WELLAND VALLEY CYCLING CLUB NEWSLETTER
AUGUST 2011
New members
We welcome Tim Smith, Jack and Marco Roginski, Carl and Annette Roberts, Michael Wood, Lee and Henry Edmonds, Brad Furniss, Mark Smee and welcome back Mike Drca, Mark Tommis and Keith Hallam.
Training bits
Warming up- I’ve smiled every time I’ve looked at a press cutting I was given recently entitled ‘Shorter warm-up gives faster sprints’. It was published in the Daily Telegraph and is from the Journal of Applied Physiology. It states that researchers at Calgary University in Canada found that cyclists who warmed up for 15 minutes rather than the more usual 50 minutes could produce 6.2% more power at their maximum output. So take note those of you who spend hours sitting on a turbo before races (perhaps with cotton wool stuck up your nose) – you may be wasting your time.
Who gave me this press cutting? - the only world class performer in the club and the man who always appears at the last minute - now we know why! Take a bow Mr President!
Heavy breathing – Ever thought of strengthening your respiratory muscles? It appears that it can be beneficial for endurance athletes. Who says so? – Alison McConnell from Brunel University. She has concluded, after ‘critical and comprehensive analysis of all available data’ that the strengthening of respiratory muscles can improve performance in events lasting between 6 and 60 minutes. It appears that the respiratory muscles wear down during an intensive bike ride and that if this reduction in muscle strength can be reduced it is beneficial to performance.
So how do you strengthen respiratory muscles? If you look on Amazon, you’ll see that they sell ‘Powerbreathe’ and ‘Powerlung’. These are, in a nutshell, pipes with dials on them. With Powerbreathe’ you inhale against a resistance and with Powerlung you both inhale and exhale against a resistance. The manufacturers recommend 30 repetitions morning and night – so it’s a form of training that doesn’t take long and, as far as I can tell, you don’t need to wear special kit to do it. Guy Thibault, a scientific adviser to the Canadian Cycling Association, thinks it’s best to split your 30 reps into between 3x10 or 6x5 with breaks between. This interval training should enable you to suck or blow at greater intensity.
A Powerbreathe costs around £40 and a Powerlung around £70.
I’m thinking of getting one so that I can blow out all 70 candles on my next birthday cake in one breath.
Preparing for 2012
If you would like help with a training plan for next season, Trevor Wise (trevor.wise@tiscali.co.uk) and I (dave@betula.myzen.co.uk) are both British Cycling Level 2 coaches and are happy to help. Steve Boat is currently studying for the Association of British Cycling Coaches award and is looking for ‘guinea pigs’ to practise on. Contact Steve on 07903969493.
Performance
The most impressive performance of this season just has to be Tim Smith’s 1.00.57 in the club championship 25 at Lubenham in only his second time trial. Claire Waterfield has recorded massive personal bests at both 10 and 25 miles. Matt Plews has now cracked the 56 minute barrier for a 25 but more impressive for me was his breaking the hour in a club champs 25 on the Kibworth-Corby course.
We dominated the NCRA Summer Handicaps, winning the team prize for the series. Jonny Unwin and Sam Crabtree were both race winners. Top ten placings were too many to list but Stuart Alexander’s third place in his first ever bike race was a wonderful performance.
So far our inexperienced road races have not quite come to terms with longer distance events but they’re getting there. Nick Horder’s eighth place in the Duncan Murray 3/4 race was good to see and he was closely followed by Tom Sexton and Jonny Unwin.
Congratulations too to our only current track rider Steve Williamson who gained a fine fourth place in the National Masters Track Champs.
Northampton and District Cycling Association
Our drive to get more riders taking part in N&DCA events is certainly paying off: we’ve had more riders than any other club. We are currently lying second in the team competition and Tom Sexton is leading the short distance competition.
Please make an effort to enter the last two events of the series, at Naseby on September 10th and at Cardington on September 25th.
Tony Hutton
Viva Espana
Benidorm in August – what does that bring to mind? Union Jack shorts, San Miguel by the gallon, all day breakfast and exceedingly pink Brits. On the 20th of the month it is the starting point for the last of the season’s Grand Tours – La Vuelta Cyclista a Espana – or Tour of Spain as it is known to you and me.
It started life in 1934 as the Republic Grand Prix and was promoted by Eibar – a manufacturer of bicycles – then, just like the Tour and the Giro, a newspaper became involved. Senor Juan Pujol, a director of Informaciones, organised the first Vuelta in 1935. The following year it ran into the problem of politics and had to take a break. (For an explanation of Falangists, Franco and the Spanish Civil War, please speak to Mr. Vybiral or Mr. Birch.) The Vuelta resumed in 1941 pretty much as a Spanish national event and then stopped once more – this time for the World War. It got going again in 1955 with the support of a different newspaper and has been held ever since. Traditionally it ran in April and May until 1995 when it moved to its present spot on the calendar.
The sixties witnessed the Vuelta really come of age with major international stars taking part and in 1963 the legendary Jacques Anquetil became the first man to win all three Grand Tours. Since then, four more riders have equalled that feat – can you name them?
Unlike the Tour and Giro, the organisers of the Vuelta seem to have problems with the colour of jerseys. Over the years, the leader has worn orange, white, orange again, white with red stripes, yellow and gold. For the last couple of years the leader has worn the red jersey – makes you wonder what will come next.
So raise a glass of sangria – or Rioja if you prefer. Viva la Vuelta!
Lanterne Rouge
Maratona dles Dolomites
Last autumn Mike Smith somehow convinced me to enter the 25th anniversary edition of the Maratona dles Dolomites, with him and two of his friends from work. The Maratona offers three courses, 55km/1780m of climbing, 106km/3090m of climbing and 138km/4190m of climbing. Of course we entered the long course. July came round all too soon and after a little delay in the airport (5 hours) we arrived in Verona, picked up the hire car (it’s amazing how big the back of a Fiat Punto is, swallowing both bike boxes, which were kindly loaned by Bill Barrie and Nick Horder), and made our way up the autostrada to the hotel. Arriving at the hotel at midnight we were met by the other two members of our group, Fabrizio (who had organized the hotel and entries and acted as translator for the weekend) and Ian, who helped us get the bike boxes up to the top floor without waking the rest of the hotel.
We woke up on the Saturday morning to blue skies, sunshine, mountains and spectacular scenery. After a good breakfast we set off on our freshly assembled bikes and cycled up the hill to pick up our numbers and the well stocked goodie bags. After a spending the day looking round the expo at expensive bits of kit, eating lunch and drinking coffee, we made our way back to the hotel. Dinner was preceded by the invitation for an aperitif in the wine cellar, not exactly the best pre event prep but we were all very restrained. The entertainment was however less so - Germanic folk songs and an accordion. All I can say it was one of the more bizarre experiences I have had before a big ride. Dinner itself was fantastic and we retired early ready for the very early (4am) start.
So the morning of the ride arrived all to soon.We had a nervous breakfast, loaded the cars and set off to the start at La Villa. The bikes were assembled and after the usual faffing around we set of for our starting pen. We were starting in the last pen near the back of the field, so had quite a long wait. Looking around I could see a sea of immaculately turned out machines and riders and lots of nervous faces. After standing around in the cool morning listening to the PA and music we started to move forward and eventually our group was set off.
I lost sight of Mike and the others almost immediately in the sea of cyclists, (we had agreed before to ride at our own pace). After a few km we passed through Corvara where the ride finishes, and it was then straight on to the first climb of the day the Passo Campolongo. With so many cyclists it was a case of picking my way up through the crowd as best I could. The crowd did prevent me from getting into a good rhythm, but my legs felt good and I seemed to be passing lots of people (always nice). Then it was on to the first descent of the day. Having closed roads certainly made descending easier, not having to worry about what’s coming up the hill, just some of the locals going down. Then it was on to the second climb of the day, the Passo Pordoi. I managed to end up on the wheel of a guy who was cutting a good route through the crowd at what was a comfortable pace. It was half way up this climb that I looked back and saw the amazing sight of cyclists taking up the road as far as they eye could see.
The third and fourth climbs of the day passed fairly easily and the field had thinned out noticeably. The crowds on the first two climbs did mean that I had kept my pace under control, stopping me pushing too hard early on. I had memories of my last euro sportive, the Marmotte, where I pushed on too early and paid for it on Alpe d’huez. After the fourth climb (Passo Gardena) we descended to Corvara then it was up the Passo Campolongo for the second time. It was great doing it again - I got in to a good rhythm (as the field had thinned out), and knowing what the climb was like really helped. After the campolongo it was a long descent and a bit of “flat” to the bottom of the main climb of the day the Giau (9.9km, 9.3% av). The descent was good fun, and on the flatter parts I managed to get into a good group. It was at this point that Mike joined with some one trying to organize a chain gang, in a group which was riding well together, just before the foot of the Giau.
Before the Giau came a small climb (2.3 km at 7.3%) to get over first, then on to the Giau. What can I say? - it’s steep, very steep at the bottom. I’m sure my Garmin said 15% at one point. I got back in to climbing mode and started working my way up the 28 hairpins to the top. Half way up the climb was some one handing out bottles of semi frozen water. By this point it was starting to get very hot, so I gladly took one. I got to the top of the Giau in good shape and was met with one of the very well stocked feed stations. I had only briefly stopped at the previous ones, but I let my self have 5mins at this one to eat some food and gather myself for the descent and the final climb of the day.
After descending the (easier) side of the Giau that the Giro climbed this year, it was soon on to the last climb of the day, the Passo Falzarego. This really is a climb of two halves, as it has a false flat for a couple of km after the initial part of the climb and then gets steeper for the rest. I reached the final feed station of the day, stopped to fill my bottle and was ready for the descent to the finish. What I didn’t realize was that the feed station wasn’t at the top, there was still two km to climb. I was a bit annoyed about this, but I just set to and got on with it. To be fair if I had just looked at route map properly, it was fairly obvious!
On the descent of the Falzarego, the field had really thinned, and I had a great time, trying to use the whole road and getting my lines right through the corners. Though Thor Hushovd’s Tour de France top speed of 68mph make my 49 mph look positively pedestrian. Once into La Villa it was through the start then onto the drag to Corvara. At this point I could feel all the days climbing in my legs but pushed on towards the finish. I hit the last km, marked by an inflatable archway complete with “flamme rouge”, and time trialled my way to the line. After crossing the line I was handed a drink and my medal, and found somewhere to sit down. Mike finished about half and hour later and we sat on the grass in the sunshine, enjoying a “recovery beer”, swapping stories about what was a great day out in the mountains. We received text messages with our times for the day and some splits. I was very happy to discover I had just nipped under 6.5 hrs for the ride, and even happier that I had finished in good shape! Mike was very happy with his time of 6:58.
Ian arrived next followed later by Fabrizio. Ian must get a special mention as he only took up cycling seriously last December, having been a runner. The Maratona was his first sportive of any kind. He finished the ride in a very respectable 8 hours, but might have been a bit quicker if he hadn’t stopped to take good advantage of the delights of every feed station.
The Maratona is a fantastic event, the route is specatular, the climbs tough, the organization was great and the Italians enthusiastic about their cycling. I think Mike and I would recommend it over the other sportives we have done.
Peter Watson
My thanks to Tony Hutton, Peter Riley and Peter Watson for their contributions and
please only feed me easy questions about the Spanish Civil War!
Dave Birch 18.08.11