An afternoon of coaching and preparation advice for Etape and cyclosportif riders who aim to perform well in 2007

The Surrey Cycle Racing League is affiliated to:

Saturday 25 November 2006

speakers: John Capelin coach
                Lee Oliver ridden every Etape since 2002
                Paul Howard author of the book Riding High

agenda:

John Capelin the coach's viewpoint - principles of a training programme

Lee Oliver the rider's viewpoint - fitting a serious training programme round a full-time job and a family

Paul Howard the rider's viewpoint - fitting in a serious training programme round a full-time job and a family

John Capelin's advice - as a coach

Preparation over the coming months

Think in terms of periods of

base endurance you should be doing these sort of rides now (late November/start of December)

pre-competition to provide you with a stepping stone enter a cyclosportif of an equivalent distance even if it's not routed in big hills it builds confidence and even if you struggle... think/look at what you got out of it

The sequence of improving your ability is: training rides result in muscle damage, they then recover/respond; you subsequently become fitter. It's step-by-step.

Just be aware that over-training is a risk, and that 99% of cyclists who suffer from this think that the answer is to do more, with the result that the situation gets worse.

January get a 3-4 hour ride in every other weekend. it should be non-stop.

If it's wet outside don't do 4 hours on the turbo perhaps 1hr in the morning + 1hr in the afternoon but it's only for maintenance

Spring training camp it's good to have a block of 5-6 days where you are training every day good for overload and for getting a lot of hours in the saddle

March get into the hills do at least one 80-mile non-stop ride

April - first half one 90-mile ride overall though, still the same total miles as January

April - second half do your first bit of speed work, sprints or a time trial

May get rides in of 80-90 miles

June do a 120-mile ride, the same distance as on the day, to prove you can get through it

Longer rides for fat-burning

These rides are good as they teach the body to use fat. Even thin-looking people have a lot of fat inside them. The longer the carbohydrate that you consume lasts, the further you go before needing more…. so good to teach your body how to give you a long/slow release of energy from your stored fat during a ride.

Hills in the UK

They are too steep and too short to give you a mirror of the French climbs. But don't worry on this score - you'll get over them on the day if you've done the mileage.

Speed

The minimum average from early December should be 13mph. By the time you get to June it should be 15-16 mph.

Feeding - fluids

You should take in 500ml fluid/hour. That might be the theory but in reality it is difficult to achieve…you simply can't get enough bottles in your back pockets…so you won't achieve this.

If you use PSP bottles, we warned that the marks are 70% higher than they should be so it screws up the aim of adding a 6%-8% mix as it will in fact be 10%-12%. The answer is to get to work with your own marker pen and set a line where it should be. It's astounding that these bottles are so far out…tremendous as a marketing ploy.

All you need is 6%-8%. Anything under 6% won't do you much good, while over 8% makes you ill.

Don't take the mix of fluid that gets handed up as it's weak and can be a horrible mix. Instead, take your own sachets.

Feeding - solids

Don't eat their food. Take your own, already chopped into pieces, then put into cling film perhaps…. but better to use masking tape to carry mouthfuls attached on the bike's top tube.

Eat little and often - a whole Go bar needs an entire bottle of water to mix with it.

Feed stations

Some riders stop and have what amounts to a three-course meal. Avoid that.

Beware of the chaos - at one feed station riders couldn't ride through because of the sheer volume of bottles in the road. There were 3,500 items just lying there. It was like pushing into snow.

Clothing

It will be cold at the start so best to have some old leg-warmers/arm-warmers that you can throw away. Since it will have cost you £1,000 to get there, discarding £10 is a small price to pay, rather than carry them all day.

Have some wet-weather items with you just in case. The Pyrenees are notorious for rapid changes in weather, so ride with a gilet or light jacket.

Any sun and you will burn unless you have cream protection

Wear glasses to protect your eyes.

Wear mitts to protect your hands should you come off.

Do not wear baggy clothing.

Wear bib shorts so that you cover all your lower back.

Wear a top that brands you as from England. It marks you out to other English riders and a bit of camaraderie here and there is good. You'll hear an English voice at 100m.

Slowing down

Anticipate and slow by non-pedalling….it's preferable to having to brake.

When braking, do it when moving in a straight line

Stay alert….last year 80 riders ended up in a heap. They were downhill fast. The road went into a tunnel and the front guy was wearing sunglasses. It was coming off the Col de Lauteret and the incident was amongst the back-markers (i.e. tired/less attentive riders).

When you have to brake, adjust your speed before the corner. Look at the vanishing point while going round the bend. The worst corners will be marked….so if it says "slow" then do exactly that - slow down.

The Etape has closed roads

At every junction there will be a gendarme…and it means that on corners you can use the whole road.

Tyres.

Tyres are better than you are. Most will grip at such a massive angle of lean-over that you would have hit something with a pedal first

Use your crossbar as a tool for other functions…..

Write distances on-route on the stem. You'll know where you are and how far to go.

Slipstream to save energy.

You'll never see a French rider in the Etape on the front of a bunch, or exposed to the wind…..they always leave it to UK or American riders. If you find your group is going too slow, hop into a faster-moving train as it come past. A typical group coming through will contain 100 riders. Don't try to get from one group to another bunch further ahead by crossing the gap between them on your own. Even if a Frenchman pushes you onto the front, don't let him outfox you.

Specifically looking at the demands of the 2007 Etape

Monday 16 July Foix to Loudenvielle

There will be a jam on the first climb, the Col de Port (11km at 5% gradient). Typically, the rule is walkers on the right, riders on the left, but this hill is too near the start for any selection based on ability.

Don't rely on there being water at the official feed-stations. If there are 5,000-8,000 riders on the road and if you're not near the front, then you can find that supplies have run out. Last year was hot and the "running out of water" problems started after 2,500-3,000 riders had gone through the feed/drink stations.

The locations of the feed stations are only announced three weeks before the event itself….the same applies to the various times they will set for you to aim for a gold medal or a silver medal standard (these cut-off times vary according to both age band and gender).

The second climb is the Col de Portet d'Aspet (6km at 7% gradient) and there will be a hold-up over the top because of the monument to Fabio Casatelli (who crashed and died there in the Tour de France). It's on a steep descent - I went passed it a month ago on a bike with panniers and couldn't even stop. If you want to see what's there, then go see it another day. There will be a crowd on the day of the Etape and I guarantee there will be crashes.

This year (2007) there are no tunnels, so your glasses will not be a problem.

At the bottom of the second descent, off the Col de Portet d'Aspet, you go straight up the Col de Menthé (7km at 8% gradient). Be aware that starting up it on cold legs means that it will hurt. Start eating ahead of it, that means as you near the bottom of the descent…. recognising that you will only have digested this food intake by the time you get to the following top….

….which is at 114km and you are still only halfway there, even though it is the third mountain.

The following descent is where Ocana crashed in the past. At the time he was wearing the yellow jersey as leader of the Tour de France and the result was the Eddy Merckx won that year.

The Port de Balès, the fourth climb (19km at 6% gradient), is new to the Tour de France. In fact it was a surprise to everyone who was Etape-guessing prior to the announcement of the route. Right now it is a horrible climb as the road is narrow, with potholes and cattle grids. They will have to resurface it beforehand as there is no way the Tour will get up.

Then over the far side….. there didn't used to be a road there at all. What you get is a spanking new road with an absolutely new surface. It drops through the Barouss woods: the descent is steep but once you're off the top its not too bad.

The fifth and final climb is the Col de Peyresourde (10km at 8% gradient). It is long…. you can see it stretching out ahead/above you and will make it somewhat demoralising.

Right at the top there is a café with a water fountain at the side of the road. Don't stop. You don't need it as there will be water at the finish….it's just 12km to go and it's all downhill to the line.

That final descent is very fast and there will be riders going down it eye-balls out to achieve a gold medal or a silver-medal finishing time. There will also be the hazard of tired riders who have lost their minds…so be warned that the person coming by you might well have his/her eyes shut at this late stage.

Lee Oliver's advice - as a rider

I've done five Etapes now and my message is this….if you are serious then either get a coach or join a club.

Last year, my Etape preparation amounted to the following….January: 9 hours, February: nothing, March: 17hours, April: 26hours.

Despite that sort of short-coming, there is no point in cramming 30 hours into the final week. At that point you should be tapering your efforts instead…..so two weeks before the ride halve your efforts (hours) and in the final week halve this again.

What I did do, as part of my build-up, was the Surrey Cycle Racing League's Five-Day Jaunts which is a fantastic block of training. You are allowed to skip one of the days if necessary.

(Be warned: this stage-race is seriously tough…the fact that Lee was able to include it at all speaks mountains for his high level of capability).

In 2006, two weeks before the Etape, I went off to France and did a 125km cyclosportif. It was hot and I blew up after 3hrs, right at the base of a 14km climb. Even so, I knew I could get up it.

In the Etape for real, which I thought I should do in 7hr 30min, I blew up at 6hrs, right at the base of Alpe d'Huez. I've been up that climb, when riding at my best, in 55mins but that day I took 1hr 24min. I knew I could do it, though, so I just twiddled away.

For feeding, be accustomed to what you will use on the day. I was putting 28g of Go powder into each 500ml bottle and drinking one bottle/hour. I carried a total of three bottles with me on the bike.

For solid food, I take Fruisli rather than Go. However, on the Col de Lauteret I took two Go bars and reckon that's what screwed me at the six-hour point as they sucked the fluid out of me. I couldn't drink for 90mins after that. Imagine, 90mins and no drink in a serious event when the temperature is 38degrees!!

I ride with six Neurophen in my pocket and take them when I'm half-way round.

Paul Howard's advice - as a rider

I wish I'd met someone like John Capelin before 2003 when I rode the Tour de France, well 90% of it.

After listening to John warning about over-training, I have to say that it's still a serious goal of mine to over-train….. I try and I will get there!!

My preparation for the 2003 Tour wasn't great. Our first child was born in the September beforehand; we moved house in the March; and I was working full-time until May. But….it shows it is still possible.

In November 2002 I created a training timetable, the goal being to start training properly in January (though I did some rides before that) and by the end of June to have completed 6,000 miles.

At the time I thought 6,000 miles as a lot. I set a high target on the basis that achieving two-thirds of a lot would be better than achieving two-thirds of a little.

My training was all on the road. I had no turbo.

January went OK but February saw a decrease in what I achieved and March was a write-off as there was so much domestic DIY to do when we moved house. What saved me, I'd say, was the clocks going forward in the spring.

From April onwards I started doing Audax rides. They were my equivalent of a training camp.

For what I needed, Audax events were perfect….the organisers give you a map, you have reference points to work towards, your card is stamped, and finally there's a cup of tea in a village hall.

So, I moved from doing a 60-mile ride on a Saturday or Sunday to a full correctly-measured 100miles in an Audax event. It was a great leap.

The aim was to have 5,200 miles under my belt at the end of May. The reality is that I did 2,800 miles.

So in June I went off for five days in the Pyrenees as I like hills. It wasn't a great success although I did get in two long rides. You should know that back at home, my preparation one particular day had amounted to 11 climbs up Ditchling Beacon which earned me decidedly funny looks from the ice-cream seller in his van at the top.

I've never been a fan either of sports drinks or sports feeds….for me there's nothing to beat the sustenance you get from cheese sandwiches and/or from malt loaf.

My summary of main tips would be:

1 Take some advice….from a coach, or from experienced riders, or join a club.

2 Don't worry if your training isn't ideal.

3 Do what you can when you can…. as everything helps.

4 Go out in all weather conditions…. bad weather in Sussex in Feb/March is the same as on a bad day in the Pyrenees in mid-summer.

5 Do some long rides….getting in 100-mile outings soon after the clocks move is best

and…………….

most important of all…. it's an adventure at the end of the day, so enjoy it

biography of speakers

John Capelin

A cyclist himself, John qualified as a cycling coach in 1990, following this up with certifications as a team manager and also as a sports masseur.

John heads up Sports Coaching, an enterprise which is used extensively by Graham Baxter Sporting Tours to offer individual coaching to anyone wanting to tailor their preparation to the following year's Etape event.

John is so well prepared that he has already ridden the next Etape route….and has a mountain of data from SRM cranks and heart-rate monitor.

He's been training new coaches for British Cycling since 2000 and is one of the experts called in by the magazine Cycling Plus.

Lee Oliver

In a former life, Lee was a city trader but then, in his early 30s, he saw the light and took a sports science course at Brighton University when Peter King was in residence.

This provided the inspiration to step into the world of cycle racing. When Lee trains hard he can be competitive....but finding the time to train is always a battle.

In 2000 he rode the end-to-end, Lands End to John O'Groats. His first Etape ride was in 2002 and he has taken part in it every year since. He completed the 2006 Etape, which finished on Alpe d'Huez, in just under 7hr 30mins which was amongst the top 10%.

Measurements on SRM cranks show the output of 325-340watts going up the Col d'Izoard, but 100watts less on the third and final climb. To hear the full story you need to be there.

Paul Howard

A 34-year-old member of VC Etoile. When he has raced, it has been as a 3rd Cat. Like Lee, Paul has to fit his cycling effort round a full-time job and a family.

"I'm nothing special as a cyclist," he says. "But I do like climbing hills."

He has taken part in the Etape and numerous cyclosportives including: Megeve-Mont Blanc, l'Auvergnate, l'Ariegeoise and closer to home La Ronde Picarde, which is not that far from Calais.

The journalist in Paul hit the jackpot in 2003 when a publisher agreed to his proposal for a book (called Riding High) about his dream of riding the Tour de France just hours ahead of the real thing, so day after day he was up before dawn in order to spend the whole day with the peloton bearing down on him.

If you're up for a good read……………..

· Riding High is published by Mainstream Publishing.

· Copies can be ordered online (www.mainstreampublishing.com).

· It was shortlisted in the best new writer category of the National Sporting Club Sports Book of the Year Awards.

· Signed copies available on request.