cycle coaching - abcc.co.uk

The Journal of

Cycle Coaching

ISSN Number 1353-70082015/1

The Association of British Cycling CoachesDeveloping and Sharing Best Practice

Adam Topham, Multiple BBAR Champion

The Journal of Cycle Coaching: Issue No 1:2015

ABCC

Administrator: Mark Gorman Treasurer: Chip Rafferty3 Glebelands, Calstock, Cornwall. PL18 9SGEmail [email protected]: 01822 834424Mobile: 07974 887259 Committee: Shaun Bradbury,

Dr Auriel Forrester, Richard Guymer, Chairman: Bob Hayward Steve Harrop, Duncan Leith,Red House, The Street, Martin Nash, Gerry Robinson, Redgrave, Diss, Norfolk, IP221RY Dave Wall, Dr Gordon WrightTelephone: 01379 898726Email: [email protected]

Content

Foreword..................................................................................... 3

Train SMART or train More (Adam Topham)....................................... 4

Sky story (Gerry Robinson)............................................................ 9

Riding through Glue (Mark Jones)................................................... 12

A Blast from the Past …................................................................. 17

Book Reviews............................................................................... 21

Cover photograph reproduced courtesy of Kimroy Photography


Foreword

Notes from the Administrator.

By now the Christmas pudding should have been digested and New Year's resolutions made. Like the majority I'm hoping for more from my riding in 2015 (time permitting).

Membership renewal reminders have been sent to all of those due to renew in January. If you have not received one or you have changed your contact details, please let me know. If your membership is due later in the year, you will be sent a reminder several weeks before the due date.

Things are moving on apace. Student registration in 2014 was up 30% on the previous three years. This bodes well for the future and seems to indicate that interest in coaching is increasing.

From the 1st of January the training course has moved to a fully online system. Students and coaches can access the latest versions of the training modules using the secure area of the ABCC website.

Don't forget that this is your Association. If there is anything you would like to see or any matter you would like to raise with the Committee, please let us know.

Wishing you all a happy and prosperous New Year.

Mark Gorman

Notes from the Sub-Committee

This issue of the journal is about “thinking outside the box”. The key to winning at top levels is to be prepared to question long established beliefs and to experiment with doing things differently from the majority. Some of it may sound like heresy but the results speak for themselves.

Adam Topham surprises us all by revealing that he does not do intervals and trains right through the traditional off-season but he has won the BBAR three times.

Gerry Robinson light heartedly takes a trip into a very different electronic future.

Then Mark Jones uses new ideas on aerodynamics to show how only generating 300 watts can result in a series of short 19’s for 10 mile time trials.

Finally an article from the Sporting Cyclist of 1962 shows that no matter whether the methods are old or new the key to success is dedication.The editorial team is also doing things differently by separating the skills of selecting and writing specialist cycling coaching articles from the journalistic skills of compiling a journal. We hope you like the result.The editorial team: Gerry Robinson, Gordon Wright, Jim Sampson, Lewis Hall.


Train SMART or train More?

Adam Topham

Adam Topham is a top class rider and this year won the CTT BBAR for the third consecutive year. Adam has kindly produced the following article based on his successful presentation at this years Pedal Power.

As a recipient of this journal it seems highly unlikely that the ‘train smart’ revolution has passed you by. I was invited to present to the Pedal Power annual ABCC conference in November 2014, and this article conveys the essence of that presentation, the subject of which was my thoughts and interpretations of the dilemma presented by the title of this article, in relation to endurance sport progression.It seems appropriate to clarify my credentials, or indeed lack of same as some may conclude, to wax lyrical upon this topic. I am not a cycling coach. I am not a physiologist. Neither am I a sports scientist. I am an ‘ist’, however, namely a cycling time-triallist. It is therefore not my intention to preach to or to educate anyone within these few paragraphs, but rather to provide some food for thought about the relationship between training smart and training more, and to explore their various virtues and detriments in the formulation of training approaches and programs. I do this from the position of a highly ambitious rider who has risen through the ranks of UK time-trialling over the last 8 years, to heights that would at the very least suggest I haven’t been

completely messing up my training, and at the optimistic end of the scale, may support the notion that I have managed to evolve a highly effective approach to medium-to-long-term progression.

Training Smart I’d like to start by exploring some general perceptions about what might constitute training smart. A common association seems to be the concept of training less, or less hard, for the same or better return. Heavy emphasis is placed upon recovery and the avoidance of over-training. Being in your best shape for target races is another recurring ‘train smart’ phenomenon. And of course I certainly sense a perception that smart training should encompass the latest thinking in terms of what constitutes effective training protocols. Now there is most certainly some merit in the inclusion of most of these elements into an effective training plan. You may or may not be shocked to discover I have little faith in the concept of training less or less hard, a statement that perhaps steals some later thunder, but that I can live with. I would firmly contend, however, that those elements that remain are most certainly NOT the embodiment of training smart.


For me, training smart is about WHAT that training delivers and NOT about HOW it is executed. Training smart is about reasonable, sustained progression, attaining ongoing improvements in results or performances, and providing a vehicle for an athlete’s personal fulfilment from their chosen endurance sport. If training achieves those three virtues, I suspect very few would argue it wasn’t at least quite clever! Of course I would be a long way back in the queue of those arguing that recovery is not an essential component of a training program, albeit I’m possibly a little further back still, in the queue of riders clamouring for said recovery. What many riders may not appreciate is that effective recovery cannot exist in isolation. In isolation it is simply recovery, or rest, or doing nothing, or downright laziness! Effective recovery can ONLY arise as the result of having something to recover from. No training overload, no effective recovery!

The training cycle The formulation of a training program that appropriately engineers this overload, and of course enables the effective recovery, is fraught with a multitude of dilemmas. Before I raise some of those dilemmas, I’d like to identify the main inputs and outputs from a program that give rise to such dilemmas. There are many possible inputs into a training program, including but not limited to:

Overall training loadHigh level compositionSession construction

Recovery schedulePeriodisationRaces / eventsTaperingLIFE!!!Health and wellbeingNutrition

I would identify the main outputs from the infinite variety of possible recipes combining the above ingredients as:

Sustainability Rate of progressionRace performanceHealth and wellbeingPersonal fulfilment

I probably cannot encompass the entire multitude of dilemmas presented in training program development and evolution, but here are at least some of the main culprits arising from the aforementioned variety of inputs and outputs:

Intensity versus hoursVariety versus measurabilityProgressive growth versussustainabilityOverall load versusNecessary recovery Fitness versus freshnessPotential and goal-setting

These dilemmas NEVER go away. They are frustratingly omnipresent, because everything affects everything else, and a given athlete is likely to be changing and evolving all the time.


I plan and execute my training in a continuous cycle of:

have his or her various biometric markers measured and monitored, no one can ever know for sure if there isn’t something they could do as well or instead, or even simply stop doing, that would make them even quicker.

For those of us that don’t have the opportunity to be scientifically monitored, the uncertainties are gargantuan. I therefore consider the biggest conundrum in developing and executing effective training isn’t in WHAT to try or how to refine it, but in how to effectively evaluate it. What to evaluate it against. How is one even supposed to know what rate of progression to expect?

Goal setting and the limits to research

The absence of absolutes is no doubt a considerable source of frustration for many. The singular escape route from this frustration is to EMBRACE the fact there ARE no absolutes. Trial and error, intuition and judgement are vital elements of the process. There is no magical, universal, guaranteed effective training protocol or approach. I’m essentially postulating that the training smart key is in the evaluation, but obviously you do need something to evaluate, and so decisions do have to be made about what training approaches to adopt and how they will be evolved and refined. In order to determine that, one needs to establish some goals. As an

The execution and measurement elements I consider to be somewhat unhelpfully intertwined. In order to effectively measure the impact of one’s training, one needs to execute it in such a way that it IS measurable, hence my observation that one of the dilemmas is variety versus measurability. Evaluation and refinement is underpinned in my approach by the mantra that if your training isn’t working, change it; if it’s working, keep doing it until it stops working, then change it. The fundamental and infuriating problem with this, however, is what on earth do we mean by ‘working’? How do we establish that our training IS actually effective? Usain Bolt isn’t an endurance athlete, but I like him as an example to demonstrate a point. He’s the fastest man on earth right now. Is he as fast as he can be? Maybe he isn’t? Even if an athlete is frequently strapped down to various machines to


athlete or coach there are numerous potential sources for the determination and refinement of goals and for ideas about what to try in terms of training approaches. Let’s start with some potential inputs for goal-setting:

Common senseIntuitionExperiences of/with otherathletesAthlete strengths,weaknesses, preferences andindicative potential

Hardly an exact science and I would be inclined to present the same precise list for ideas about how to approach shooting for the goals once established, with one further addition, namely expert opinion and research findings. Does this suggest a glimmer of hope for a higher degree of tangible substance and credibility to the overall input than for goal setting? Well… the exploitation of research is fraught with a collection of uncertainties and challenges of its own:

Generally focussed heavily on full time athletes

Mostly short-term studies i.e. number of weeks

Everything affects everything else – no effective control group mechanism

Typically tests a preconceived notion in terms of variables, yet possible combinations are infinite

Tough to get subjects to try something radical... too risky!

If subjects DO try something different, an improvement that derives a positive conclusion could be down to new stimuli and very short lived

OR... a dip in performance from changing something, that then derives a negative conclusion, might be down to the need for initial adaptation to the change

Not all research is credible or even passable. Some even struggles to be plausible. I have read some conclusions that are simply nonsense and do not stand up to the simplest of logical tests of their validity

So once again we return to the inescapable premise that evaluation is the key; that training smart cannot be achieved by simply executing training that research concluded is likely to work. Plenty of part-time athletes and possibly even some of their coaches are of the view that emulating professional athletes in terms of training approach is a pretty safe bet. I beg to enormously differ! For example, part-timers might decide to or be prescribed to take a few weeks or a month’s rest in the off-season. Full-time athletes have firstly earned that rest by battering their bodies and brains to a pulp for probably three times as many hours as many part-timers, and secondly and by far most crucially, they are no doubt nudging their absolute potential and have plenty of hours in the day upon their return to training, to regain that position in relation to their potential. It’s their JOB!


If I took a month off in the off-season, it would take me about six weeks to regain lost fitness. That’s ten weeks of lost progression opportunity in the off-season, which is about 20 weeks long. NOT smart! I’m still trying to get faster as each season comes along. Such an approach would therefore be ludicrous.

Some riders swear by riding around for hours at low intensity, Coggan zone 2 perhaps, and adopting a now widely exploited polarised approach to their training. The problem is, they consider, say, 8 to 12 hours of Z2 as a lot of hours. The pro’s are doing double that volume of endurance hours. I’m not claiming there’s no way some parallels in terms of approach could be valid, but they need to be evaluated for a specific rider and refined or adapted to their needs and goals, not simply adopted because the pro’s do it.

Concluding thoughts Here we are, almost at the end of an article about whether to train smart or train more, and I’ve been so busy prattling about training smart I have hardly even mentioned training more. This is, however, not by accident. Thus far my aim has been to persuade you that there is no such thing as a magic bullet, train smart approach, and that the most critical element of any training plan is that it is effectively evaluated against a coherent and relevant set of goals. And in the entire training approach cycle, intuition is an absolutely critical ingredient. As I keep repeating, there are simply no

absolutes in the determination of whether or not you are training as close to as cleverly as you can be in terms of HOW you train. But what do I have to say about training more? When I talk about training more I’m talking about the combination of hours and average training intensity, not simply volume. And training more is our saviour. Why? Because training more is an absolute. I attribute my steady elevation in the world of UK time-trialling to a steady growth in my training load from 6 hours to now around 12, with all manner of variations in approaches and protocols in that time. Right now I train exclusively for 12 hours a week in Coggan zone 3, or tempo. No intervals whatsoever. My overall load is higher and more sustainable than it has ever been, and it is continuing to deliver further progression. Training more WORKS, naturally up to some limit no part-timer ever reaches, when it no longer does. I now firmly hold the view that how much I train is of substantially greater import than precisely how I train. There just aren’t any shortcuts to getting fitter, faster, more powerful, to winning more, to winning the most in endurance sport. None! And so my indisputably credible, passable, plausible and profound conclusion from this highly scientific rambling is that there is no ‘train smart or train more’ dilemma. Such a conundrum does not exist. In my estimation, the two are as far removed from mutually exclusive as apple crumble and custard, or perhaps even custard and custard! Sustainably training more IS training smart!!!


Gerry Robinson

Gerry is an ABCC and BC qualified coach and is a member of our committee. He is the Secretary of the Chester Road Club and President of Chester Go-Ride CC. Now retired from his profession as a Chartered Engineer, he will complete his sixtieth year as an active cyclist during 2015

Sky StoryWe oud’ns sometimes feel the need to comment on the direction the world is taking. The following musings were written (tongue in cheek) in 2010 when Team Sky was finding its feet. Subsequent events, not least the team’s successes in the Tour de France, suggest that my thoughts may not have been too far wide of the mark…...

Le Tour de L’Avenir(The Tour of the Future)

The Tour de France had been long and hard. I was tired and looking forward to the end. Weariness overcame me halfway through stage 16 and Sean Kelly’s voice receded into the far distance as I drifted off into a future world……..

The sun had been suffering from indigestion for several months, emitting vast plumes of hot gas. Heaving and straining, a final burst of solar flatulence hurled charged particles into space at an incredible speed and the sun relaxed.

This activity resulted in the best European summer for many years. The Tour wound its way through the Pyrenees, sweltering under a hot August sun. This was the third year the Tour had been run in August. After the collapse of the French

economy during the second phase of the great recession, a Chinese state-owned bank took over the ASO. China wanted to increase tourism. The Minister for Tourism had seen how worldwide television coverage of the Tour had benefited tourism in France. Thus the Tour of China was born. Next the bank took a controlling interest in SKYCORP, by then the world’s largest media conglomerate. Viewing figures were assured. The Tour of China quickly became the world’s premier bicycle race. The UCI acquiesced meekly and it took over the Tour’s July date.

China was now the dominant financial force in world cycling. The headquarters of the UCI, the sport’s governing body, moved to Beijing. Rumour had it that a few well-placed bribes (followed by a few well-placed threats of exposure) were required before the move was approved. Coincidentally, the bank held controlling interests in several of the world’s largest bicycle manufacturing companies and many outdated rules on racing bicycle technology were amended shortly after the move was completed. Chinese competitors became a major force in international cycle racing. The sport of cycling became ideal publicity for China.

Gee rode near the front of the peloton feeling more like a hamster in a wheel than a cyclist.


He was nearing the end of a long and illustrious career and was road captain of Team SKYCORP. A senior statesman of the pro peloton, he sat there watching the wheels and studying the other riders, more to help pass the time than out of necessity.

Team tactics were controlled from above. Far above! Many thousands of kilometres over Europe SkySat2 hung in geostationary orbit. It contained Skycomp, the supercomputer which controlled SKYCORP’s European operations. A tiny portion of Skycomp was devoted to Skymanager, the computer system which managed Team SKYCORP. All the combined wisdom and experience of the world’s best team managers, scientists, doctors and officials was stored in Skymanager. It controlled every aspect of the team’s operation.

Three riders sped past Gee and off the front of the peloton. He tapped their race numbers into his stemscreen. Skymanager decided that the escapees were too dangerous to be allowed their freedom. It scanned the internal bodysensors of the SKYCORP team, selected three and instructed them to help Geraint nullify the escape. It also noted that the physical condition of one team member was below acceptable limits. He was not responding well to the rigours of the Tour. Skymanager removed him from the list of riders to be offered contract extensions at the end of the Tour.

The wallscreen in Brad’s office at the team HQ in Manchester sprang into life. Skymanager informed him that the breakaway had been captured.

He missed life on the road as a Team Director. Unfortunately, two of his tactical errors had cost the team important races. SKYCORP ordered the Squirrels to come up with a solution and Skymanager had been their answer. It was intelligent. It devised new methods and technologies then tested them in computer models. If they were successful in model form they were employed on the road. Its effect was immediate and dramatic. Errors were a thing of the past. Team SKYCORP dominated racing.

“Perhaps I’ll be able to take the afternoon off on Sunday and go to Paris for the finish”, thought Brad. The wallscreen dimmed as he turned to his workstation.

Pete cruised along in the bunch, resplendent in yellow. Skymanager sensed a slight loss of pressure in his rear wheel and instructed him to stop at the roadside 100 metres ahead and dismount. Teamcar1, one of the team’s automated support vehicles controlled by Skymanager, removed the punctured wheel and replaced it with a spare in seconds. No human presence was required. He was pushed back into the fray and rejoined the peloton with the aid of a team-mate who had been alerted by Skymanager. The team-mate might have not pressed so hard on the pedals had he known his contract was ending. Teamcar1, having retrieved the punctured wheel, sped through to the head of the convoy, swearing back at opposing managers in their own tongue when necessary.

Other teams objected to the UCI about technologies employed by


Team SKYCORP. The bank’s stranglehold on the financial affairs of officials serving on the relevant committees ensured the objections foundered.

Somewhere on another plane sometimes known as the afterlife two elderly gentlemen were at the Skyplex watching the Tour. They sat on a cloud, wearing faded Bianchi and Legnano racing jerseys and caps, watching the riders a few metres beneath them, leaning to left and right as the cloud sped through the bends.“The mountains are so beautiful”, said Fausto.“Pity the racing is so dire”, replied Gino.“So predictable”“No spontaneity”“No excitement”“No panache”“Not worth the subscription”“I’ve got a few bottles of red in the cellar”“Let’s go”!

The wallscreen sprang into life and M, SKYCORP’s CEO, bawled at Brad from Australia.“Viewing figures are down!Subscriptions are falling!What are you doing about it?”“But Pete’s won the Tour of China and Hong Kong-Shanghai this year. He’s about to win the Tour. What more can we do?”“I don’t want excuses! I want a plan to save the situation!You’ve got two hours! Get on with it!”

Brad cancelled all thoughts of a Sunday off as the wallscreeen faded.

In the next office D overheard the exchange. He felt a band of pain grip his chest and course down his arm. His world went black as he slumped across the desk. High above Skycomp removed his name from its list of future beneficiaries of the SKYCORP Pension Fund and forwarded suitable messages of condolence to his nearest and dearest. Two hours later, after Brad had completed his plan, it informed him of his colleague’s demise.

Seconds later the coronal mass emission struck. Later, astronomers said that it was the largest burst of solar energy they had ever measured. Skycomp fried. Skysat2’s stability controls were damaged, its retro rockets burst into life and it fell out of orbit. In the Pyrenees the Tour was forgotten as the crowds gazed upwards at the celestial fireworks. There were gasps as a fireball, the remains of Skysat2, hit a mountainside. No longer controlled from above, Teamcar1 carried straight on at a hairpin bend and crashed through the barrier, describing a graceful arc as it plunged into a ravine. A group of young spectators clapped and cheered at the sight as did the team managers in the following convoy. Gee’s stemscreen went blank and he smiled for the first time in days. His life was about to become very interesting.

Fausto and Gino raised their glasses, toasted one another’s exploits and continued enjoying death to the full.

I felt a nudge in the ribs. It was my wife. “You were snoring again. Cavendish won. You missed it”.


When Peter Keene calculated that Tony Rominger would never be able to produce the power to take Chris Boardman’s hour record he probably left out an important factor in his formulae. Shape Shifting. Mark Jones knows all about that.

Riding Through Glue - Mark JonesBased on Mark Jones presentation at the ABCC conference. Summary by Jim Sampson.

This article is based on Mark’s presentation at the ABCC Coaches conference. After an early start as a time-trialist showing great promise and talent, Mark Jones had to undergo a couple of operations four years ago and a debilitating attack from chronic fatigue syndrome which severely reduced his power output that caused him to rethink his strategy to continue in the sport he loves so much.

Inherited from his father and grandfather who mixed with the best bike-riders around in the Midlands, his enthusiasm caused him to meticulously follow his father’s advice throughout his schooldays. This was, “You’ve gotta ride 40 miles a day, Mark.”

As a racing schoolboy and junior his talent became evident with lots of times around 22 minutes. He spent most of his training with Stuart Dangerfield, but not being able to afford the equipment developed from technological advances around the low-pro bikes in the late 80s, he decided to let his cycling career lapse and concentrate on studies and university. That was in 1990.

n 2001 he moved to Oxfordshire to new job as a physicist at Oxford University.

Image courtesy of Craig Zad

And he returned to the bike by commuting to work through the beautiful Cotswold countryside. After a while he started to race on the local courses producing times around 22 and 21 minutes over 10 miles. He later broke the Oxford City RC 10 mile club record at Andover in 2008 with a 19:53. It was his first 30mph time trial and after reading up on some specific training methods and putting in some 20 hours a week. He also thought the damp roads significantly helped him that day, in addition to his shaved legs! He’d also spent his works’ bonus on a second-hand Trek frame like Lance’s from a wealthy tri-athlete for £800. He fitted it with Dura-Ace, Zipp dimple wheels and Continental tubulars which he pumped up to 190 psi. He’d analysing the aerodynamics of his position and remembering Hunter Allen’s philosophy that even a


brake cable in the wind is worth 2 or three watts, which equates to 5 seconds in a “10”. He also concentrated on punching a smaller hole in the air. He achieved this by shortening the width of his bars, covering the levers and elevating the ‘bar extensions. Looking back he realised riding his tyres at a very high pressure was a bad thing, in fact a mistake, and his skinsuit was poorly fitting in race conditions. And he hadn’t paid much attention to attaching his race number.

Later he bought himself a new Trek on the ‘Bike to Work’ scheme which he did actually use for that purpose – once. At this time he also realised the aero advantages of putting a visor on his cycle helmet and the use of silver ‘Buck Rogers’ overshoes. Other changes included raising his bars 20mm, reducing his tyre pressure and not sticking his tubulars on with tub tape which massively increases rolling resistance. Much later he found that ‘clinchers’ reduce it even more.

When Mark acquired a power meter he went along to Palmer Park track in Reading and made some amazing aerodynamic drag discoveries. He knew there were some riders who could sustain as much 400 watts for ten miles, around 100 watts more than he was doing, and he was beating them. He concluded is all attributable to aerodynamic differences. He used software called Golden Cheetah which contains a function called AeroLab hat automatically solves co-efficient of drag equations. This was done riding around Reading track on a fairly windless day

where air density, velocity and power are taken into consideration; gravity and wind speed being obviated.

In 2010 he made a significant leap forward, and not by training. It happened following testing at Newport Velodrome where he spent some five hours just checking out his ideas and theories. He was astounded to find that his drag dropped by 20 watts by highering his bars. In others words he could do the same speed with 20 watts less, or go faster with the same power. A change of helmet dropped the drag again and a change of skinsuit dropped it even further. The reckoning was that he’d saved about 45 seconds overall in that one session alone ! He’d been looking to gain 28 seconds. The Oxford City RC website records the advances he subsequently made from that date.

He was so proud of the new bike he’d just spent lots of money on and nearing his 40th birthday when he was suddenly struck down with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) after having two general anaesthetics to have a benign tumour removed. He developed serious peripheral neuropathy from antibiotics plus stress from the delivery of a new baby at home. Mark was indeed having a hard time and he was unable to ride at all in 2012.

As CFS dilutes endurance and causes severe depression, anxiety and musculo-skeletal atrophy, Mark was left with poor racing prospects. However, he still wanted to ride his bike and believed the engine he’d developed in his youth could sustain him for about 25 minutes and that

Journal of Cycle Coaching: Issue No 1:2015

Greame Obree showing a small frontal area

he could possibly make 300 watts without much training. Aerodynamics was again high on the agenda and he believed he could get feedback to combat the CFS. Consequently he started riding again in January 2013 and amazingly he achieved a string of short 19 minute rides on fast courses early on from around 300 watts of sustainable time trial power.

On his new bike he’d shortened the ‘bars to the minimum allowable, and with adjustments to his brakes, he was able to save a few more watts. Small marginal gains as they say in some quarters. From some wind tunnel tests he was able to adjust his riding position a little more aerodynamically, and one that he could sustain for a whole race under pressure. Mark also deduced that the risk of being pushed and pulled around on the road by the airflow turbulence from passing vehicles and trucks using deep section rims was outweighed by a less disturbed and smoother airflow by using shallow front rims. A closer look at the fabric of his race clothing which affects air flow, and even shaved legs, all contributed to allowing him to go faster. And the ‘praying mantis’ position helped to cut a lot more from his frontal profile area.

He reckons that if you’re travelling at 30 mph then 15%, of total drag or 45 watts, is used to overcome the drag on the floor (ie rolling resistance). So now he uses clinchers which have proved to be faster and offer less resistance than tubs. He pointed out that some 85% of time trial power is used in overcoming the wind drag of which 75% of that is

from a rider’s body and the remainder from the bike. And a question he posed was asking riders and their coaches to look for the factors which are likely to make up most of the drag in their cases.

The equations on the next page, that Mark referred to, show that the work done and then the power to go forward is the rolling resistance, times your mass (how heavy you are), times gravity (force that’s sucking you down), times velocity. And riding at a steady speed with no accelerations or decelerations on a flat course then the power equation reduces down to just rolling resistance plus air resistance. The two important things to do are cut down your frontal area and make the wind peel off your body as late as possible by improved body shaping - shape shifting. And change to well fitting and tight clothing. Mark said don’t look like a ‘sack of spuds’. Look very critically at your body position and body shape. It’s the power you can sustain during a time trial divided by the coefficient of drag


The equations of work (w) done, power (P) and velocity (v):

w(total) = w(rr) + w(PE) + w(KE) + w(aero)

Sum of forces= (Crr)mg + smg + ma + 0.5(CdA)ρ(vair) ^2

As Power = Force x Velocity we can write :

Power = (Crr)mgv + smgv + mav + 0.5(CdA)ρ(vair) ^3

Where: v = speed in m/s (i.e., “ground” speed) m = total mass (kg) of rider + bike g = gravity at 9.81 m/sec2 Crr = coefficient of rolling resistance s = slope a = acceleration

ρ = air density vair = “air” speed of bike CdA = drag area (usually referred as the coefficient of drag)

To simplify, for a flat time trial at steady speed both acceleration and elevation components can be assumed to be zero, so :

P= (Crr)mgv + smgv + mav + . 5CdAρ vair^2 x v then reduces to:

P= (Crr)mgv + 0.5(CdA)ρvair ^ 3

So under these conditions the power (P) required for a given velocity (v) depends only on the rolling resistance and air flow drag components.

So to go faster you need to cut down your frontal area (A) by changing your body shape and how you are dressed (Cd). THIS HAS FAR MORE EFFECT THAN ANY COMPONENT YOU CAN PURCHASE FOR YOUR BICYCLE. (Remember 75% of aero drag is from you !!!)

that wins races so Watts/CdA). And remember most of the drag comes from the body shape and position.

By looking on Strava for information for rides of rivals he was able to access their data, and having coerced their

weight from them, he was able to calculate a strategy to combat their greater power output with his more efficient drag co-efficient and rolling resistance. He knew that if he kept absolutely still on the bike and didn’t move around it would keep the drag stable he could have the beating of his more powerful opponents. This is what did happen in the National “10”.


Graeme O’Bree is Mark’s great hero for the way he’s approached the problem of going faster on the bike. He not only had great strength, he’s a big guy with an enormous chest who can wrap himself up into a tiny ball, a beautiful oval shape to punch the smallest hole he could into the wind. Ed Burke, a celebrated cycling sports scientist to the US cycling fraternity published in his book Serious Cycling, “the drag of the two upper arms closely approximate the drag on the rest of the body’s frontal area”. Graeme and Mark have both adopted this philosophy, the idea being to make you long and thin more like a sports car and not a Landrover. Mark illustrated with different shapes (eg circle, square, triangle, ellipse and aerofoil etc ) to explain how computational fluid dynamics is able to calculate the drag for different shapes, and to particularly show that a streamlined curved shape can have a tenth of the drag of a circle. And another major outcome from such work is to show that a flat back isn’t always as good as it’s made out to be. It can cause additional air flow turbulence which increases drag due to the air peeling away from the body too early.

In just one session Mark undertook in the wind tunnel he spent some of two hours finding the best position for his hands. Moving them slightly forward was better, but moving them about, changing positions during a race is detrimental to your time and progress. And he also found the best position he can sustain without moving his body around. Another method he uses to examine aerodynamic position

is roll down testing on a traffic-free hill up to ten times in a single session trying various theories. If he finds an improved terminal velocity from a particular trial he’ll then investigate the position further before applying it to his race position. Mark pointed out that there are many things that adversely affect aerodynamics and you have be aware of what they are and the extent of them in individual cases.

Clothing is another area where real gains can be made; he particularly recommended buying a high speed skin suit from one of the reputable manufacturers including Drag2zero, the sponsor he rides for. Look for the way the fabric stretches, and that it doesn’t pucker in the riding position which just increases drag. He indicated that smooth surfaces generally work best fast riders, but a rougher one for slower riders is ok.

One major criticism he had of many competitors especially in national events was that a great many don’t keep their upper body stable and still, and they often wander away from a straight line. They end up travelling a longer distance and just an extra 25 metres could add a critical two seconds in a major event. By moving their body around under riding conditions riders are making their effective frontal area wider and drag just increases.

For his aero testing Mark uses a Kestrel 4250 anemometer which measures wind speed and air density. He frequently takes it out on courses to take wind speed readings at various points and junctions. This helps him pace his ride to the best advantage, knowing when a junction can help or hinder his effort.


Summarising he said he now has a fast rear disc wheel and a shallow 50mm deep front clincher with tyres at 100-120 psi. His hands and helmet are close together and he no longer wears a heart strap because he doesn’t use the data. Numbers are fastened on low and tightly fitting, legs are shaved. He uses his silver Buck Rogers overshoes (Drag2Zero/Smart) , and the fabric of his race clothing is tight fitting and well fastened down with no puckering during events. Finally he advised us coaches to take videos of the guys we’re coaching and look at how much they move around. He said get them to focus on riding in a straight line, get them tight and still on the bike. And get some fast clothing on them and they’ll go like stink. With two 18 minute rides to his credit during 2014 and significant number of 19 minute rides, and a member of the team that smashed the national team competition record for 10 miles, all goes to show his dedicated work on time trialing aerodynamics has paid off handsomely.

A Blast from the Past

Article from Sporting Cyclist, April 1963

Before going to Calais for the world cyclo-cross championship, our staff reporter ROY GREEN spent the week in Staffordshire with 24 other young road racing enthusiastsTo get to the top in modern road racing it takes a lot more than keenness and brute strength to develop the speed, stamina, and high degree of tactical sense neces sary. When a rider starts racing, keenness is usually there, but how does he go about developing the ability?

At last the scientific training methods used on the Continent are beginning to be recognised in Britain. In mid-February, while most racing men were inactive because of the arctic weather conditions, I spent a most instructive week at the British Cycling Federation’s training course for roadmen at Lilleshall Hall, Staffs. At this “school for speedmen,” 25 young clubmen, most of them teen agers with serious intentions of becoming top roadmen, had come to receive expert advice.

The “headmaster” was Tommy Godwin, his chief instructor Brian Robinson. Tommy is the man behind this national coaching course; he has experience of managing British teams abroad for several years, and has been teaching racing know-how to local youngsters, after a notable track- racing career. Brian had to


make the grade in continental stage racing the hard way. There was no one to instruct him on training methods, racing tactics, scientific diet. It is a big tribute to his perseverance and sheer will-power to get to the top that he succeeded, by finding out for himself. After listening to the wealth of information he passed on to these youngsters, I feel we owe him a lot for an unselfish attitude towards his would-be successors.

Lilleshall Hall is a most convenient and a most impressive school for such a course. Its central position, near Wellington, makes it convenient for riders from all over the country.

The hall, which was originally the Duke of Sutherland’s hunting lodge, is a grand oak-panelled centrally heated mansion sited in acres of private forested grounds and is now owned by the Central Council of Physical Recreation.

The governing bodies of foot ball, athletics, cricket, netball and many other sports hold instructional courses there throughout the year; during the cyclists’ week our fellow students—or “inmates,” perhaps?— were a number of prison and Borstal P.T. officers. After watching the severity of their training, I am sure none of us will ever run foul of the law! We were fortunate in having a “guest” lecture from one of their instructors, Mr. George Popplewell, a former British weight-lifting cham pion, who gave a most informative talk on the physiological aspects of body fitness. He put a number of the boys through tests to determine strength-bodyweight ratio (done by measuring strength by grip-test with a

dynamometer and expressing as a percentage of the individual’s weight). It was interesting to find many cyclists achieved far better results here than the average for top footballers. Two, John Woodburn and Bill Sutcliffe, rated higher than tennis star Lew Hoad.

During the five days of the course, lectures by Tommy Godwin and Brian Robinson were mixed with sessions of roadwork. The general programme was a short lecture after breakfast, then a steady ride of 30-40 miles in the morning, then another lecture period in the afternoon. When the weather was bad, there were two well- equipped gymnasia available; sur prisingly, considering the bad con ditions, only one morning’s run was missed. In its place we had a no-holds- barred game of football in the gym.

Most of the lads on the course were not yet names in the racing news, were still juniors, or had just reached the senior grade. But you will have seen the name of one of the “pupils” quite a lot. In last month’s issue we featured Wes. Mason, the Empire Games road champion whose 54 wins to date suggest that he knows quite a lot about getting the best from him self. But I gathered from talking to Wes. that he considers he has a lot to learn about the road game before achieving his aim of becoming a top professional. Another well - known roadman, Hugh Porter, was also along to learn more.

Several riders had come along for a sort of conversion course to road racing after riding mainly in time trials. John Woodburn, at 26, was a


champion time trialist who changed to the bunched game quite success fully last year and was after more tips. “And I came along for the train ing company, too,” he said. “There aren’t many riders to train with around my home area, Reading. Also, the atmosphere of a course like this makes you keen to start again after the awful winter.”

Bill Sutcliffe was another time trialist on the course. A good one, too, for he was the Manchester area’s best-placed rider in the B.B.A.R. table. This year, a good showing in road races, particularly the longer events like London-Holyhead, is his aim.

Young riders like Geoff Smith, East Bradford C.C., who has shown good early promise, especially on the track, wanted to be put right. Geoff says he does not know yet whether to specialise at track or road racing. Brian Robinson encouraged him to carry on mixing his programme.

“The track is the best place to develop that zip over the final five miles that wins races,” Brian said. “It’s also the best place to learn how to handle a bike, and to put an edge to your speed. I especially recommend madisons. When young, it’s develop ing speed that is all important; stamina can be increased when a rider is matured, speed rarely can. On the other hand, a lot of time trialing is ‘out,’ as road racing demands not a steady rhythm but the ability to alternate the pace.”

Another youngster on the course, Brian Jaques from the Harworth C.C. (the area that produced Tom Simp son), had shown a lot of early promise, clocking a 59-12 “25” when only 15. But he saw from Brian’s advice the danger of “burning himself out.”

“I was doing hard 50-mile training runs, following the advice of older clubmates, and time trialing most weeks,” he told me, while out on a training spin, “but now I won’t race so much, less time trials, and I’ll train easier, over shorter distances.” (He then proceeded to roar me off!)

What did we learn from the lectures by Tommy and Brian? Well, for a start, that .there is no revolutionary “training blue-print,” no short-cut methods to reach the top. It was made clear right from the beginning that one needed sheer hard work and dedication to succeed. But the great value of this course was that the boys were given a complete and thorough summary of what work to do, and how to go about it, in both racing and training. Most of the advice I, and the older members of the course, had heard before. But we had heard so much other advice in direct opposition, which is baffling, especially to a young rider without any idea. The instruction we received at Lilleshall was a definite, reliable basis on which to work, set by persons whose experience made their views respected.

Each talk was on a particular aspect —training, racing tactics, diet, equip ment, etc.—with pupils encouraged to break in for more information on any item that particularly interested them. We had a “textbook” issued, in the form of a very detailed report of all the discussion at last year’s course, when Brian, assisted by Ron Coe, was also “in the chair.” It was compiled by Poly trackman Brian Ward.

On pre-season training, Brian first made it clear that the two most important points were that it should


be a gradual build-up process, and that low gears should always be used. Mileage should be low for the first runs, gradually building up to 100 miles at week-ends. Runs should always be non-stop, with food and drink carried. The run to the club meeting place for dinner, then home again after an hour’s break is “out.”Brian said that most professionals work on a basis of getting in 1,500 miles before racing seriously, which would be done in about a month. Amateurs should aim at this figure, but with less time available, the pre- race period would probably last about ten weeks. I shall not go more fully into a schedule of this training, as details have been published this year (in “Cycling and Mopeds,” January 16). A big thing to remember is that distances for juniors should be much shorter than for seniors.

During the evenings we saw several films of races, including the 1961 Tour of Britain, which Brian used to demonstrate many faults in British racing tactics.

“This is the department in which we are weakest over here, and it really shows up in races like the Tour de l’Avenir and ‘Worlds’,” he remarked. “In France, most of the big amateur clubs have a trainer who watches events and criticises the team’s tactics after.”

Brian commented particularly on poor sprinting styles seen in the T.o.B. film. “Biggest mistake is the use of gears far too high, 108in. is rarely the correct gear. Darrigade’s usual sprinting gear is 90in. I would recommend a standard sprinting gear of 88in., only higher than this if the finish is really fast, lower if it’s uphill.”

If there are any sceptics, he pointed out that during six-day races, everyone uses 52 x 16 (88in; a “gentleman’s agreement” between riders, largely to help things for the mechanics). Since short-distance world track records are occasionally unofficially broken in attempts during “six’s,” this gear should be sufficient for any road roadmen. An interesting method was Spanish sprint-finish specialist Miguel Poblet’s technique. He often winds up on a normal sprinting gear, then flicks into top, using handlebar controls, to aid his “jump” over the last few yards. But this technique needs some practice!

“A good track sprinter is born, but a roadman’s sprint, which differs in that it is a wind-up after a long race, not just a jump, can be developed,” said Brian. He had improved his own finishing greatly by using a method taught him by old six-day trainer Pierre Viel. “Sprint for the last 200yd every mile over the final ten miles of your training runs (after the initial building-up period, of course). After this, you should arrive indoors with only just enough energy left to change!” Lloyd Binch used this method a lot to get an edge for his first races at Easter.

Another thing Brian pointed out from the films was that British riders did not make the most of the echelon formation when a strong side wind was blowing from the right. The first line, about eight riders would assume echelon formation from the centre of the road to the kerb; any riders not in the line just formed a “tail” after them, getting no wind shelter. Thing to do if you cannot get in the first echelon is to start another one behind. Brian had known as many as 11 echelons, right across,


in operation in Paris-Nice during strong cross-winds.

These and many other racing tech nique points were explained by Brian. A whole lecture was spent discussing diet, and explaining a list of “do’s and don’ts” in the training manual. Nothing revolutionary here, every thing recommended was the sort of food which is readily available, and it was a list of foods which common sense would say is necessary for an athlete’s diet. But Brian said that he was appalled to see how little atten tion was paid to this most important branch of training. Another afternoon was spent on racing equipment and position, with Brian checking each man’s position and advising him if changes should be made.

This is a brief outline of how this course at Lilleshall was run; to cover all the information passed on would take an entire issue of “Sporting Cyclist!” Tommy Godwin explained that eventually the B.C.F. hopes to run central courses like this to instruct regional coaches, so that they can pass on information to classes in their own areas. I think that progressive road racing clubs might well copy the example of the Witham Wheelers, a Lincolnshire club which had paid the course fee of £7 for one of their members, Jeff Ellingworth, so that he could bring back the knowledge to the whole club.

Proper coaching for cycling has been sadly lacking; every other major sport has its coaching schemes. Now at last we are taking positive steps to instruct newcomers to the game.

Book Reviews

Tour of Flanders -The inside story of the rocky roads of the Ronde Vlaanderen by Les Woodland

Review by Lewis Hall

In recent years, I have witnessed a number of British cyclists participating in the Retro Ronde – a retro version of the Tour of Flanders. This book by Les Woodland may encourage others to experience and enjoy, hammering over the fabled cobbled climbs, through farmyards and country lanes, in the company of riders from around the world who love riding a classic bike. On roads travelled by the greatest cyclists in the history of our sport. But what is the Retro Ronde you may ask? It is an annual event taking place on a Sunday morning, usually in late May or June. Starting and finishing in Oudenaarde with options to ride routes either 40, 70 or 100km. Each event covers some of the roads used in the professional races, at one time or another. The terms and conditions for participation are simple. Broadly speaking, ride a bike made before 1987 – no clipless pedals and ideally wearing clothing of the period. Fuelled with generous refreshments provided free of charge at check points around the course. Entry fee under 20 Euros. For more information see www.retroronde.be And there's more besides. A varied programme on the Saturday with options ranging from a sportif ride, a cycle jumble along with an early


evening critereium based around the market place - retro bikes only. An ideal warm-up for an evening of entertainment at the Town Hall. This includes a dinner and dance with the Dipsey Doodles – professional dancers, in attendance and involving all who want to be, regardless of ability. A perfect opportunity for those aspiring to be auditioned for Strictly! Also, these amazing dancers perform through Sunday as spectators relax and as riders return and take their rightful rewards at the bar. Music over the weekend is usually along the lines of that played by Stephane Grappelli or maybe Harry Gold and his Pieces of Eight or even the Ted Heath Band. All ideal pre and post preparation for a ride in the Retro Ronde. Did you ask “what has all this got to do with a book review”? Quite simply this! The professional Tour of Flanders is Belgium's most brutal day in the saddle. Riders and their fans know this, they also know how to enjoy themselves following a gruelling race, often taking place in bad weather. Collectively, the Retro Ronde helps capture the spirit of bike racing at its hardest allied to wholesome family entertainment. Might this be something to add to your Bucket List!

Les Woodland's book contains details of the Ronde from the first in 1913, detailing the politics both sporting and otherwise together with the key factors that helped shape the Ronde into what is rightly, one of the famous Monuments in cycle road racing. The achievements of Briek Schotte, the Lion of Flanders towers over all others who have entered the record book – Louison Bobet, Fausto Coppi, Roger

De Vleaminck and our own Barry Hoban and Tommy Simpson, to name but a few. Naturally, Eddy Merckx who via his success in this race together with five Tour de France victories is now officially regarded as the most famous Belgian. The book provides eye opening accounts of race tactics together with the wheeling and dealing that took place between riders and team managers as well as the role of others who have been an integral and important part of our sport. All of the climbs which have ever been a part of this race are fully documented, together with details of

road surfaces, their lengths,including average and maximum gradients. And if you should wish to gain an insight into what riding the Ronde is about, I recommend you do two things. Read this book and without further hesitation, add to the experience by entering the 2015 Retro Ronde. May I also suggest that whilst in Oudenaarde, you visit the Tour of Flanders Museum. If you do, you may bump into Freddy Maertens, a friendly and approachable member of staff and a former World Road Champion.

Freddy never won the Tour of Flanders but is widely regarded as being the moral victor in 1977. The account of that race alone, makes this book worth the cover price of around £12. A most rewarding read.

Tour of Flanders – The inside story, ISBN 978-0-9859636-2-0. From McGann Publishing, 2014.


Cycle Road Racing by Tom Newman

Review by Gerry Robinson

The sport of cycle racing selects its participants with rigour. Riders whose preparation is inadequate can expect little mercy once the flag drops.Tom Newman has been a cyclist for over forty years. He has competed on road and track, in cyclo-cross and time trials. Fifteen years of coaching experience and the lessons of a life awheel put Tom in an ideal position to guide both new racers and club riders.This book contains more useful knowledge in its 125 pages than many longer tomes. Colour photographs are liberally distributed throughout. It is ideally suited to the needs of British club riders with chapters on equipment and clothing, training, technique and tactics, nutrition, health, planning and, as a finale, a chapter on the use of computers in cycle racing.

Published by Crowood Press. ISBN 978-84797-434-1. Paperback. 125 Pages. £12.99

The Art of Running Faster by Goater and Melvin.

Review by Gerry Robinson

During the 1970s and 80s, British middle and long distance runners won medals and broke records in a manner only recently emulated by our cyclists. Bedford, Coe, Cram and Ovett were household names, just like Hoy and Wiggins today. Julian Goater, who was one of these runners, set a national record at 5000 metres, and won the 1981 national cross country championship

- by a record margin of almost two minutes from a field of 1800 runners! This was achieved while working full-time in the R.A.F. Goater was coached by Bob Parker and Harry Wilson, who coached David Bedford and Steve Ovett respectively. He is now a coach himself, and the lessons he absorbed during his career have shaped his coaching philosophy. This can be summarized as: 1 Concentrate on strength, suppleness, speed and skill to become a faster runner.2 Prolong this new-found speed by building stamina.3 Develop your psychological strength and tactical ability to race more effectively.His approach transfers directly to cycling and I confess that I enjoyed my best seasons when lack of time forced me to adopt a similar regime rather than building speed onto a large base of steady miles.The first part of the book is entitled “Building the Base”. It deals with his six primary components of fitness and four key weekly training sessions. Unusually, he includes a whole chapter on breathing and it is worth buying the book for this chapter alone.Part 2 is entitled “Sharpening the knife”. It contains chapters on the importance of hill training, the usefulness of cross-country work for building strength, speed work, periodization and mental strategies.The book is well written, interesting, informative and above all, useful. Team Sky borrow ideas from other sports; here is your chance to do likewise. Published by Human Kinetics. ISBN-13:978-0-7360-9550-1. Paperback. £13.99. 199 pages.

This Journal depends upon contributions to provide suitable content for publication.

The scope of the journal is broad, including features on: psychology, physiology, nutrition, techincal/equipment, tactics, individual training plans and coach-rider relationships for example.

We are not averse to the odd “political” comment and would consider papers that have a point to make in an odjective manner.

The Journal of Cycle Coaching also publishes book and academic paper reviews, written in an analytic and critical manner.

The membership and additional readership embrace many aspects of cycle sport from track, road, time trial, cyclo-cross, speedway, MTB, BMX to sportives and touring.

Over previous editions some of the more isoteric disciplines have been under represented. It would be useful and informative for the readership if this could be readdressed in upcoming journals.

If you have a contribution or know somebody who would be willing to sumbit an article or review, please contact the Administrator. The editorial sub-committee retain the right to edit the length and style but not the content of the work, to fit the journal. Final copy will be agreed between both parties before publishing.

cycle coaching - abcc.co.uk

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