About bikes, cycling and cycle to work - Tredz Blog

XTERRA UK Enduro 18th August

XTERRA 50k & 100k Mountain Bike Enduro

This is one of the 'individual component' Xterra events, a 50k and a 100k mountain bike enduro run on the world-class MTB trails in the Afan Forest Park (aka Afan Argoed) on 18th August.

The Glyncorrwg visitor centre is the starting point for both routes and from there it follows Afan's stunning singletrack and fast fire roads. We'd describe the 50k as challenging and the 100k as gruelling (we've been there...). Read more on Xterra.co.uk.

Bike drop

To help you getting your mountain bike to South Wales it's possible to ship your kit ahead and collect it from our bike shop which is about 20 minutes from Afan Forest Park. We'll receive your bike, assemble it and have it ready to race for you. Call us on 01792 560651 for more information, or email info@tredz.co.uk. This service will also be available for the Xterra UK Triathlon in September. (It's not too late to enter by the way.)

Xterra UK Championships training

Athletes preparing for the Xterra UK Championships can still take part in a special training weekend. 'Driven to Tri' training camp for XTERRA UK is run by double Xterra winner Julie Dibens and World Cup mountain biker and top Xterra athlete Sam Gardner. It's held on 11th & 12th August 2007 and will let you experience the course among loads of other activities.

There's a great article on Tri247.com about the Xterra bike course where aforementioned Julie and Sam, joined by top athlete Harry Wiltshire, check out the bike course and provide a tasty preview!

Turbo Training Session - Round 3

The object with this session is to use your turbo trainer to the max! This is workout will help to increase endurance & recovery. The workout lasts 60mins. Please start at the top of the chart and work your way down without stopping if you can.

Key to Workout table:
- The time relates to how many minutes to spend in each part of the work out;                   
- Turbo Trainer level is based on the Tacx Turbo trainer that has 10 level settings. (level 10 being easy & level 1 being hard);                   
- Bike gear is the gear you should be using on your bike. This is based on a standard 18 speed road bike;                   
- Cadence or Revolutions Per Minuet (RPM) is the term used for how fast you spin your legs when pedalling.

Turbo Training Session - Round 2 (Intermediate)

This is a follow on from our beginners' guide to turbo training of last week. The objective of this session is to get a bit more from your indoor trainer. Again it's a nice, short workout to raise the heart rate and put your pedalling technique under pressure. The workout lasts 25 mins. Please start at the top of the chart and work your way down without stopping if you can.

Key to Workout table:
- The time relates to how many minutes to spend in each part of the workout;
- Turbo Trainer level is based on the Tacx Turbo trainer that has 10 level settings (level 10 being easy & level 1 being hard);
- Bike gear is the gear you should be using on your bike. This is based on a standard 18 speed road bike;
- Cadence or Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) is the term used for how fast you spin your legs when pedalling.

Turbo Session 1

This is the first post from our resident trainer, Nigel Nicholas. As the weather’s so bad we thought it'd be appropriate to look at turbo training sessions first. Here goes with a beginner’s guide:
The object of this session is to get used to pedalling on a turbo trainer if you are relatively new to cycling. It's a nice, short workout to raise your heart rate and practice good pedalling. It could easily be done before or after work. [Steady on the before work eh Nige, Ed.] The workout lasts 25 mins. Please start at the top of the chart and work your way down without stopping if you can.

Key to Workout table:
- The time relates to how many minutes to spend in each part of the workout;
- Turbo Trainer level is based on the Tacx Turbo trainer that has 10 level settings (level 10 being easy & level 1 being hard);
- Bike gear is the gear you should be using on your bike. This is based on a standard 18 speed road bike;
- Cadence or Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) is the term used for how fast you spin your legs when pedalling.

Trainer joins Tredz contributor team

TredzTalk have been on the look out to put a trainer on the books who can offer qualified cycle training advice. We're pleased to say that position has been filled by all-round-nice-guy, Nigel Nicholas. Nigel is a full-time fitness instructor, passionate triathlete and uber Lance Armstrong fan. He's competed in the London Triathlon 2006 as well as several local events and his plans include the London tri again and the Xterra half ironman this year (it’s a US link because the UK site is pathetically out of date). His lifetime goal is a sub 2 hour Olympic distance triathlon.

We're hoping Nigel can enlighten us with advice that'll lift our cycling and triathlon standards (although that'll be simple for me as January was utterly hopeless on the training front, Feb’s not started much better either). If you're anything like us, you're going to welcome any tips that can help get the most out of pretty limited training time.

Jody down under

I'm sure you'd like to hear that it's cold, wet and windy over here in Australia, but I can't lie to you! The weathers gorgeous, around the 28C mark everyday, however it has been a bit windy [bloody shame, Ed].

The cycle track we're training on is really peculiar, it's 418m long but, unlike most conventional tracks, it's not oval in shape. This thing is almost a curved D shape. It doesn't cause too much of a problem for the solo bikes on track but with the lack of any banking, the tandems are having real issues getting round it at full speed. Qu9ite funny though. The camp has gone well with a mixture of road, gym and track based work. I think everyone's really looking forward to Sydney now and I just want to get racing again. Especially as with the temperature so warm the conditions on track should be really fast. (Photos courtesy of British Cycling.)

My new leg has been good, but there are a few teething problems which was expected. The biggest prob is that it's a bit long! I hadn’t really noticed on my road bike, but on my kilo track bike when I’m settled down into the tribars, my right knee has been hitting me in the chest. So after a few modifications we're hoping it should be all sorted by the Sydney competitions.

Act your shoe size, not your age!

The excellent olympic class BMX track at Tredegar has been open now for a few months and it’s bedded in a treat. Unfortunately it’s riding in lousy weather like this that’s needed to improve continuously week on week. Besides, you can’t stay in the house when it’s raining in south Wales or you’d soon go stir crazy.

Get out, get wet and practise a skill you know you’re lacking in: trackstands, bunny hops or wheelies. They can all be practiced in the local park, driveway, car park, anywhere. You just know it’ll pay dividends come summer. Better still, get some mates together and hang about in a car park. It’s good enough for kids and we all know how annoying it is being overtaken by a wheeling 8 year old. Well if you can’t beat 'em, join 'em. That said, even if you spend the winter doing endless road miles and gym work it’ll make a change, and an hours worth of bunny hop practice is bleedin hard work and by no stretch of the imagination a waste of time.
Posted by Chris and Ed

Dragon Ride entry forms

Tredz sponsored and supported the Dragon Ride last year and plan on doing the same this summer on June 24th. The ride is a circular, 130 & 200km non-competitive road cycle challenge over the hills and valleys of South Wales (a cyclo sportif if you like).

The ride is designed for the experienced cyclist; definitely not a walk in the park. It's held three weeks before the Tour de France’s participation ride, the Etape du Tour. Many used the Dragon Ride as a training run for the Etape last year (if only I were that brave). The 2007 route has yet to be finalised, but it's planned to be run in a reverse direction. It’ll include an additional ascent of the Bwlch mountain road, with a subsequent increase in distance from 165 to 200km (Gran Fondo) and 100 to 135km for the Medio Fondo.

Entry is just £23.50 but the field is limited to 2,250 riders. They close the books on 24th May and last year’s all sold out long before that, so I wouldn’t hang about. Book your place here.

Triathlon Lesson - Swimming 4

I've now finished my 'beginners' swimming lessons at the National Pool of Wales.... so did it help? Well, yes. Over the 10 week course I’ve learnt the basics of the front crawl, breast stroke & back stroke. We did have a few attempts at butterfly but I think this was just for comedy value for the coach. Although I could 'roughly' swim enough to save my life, I really wanted to gain water confidence and learn how to breathe properly. By golly I think I've sussed it.

I’ve been to the pool a couple of times since the lessons have finished and felt confident that I can just get in the pool and swim properly without people staring at me 'cos they think I'm drowning. The technical elements of each stroke have been really easy to remember and I’m able to enjoy going for a swim now. I have to say that anyone wanting to learn the basics for fitness or fun it's definitely worth signing up to proper lessons. Having completed the beginners course I'm going to practice what I have learnt and gain some water fitness before signing up for the Intermediate Course in 2007. All I need to do now is find a cool pair of racing Speedos. Maybe I could get some like my friend here?
Posted by James

Gonna race Lance?

Lance Armstrong ran (not rode) the New York City marathon this month in 2:59:36, an hour under my PB, saying "the hardest physical thing I've ever done". New York is probably my (and the wife’s) favourite city to visit and I’m fantasising about racing Lance Armstrong in next year’s NYCM – and obviously losing. That said, I went mooching about online to try and find a pucka training plan (I always blame previous plans, not the runner, for underachieving) to get myself on form in 11 months.

I didn’t find one, which is a great excuse for not training properly, but I did come across Gmap Pedometer. This is a great distance calculator that uses Google maps. Map your run accurately and G-map will tell you exactly how far it is. I thought it was perfect for planning an alien road bike route.

Triathlon Lesson - Swimming 3

Okay, my learning to swim extravaganza is now into week 8 and things are moving up a gear (no pun intented). Coach Andy decided to give us all a fitness test - great! The basic idea for this week’s class was to see how many lengths we can get in during the lesson’s hour. The structure is in the form of a pyramid session. So we swim 1 length then rest, then swim 2 lengths (without stopping) and rest, then swim 3 lengths and rest. This goes up to 6 lengths and then back down to 1 again. To make it more difficult we were given a different stroke/technique to use on each section of lengths. This started with a float and a basic leg kick. The next 2 lengths are the same but incorporated holding your head under water and breathing to the sides. By the time we got up to 6 lengths we were swimming full front crawl using flippers to aid propulsion.

Triathlon training weekend

Britain's Olympic triathlete Marc Jenkins (aka Jinx) is holding a training weekend on the 17th – 20th November. Marc lives in Bridgend and has been performing on the triathlon scene for over 15 years - twice winning the British Triathlon. The knowledge and assistance he passes on over these weekends is invaluable to the serious triathlete.

He’s planning of a variation of cycle routes, from quiet country lanes to open coastal roads and long steep climbs. The runs will take in the world renowned Merthyr Mawr Sand Dunes, used by many of the worlds best athletes. The wet stuff will be in one of the local 25m pools. Although, if you’re really game I’m sure Marc can be persuaded to hit one of the local beaches just outside the town. There are places left (just £75 for 2.5 days or £90 for 3.5 days) get yourself booked in here.

Triathlon Lesson - Swimming 2

Its been a while since my first post about my 10 week beginners swimming course at Swansea’s national pool and I can safely say I'm really enjoying them. Initially we swam each stroke (including an attempt at butterfly!) but the weekly lessons now tackle only one stroke by going 'back-to-basics' on each. The main stroke for getting from A to B quickly is obviously front crawl so we have spent a fair bit of time trying to master it. My instructor, Andy, believes in using flippers to help keep legs in the right position in the water. These are also a great aid to propulsion while we concentrate on the arm movements.

We have been swimming using one arm at a time and Andy has commented that my technique isn’t too bad, but I do need to make myself more streamlined by keeping my head in the water. The aim is to have a nice flat body throughout the stroke but each time I lift my head out of the water to breathe I end up arching my body which slows me down. It’s my big weakness. What's good is that as I'm gaining more water confidence I'm now able to relax a bit more in the water which is actually helping with my breathing. I'm getting the hang of blowing out under water and turning my head to take in air but I still forget to use my nose which obviously fills up with water and forces me to stop and give it a good blow every now and then. Some of the guys in the class use nose clips but I'm going to persevere and try to get my breathing right. I have to say that I do look forward to each Thursday’s lesson and the hour goes really fast. I guess it’s because I'm concentrating so hard (for a change!).
Posted by James

It's confirmed - marathons are easy

Relatively speaking, you understand. They are, of course, complete and utter torture followed by several days of aches, pains, bruises and rashes. But this is nothing in comparison to actually training for a marathon.

I completed the Cardiff marathon yesterday, my second 26 mile personal hell (Paris ’05 was my first). Okay easy is a very relative term - muscles have no memory so they forget pain the moment it stops. Therefore the suffering, misery and agony of the event is soon a thing of the past, replaced by an internal patting on the back; academics would call it self actualisation.

For 70-80% of yesterday's 240 minutes the voice in my head didn’t stop with likes of “Just stop for a minute. Go on stop you idiot. He has. And she has. At least slow down. Look, there’s a group who’ve all stopped. This is stupid, just stop.” So don’t get me wrong, I find such distances extremely difficult. But that’s just stamina; the race itself really is mind over matter. Training on the other hand is all about motivation and sacrifice - a far larger undertaking.

My work colleague and running partner helped drag me round yesterday whilst completing his fifth marathon. That’s seven between us and although we're miles away from the 2 hour, or even 3 hour mark, we feel we’re qualified to argue that training is much more difficult than the event itself.

Training is difficult on 3 levels: time, motivation and injury.

Triathlon Lesson – Swimming 1

Over summer I've raced a few duathalons (run/bike/run) and have really enjoyed the competition. So after lots of pressure from triathlete mates I've set myself the target of taking part in a triathlon (swim/bike/run) next year. Trouble is, the last time I actually swam properly was 1990 at college, so I am a bit daunted.

Anyway, feeling brave one morning recently, I went down to the National Pool and started with breaststroke not wanting to draw too much attention to myself splashing about. I had forgotten how physically hard it was and only just managed to keep up with a pensioner in her classic purple flowered swim cap. After a few exhausting lengths of drinking water and torturing my eyes with chlorine I quit. It took me a few months to pluck up the courage to go back. This time the 25 meter pool was being used and I was forced to get in the big boys pool (Olympic 50 meter). Well it looks OK from the side but once your in the water 50 meters looks a very long way indeed!