Anticipation of the Amgen TOC is building,
and in Sacramento, site of the first stage, pro riders kept loose on trails in
the area on the days leading up to the tour.
I was on the American River bike trail a couple days ago
where I saw riders from LottoNL-Jumbo, Novo Nordisk and Tinkoff-Saxo. I was on
the way back from Folsom Lake and riding into the teeth of a nasty headwind
when two Tinkoff-Saxo riders blew by in their optic yellow and dark blue kits,
crouched over their handlebars in time trial style. These guys were like
meteors, sleek and fast. Headwind? What headwind? Amazing how pro peloton
riders are on such a higher plain of leg power than amateurs riders like me,
out for a spin. Holy Toledo! I was riding at about 18 mph and I was passed like
I was sitting still! I figure they were going 35-40 mph. No sweat. At least it
looked like no sweat.
The rider rosters for the TOC have some of the biggest names
in cycling such as Mark Cavendish, Peter Sagan, Andrew Talansky. But stars are
the rarity in the pro peloton, most riders toil in anonymity. It’s a tough
sport that offers plenty of glamor for the stars. But not so much for the
no-names. They give all they have in races and rarely even get a mention.
Still, beats the heck out of working a 9 to 5 in an office. Cool bikes, travel.
And there’s the perk of working in outdoor settings that are much more
inspiring than a cubicle and a computer, of course.
The dark side of
drinking (caffeinated) coffee
I know a lot of bike riders, myself included, like to drink
coffee. I drink it in the morning to start the day and then have a cup
occasionally on into the day, and even at night after eating. When I get ready
for a ride, though, I’ve learned to keep the coffee intake at a minimum, mainly
because if I drink too much coffee, I’ll always have to stop to pee during the
ride, which I really don’t like to do. But I’ve always liked the boost from
coffee, that’s what keeps me drinking it. At the midpoint of my typical go-to
51-mile ride, I eat some heavily caffeinated energy gel, with the thought that
the energy boost will help me with stamina on the last 25 miles of the ride.
But then I came across this video done by this entertaining Aussie, who made me
realize that, hey, I’m a caffeine addict. And that caffeine really aint so
great for you when it comes to energy. He makes a good argument against drinking
coffee for riding energy. His points really have me thinking about “flicking”
coffee drinking. Check this out…
Aussie boy makes a strong argument. Now, let’s see just have
to taper down on the daily coffee intake. Gotta do it! Will see how it goes…
Definitely going to be headaches involved, I’ve done this before!
Energy savings =
cruise control
I’m slowly learning to save energy when on a long ride.
Mainly because it’s nice not to run out of gas out on the trail! The ideal for
me is to be able to maintain a strong cadence on long flat stretches, while
resting. Like when drafting a fast rider. But it’s harder to save energy when
riding solo when there’s nobody to draft on. The key for me is to relax
mentally when I have a relatively strong, mid-gear cadence. That is, have a
mindset that I’m not pushing myself, but rather in a relaxed cruise control.
Then when I do want to hit the hammer and push myself, I’ve got some gas in the
tank. The key for me though is to get optimum speed in cruise control. That is,
fast enough to be able to relax, but not too slow to maintain a fairly strong
pace. It’s a fine balance, but it’s a good zone to be in. I’ve ust started to
realize that it takes away the stress of of riding long stretches, trying for
speed in a too-high gear and in full-on pain cave mode. When I do that, I
usually burn out my legs before my lungs and have to back off to recover. For
me it’s a work in progress, an experimental thing to manage energy, hope you
can relate!
Til next time, remember to strap on a helmet every time you
get on the bike. Then, keep the rubber side down, ride safely, and don’t forget
to have a blast.
-- Mark Eric Larson
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