a total waste of time…

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Why Not Strength Train?

The body does not like quick changes in anything, and will respond usually negatively, if a new stress is placed upon it rapidly.  Mackinnon (5) suggests that “prolonged periods of intense training may lead to slight impairment in immune parameters such as neutrophil function, serum and mucosal immunoglobulin levels, plasma glutamine concentration, and possibly natural killer cell cytotoxic activity”.  That is a mouth full, but basically means that intense exercise (weightlifting in our case) can actually suppress the immune system and lead to illnesses whereas moderate to low intensity exercise can help boost immunity.  If the immune system is suppressed enough it will lead to illness which will force the athlete off the bike to recover and lose hard earned fitness as a result.

Another bullet in the chamber for the anti-strengthening group is that exercise causes too much overloading on the joints, ligaments, and tendons which can lead to injuries (think tendinitis) and overuse/over-training symptoms.  Plus, if the athlete does not know how to perform a squat, lunge, dead lift, etc. they will be placing stress and strain on structures that are not supposed to be used during the lift.  Injury is obviously something we as coaches and athletes do not want to deal with.  Also, if the athlete is sore for a few days after their strengthening workout and cannot ride their bike due to it, is the cardiorespiratory strength loss worth the increase of power and force?

Finally, no matter what exercises you do, they will never be able to mimic the turning of cranks.  Yes, you can build quadricep, hamstring, and glute strength individually, but does this mean you can generate increased power to the pedals when you need it?  The above studies have all demonstrated increased 1 rep max, cycling economy, and increased power <3-5 minutes on fresh legs, but most cyclists compete for hours and are not able to generate their true maximum power due to built-up muscular fatigue accumulated over the course of a race.  So, if you are training to improve your overall power for short bursts, but won’t be able to unleash a sprint until 3 hours into a race, is strengthening worth it?

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What Do I Think?

I think conventional strength training is appropriate for the vast majority of the athletes I work with, but also inappropriate for others.  Again, conventional strength training involves the use of weights and is done off the bike, this does not mean that only certain types of athletes will benefit from strength training however.  Track cyclists, cyclocross racers, criterium specialists, and sprint specialists all have to be able to generate tremendous amounts of power repeatedly, but for a short period of time.  These types of competitive cyclists will benefit from conventional strength training to enhance their power and force as well as compliment their endurance exercise done on bike.  Athletes new to the sport of cycling who do not have years of training under their belts to strengthen the tendons and ligaments in their hips, knees, and ankles also benefit from strength training as it will enhance power and force, but with the added benefit of preventing injury as it will strengthen the aforementioned structures.

However, seasoned road racing cyclists, IronMan athletes, climbing specialists, and randonneurs (to name a few) do not need to produce vast amounts of power for short durations.  Instead, they need to be able to produce power over the long term as well as be able to conserve their energy until it is needed most.  This means, to me, that they will benefit more so from on bike strengthening to increase their muscular endurance and better mimic their events and races.  I will still prescribe strength training to these athlete types in the off-season, but more so for balancing the muscles not used in cycling and for core strength and stability.  I also will include 6-10 weeks of conventional strength training for these athletes if they are returning from injury, are mentally exhausted from a long season, or just need a break from the bike to keep their joints, ligaments, and tendons healthy as well as maintain/regain their muscular strength.

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So, is conventional strength training beneficial for cyclists and endurance athletes?  Yes and no.  Cyclists who rely on massive power for short durations for their competition heavily benefit from conventional strength training.  Cyclists who rely on their endurance and FTP for the final climb of their competition, are too busy and have limited training availability, or performing extreme cycling/training volume for an IronMan / randonee, will benefit more from on bike strength training and continued endurance work.  However, the vast majority of the athletes I work with (and the athletes who are reading this) should spend time this off-season performing a dedicated strength training program.  Your spaghetti arms will thank you 😉

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Check out the GC Coaching Strength / Preparation Phase Plan here!

References:

(1) Minahan, C., & Wood, C. (2007). Strength training improves supramaximal cycling but not anaerobic capacity. European Journal of Applied Physiology Eur J Appl Physiol, 659-666.

(2) Sunde, A., Støren, Ø, Bjerkaas, M., Larsen, M., Hoff, J., & Helgerud, J. (n.d.). Maximal Strength Training Improves Cycling Economy in Competitive Cyclists. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research,2157-2165.

(3)  CD Paton, WG Hopkins, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2005, 19, 826 – 830.

(4)  BR Ronnestad, EA Hansen, T Raastad, European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2010, 108, 965-975.

(5) Mackinnon, L. (n.d.). Chronic exercise training effects on immune function. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

101: How to dress in the cold weather

I am writing from the North Eastern United States and I have to say, this year the cold weather has been slim to none over the past couple of months.  This is great as I have been able to get my longer rides in outdoors and keep group riding later than usual.  With that being said though, Winter starts December 22nd (2015) and the colder air and snow will inevitably be here before you know it.  The following are the ways that I dress myself when the mercury starts to dip to stay comfortable when exercising outdoors and are backed by years of mistakes, frozen toes, and soaked base layers.  However, what works for me may not work for you, please keep that in mind…

65+ degrees fahrenheit

  • Head – Nothing unless it is really bright out and I want a casquette to keep the sun out of my eyes.
  • Torso – Summer weight jersey >75+ F.  Regular weight jersey + wicking sleeveless base-layer otherwise.
  • Hands – Nothing, unless I am racing then I will put a regular pair of bike gloves (fingerless) on to prevent road rash on my palms in the event of a crash.
  • Legs – Summer weight bib-shorts >75+F.  Regular weight bib-shorts otherwise.
  • Feet – Nothing

55-65 degrees fahrenheit

  • Head – Casquette.
  • Torso – Regular weight jersey + sleeveless wicking base-layer.  I keep arm warmers in my jersey pocket in case it gets cloudy/windy, or for descents.
  • Hands – Nothing, unless I am racing then I will put a regular pair of bike gloves (fingerless) on to prevent road rash on my palms in the event of a crash.
  • Legs – Regular weight bib-shorts.
  • Feet – Nothing.

45-55 degrees fahrenheit

  • Head – Wool casquette that covers the ears.
  • Torso – Regular weight jersey + sleeveless wicking base-layer + wind-resistant/proof vest + arm warmers.
  • Hands – Full length wind-resistant/proof lightweight gloves.
  • Legs – Regular weight bib-shorts + mild/medium embrocation, or knee/leg warmers.
  • Feet – Wool socks + toe covers.

35-45 degrees fahrenheit

  • Head – Wool casquette + plastic covering over helmet/aero helmet with minimal venting.
  • Torso – Thermal long-sleeve jersey + long-sleeve wicking base-layer + wind proof vest/jacket.
  • Hands – Full length wind-proof heavyweight gloves.
  • Legs – Regular weight bib-shorts + medium/hot embrocation, or leg warmers.
  • Feet – Wool socks + overshoes.

25-35 degrees fahrenheit

  • Head – Balaclava + plastic covering over helmet/aero helmet with minimal venting.
  • Torso – Thermal long-sleeve wicking base-layer + Thermal long-sleeve jersey + wind-proof heavy jacket.
  • Hands – Full length wind-proof heavy weight gloves + hand warmers, or lobster-claw mittens.
  • Legs – Thermal bib-tights.
  • Feet – Heavy wool socks + overshoes + toe warmers, or winter cycling shoes.

<25 degrees fahrenheit (you are braver than me!)

  • Head – Wool casquette + balaclava + plastic covering over helmet/aero helmet with minimal venting.
  • Torso – Long-sleeve wicking base layer + thermal long-sleeve wicking base-layer + Thermal long-sleeve jersey + wind-proof heavy jacket.
  • Hands – Glove liners + lobster-claw mittens + hand warmers.
  • Legs – Regular weight bib-shorts + thermal bib-tights.
  • Feet – Wicking lightweight socks + heavy wool socks + overshoes + toe warmers, or winter cycling shoes.

Other considerations

I will dress 1 temperature range higher when I am performing high intensity intervals, riding steadily at SST or LT, riding in the woods, or racing.

I will dress 1 temperature range lower and add a waterproof shell layer when it is raining/snowing.  I will also dress 1 temperature range lower in a group ride as there tends to be long bouts when you are just chilling (pun intended 😉 ) in the paceline as others are working on the front.

Is Traditional Base Training Dead?

Base training is a traditional phase of cycling periodization and is utilized by coaches and athletes alike to prepare their bodies for the greater physiological demands the build and peak phases bring, increase sport specific strength, and improve pedaling technique; essentially you are training for the sake of training, not for a specific race or goal.

What is the Traditional way to Base Train?

Traditional base training involves doing a lot of long duration riding at low to moderate intensity with the goals of increasing capillary density, mitochondrial density, muscular endurance, and mental strength (pain tolerance).  This sounds great in theory, but is it just an archaic way of thinking and training?  Yes and no…Yes for the athletes who do not have 20+ hours per week to train and need to get a better return on their training time, and no for those athletes who have oodles of time to dedicate to their training.  Also, riding your bike for a long time at a slow pace (usually zone 2) will make you better at, you guessed it, riding your bike for a long time at a slow pace.  I don’t know about you, but I have never raced my bike slowly!  This does not mean that zone 2 training should be thrown out the window though…

I utilize zone 2 training with my athletes when they are coming out of their race season and into their off-season to give them a mental break and remind them that they can just ride their bikes for enjoyment.  Then again during their transition phase to prepare their bodies for the higher volume and intensities to come.  Zone 2 is also where you spend a lot of time when you are cruising in the peloton during a race, so you need to be used to spending hours in this zone before race season starts.

So, if you don’t have hours and hours to train like a professional athlete, what should you do to increase your aerobic fitness?  That, my friends, is where Sweet Spot training comes in.

What is the Sweet Spot Zone?

The Sweet Spot zone is between 85-97% of your FTP, think high zone 3 and low zone 4…

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This is called the Sweet Spot zone because it is smack dab in the middle of where you get the best bang for your buck in terms of return on training time invested.  You can spend a lot of quality time here without building up undue fatigue which allows for greater repeatability and increased training stress over the course of a training block.  Most importantly though, you can spend a lot less time in Sweet Spot compared to zone 2 training and get similar physiological improvements.  Thought of another way, espresso and coffee have a similar caffeine content, but you need a lot less espresso to achieve the same caffeine buzz.

Benefits of Sweet Spot Training

SweetSpot adaptations

The above table helps to really hammer this point home.  As you can see, zone 2 training does help to improve a myriad of aerobic factors, but you need to spend ample amounts of time working in this zone to reap the benefits.  Now, look at the Sweet Spot zone, you can achieve the same increases in aerobic factors, but in half the time needed compared to zone 2.

This does not mean to go absolutely bananas and do every single workout at Sweet Spot zone.  Figure out, or ask a coach :-), what your races for the season will need to be done at in terms of length and intensity.  Then, match the amount of Sweet Spot training to this with a goal of being able to maintain Sweet Spot for the longest climb in the race, your longest TT, or criterium/cross race length.  For example, if you are a Cat 5 road racer, you don’t need to be spending 2 hours working at Sweet Spot when your longest race of the season will be 60 minutes.

“This all sounds awesome, Shayne!  You are telling me I can can workout for half the time and get the same benefits!?”

Not so fast my friends…

Drawbacks of Sweet Spot Training

Refer back up to the physiological adaptations table, notice that Sweet Spot training does jack squat for your anaerobic system, neuromuscular power, and fast twitch muscle fibers?  This is a huge issue because athletes who specialize in road races, criteriums, cyclocross events, and track races rely heavily upon their anaerobic systems and fast twitch muscle fibers to generate breakaway power, power up a short and steep incline, accelerate after a sharp turn, and get off the blocks as quickly as possible.  So, make sure you are using the later stages of your off-season effectively and not just increasing your aerobic capacity if you plan on competing in any of these events!

Another drawback of Sweet Spot training is the ride lengths usually aren’t long enough for certain athletes.  For example, an athlete who specializes in road racing will typically spend 3 hours+ riding their bike during a typical road race, but if they are only spending 90 minutes on their bike at a time, even if they are working at a respectable intensity, chances are they will not have the muscular endurance or pain tolerance to last for 3+ hours and be able to produce a decent enough kick at the end to win.  So, make sure you are still getting out for those longer rides at least a couple times a month in the winter to maintain your muscular endurance and mental fortitude!

So, is traditional base training dead?  For all intents and purposes, yes!  Spending a lot of time on your bike at a low intensity will only make you better at riding slow for a long time, and secondarily will bore you to death.  As the winter closes in and your training time invariably decreases, don’t waste your time spinning aimlessly at zone 2!  Instead, include some Sweet Spot work into your routine and continue to watch your FTP and fitness rise steadily throughout the winter.  Remember to not just spin at Sweet Spot though as you will indubitably lose your anaerobic and neuromuscular power.  Finally, zone 2 still has it’s purpose!  It is beneficial for those athletes who are burnt out from a long season of racing, coming back after injury, or preparing their bodies for the high volumes and intensity of the build phase.  Don’t write off zone 2 entirely just yet…

Other Resources:

Drills to improve your pedaling technique

Structured training plans

Free Sweet Spot workouts

Sweet Spot vs. Zone 2 for ⬆️ Aerobic Capacity