Indoor Cycling With Power-Why You Want It

Indoor Cycling With Power-Why You Want It

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A fresh start

To date most of my triathlon training has followed the formula of run-swim-bike, repeat. There has been no master plan and no nutritional plan, apart from the overall goal of finishing, and the secondary goals of overcoming my fear of deep water, learning to ride a bike and generally rediscovering my joie de vivre .
There were some advantages to this approach. I discovered that riding a bike was such an exhilirating experience! Not only was it fun, but I am starting to develop a real passion for riding. After years and years of watching the Tour de France et al, I can finally appreciate and understand the more technical aspects of the competition. The second advantage was that I signed up to do a pre-triathlon training course at MIT, and met some really nice people. It was really cool turning up at two of my tri's and actually knowing some people there!
Perhaps the biggest advantage was not overcoming my fear of deep water as easily as I thought I would. Yes, I wrote 'advantage'. Reason being that I was able to meet some wonderful women who are such powerful swimmers. Watching them swim was inspirational. Their speed, grace and elegance in the water made me realise that I would not be content to just get by, but that I need to find a proper swim coach and turn my weakness into my strength. I want to swim like Nancy and Tonya and Kristen!
The disadvantages of my laissez-faire approach can be seen in my pear-shaped nutrition. With 2 training sessions daily, I found myself running out of time to do anything else - especially cook. Too many evenings were spent dining on cereal - which is fine. It started going pear-shaped when I was even too tired for that, and would order in pizza. Eating outside of my usual routine has left me tired and listless, as well as feeling hungry all the time. I feel like I need to go to an Austrian spa for 2 weeks and then go back to my old eating habits which constitutes superb nutrition in my book, and makes me feel great. Needless to say it does not include pizza, biscuits or anything processed!
The second disadvantage to generic training without following any kind of programme, is that you peak at the most inopportune moments, rather than when you are supposed to. This is quite challenging, and having to stave off fatigue and mental burnout too, can be rather tiresome. Furthermore bad planning means that you are adrift without any real idea of the progress or improvements you are making. Sure, one has a general idea based on performance from 1 workout to another, but this has it's limits.
I have therefore decided to follow an actual programme. My goal is to complete 2 half-marathons before the end of 2009. In view of this, I have started following a 10 week training programme. This is a great programme which also has 2 days of cross-training. I have decided to concentrate on cycling for the moment, since I have recently gotten clipped in, and I would like to ride faster. There is a duathlon in my very near future, and I want to give it a decent shot!
My second goal is to get my nutrition and eating habits back on track. This is proving a bit difficult as I tend to 'snack' in the afternoons. Although they are healthy snacks (dried fruit and nuts), they have been my downfall in the past, and I need to kick this habit! Thirdly, I need to get back with my circuits. I love circuits, but they too have fallen by the wayside. I used to them before work, now they are pointedly ignored. I am slowly trying to sort through it all, and I am sure that even though it may take a bit of time, once it's done, all this organization will help me understand how to train more efficiently.

Back in the saddle.

On Sunday Stuart and I went off to Webster, the town which will host the Danskin Sherox triathlon on 26 July. I wanted to try out the bike course, since I the course is described as "hilly - with one especially big hill". Webster is approximately 55 miles from Boston, and by the time we got there, the sun was beating down, and the traffic seemed pretty hectic. Traffic which we were going to ride through!
At this point, I had no feelings on the matter. I just wanted to do the course. Riding through all that traffic passed me in a blur and soon we were on a long road which stretched over many little hills. The problem was that I had too little recovery time from one hill to another, and was soon puffing away merrily. At around mile 4 a ginormous hill loomed. To my eyes it seemed like a Hors catégorie climb! I got the gears completely wrong, and suddenly a quarter of the way up, found myself flailing. I got off the bike, went back down the hill and started again. This time I got about half way up before I had to get off. Same thing with my third attempt. At this point I had a drink of water and walked over the hill, to where Stuart was waiting.
A few smaller hills followed, all a bit steeper than the ones in Marblehead, but with a lot of huffing and puffing I managed to get through them. It was a hot day and these 12 miles seemed to go on forever! Another huge hill followed and after puffing up that one, legs burning, a huge descent followed.
I have never actually asked about descents, since ascents seem to be my problem. However, in one of my issues of Bicycling, I had read that braking on the downhill ruins your bike's rims. So, on the downhill I usually never brake. Admittedly they have all been smallish descents. This one seemed no different - except that I seemed to be flying - literally. I could hardly see, everything passed by in a blur and when I hit a rocky patch, the bike started wobbling.
Well, there was little I could do except hold my nerve, the bike and hope that the wobble would sort itself out. I also hoped that I would stay on the bike, but hey, that's life. My only concern was that I could hardly see! This was a very long descent but finally the road straightened and flattened. At this point I could also hear Stuart shouting at me to stop.
His first words were "why didn't you use your brakes?" He did not seem to want to know that I actually did not know you were supposed to use them. I honestly thought you use them when you stop at traffic lights, cross roads etc. The descent seemed like a place to make up for lost time. Anyway, it seems that I was going at 40 miles an hour, no brakes and it looked scary from the back.
The rest of the ride was relatively conservative. Although smaller descents followed, I practised braking on them, though I must not be too good at this yet, as more shouting followed. Apparently it would seem, you have to brake HARD. Hmmmmm well, I shall have to work on that too. In the meantime, this riding business is phenomenal! New things to be discovered all the time!

Of rollercoasters and high emotions

It has been quite hard to keep track of the emotional rollercoaster I seem to have been on lately. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would start enjoying cycling. That first 20 mile ride albeit slow, felt like such an accomplishment! I felt a lot more confident on the bike and I could speed up for short bursts. As a prelude to the triathlon, Pata and I decided that we would go and ride the course in Marblehead last Saturday morning. Since it would be my first ride on the road, we decided to go really early. Naturally some obstacles emerged.....
Stuart casually mentioned that he was going back to Geneva and would not be there for the triathlon. OK, that can't be helped, but that together with the fact that it was raining on Saturday morning, the darkness and my general sense of panic, lead me to flake out. I just could not make that leap, and instead Pata and I ended up having a nice ride on the bike path. It calmed my nerves, and set me up for the next day.
Feeling in a much calmer frame of mind after my swim that evening, I asked Stuart to go to Marblehead the next morning. We loaded up our bikes, and off we went. By 7am we had started on the 10 mile bike course and were nearing the Marblehead neck. The course map was not too clear about which direction to take, so we ended up going clockwise, and I really struggled with one huge hill - in fact it was so bad I had to get off and push - on all 4 loops!
Still it was pretty cool doing that course. I have no idea how long it took, and what my time is, but I can say that the sense of accomplishment was huge! I could not believe that I had done this thing! Yes, I know it sounds a bit silly, but hey, 2 months ago, I did not even know how to cycle!

My first 20 mile ride

I went on my first 20 mile ride last Sunday. The weather promised to be brilliant, and in fact it was in the 80s. Stuart and I set off bright and early and started on the bike path. The day before I had gone for a ride with Pata, and although great fun, was feeling frustrated at not being able to stand up whilst on the bike, and also slow down enough at stops and intersections to check for traffic. In fact, I was having to get off the bike and then get on again, which not only seemed to take ages to get going again, but made me lose momentum.
On Sunday Stuart and I set off bright and early, and there were quite a few people on the path already. The combination of it being such a lovely day, and the confidence I had accumulated with our bike ride the day before, led me to enjoy the ride. So much so, that I found myself being able to stop at intersections and check for traffic before continuing. I had to dismount twice only, due to the bike path ending and us having to cross a major intersection.
It was a great ride, and although it took a long time (I was going at around 10 miles an hour), I felt a growing confidence with and on the bike. My beautiful Specialized, who has been named...Pallas Athena.

Uphill=shift down, Downhill=shift up; or how to change gears on a bicycle

On Saturday Stuart and I went for a long long ride - or so it seemed initially. In truth it was only 12 miles, but it took me 2 hours to do! Three possible explanations exist: Firstly, I kept having to stop and get off the bike at intersections as I cannot stand up and look around quickly enough, secondly I pedal too slowly, and thirdly I had no idea how to change gears so stayed in a fixed gear almost the entire way through. Eventually though, on the way back which was very much downhill, I had to stop and ask Stuart to shift up for me as it was impossible to cycle in such an easy gear.
I had my lesson with Pata on Sunday, and she had brought along a trainer. She mounted my bike on it, explained the logic of the gear changes and then got me to pedal away. Sitting on the trainer meant that I could think about the gears and shifting up and down seemed all very easy. Naturally my fear was that I could not concentrate on 2 different issues: staying on the bike and changing gear simultaneously.
However, after 15 minutes of this, we were off towards the bike path. However, we made a short stop in a parking lot where Pata showed me a more elegant way of stopping: standing up, one pedal down, braking and then stepping forward. I can sort of do this now, but I think I need to practise a bit! This is a very useful skill, as my braking and stopping skills are not quite comfortable yet.
It was a sunny day, and when we got to the bike path, there were lots of people out, enjoying themselves. I started cycling and immediately changed gear....and again....and again! Suddenly, it all clicked, and changing gears no longer had this air of mystery and apprehension surrounding it. I relaxed (as far as possible), and started enjoying myself.
In the end, it turned out to be a great ride - naturally I am still somewhat shaky both on the bike and when trying to stop, but I am still amazed at the magic of changing gears! This week I am going to practise stopping and also cornering, at which I am rather appalling. And naturally, changing gears!

Getting more organised

Monday was a swim day. I had been dreading it, and after a difficult day at work, thought I would take the day off but then found that I had to go. I had arranged to meet 2 young women there, and they had not accepted my cancellation, but wrote and told me they would meet me there. More about the young women in a separate post - but was I glad that they had been so forward thinking.
Because Monday was the day that I learned to breathe on both sides - properly. Super thanks to Jane, who also helped me improve my technique so much, that breathing on both sides has suddenly become so easy, and has made me swim a little faster. I do not know if it was the enthusiasm of the moment, but it was also a lot less tiring than the previous week. In fact, after the swim I felt like going for a 5 mile run, but I had to hurry home and get the dinner on.
So no run on Monday night, nor yesterday - made a quick dinner after the cycling. OK the truth of the matter is I am in bed by 9pm. I get up around 5 (usually), do my buddhist chanting for an hour and then do either circuits or a run. Lately I have been feeling knackered, so have only been managing the chanting. Now however, I think I need to go to bed at 8.30pm, also because I would like to try and do 2 training sessions a day. The circuits seem to be falling by the wayside, and I do not like that!
I managed to get the run in this morning, but no chanting. That was not good, but it was an emergency: it was almost a week since I had last run, and I had to do it - pity I could not get up in time to get it all in. I had also hoped to go swimming after work today, but another dramatic day, led to me feeling depleted. I managed to do some chores with Stuart, and then had a lovely pizza.
Tomorrow is another day, said Scarlet O'Hara, and so tomorrow I will get the chanting in, as well as my run in the morning. And the evening is reserved for a zip down the bike path on the Charles River. Maybe on Friday I'll get in a swim and a spinning session....

May you live in exciting times.....

...is an old Chinese proverb, and that is certainly how it feels right now!  Quick update on the cycling:  since it is prohibited to take your bike on the T during rush hour, Pata thought that we could have a longer lesson on Sunday.  In the meantime, on Tuesday and Thursday I would practice on my own.  After my small (yet very significant) victory on Saturday, I finally felt that I could make that commitment and not flake out.

So yesterday was the moment of truth.  I got home, changed and found that Stuart was ready to go down to the bike path around the Charles River, with me.  He has a gorgeous BMC crossfire bike which we bought in Switzerland (when we bought Christine), and he was looking forward to a bit of a ride.  

It was a lovely day, and everyone, but everyone was out down by the river.  Joggers, runners, cyclists, walkers, pedestrians - everyone.

I wish I could have seen Stuart's face when I first got on my bike and started pedaling.  I did a few turns up and down a little side street, just to make sure that I had not forgotten what to do!  His "wow" expressed everything I guess!  This was the first time he has ever seen me actually sit, stay and ride a bike!

When we got down to the river, it was super busy.  After 2 false starts, I felt quite nervous, as the path is much, much narrower than the 12 ft wide bike path I ride on with Pata.  Also, there were loads of people and I felt they were in danger of my knocking them down.  It was when Stuart said that we could go back to a quiet road if I wanted, that I thought to bite the bullet.

So, I got on the bike and after a bit of a wobbly start, got my legs going round.  We cycled down the path, past the boathouses, and eventually got to the yacht club where the path was almost deserted.  However, when I tried going up a hill, the bike just stopped dead - ah the importance of changing gears!  Well that is certainly something I am going to have to learn in a hurry, as there is no way I will be able to get up any hill whilst staying in a fixed gear.

Still, the ride was amazing - I stayed on the bike, managed to stop when a large group of walkers came towards me, and even managed to cycle over some very large cracks and potholes.  It was pretty windy, but I stayed quite steady.  I have to admit though, I was both exhilirated and relieved when the ride was over!  So Thursday should be part 2 of this cycling week.  I am quite looking forward to it, and if I feel confident enough, I might even go alone!

The unexpected discovery of a pastrami sandwich

Sunday 8 March - La Festa delle Donne or Women's Day in Italy. I received no mimosa, firstly because I have not seen any in Boston, and secondly because it does not seem to be celebrated in the US. Anyway, my celebration was to go out for a long run, sans gloves and cap, on a stunningly beautiful day. However the intense winds were breathtaking - literally. It was a bit hard to breathe with all that wind, and when I looped around the river, I was running directly into the wind. It seemed like 5 never-ending miles, and oft did I think of Sisyphus and his stone (though understandably, his was the more desperate task).
Anyway, once home, I had a slice of blueberry tart and then went to get my bike. Yes, my Lapierre, which is pictured in this post. Pata had warned me that each bike is different, and that I would struggle a bit with this unfamiliar one. Little does she know how accurate her predictions were. It was horrendous. This bike seemed to have a mind and will of its own. The front wheel seemed uncontrollable, and after 5 minutes I fell off. It was a hard bang, but I continued until I could ride the length of the road. I could not make the smooth controlled turns I had done the day before, and had to limit myself to braking and putting my foot down to steady the bike and myself. This was all a bit jarring on the knees, I have to say. Still, on and on I went. I felt like calling it a day, but the looming triathlon date, put paid to that. Yes, Sisyphus ruled on Sunday.
Finally after what was a little more than 1 hour, I decided to stop. As I tried to stop, the bike veered slightly and I fell off again. This time banging my elbow really hard. Still, I was glad I had at least tried to ride this bike, and once upstairs, said some rather rude things about it, which Stuart did not like. Certainly I am no cyclist - I can barely stay on a bike, but this bike I have, is obviously not like the one I ride with Pata. That one has a degree of control to it, whereas this one seems a bit like Christine (yes, the car in that movie....). After a long drawn out discussion on this, I finally bonked.
Pata had told me it was like hitting the wall in a long race - well, I managed to have a shower and could not move. I could not even make something for lunch (admittedly it was more like tea time). This led to me discovering the joys of a pastrami sandwich from Mariposa, a wonderful little bakery in Cambridge, thanks to Stuart who went out to get us something for tea time. A cup of masala chai hit the right spot, as did the sarnie! But I also learned that bonking is a serious business, and I still felt shattered this morning when I woke up. So today was a day of rest. The projected weights and day 1 of the push ups challenge will just have to wait until tomorrow.

Pushing off, Coasting and Bonking

The title of this post refers to three new terms I learned on Saturday at my second cycling lesson. Whilst I was looking forward to it, I was also feeling a degree of trepidation....what if the previous week had been a false dawn? I started off pedal-less for a few minutes, until Pata thought I was balanced enough, and she called me over so that she could re-attach the pedals. I felt like saying, "I'm not really balancing well enough yet", but Pata was so enthusiastic and encouraging, that I just could not bring myself to say anything.
OK, so the pedals were attached, what now? The wise amongst us would simply say " raise your feet, balance on the pedals and start pedaling"! Pata, however, is no ordinary teacher - she is a guru. After telling me to raise the right pedal, her advice was to place only my right foot on the pedal, stick out my left foot, and only use one pedal. The physics of the thing seemed impossible, but it worked wonderfully. At a certain point, when I had a modicum of balance, it was the most natural feeling in the world to raise my left foot and pedal with that one too.
It was such a funny feeling - I could ride in a wavy sort of line but then had to stop as I had no idea how to corner. Pata just kept yelling out encouragements as I rode round and round the car park. I forced myself to relax, listened to her voice and found myself gently making a wide arc - or 'taking a corner'.
Yes me! It seemed like a magical experience: such a warm wonderful day with kids playing basketball in the nearby school yard, Pata telling me what a good job I was doing, and the manifest good fortune of staying on the bicycle and enjoying the small victory.
When I stopped, I found it difficult to gain the momentum to start - until Pata explained that you push off with your left leg. She also explained that going uphill required a bit more effort (ok I had forgotten about gravity etc). Once these secrets had been revealed, it was easier to start pedaling again. Furthermore, going uphill was a joy once I added a bit more 'power steering' to the pedals. As I came downhill, the bike suddenly seemed to go really fast. It was quite instinctive, but I stopped pedaling - and voilá, feet resting on the pedals, Pata informed me that I was now 'coasting'.
The next step was to try and change gears, but I could not quite get the hang of it. I could not fully understand the mechanics of big rings, little ring, medium sized rings, rings in the front and rings in the back. In the end, Pata took pity on me, and the gears will thankfully live to see to another day. However, the next item on the agenda was to try and cycle in a straight line.
Ha, you may say, how difficult can that be? Well let me tell you, very. Trying to cycle in a straight line, using the parking by lines as a guide, was not simple. I wiggled and wriggled, and wiggled some more, but managed to stay on the bike - though without completing my mission. Yes, the straight line will also live to fight with me another day.
At the end of the lesson, I felt fantastic. I actually managed to stay on a bike and cycle around for a bit - slowly mind you, but hey, two weeks ago I could not even sit on one. I felt encouraged enough to tell Pata that I actually had a city bike. Naturally I had never used it, but Stuart had bought it as a gift in Geneva a few years ago, hoping that I would become enthused by his woody jaunts, that I would want to join in. Alas, that day never dawned, and the bike just stood in the garage looking pretty.
I had not told Pata about the bike as I was scared - scared that she might tell me to develop some kind of relationship with it. Also, how could I tell her that I was scared of it?! Anyway, encouraged by my small successes on the bike, I told her that I would practice on my bike at home. And resolved to go out the very next day!

The Bicycle Riding School

Today I had my first cycling lesson at the Bicycle Riding School. The weather started off brilliantly (7ºC, with a wind chill of 2ºC), but by 3pm, it was 1ºC with a wind chill of 4ºC. It was brrrrr! When you go out for a run, you warm up very quickly and soon you are stripping off layers. Learn to balance on a bike is slow patient work, and the chill gets through to your bones very quickly I discovered.
After my teacher Pata had fitted me with a helmet and a hybrid bike, we went down to the school yard for the lesson. The first lesson is the hardest one, she told me - because you are learning to balance on the bike and you are learning to balance the bike too. "Don't worry about going in a straight line, just follow the direction the bike takes you in", she said. After taking off the pedals, she instructed me to put off with my feet and then try lifting my feet off the ground.
My first attempts going down on a slight slope seemed wild, unseemly and totally out of control. My body felt stiff and rigid, and certainly there was no chemistry with the bike. But Pata is an amazing, patient and very encouraging woman. She made me feel like I was doing a fabulous job, and slowly, I started relaxing. Now this did not come in an all enlightening moment, because during the course of the lesson, I veered back and forth between feeling relaxed and feeling quite tense. However, she kept telling me to trust my body and to trust the feeling I got from the bike - to turn when it felt like the bike wanted to go in a different direction. In short to give up a degree of control.
Pata gave me some excellent advice about not over-thinking the process, but to try and enjoy the feeling of gliding along. With all that encouragement I felt that I was actually progressing. Especially when I managed to stay with feet upright for what Pata called 'a bicycle lap'. Yes, I actually did a real lap on a real bike!
I spent so many years thinking about all the reasons why I am not able to ride a bike, but today I realised that this is merely another skill which can be learned. This is not some genetic permutation that everyone is born knowing how to ride a bike. Nowadays it is taken for granted that everyone and their dog can use a pc. I remember when I first learned to use a computer in the dark ages when only the Word Perfect programme was available. It was a skill I had to acquire with time and patience. Exactly the same experience for everyone else I imagine, and so, is biking any different?
I was a bit knackered after the lesson, but in an elated sort of way. I felt a real sense of accomplishment in having been able to balance on the bike for periods of time without feeling panicky, and actually being able to savour the feeling. It was about 1ºC with a wind chill of -4ºC when we finished and I was feeling a bit cold, but what a great feeling this has left me with. I am so looking forward to my next lesson!

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike, I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like....

"You have a lot of guts, signing up for a triathalon, not knowing how to ride. The only other student we've had who has done a triathlon, that I'm aware of, did it ten years after first learning to ride", was the reply I got back from the Bicycle Riding School in Cambridge. I had sent off an email requesting lessons rather urgently as it suddenly dawned on me that I had about 2 months left before my first triathlon.
I was unprepared for the feeling of panic that engulfed me as I read the email. When I think about riding the 10 mile course that is the bike distance, I suppose I imagined just peddling along merrily (not unlike those riders in the Queen video - except I would be clothed). The idea that I might need to race a wee bit, had not crossed my mind! Still, this did not seem like the moment to chicken out (just a few short weeks ago the stair climb seemed huge - now I am thinking of doing another). I rang the school and discussed the matter with Pata, who is really keen on helping me out.
Unfortunately it has started snowing again, and there is still thick ice everywhere so we might have to wait a bit until we can have a lesson. I was feeling a bit overcome at the time: learning to ride is one thing, riding in a race another, and riding amidst traffic still another! I did not have the courage to tell Pata that I have in fact signed up for two triathlons. I thought I might tell her in person, perhaps when I can ride in a straight line.
Watching the Tour of California has done little to steady my nerves. I usually enjoy the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, the Paris-Roubaix etc - this time watching the peloton come around corners has left me feeling slightly shaken and stirred.
When the feelings of panic did not subside, I rushed down to the gym last night where I did a proper brick, something I have not done in weeks. I cycled for 30 minutes and managed to do 7 miles, after which I ran for an hour and managed 5.5 miles at a slow pace. I am still not feeling great though my lungs are feeling less squashed. Still I believe nothing is ever wasted. I may have ridden a stationary bike for years, but I have trained hard to use a high cadence both on hills as well as on the flat. Pata thinks this will come in very, very handy.
Still, all this palls into insignificance when I think about the story in the March 2009 edition of Runners World - Matty Long's courage and determination is such an inspiration. My being a scaredy cat, just does not cut the mustard.