RPM – Your Own Tour de France
As we gear up for the always exciting Tour de France and watch the golden boy, Lance Armstrong move closer and closer towards his 8th win here are some tips for you when hopping on your own bike.
Riding focus: Working Resistance
Finding working resistance on your bike is about making sure you don’t pull too much resistance off (e.g. after working speed, or after a hill) and this can happen at any point in the class, not just the pace tracks or speed tracks. Working resistance provides that feeling of your feet being in control of whether the wheel is moving, and how fast. For example, if you feel that your feet can move a lot faster than the instructors with very little effort, turn that red knob to the right…When your feet move fast, without control, the inertia of the wheel is really doing the work, NOT YOU. It can also feel very jerky – smooth pedal strokes are not possible without the right working resistance. The goal is to get you to a spot where all of the muscles in your legs engage and work conterminously.
Nutrition focus: The Rolling Buffet…
My triathlon coach, New Zealander Kieran Doe refers to the bike leg of Ironman New Zealand as the “The Rolling Buffet”. It’s true, and the food is available during the race for a reason. It’s important to fuel the body before your workout. If you ride early in the morning it’s important to eat 200-300 calories an hour before your workout. Avoid too much fat or protein since they take longer to digest. Best bets: Whole-grain bagels, raisins, bananas, or a sports drink/shake. If you ride after work or later in the day it’s important to have a 400-500 calorie snack 2-3 hours before your workout. Best bets: Yogurt/Fruit/Granola, Cheese or Peanut Butter Crackers, Fruit & Whole-grain muffin, or a health shake. Ultimately, you have to pick something that will provide energy, but at the same time, not upset your stomach. For example, at Ironman New Zealand I planned my eating out, and sustained 112 miles by eating various snacks, and a foot long subway club. Subway Jared would be proud….So, eat up and ride!
Topics: Training Tips | 4 Comments »
July 18th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Damn, that sound’s so easy if you think about it.
July 19th, 2010 at 5:52 am
Great site. A lot of useful information here. I’m sending it to some friends!
July 19th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later
September 2nd, 2011 at 8:04 am
I agree with your RPM – Your Own Tour de France | LIFECENTER Blog | Lifestyle Family Fitness, excellent post.