Emma Silversides is a pro road rider for Global Racing Team and has offered free advice and support to SheCycles.com members via the SheCycles Forum. You can post any questions about training and road racing here or start your own thread if you prefer.
Wondering if you had any ideas for on the turbo trainer?
I have a few programmes that I found on another web site but the more the merrier. This is mainly for endurance racing (MTB but a bikes a bike). What is your favourite turbo session/programme or could you recommend a few?
I find my heart and lungs are fine for any amount of time but my legs begin to run out of energy, especially for sudden burst of power to get up short sharp climbs.
Ah the dreaded turbo trainer. These days I actively avoid the thing, in fact I have only actually done one turbo session this year, and one on the rollers. However, when I was teaching and training I would frequently resort to the turbo. It is ideal if you are short of time or if it’s pouring or snowing outside and you only have a small window of time in which to train. That said a turbo session can be VERY valuable; unlike on the road there can be no interruptions (crossroads, lights, traffic, potholes….) so any interval is guaranteed to be completely consistent. Remember to fully maximize the benefits of a turbo; NEVER stop spinning your legs, however tired you are. So what about sessions?
Here are a few different ones but I would say that if you use your imagination you could produce several of your own. As in training a bit of visualization goes a long way, envisage the hill or finish line and your competitors just behind you. It goes without saying that you should warm up well, 10-20 minutes so that your heart rate is raised gradually. Ensure that you have a towel handy and plenty to drink. Lastly, try to do the session in a well ventilated room, you are going to sweat!
C. Increasing leg speed and improving pedaling technique
Warm up 10 mins at 90-100rpm in easiest gear
This should be no more than 60-65%of your maximum heart rate (MHR)
Main set
This is a 4 x 5mins set, however, if it’s too much start with 2 and build. Feeling adventureous? Go for 5 sets! Change from big front ring to little front ring between efforts and recovery.
Two minutes recovery between sets.
30secs effort at 130rpm (count 65 revs) 52 x 18
1 min recovery 39 x 18
30secs effort at 130rpm (count 65 revs) 52 x 18
1 min recovery 39 x 18
30secs effort at 130rpm (count 65 revs) 52 x 18
1 min recovery 39 x 18
30secs effort at 130rpm (count 65 revs) 52 x 18
Two minute recovery in 39 x 21 then repeat.
Warm down10 mins at 90-100rpm in easiest gear.
Hope this helps. Most of all remember to play around. If you star the session with a rigid plan every time the ‘fun’ element of training will soon disappear. Try getting on the turbo occasionally, sick on some good tunes and just do as you feel. Warm up, than see your first hill, It’s about a 3 minute effort, as you near the top someone is coming up behind you. You want a free run at the descent; so sprint. Make sure you keep spinning your legs on the descent before riding tempo on the flat for a few minutes…… Get my drift?!
I got my first road bike last year and just started racing this year. I am aiming high and want to make cycling what I 'do'.
This year I have been trying to learn as much as possible, basically how to stay in the bunch! I am now strong enough to stick in as long as nothing goes wrong, for example, I did the National Road Race Championships, and was really concentrating on maintaining my position in the top third of the bunch, not being at the back when it came to hills ect., but it was pouring down, my glasses steamed up, I had to move to the back to sort them out, and there was a crash in front of me on a corner, I wasn't strong enough to get back on.
I haven't got that many road races left to do this year, I am looking forward to the WCRA Road Race Champs as another oppurtunity to race in an all female setting, and I am learning so much with every race that I do.
I am really looking forward to next years season so that I can start getting some real results. I want to make sure that I come into next season as strong as possible, ready to be competitive. I am intending to do cyclocross over the winter as my competition (I need some form to keep me going), and I also think this will be good for keeping up my race level fitness.
What do you do over the winter as training? How do you make sure that you come into the new season at a competitive level? Also, how long have you been riding a bike, and how long have you been racing? How did you get into the sport, and how did you get into the top level race team you are in today?
I will try to answer all your questions, I like your enthusiasm and determination to learn.
As a teenager I was keen swimmer, in the pool 5-6 times a week. This dwindled as I tackled my A-Levels; I believed that I could pursue sport to my hearts content after I’d gained the qualifications I considered would see me secure in a career should sport all go wrong. For this reason I chose to partake in triathlon while at university; the club had a more relaxed approach to sport in an environment where it was rapidly becoming very serious (Bath University). After graduating I competed in the World Age Group championships in Edmonton, Canada. However, running was not my forte and at this point I chose to just ride my bike. This was in 2001. I did a few races each year until 2004 when a serious accident left me without the popliteal vein in my left leg. I came back from this in 2005 to ride strongly in the National Women’s Series and subsequently sign a contract with TEAMFBUK. I was still working full time at this point as a teacher in Cheltenham and did so until September 2006 when I chose to commit 100% to cycling.
You will never stop learning while racing, every race will present a new scenario which you will analyze several times and hopefully use to progress in the future. Riding in, through and near the front of a bunch has been an area that I have focused on this year, it’s certainly not an easy thing to do when 150 other girls want to do it as well!!! However, it sounds like you have confidence in doing this which is great. You have certainly learnt a lesson from the Nationals by the sounds of things. You can rectify things like this in training, practice doing things on your bike (drinking, eating, adjusting/changing clothing) while out training, don’t lose speed while doing it and build up to doing it with people around you. Sounds daft but believe, it will make all the difference.
Cross over winter is a good idea. Some of the top female riders combine road and cross (Vos, Kupfernagel, Wyman). Just make sure that you rest well between the two seasons, I’d say a minimum of 2 weeks off the bike (completely) at the end of each season. Everyone ‘eases’ into the road season and starting out in March/April with top form isn’t always the best idea, it’s a long season. I aim to be competitive at the start of the season but my real ‘top end’ will not be at it’s best until May time, this means that I can be competitive through to September without having to take a break and my immune system remains strong throughout. While you race cyclo-cross don’t neglect your endurance. Perhaps set aside one week in four to focus on base and keep away from cross. I’m sure that if you look at your calendar this would be possible to work in. Most of all don’t lose track of what you are doing; over training in Winter is a big no-no; a former coach always told me, ‘better under-trained than over-trained’.
Hope that I’ve answered all your questions, check out my ‘training part one’ for more about my winter program.
If you do the same thing, the same way, all the time, you become really good.....at doing the same thing!!! This just highlights the fact that training for a cyclist,and indeed any other sportsperson, should be varied. Our bodies have an impressive ability to adapt to the training stresses that we impose upon it, so if we train the same way all the time we will adapt but will not see continued improvement. The answer? Periodization;a means of varying our training throughout the year generally based upon a specific goal. The macrocycle (typically one year), helps you define the times you’d like your performance to peak (a specific race or event). Within the macrocycle, we develop mesocycles (phases) with specific training objectives such as base, strength, power, peak, and maintenance. And within each mesocycle, we plan microcycles – typically specific training for each given day within a week.
The most important phase of our training is the base period. For most cyclists, since we plan to peak in the spring or summer, autumn/winter is traditionally the time when we focus on endurance/base-building rides.Endurance is the foundation of all else we do on the bike. Riding in a moderate heart rate zone (65% to 75% on max HR) builds the base for us to later increase speed, strength, and power. For me these rides are generally on flat terrain to avoid my HR goig too high and to assist a continuously high cadence. They begin at 3 hours in November and reach a maximum of 6 hours in late February. However, you must train according to the length of time for which you will compete; there is not point doing a 5 hour training ride if the longest race that you do will be 2 hours! Endurance rides are always based on time for me, never distance. There are too many varying factors to start setting mileage targets; things such as terrain, wind and indeed your physical state on that particular day. Unfortunately, group riding is not always the best for endurance training. In my experience the pace can get quite heated at times and you will find yourself going out of your specified heart zone, or at the other extreme you will be sat in perhaps riding a little too slowly and risking getting cold. DO NOT do this, it’s not good for you on a long ride. As ever remember your food and drink; for rides over 3 hours you’ll probably need to stop at a shop to fill your bottles, don’t under-estimate what you are putting your body through while endurance training.
So, how does our body respond to base-building? Well, in several ways. Firstly, endurance rides help build capillary density, which in turn allows our body to function more efficiently (oxygen and fuel delivery), improving aerobic performance. The second physiological result of endurance riding is that at a lower intensity, our bodies burn a higher percentage of fat as fuel (as opposed to glycogen, the stored form of carbohydrate). Thus the popular term “fat zone” or “fat-burning ride.” Don’t be misled by this though since, in reality, your body will burn more calories at a higher intensity level (although the percentage of fat as a contribution to fuel is lower). So relatively, you burn more fat at a higher intensity (since the caloric total is higher). But the key here is that our body’s first choice for fuel during higher intensity exercise is glycogen, and exercising at a lower intensity level helps your body become more efficient at burning fat for fuel. Low intensity cycling also stimulates slow-twitch (type I) muscle fibres more predominantly that fast-twitch (type II) muscle fibres. These fibres then adapt by becoming more efficient at lower intensities with less fatigue. Because of this adaptation, we need to recruit fewer muscle fibres to maintain a given effort, and the fibres that are at work are more efficient. All good for cycling, because then we use less energy (fuel, oxygen) to ride! To answer your last question, I don’t think that I’ve run for a year now! If I were to run now would be the time of the year to do it. It’s great for keeping our condition in the off season though be careful; make sure you have a decent pair of trainers and keep to the terrain ‘smooth’ but ‘soft’ to avoid any possibility of injury. I would also recommend swimming as a good off season activity with very little injury risk.
Yes I am good at doing the same thiing! Although I do go to the gym in the winter and ski as much as possible. Always good to train your reactions and nerves as well as standard muscle groups!?!
All really interesting stuff Emma thank you! Am inspired to get my running shoes out now!
Emma, I have another couple of questions for you if thats okay... I am going on a training week to the South of Spain (near Granada) in a few weeks. What would you reccomend I do for to make the most of the 7days I will be there? I will be travelling with 3 men who are all fit and will be there to train. I was thinking mainly just of getting as many miles in as I can.
My main question really, I have been given the chance to race in Belgium for a month (August) next year. It is a CTT scholarship. What should I expect from racing out there? Will there be races every day? What should I be working on mainly during the racing season here in order to be able to race over there? What is the level of racing like over there, say compared to one of the National Points Series womens races here?!
Again, any information you can give me would be very helpful.
I will deal with the Spain enquiry first before moving onto your questions about Belgium.
I am going to presume that you are only focusing on the road season; my recommendations would obviously be different if you were competing in cyclo cross.
I actually did my first ride two days ago after a lengthy period away from the bike. My training for the next month will be very basic; 4-5 rides a week of between 1 and 3 hours in duration all at a low intensity. There will certainly be no short sharp bursts going on!!!
You may think that my suggestions would be making a waste of a week in, but you really shouldn’t be doing that much at this time of the year if the road season is your major goal, and more importantly you hope to be going well in August! In my humble opinion you should do no more than 3 hours each day. Okay so if it goes up to 4 once or twice you’re not going to kill yourself, however don’t do two of these back to back and certainly do not be tempted to do them if the ‘boys’ are riding at a speed which is not comfortable for you. The real temptation when riding with others (men in particular!) is to ride at their pace which, invariably gradually creeps up as the ride goes on. I would define a comfortable pace as 60-75% of your maximum HR, you should be able to hold a conversation without too much trouble.
The one thing that can be incorporated into 2 or 3 rides during the week is a set of power intervals. Find a long drag and stick it in the big ring then ride low revs at about 70% HR for between 1 and 3 minutes. You should NOT be out of breathing VERY heavily. This is to build power, similar to what you would be doing in a gym with weights.
Another ‘skill’ to practice to help make the ride more interesting is improving your leg speed; take 20 minute blocks and really focus on spinning your legs. Your breathing rate and HR may increase slightly here, but not too much. A high leg speed is really important for the racing that you may wish to do in Belgium next year and now is the time to start working on it.
My last word on the matter; go to Spain and enjoy it while your friends are building their base in cold wet England, you are kick starting your Winter in a warm environment beneficial for very pleasant recovery and rest. However, do not over do it, the season is still 5 months away
First of all congratulations on the scholarship, a fantastic opportunity; make the most of it.
August is a great time to be out in Belgium with lots of Kermis’s on (2-3 a week). These vary in length from between 80km and 100km. They will average anything between 36 and 40kmph. They are generally run on relatively flat courses (there are certainly no big hills though a few may feature drags). 90% of the events are open omloops; this means that they are run on small circuits (3-7km) with a rolling road closure. There are also quite a few crits in August of about 60km in length. These will average 39-41kmph and are generally on 1-2km circuits which are fully closed.
With regards to differences in racing styles between Belgium and England there are a lot!!
The first and main difference is the size of the bunch; a field of 50 in Belgium is a very small field. In August expect about 70-80; a lot of the top teams and riders are involved in UCI stage races so the fields are smaller than those that you would experience in Spring. The other main difference worth a mention is the racing style. Expect a fast start and a high pace throughout. The races are much more positive and aggressive. I used to find the races in England very negative; riders were happy to follow your move but would then invariably not work and the race would usually finish as a bunch sprint.
With regards to preparing for your month in Belgium there are a few areas that you could focus on; change of speed/jumping, cadence (high) and riding in a bunch. All of these can be done in training by simply practicing the skill on a regular basis. The latter obviously has to be done on a group ride; ask others to ride very close to you and ‘bump’ you occasionally.
Best of luck with the Winter and indeed next season.
Thanks Emma for sharing your training with us, as Bex said, its inspiring! If I knew all this a year ago
2007 was my first year racing on road, was very optimistic at the beginning but started too early, by the time summer arrived I lacked motivation and most of the national races had all the same riding style as you mentioned, very slow pace at the beginning, few attacks and then bunch sprint! I had the opportunity to race in Berlin, and what an experience, the 2hour race was full with attack after attack I just was not used to it. It seems that the racing in the UK its of less quality and you have to be extremely good if you want to compete abroad, is this right? Also most of the girls at the Berlin race did an average of 25hours/week training, which I believe it's impossible if you have a full time job.
You mentioned that if one had not much time, then turbo was a good option. Could I follow the same program you wrote for mountain bike race training or is it very different? how many hours do you recommend to train around winter? and when is time to start increasing it?
Yes, racing on the continent is a lot harder; it’s taken me two years to adjust to it after riding well in Britain! However, don’t rule yourself out of it. With the right training you can be competitive out here.
If you don’t have much time the turbo is not a bad option, particularly in Winter when the days are short. However, always ride on the road whenever possible; I fully understand that this may only be at weekends (I did work and train myself when in Britain!) and if this is the case really aim to maximize these two days for endurance up to 4 ½/5 hours. This would be a good target for early; a 4 ½ on Saturday followed by a 4 ½ on Sunday, if you can do these with a group all the better, it helps with motivation and also to push you in a way that you might not be pushed on your own. If you do adopt this pattern of weekend endurance riding then it leaves the week to focus on intervals. Don’t under-estimate how much these can take out of you though, two a week even in late January is enough. As an example you would need Mondays and Fridays to be easy (either no biking or maybe a short run or swim?) to fit in with your weekends, then maybe use the turbo for two of the remaining days or even try a spin class (MAKE SURE that the bike set up is good!). Check out the turbo sessions that appear above.
I would say that your weekend rides can start to gradually build from now; 3 hours is a good starting point and raise by 15 mins or so each week for 3 weeks then bring it back down for one week. Most importantly listen to your body; on the 3rd week your legs may be still feeling heavy by the Tuesday so don’t over do it if this is the case. Keep a record of it all on a calendar wall chart; this makes it easier to see what you’ve done and where you’re going.
Lastly, be realistic, yes a lot of girls on the continent do train full time (25 hours is a VERY big load, I’ve personally never done that many hours in one week!!!) but less is often more for someone who also does a full time job. Don’t burn the candle at both ends!
