Fully qualified Level 3—Road and Time Trial Coach
Quality coaching and training allows cyclists to get the most out of their time and effort.
Time management – busy lives demand good time management skills and no matter how busy you are, where there is a will there is a way.
So whether you want to race in all disciplines, or you are a London commuter, or simply ride your bike to get fit and want advice on where to go and routes to take – (I know most lanes in the Chiltern Hills intimately), then I’m here to help and advise.
Furthermore, I work part time in a very busy London Cycle Shop and can advise on bikes, equipment, and clothing.
Cycling is a wonderful sport, so diverse and rewarding; with the build up to the 2012 London Olympics there will never be a better opportunity to get on your bike. I hope you enjoy the ride with me.
Thursday 17 November 2011 - Last night I carried out a time trial positioning session at my cycling club clubroom. Using a well known British time trial champion as the benchmark positon the presentation focused on how an aerodynamic position is achieved.
Frame angles were discussed and how they alter the position. I explained how adapting the standard road fram will always be compromise compared to a dedicated time trial frame. Setting the saddle height is the starting point and achieving a knee angle of 155 degrees is the ideal.
Each rider was sat on their bikes mounted on a turbo. I checked this angel and also how horizontal their back was and the time trial set up, taking photograph of their position, a very rewarding evening.
Sunday 20 November 2011 - am I a "mamil"? A term referred to a as middle-aged men in lycra. This term is used for middle aged men who are increasingly choosing fast bikes over fast cars.
Wiggle the online cycling retailer who who are being bidded for by three equity firms enjoyed a superb trading year up by 55% to £86m producing profits of more than £10m according to the Sunday Times today. Second round bids are due this week it will be interesting to see who takes them over.
Sunday 27 November 2011 - I enjoyed our club dinner last night, cross toasting, good meal and company, although a late night, 6 of us struggled out this morning taking in the Chiltern lanes in glorious winter sunshine, a tad under 50 miles was enough for this time of the year. Mornings in November don't get much better than this.
Monday 5 December 2011 - well the Government has delayed the decision about building the HS2 rail link through our precious Chiltern Hills. In January they are considering the possibility of building a tunnel instead of going overland.
Whilst I don't think the line is needed for all sorts of reasons, if it were to be built at vast millions then a tunnel would be a more viable solution. But whatever happens our beloved Amersham Road TT course would be seriously messed up I'm sure for a great deal of time whilst the earthworks go on.
Thursday 8 December 2011- I ran a turbo session last night at my Westerley CC clubroom, I call it 3 steps to heaven. After a good warm, we went into a core work out firstly. Cycling one legged, changing alternate legs. After a brief rest, we did 2 x 10 mins sessions high gears high cadence, with rests between then finished with 5 mins flat out high cadence, phew quite tiring.
Monday 12 December 2011 - I just read last week the training article in Cycling Weekly about the elite rider Jason White. Jason, runs 2 businesses and toppe the elite rankings this year. Working long hours, 6 days a week with a young family he accomplished this on 8 hours training per week with about 75% ridden on an indoor trainer, watt bike to be precise. I've always believed where there's a will there'a a way and he certainly demonstrated this. Especially for London based riders, if you want to ride quality sessions and this is difficult on busy streets plus the dangers involved, really the home trainer is virtually the only safe option. Ignore this training kit at your peril.
Monday 19 December 2011 - too icy over the weekend to venture in the lanes, below freezing temperatures, coupled with overnight rain, reduced the roads to skating rings. So I decided the best thing to do was go walking as didn't want to risk a fall and break something. Mind you, talking about skating rings, I did take to the ice on Sunday evening with the family. The London ice rings which spring up at this time of the year are a very festive place to be. And the rink at the Natural History Museum did not disappoint with its stunning backdrop. Lots of friendly folk enjoying themselves made for a festive evening. Like Hillingdon cycle circuit, I managed to avoid the crashes and congratulated myself on this fact until right near the end on my last circuit skates lost grip and I came clattering down. But apart from bruised pride, that was all.
I envy the cyclists who can rely on rivers and lakes freezing over so they can get out and skate. It wasn't that long ago, that many cyclists who lived in the Fens area of this country could do exactly the same and many of the famous names were nationally renown time triallists. That's global warming for you I suppose.
Thursday 29 December 2011 - went out for the first time this week, and suffered two punctures for my trouble, but at least the sun was shining. Certainly lacking in speed as experienced when I went out with my mate last Friday. Many riders in the comfort of their front rooms are laying their summer plans, come the New Year, riding takes on a new dimension.
Wednesday 11 January 2012 - its time for riders to plan their season now and have a goal no matter has simple it is. Something to aim for is vital in your objective. So no excuses decide what you want to do and by when and let your coach know.
Sunday 15 January 2012 - the temperature was nudging -4 on Saturday morning when I ventured out under cobalt clear blue skies. But what a morning. With dry conditions the lanes were perfectly rideable but I still took the precaution of going out on my mountain bike with puncture proof tyres. 3.5 hours in the Chiltern hills, what a wonderful ride.
Sunday 22 January 2012 - I rode the Harp Hilly 100 reliablility trial today, very well organised and a huge amount of money going to charity so a worth while cause for the all the suffering we endured in gale force winds that buffeted us around the course. I managed a time a tad over 4 hours for the 100km (63miles) at an average speed of 15.6 mph with over 4,000 ft of climbing so very pleased, plus I rode to the start and back adding on a further 18miles. Good to see so many cyclists out and some frighteningly quick.
Monday 30 January 2012 - despite what you think there is always time to train, where's there's a will there's a way. The secret is organisation. If you've only got an hour or even less, make sure your kit is ready, bike is ready to go and decide on your training strategy. Is it sprints, time trials or maybe hill reps. Just get out and do it, no excuses.
Monday 6 February 2012 - sometimes its simply too cold to ride and Saturday morning was a prime example. My outside thermometer registering minus 7deg C. Both my cycling buddy and myself decided nah, too cold. But if I could guarantee no punctures (can't fix them at these temperatures) and certainly no falls on icy lanes then maybe and that's a big maybe I might venture out. Sunday brought the snows so walking boots came out instead for stomping over the snowy country paths close to home. Zilch riding this weekend and the first event a 10mile TT looms on the March horizon. Finally Contrador is found guilty, why on earth did it take so long? Well at least the Spanish butcher came out clean in the end.
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Pictures from National Cyclo Cross championships Sutton Park Birmingham.
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