I’ve always said that the bicycle can help solve all the world’s problems, and I stand by it.  As I wait for the bike to keep working its magic, it’s good to know that cycling helped save a triathlon friend of mine.  Anne Brennan is an Ironman athlete and a fellow blogger….and she’s here to tell you about how cycling helped save her.

How Cycling Saved This Runner

by Anne Brennan

In 2001, I was running, a lot, too much as it turned out. Running had helped me through so much stress in my life and because we were living in a new country and I was not feeling quite at home, I found myself using my running crutch a lot.  Unfortunately I ran so much that I ended up with yet another stress fracture and this time it was a doozey.

This stress fracture had been brewing. I had felt it and ignored it.  Until one day, as I was running along the Common in Wimbledon, I bounded over a puddle, landed as gracefully as a charging rhinoceros and felt the leg giveway.  Within a couple of minutes the knot formed and though I was able to hobble around on it, I knew I was in trouble.

When I went to the doctor, he confirmed my fear.  The original stress fracture had given way to a crisscrossing fracture and one more run would most likely mean a shattered tibia.

So, this mean doctor who took running away from me told me I could swim.  I had taken lessons a few years earlier so I knew how to swim and I wasn’t bad at it, but it didn’t give me the release that running did.  For three months I swam, patiently waiting for the doctor to give me the okay to run.  When I proudly walked back in after three months of doing exactly as I was told, fully expecting that I would be given the okay, I was sadly disappointed.

“You can bike,” that stinky doctor said, like he was giving me some sort of gift.

I cried all the way home.

But the next day I got on the bike and I rode.  Luckily, as a runner I had found a new way to explore England.  I had created “get lost runs.”  I would head in any direction that looked new and exciting and just run.  Wherever I ended up I would catch a bus or a train and I would go back home. It made every run an adventure.

So I applied the same principle to my first ride.  I explored the area around Wimbledon and found myself in a park I had yet to visit – Richmond Park.  It was incredible.  I couldn’t believe my luck.  Within a quarter mile of entering the park I discovered herds and herds of deer.  The next day I went a little further, finding yet another park filled with daffodils as far as I could see.  I began to fall in love with this new country of mine.

Over the next three months I rode all over London and Southwest England. I rode through the hilly Surrey countryside, through city parks and along the Thames path.  I invited other moms to ride with me and I made new friends and finally, I began to feel at home.

When I went back to the doctor, six months after that horrible puddle-jumping incident I was given the okay to run, with a caveat.

“You may run,” the doctor cautioned, “but if you push your mileage like before, you will stress fracture again.”

I had a history of fractures and the story really was all too easy to read.  If I pushed on down the path I had been traveling, eventually running would not be available to me.

At another time in history, I would have been gutted by this caveat.  Running had been everything to me.  I defined myself in two ways, as a mother and as a runner.  But now, with the gift of cycling that the doctor had given me, I knew I would be okay.  The truth is, I would have missed my rides if I had gone back to running exclusively.  With those three months, I was saved.  I had not only been returned to running by allowing myself to heal, I had found a new love in cycling.

Today, I still run.  I also swim when the training-need arises. But cycling takes an equal part to running.  I love my bike. I love my weekend rides with my husband and my solitary exploration rides in our new home in Maryland.  In the end, cycling saved me.

Ann Brennan is an Ironman triathlete and fitness writer, dedicated to motivating others to get up off the couch and lead healthy lifestyles.  Read more by Ann at http://www.annsrunningcommentary.com or visit her YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/BrennanAnnie/featured.

If you’ve read my ramblings for any length of time you’ll know I like a damn good flogging on the turbo trainer from time to time and 2013 is set to be no different.  This month we see the creation of the newest early season tour  - the Tour of Sufferlandria

Straight from the evil mind that brought you such monumentally difficult indoor training videos such as ‘The Hunted’ and ‘The Long Scream’ comes an early season race to rival the humdrum routine of the Tour of Qatar and the Tour Down Under. “Slotting in nicely to the UCI calender of early season races, the Tour of Sufferlandria was created to bring back the drama, agony and misery that the early season peloton deserves. Starting on January 26th, the 9 day event promises to turn even the softest rider into a true Sufferlandrian by the end, on Feb 3rd.”

The Tour of Sufferlandria has been designed by race director Grunter von Agony to be a serious test for those riders who have already been putting in the hard work over the winter and are looking to flourish in the first few months of the new year.

“The course is carefully balanced between agony, misery and despair. So, yes, the Tour of Sufferlandria is a worthwhile target for anybody looking for an early season goal. You really ought to have some solid training behind you before you start it, and you’ll surely go through a roasting in hell during the race. When you come out the other side? With a solid 9 days of effort behind you, you will be able to take an ox, tie him to your bike, drag him up and over Mt. Sufferlandria while he tries to run the other way, and drink a flagon of ale made from the bikes of all those you crushed on your way to a glorious victory. Or the Minions will eat you for lunch. But, whatever.”

- Grunter von Agony

Comprising of 9 stages, starting on January 26th, competitors will take on a different Sufferfest training video each day. And for those thinking that this sounds like a recovery week in the world of The Sufferfest, three of the days cover such a large amount of terrain that you will be required to complete 2 videos! 

Full Schedule:

• Saturday, Jan 26th: Hell Hath No Fury
• Sunday, Jan 27th: The Hunted
• Monday, Jan 28th: Extra Shot + Fight Club
• Tuesday, Jan 29th: A Very Dark Place
• Wednesday, Jan 30th: Angels
• Thursday, Jan 31st: The Wretched + The Long Scream
• Friday, Feb 1st: The Downward Spiral
• Saturday, Feb 2nd: There is No Try + Revolver
• Sunday, Feb 3rd: Local Hero

If you head over to The Sufferfest blog you will find a run down of each individual stage before you slog your way through it, some advice from athletes who have completed previous editions of the race and also some FAQ’s.

As an added incentive, if you sign up to TrainerRoad.com and log your stage numbers via their site you enter yourself into a competition with an absolutely outstanding prize pack…

For those who finish each day: we have three sets of Sufferfest decals to give away every day, as well as a free month of TrainerRoad.

For those who finish the entire Tour on TrainerRoad.com: we will put you into a pool and draw names to win the following prizes…

• The choice of a 32GB iPod Touch or 16 GB iPad mini (provided by the kind gents at TrainerRoad)
• 1 PowerBar Sufferlandrian PowerPack
• 2 sets of Sufferlandrian National Kit (Jersey + Bibs)
• 1 Sufferlandrian National Jersey
• 1 year of free TrainerRoad
• 1 Sufferlandrian Windvest
• 3 flags
• 3 Tour of Sufferlandria posters
• 1 full refund of all 12 videos
• 1 free entry into the TransRockies Challenge Mountain Bike Race in BC, Canada
• 1 x Cyclepassion Calendar 2013
• 1 x Cyclefilm’s “The Italian Job – Gran Fondo Recon” – 6 DVD Set
• 1 x Cyclefilm’s “Roads to Glory – Alpine Training” – Free download
• 1 x Cyclefilm’s “Roads to Glory – Pyrenean Training” – Free download
• 5x Athlete Audio’s App (Mental Training)

If you can’t sign up on TrainerRoad (I won’t be as my rollers do not plug into my ‘puter) you can join the Facebook group and we can revel in joint misery! Hopefully I’ll make it to the other side and I’ll see you at the finish line!

Stevie

December is definitely here and I don’t know about the rest of you, but it’s bloomin’ cold over her in the good old U of K. When I checked out LovingTheBike.com yesterday morning (as I do every day, like a good ‘employee’) I was filled with a sense of wonder tinged with a massive amount of jealousy!

I’m sure you have noticed that Darryl has made the family move of a lifetime and set up camp on the wonderful island of Grenada, and posted this about an idyllic morning ride.  Well ‘D Dawg’ you might have the glorious beaches and crystal blue waters, but I have wet roads and bitter winds…the making of a strong spring rider.

Winter is a hard time to get on the bike and get the legs rolling. You may have chosen to have a little time off the bike as I did and have to get back into the routine, but winter is a great time to ride.  You’ll feel super strong in the spring after putting in the hard miles and those fresh, sunny roads in a few months time seem to just roll so much smoother than those presently.

Winter also gives you the added enjoyment of getting all of that expensive, lovely winter kit out of the cupboard and strutting your stuff.  I have a real thing for kits, as many of you do too I’m sure, and there is nothing finer than showing off your style with a matching winter kit right from the cap down to the pedals.  The cold weather just means there is more lovely kit to wear!  In the summer we can select the Euro-cool white kits but for now, it’s understated and hard working clothing which takes centre stage.

There is also a real sense of camaraderie built up through the winter within the various chain gangs.  It can be a hard time to ride through harsh weather and sometimes the only thing that gets you through is wanting to not lose face in front of your riding pals. But when those sunny months come around and you look around the bunch you’ll know the faces that struggled through the winter with you and seek those wheels over others.

Those are the riders you follow because the trust has been built up through the wet months and there is an unspoken pact between you. The ones that have put in the effort and dedication to mean that when the weather is fine and you can sit outside the mid ride cafe, you can be proud you put in the tough miles and enjoy smashing all of your lazy friends for the whole summer!

Get out there and ride this winter. Don’t let weather stop you, there is kit, tyres and equipment to make it all possible.  Make December the month to change, and don’t wait for those useless New Year’s resolutions.  Do it now.  Get wet and wild!

Stevie

There comes a time in every cyclists’ season when the gluttony of an extra spoon of sugar in the coffee or a cheeky pain au chocolat or three over the winter catches up with them and something snaps. When that happens and the balance of treacle sponge versus training regime swings towards the more energetic activities THESUFFERFEST are always round the corner waiting to pounce give you a darn good seeing to… and this time it’s no different!

THE WRETCHED works on the premise that you’ve had a terrible season, under performed at every race and the team are in desperate need of a win at the Tour de France. Unfortunately the French have gone on strike and in order to get the stage done, the TDF powers that be are going to condense the 7 hour stage into just 35 minutes, something that sounds ridiculous but you never know these days! After a quick warm up powered by the strange but enchanting rock sound of Banstead band Redados you reach the top of Box Hill, which featured in the Olympic Road Race. It was great to see the Box Hill climb in a Sufferfest video as I’ve ridden it many times and is fairly local to me, but it also highlighted the hierarchy of the climbs I’ve ridden in real life as this was merely a warm up!

On to the job at hand and all the Sufferlandrian DS had asked is that you follow every break, take the King of the Mountains competition for the day and win in the final sprint. Now if you’ve never ridden THESUFFERFEST before let me tell you it is very similar to real racing, just without the handlebars bashing into you or the crazy noob in front swerving all over the road. Throughout the video there is the feeling that something is about to go off. When you are not attacking, you know that something is going to happen and begin to beg the riders around you to give you a few more seconds respite before it all goes off again.

The early attacks ping off the front

Some slick new graphics and the great choice of music (as always) make this video one that you will love to hate from the word go. The music, all by bands that I’ve never heard of and frankly probably wouldn’t have done if they weren’t Sufferlandrian national treasures is one of two main driving forces behind this video. Everyone’s had that feeling at some stage where music cuts deep into your soul. A ballad you attribute to the ups and downs of your first love. The rock anthem that swells and makes you feel invincible. Or the fun summer tune that stays in your head for months and makes you dream of beaches and cold beer. This video has them all and with the change of scene comes a change of music and each time you get a new song you thank Merckx as it just fits so beautifully and either soothes those muscles as you briefly recover or drives you on like a lunatic.

10/10, full on, no holds barred

The other noticeable driving force behind The Wretched is the use of such recent Tour de France race footage. Taking officially licensed footage from the 2012 Tour de France makes this video a delight to watch whilst your legs feels like they are about to fall off. As with the on-screen stars of most of THESUFFERFEST videos, over the 35 minutes of pain I grew to hate Cadel Evans who backs you into the pain cave and then sets the wolves on you. Any stage that finishes with a 3 man battle between Tommy Voekler, Michele Scarponi and Jens Voigt has got to have been a tough one and this training video definitely doesn’t disappoint.

Having been an avid ‘Fest lunatic for some time now I’ve done my fair share of roller riding in front of the TV and would definitely say this is up there with the toughest of the videos that have emerged from the depths of THESUFFERFEST pain cave. There is a great range of videos in the series now with editions covering all aspects of racing and something to suit everyone. There will always be the classics, the favourite videos but if you are about to buy your first training video and get on the road to glory make THE WRETCHED your first buy and you won’t be disappointed. You’ll be flogged, abused and left crying in a pile in the corner, but you won’t be left wanting.

Purchase The Wretched or any The Sufferfest video right here.

Another double LovingTheBike thumbs up to THESUFFERFEST team!

Stevie

Here is part 3 of Aaron Madrid’s ‘Century’ series. You can check out the first installment here and the second ‘training’ article here.  Today @AaronMadrid talks about ensuring you have everything ready before the big day and his experiences of his own first 100 mile event. 

Joining the Century Club – Part 3

Now your event is just a week away.  You’ve trained for a while and you are confident that you can do 100 miles.  It’s time to think about the details.  100 miles is not only hard on you, but it’s hard on your bike.  Make sure that your tires and tubes are good to go.  Personally I bought some new tires and tubes to make sure I didn’t have to worry about anything.  Check your chain to make sure it’s not stretched…there is a cheap tool you can use to do this or you can just take it to your local bike shop.  Lastly clean up your cranks and your cassette and apply some new lube to make sure that baby is smooth sailing.  If you are comfortable with it, make any needed adjustments to your derailleur.  I’m a decent enough mechanic to make small adjustments and repairs, but I went ahead and just had my local bike shop do a full tune up on my bike.  If you go the route of the bike shop make sure you give them a couple weeks to get it done just in case. Fortunately my bike shop is awesome and they did it all in just a weekend. I went out a few times before the big ride for some short 20 mile rides, but the day before the big event I stayed off the bike.

Naturally, as a child of the night, I found myself unable to sleep and decided to do a little bike tinkering before bed.  When I finally layed down to try to get some rest, my nerves kicked in.  What if I’m in a big group and someone wrecks?  What if I didn’t put those new tubes and tires on right and I blow a flat in the middle of a steep turn?  What if my chain explodes and cut’s someone next to me open?  What if I rip a hole in my bibs?  What if I just…can’t do it?

When I woke up…I was ready.  The fear was gone, replaced only with focus.  For breakfast I had an 8oz glass of juice, a 12oz iced coffee (Starbucks Vita ftw), and a banana with honey drizzled on top.

We loaded the cars and set off to conquer the day.  Over the couple years since I started riding I had managed to convince a few friends that also happen to work with me to join me in my hobby.  On this particular day 5 friends set out to join me on this quest for greatness, including the founders of the company I work for.  Only two of my friends planned on riding the full century with me, but it was pretty awesome to have all my friends next to me at the start.  Once we got to the event I grabbed a half a bagel and a little single serving peanut butter as well.  I didn’t want to over-eat, but I wanted to make sure I had plenty of calories to get me through the first leg.

THE Event

Our Tour de Cure event took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indy 500.  We were to ride our 100 miles around the massive track.  This was great because it promised no hills, outside of the steep banked turns.  The plan was to stop no more than every 25 miles.  We didn’t want to just finish, we wanted to destroy.  We took the track shortly after the 500 or so riders were given the flag to start riding.  Unfortunately we were a little late for the gun, but not by much.

We rode one lap together as a team to warm up, and then the three of us aiming for the century headed up to the top of the track, where the faster riders were supposed to stay.  Then we kicked it up a notch.  For the past month the three of us had been practicing riding a pace line together on our training rides, and now our training paid off as we fell in to step together and began to mash.  We didn’t push too hard because we knew we had a long day in the saddle ahead of us.  Halfway around our second lap you could probably see the smiles on our faces from a mile away.  We were making good time at around 20 miles per hour and feeling strong.

Then we heard it…at first I thought it was then wind whistling through my ears, then it began to sound more like a swarm of locusts, and suddenly it changed to the thunder of a train as a line of probably 200 riders passed us on our left.  None of us had ever ridden with a group larger than 4 or 5, and this first pass nearly took my breath away.  We all reacted at the same time, as the end of the line came around we all three rose from the saddle and latched on to the big group.  If we weren’t smiling before, we certainly were now.  Shoulder to shoulder with our brothers, we accelerated to 25, gliding along with ease as the draft swallowed us whole.

I had read enough articles to know the majority of the do’s and don’ts of pack riding, but I never imagined what it would feel like to ride in a group like that day. You can feel the power and energy of the group as you ride together.  It is unlike anything I have ever experienced.  Unfortunately I didn’t realize that once you are in the group it becomes a little intimidating to think about dropping out.  At that point in time I felt like I could keep riding forever with that group, but as I looked around I noticed I had managed to drop my teammates.

As soon as I began to think about dropping out to look for my friends, the guy in front of me moved up and I had to accelerate to close the gap.  I rode up to fill the slot and just kept on mashing.  Before I knew it we had already ridden the first 25 miles and I decided to pull out to stop at once of the rest areas to meet up with my team as planned.  I grabbed a banana and filled my water bottles, one with water and one with Powerade (something I learned a little later would be critical).  The rest stops also were stocking Cliff Blocks, so I grabbed a couple packs of those and tossed them in my jersey pockets for later on.

My friends wheeled up still smiling and feeling strong.  They refueled and then we headed out to the track for the next 25 miles.  As we came back out to the track and took up our pace line once more, it didn’t take long before the big group was passing us again.  I couldn’t stop myself, as they passed me I had to accelerate to join them.  I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to race in the near future, and this seemed to only solidify in my mind, just how much I wanted to.  I felt like I was riding the Tour de France with the pro peloton.

There is truly no feeling I have ever felt in my life that I could compare those moments with the group to.  It was exhilarating.  Now the group had stepped it up to an average of 30 miles per hour, and I was mashing pretty good to keep up.  I didn’t feel like I was exerting too much energy, but I was certainly having to work to keep it going.  The next 25 miles flew by even faster than the first.  I didn’t stay with the big group the entire time, because eventually they all pulled into a SAG before I was ready.  I pulled back and reformed the team.

One of the greatest moments of the day came after mile 50 when we had headed back to the route.  Our team was still feeling strong so we naturally hopped back into our pace line.  After a couple laps I glanced back to notice we had picked up some other riders.  Our line was now probably around 30 people long and we were doing all the pulling.  It feels amazing to be a part of one of those groups, but it is something all together different to be on the front and realize you are pulling all those riders along.

Unfortunately, around mile 60 the wind began to pick up half the track ended up dropping us right into a nasty headwind.  Our line began to dwindle as we continuously fought the headwind.  We were all clearly starting to tire.  Another note, by mile 65 I was really starting to grow tired of the gel blocks that were keeping me going.  Fortunately the SAGs were also stocking bananas, so I made sure to try to keep a good mix.

The final 25 miles was harder than the first 75 combined.  By then the big group had finished their century already and the track had begun to clear.  I managed to find a few other small lines still mashing hard to finish and took advantage of the group dynamic to ease my burden.  With 15 miles left my legs were beginning to really tire.  I had ridden 85-90 miles a couple times before, but never at a sustained effort like this.  My legs felt like they were on fire.  Standing in the saddle was barely possible, but I was driven on by pure determination.

I think it was at this point that I finally understood what “shut up legs” really meant.  It was all mental power from mile 90 on in.  Then on my last lap, disaster struck…I was on the back of the track in a straight away and my left hamstring locked.  It was the most painful cramp I have ever had in my life.  I had to stop pedaling…I couldn’t even un-clip to stretch my leg.

For a minute I thought I was going to just fall over…I felt true panic for about 1 solid minute.  I breathed deeply and reached down to try to massage the cramp out. The pain subsided just enough for me to pedal my way into the SAG stop.  I really didn’t want to have to stop, but at this point I didn’t feel I had a choice.

Since I began riding hard one of the most amazing things I discovered was the way that you can feel your body using the fuel you are giving it.  When you bonk, you know it’s coming because you feel physically empty right before it happens.  I wasn’t bonked…I still had plenty of energy and determination to carry me to the finish.  However, my body clearly was missing something.

As best I can tell, the heat had increased considerably for the last 25-30 miles of the ride and I think I had allowed myself to dehydrate just enough to cramp. My bottles were empty when I pulled in, but I had told myself I could still finish without another stop.  Obviously I was wrong. I gingerly hopped of the bike and hobbled up to the table.  I grabbed one more banana half and refilled my water bottle.  As soon as I took a few good drinks and ate the banana, I felt the pain subside and my hamstring release its death grip.  It’s an unbelievable feeling to feel your body work like that.  I walked back to my bike and headed back to finish the ride.

I raised my arms and let out a yell of triumph as I crossed the finish line.  I couldn’t believe what I had accomplished.  At that very moment I felt excited enough to try for another 100 miles right then.  Then my stomach growled and I realized that as much fun as that was, it wouldn’t be near as fun as the meal I was going to go have.  I rode back to the starting line to be greeted by my wife and my baby girl.  As if the moment could not have been any sweeter… I held my daughter in my arms and at that very moment felt like I could do anything.  My training and hard work had paid off.

A year and a half, 85 pounds, and a lot of miles later, I had done it.  The feelings I felt that day will be with me for the rest of my life.  Weather your goal is 20, 50, 100, or 200 miles, know that you can do it.  I hope my experiences will be a benefit for you as you plan your goals.

Thanks to Aaron for a set of great articles. Having done a few, a 100 mile event is a superb achievement and getting that first one under your belt just makes you want more!  Keep your eye’s peeled for more from Aaron here at LovingTheBike.com.

Now you can.  Hot and fresh this week is a new online tool that allows cyclists (and other athletes) to edit raw device data collected from any of more than 90 different devices including GPS, power meters, and heart rate monitors.

We’d like to congratulate our good friends over at TrainingPeaks for launching this never seen before technology which is definitely something to be excited about.  They’ve been working on this for a while now, but just officially dropped the goodness today.

This new data editing tool will allow you to:

• Delete segments of data such as warm-ups or cool-downs and erroneously created segments
• Edit specific points where data spikes have occurred
• Drop entire channels like heart rate, power, pace, temperature, and more

Along with this, your workout totals, average and peak value calculations will adjust automatically after editing and all of these edits will show up in TrainingPeaks charts.

TrainingPeaks co-founder and CEO Gear Fisher says:

“We have the best analytics tools of any endurance sports training software, and this feature will help improve the accuracy of your data. This in turn improves your ability to analyze and plan future workouts effectively.”

In the past, you could do edits like this using desktop training software, but who really uses desktop software anymore…right?  Everything is done on the web these days and now so can this, thanks to TrainingPeaks.

But just like most things on the web….goodness like this comes with a price.  The data editing is a Premium Feature and only available for TrainingPeaksAthleteEdition users and users of TrainingPeaksCoachEdition software.  But with that said, if you’re just interested in using the free stuff over TrainingPeaks, the free Basic Athlete Edition tool still gives you access to the platform’s workout graphs and select charts.

Okay, I don’t mean to sound like an advertisement, but I do like to promote good news from good companies.  Are you a TrainingPeaks customer?  Whether you are or not, what are your thoughts on this online tool now being available?

Learn more about the new TrainingPeaks data editing features and how to use them at support.trainingpeaks.com/personal-edition/detailed-view/data-editing.aspx.

You may remember that I posted a review on the ‘new kids on the training block’ back in January. In the cold of a winter where I was trying to pile on the miles to make me as fresh as a daisy in the Spring, 3LC was the answer! As 2012 has rumbled on I’ve found myself fitter and stronger, some of which I can definitely attributed to 3LC. Now the wonderful guys from the Isle of Man have realised I not only need to up my overall power using their ‘Time Trial’ workout but also stop being such a wimp going up hill and tackle their ‘Climbing’ workout. With #30daysofbiking now underway I thought it would be a great time to remind Team #LovingTheBike that you can still rack up your miles for the month on a turbo or the rollers.

Cadence, cadence, cadence

I was a bit sceptical at first as to how much I would get out of a session designed to improve my climbing when I was actually on rollers, in a bedroom, on a flat floor. Needless to say, the help that the 3LC DVD’s have given me over the winter and early spring has improved my riding and in particular my climbing. With the Road Race DVD session there is quite a bit of gear change as you go through different parts of the race from the Grand Départ to the climbs and then finally onto the building a sprint train. In the Climbing session you focus on cadence and staying in the saddle to get the most efficient power output your tiny legs can achieve. You may know that staying in the saddle when you climb is the most effective way of climbing in terms of power but have also experienced that feeling of slight relief when you stand up, partly rest those muscles and stamp on the pedals like a crazy person. Once you have the overall fitness, which this DVD can help you achieve, it feels so much more enjoyable to climb in the saddle whilst being able to regulate your cadence. It’s difficult to put into words (not because it’s emotional… I’m just not a very skillful writer!) how much these 3LC sessions have helped me but I do find myself thinking about my pedal stroke more when climbing and imagine being on the rollers with Peter Kennaugh Snr gently asking me to adjust my cadence in a way that you know he will mentally break you if you do not comply!

Bubs showing his race face

The Climbing session begins with a warm up and then on to a series of 3 climbs, starting with something gentle and long, then a little shorter, and finally on to a long steep climb with generous recovery periods in the between. This is essentially interval training without giving it that name, which is good as I think terms like that put people off sometime. One thing I’ve found using the whole range of 3LC DVD’s is that having the coach there on screen and the other riders, who end up feeling like your team mates who you don’t want to let down, makes you work a little harder than I do on other, more Suffering orientated training sessions. Because these sessions come from a racing background, even on the ‘recovery’ sections you are preparing for what is ahead. I’ve found this particularly beneficial when on the road now as recovery segments are about panning rather than reflecting on what has just happened. The recovery almost takes care of itself. There’s no point dwelling on what just happened and how much it hurt… look ahead, plan and think how you are going to achieve the next goal. Just having that little bit of race orientation from the coaches and pro’s on the 3LC DVD’s has made me a cleverer more intelligent rider

Stretching

The stretching sessions that come as part of the 3LC DVD’s are an excellent way to finish a session and I urge you to put aside that extra 10-15 minutes for after your training session. I’ve found myself bent double with muscle tightness in the past after not stretching properly after a spinning session. The stretching sessions are short enough to be done straight after without losing your focus but long enough to be beneficial and not just a DVD extra’s gimmick. I’ve even been known to do a few of the stretching sessions back to back on a rest day. Some of the riders that are in the training session will be doing the stretching session too and this adds to the feeling that you are watching pro’s in action in their daily routines and makes you feel like you can be part of that too. When using the 3LC DVD’s I’m constantly thinking ‘PRO’… this is how you improve, be professional in your approach to training and you are heading in the right direction.

3 Little Cons

The conversations betweent he riders and the coaches can get a little monotonous after watching the DVD’s a few times. This is a victim of its own success really as it’s this personal interaction which sets the sessions from others on the market. I’ve got to a point now that I can reenact parts of their conversations, but to me that’s like tan lines, it shows how hard I’ve been training. If it’s something that you think might be a problem, there is nothing wrong with turning down the sound and putting on some music. I’ve done it before and all of the instructions are on screen so you can still do a full session.

At the moment the 3LC sessions are only available on DVD which puts the cost of the product and shipping up compared to similar training products. This not only impacts on price but also useability as I’ve had to use software to rip it get it onto my Android phone for use in the gym. That being said… I have heard from a little Manx birdy that 3LC may be going digital in the near future which should improve the useability across different media platforms, so watch this space.

Er… I wrote that banteriffic section headline without thinking ahead and don’t have any more cons… which is a pro… I think!

Verdict

Overall I think I have used this Climbing DVD the most out of all of the titles so far and I can really see the difference. The format is the same as the other titles but the focus is different. Indoor training is hard for some to stomach for various reasons but this session makes you stronger and is enjoyable(?) at the same time. Even if you only like indoor training a tiny, weeny bit, surely those are two reasons good enough to give it a go!?

Chapeau 3LC

Stevie

No, not those kind of transitions… But forgive me for using this picture of the ‘Mark Cavendish Shadow’, Tyler Farrar. It was not purely to make a cheap and frankly rubbish joke about the title of this post. It’s more about conveying how I’ve been feeling about my fitness and cycling recently and how I’ve moved on from last year.

The Poggio

I spent most of last year on the bike wishing I was stronger, faster, fitter and didn’t always make it up the climbs on the club run in dead last. I would watch the riders ahead of me spinning their legs and soft pedalling to let me catch up but at the same time not rubbing it in my face that they were having to wait for me. Or they’d drop back and offer me a wheel to follow or some shelter from the wind. The type of things good friends do. It helped that I was good friends with my riding buddies, it meant I didn’t feel self conscious. Once upon a time I would’ve shyed away from long rides with strong riders for fear of feeling like the ‘weak link’ but I soon realised that riding with stronger, fitter athletes was the way to improving.

The last week and today in particular, everything fell in to place and changed for the better. The miles I put in over the winter and the 40 mile commute I am now riding rather than driving has turned me into a pedalling machine! We are a friendly, non competitive chain-gang who only really have one ‘sprint’ as we descend what we refer to as the ‘Poggio’ as we head into Sandwich, Kent. Yeah I fired a few salvo’s off the front during the ride and made a daring solo break a mile before the Poggio, only to be dragged back by the two strongest riders, but they both almost collapsed at the cafe after the effort of catching me. Finally I have the fitness to back up my desires which feels great.

Domestique

This post wasn’t written to blow my own trumpet, I have Twitter for that! The most enjoyable part of today’s ride was having the strength and awareness to drop back on the longest and hardest of climbs to help one of the other riders up. He is in much the same place as I was this time last year so I just dropped back, smiled at him, he smiled back and we rode on with the rest of the gang slowly pulling away up the road. It didn’t matter to either of us though. My riding ‘shadow’ knew I was sacrificing myself to help him and I knew I could pull us back to the group. A win win situation. It felt amazing to have the ability to give something back to the group after they’d waited at the top of climbs so often for me and offered me so many wheels to cling to.

Yeah you can cycle on your own, but it’s so much more enjoyable to do it with friends. We all need a little help once in a while and you shouldn’t be afraid to ask real friends for that help. Just remember that being the domestique rather than the team leader can sometimes be more rewarding and inspirational.

Stevie

As regular readers will know I am a big fan of The Sufferfest training videos. They’ve seen me through some dark, wet winters and this year in particular the indoor winter training I’ve been doing has meant I’ve hit January feeling stronger and fresher than ever. As someone who spends a lot of time off the bike trawling the internet for articles and new up and coming ideas I was really pleased to see the new face of indoor training… 3LC. They were kind enough to send me two of their training DVDs to test and I have been very pleased with what I’ve found!

3 Legs Cycling

Based in the Isle of Man, 3LC has cycling passion running through their veins as cycling has been so popular over the years on the small rock off the north-west coast of the UK mainland. The committment shown by local riders and coaches has paid off and many riders have gone on to compete on both World Tour and Pro Continental teams; with the most being Mark Cavendish. For a population as small as 80,000 the number of top flight riders the island has produced in incredible and shows the emphasis they put on quality training and dedication to the sport. There are currently 5 DVD’s in the range that are aimed at improving your peak fitness for all aspects of cycling whether it be sprinting, climbing, time trialling, criterium racing, sportives or triathlon racing and to make the training even more beneficial, 3LC.tv treat you to a great line up of Pro riders. Current World Road Race Champion Mark Cavendish and Peter Kennaugh of Team Sky are heavily featured in the series and their enthusiasm and energy is hugely compelling and the aim is that they will help you achieve your goals even quicker.

2 Legs Good, 3 Legs Better…

As already mentioned, there are currently 5 DVD’s in the range which ‘Sprinting’, ‘Road Race’, ‘Time Trial’, ‘Climbing’ and ‘Ladies Road Race’ and I have been lucky enough to test the ‘Road Race’ and ‘Sprinting’ sessions. I won’t list all of the different areas each DVD covers but click on the links above and you can see a detailed description of each DVD. What I was really pleased about was that the type of training done whilst watching the 3LC training DVD’s is very similar to what you experience and can achieve from other similar training aids. I don’t see this as a bad thing at all as it means the training I have been doing has been the type of thing that the Pro’s do and thus should be beneficial for me. What is different about the 3LC training DVD’s and what sets them apart from everyone else is the way they train you through interaction with Pro’s and coaches.

The 3LC training DVD’s are like a group spinning session with some of the worlds strongest and most inspirational riders as well as proven top-level coach, Peter Kennaugh Snr. Unlike other training DVD’s that use pounding soundtracks and beautiful vistas to keep you entertained and motivated, 3LC uses the personal touch of qualified coaches and the sight of top-level riders feeling the pain just as you do. There are some great moments of banter and chatting between the on-screen riders which is a nice way to pass the time. The DVD’s use the very useful measurement of ‘relative perceived exertion’ (RPE) and cadence to push you to your limits. This means that you won’t out-train the DVD and become too strong for the workouts… you just go up a gear or too and you are able to do the same workout but at a much harder level. This gives the DVD’s a great longevity and should keep you coming back to them year after year, however close to Mark Cavendish’s rainbow bands you get!

You also get a comprehensive warm down session with some stretching techniques which again tells me one thing… these training DVD’s are for WINNERS. These are not just for the recreational roller rider. If you want to be winning races and competing against your friends, you need to train the Manx way and follow the lead of the Isle of Man riders.

Watching these videos, for me, feels like a much more social way of training. Sometimes I do want to pull the blinds, pump up the stereo and push my body to its Suffering limit but when I know I need and want a session where I can push myself but also feel like I’m training and improving with others… 3LC is definitely the DVD I’ll be reaching for.

If you want to win… train with the best!

Stevie

As many of you will remember I spent a week in July at Le Tour with @SteamyWynndows & @AndyMWild and as a result of that trip, ended up the proud owner of a limited edition Team Sky jersey signed by the riders. Since returning from the Tour I’ve been determined to make that Sky jersey the centre piece in my lycra-man cave… less affectionately known as ‘the 3rd bedroom’. Now finally, the room is complete. The hand painted World Champion stripes are finished, the jersey has returned from the framers, the pictures are hung and the adminration has begun!

But this room isn’t just for looking at, it’s become my motivation. Where better to punish yourself in front of a Sufferfest video (or two if you feel particularly anarchic!) than in a room surrounded by memories of World Champions and pioneers of the sport!? Short of riding your turbo in Jens’ garage, you can’t get much more motivational than my new bike room! I’m very pleased with it and I hope The Sufferfest see fit to add me to their list of bike torture chambers.

So when a friend asked why I had decorated the room in homage to my idols… I answered, “Because I can!” Check out the video below and let me know what you think.

#IWBMATTKYT

Stevie