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Intermediate Bike Training News |  |
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Greetings, I hope that everyone had a great holiday weekend. You couldn't ask for better weather to ride in. The Nike 10//2 group rode up Lookout Mountain on Saturday. It was the first time for ten people. To put their accomplishment in perspective, they rode from Sloan's Lake into Golden, up Lookout and returned via Hwy 40. In addition to the climb they rode 42 miles. This is only the eighth time that some of them have ridden seriously. My point is that your body can adapt quickly when given the proper training. I know people who have ridden for 20 years and still can't go 40 miles let alone add in a climb like Lookout Mtn. These people are making great progress and nobody is getting hurt or burned out. I want to emphasize again that Dan and I have intentionally made Midlife Cycling a safe environment for learning. We will push you and may "overreach" in training but you won't get injured or overtrained. If you are serious about cycling we will help you achieve whatever goals you want to set for yourself.  Rick Russon
The weather has been hot recently and we will have several more weeks of heat. Hydration, electrolytes, and nutrition are concerns once again. Denver's dry air can cause you to underestimate your water loss. Sweat evaporates off your skin quickly so you never feel very wet. And, you lose a lot of moisture through your lungs. Our normal target for liquid consumption is one large bike bottle (24 oz) per hour. When the temperature climbs above 90 deg I move that recommendation up to 1 1/2 bottles per hour. For most people it is hard to drink that amount of fluid. Training yourself to drink is just as important as doing things like interval training. If you are like me and get a lot of gunk caking on your face by your helmet straps then you need to worry about electrolytes. The most important is sodium. There is approximately 350 mg of sodium in a typical bottle of sport drink. Some of us will lose over 1000 mg per hour. So we add 1/4 tsp of salt to the drink. We will also supplement with 1-3 Endurolyte tablets per hour but these are expensive. Some people can drink electrolyte drinks like Enervit. But beware that the magnesium can be a laxative to you. DO NOT practice riding a long time then coming home to chug down a nice cold pitcher of ice water. If you have a lot of electrolyte loss this can futher dilute your blood and lead to a sometimes fatal condition called hyponatremia. If you need to take in a large amount of liquid at one time then make sure it is a sports drink. Finally, I have people on every ride that refuse to eat or drink - mainly due to bathroom or weight loss concerns. Your body runs on sugar. No matter how much you eat before a ride I will be pushing you hard enough to burn all the sugar out of your bloodstream and then some. It distresses me to see people having a great ride only to "bonk" towards the end. Cycling is a biochemical sport as they say at the Olympic Training Center. Cycling nutrition is where I have focused my studies. These aren't just paper studies. I'm out there experimenting on myself and working with my other riders to see what is working. So trust me when I recommend what to eat and drink. The physiology and nutrition seminars that I give in the Fall will provide you with a detailed explanation.
For you newbies, Nike is providing free training to the public to prepare them for the LIVESTRONG Challenge on August 20th to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. This training is free to the public whether you intend to do the actual event or not. The training will last until August 12th. The starting location is out of the southeast corner of Sloan's Lake Park (17th & Meade). Tuesday evening rides start at 6:30pm and last about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Saturday morning rides start at 9:00am. The weekend rides are designed to move your endurance from 20 miles out to 60 miles. There is a trainer who rides in the middle of the group and a sweep at the end to make sure nobody gets dropped. I ride back and forth in the main pack to provide coaching pointers. The rides have been fun and the pack is running around 12-18 people. Please come out to support Nike and LAF so they will do this program again next year.
We are doing Indoor Training for several reasons:
- Maintain core strength - especially in the lower
back You can use standard upper body routines. For lower body, focus on step-ups and lunges. For core, focus on crunches and back raises.
Have a great week. Join us tomorrow night (Thur) at Sloan's Lake, 6:30 pm or Saturday at 9:00am for the Nike 10//2 training.
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