Please Help!

thepodiumgirls

hi

I'm not sure if this will be allowed but figured i'd give it a go!

Myself and my fellow podium girl are riding the London Tour Ride on September 19th; neither of us are regular cyclists but really want to do well and make loads of money. So I am trying to gather as much sposorship money and kit that we use and then auction off to make more money for The Prostate Cancer Charity.
Also as the ride is relatively small (20K) any tips on the training sessions we should be taking beforehand?
If any of you can help please go to our link below or message me on here!

http://www.prostatecancercharity.org.uk/thepodiumgirls

Many Thanks!

Angel x

finchy

20km - you probably won't even need any training for that, as long as you're reasonably fit. Just go out for some hour long bike rides, see how far you get.

Just make sure the bike's the right size for you before you start.

Special K

Either everyone's gone on holiday, or they didn't click the link above, or maybe they did and became suspicious of the story here due to the photo posted.

Either way, it seems a shame this post got so little attention compared to that Jezmo tw@t

pinno

The basics required for good pedalling:

Setup: (Like John Finch), the right size bike. Correct saddle height - go to a decent bike shop and flash your eyelashes and maybe they will help with position, saddle height etc.

Diet: 'Cos I do many miles I eat as much as I like and when I like (no junk though), in your case for 20k: don't worry too much and take an energy drink with you.

Pedalling: The most neglected and underesitmated aspect of cycling, especially amongst the non-cycling public. The French call us frogs on matchboxes because we are generally lousy at it. You could make 20k a nightmare but then you could make it so easy, you will fall in love with cycling. Here we go:

I have seen/passed many people pedalling along the road, head bobbing violently up and down and sometimes weaving in and out of the gutter.
Find a quiet park with a reasonably straight bit of path. Pedal in a gear so that you pedal quiclkly. Find an easy gear to do this on. You need a stopwatch and friend to run along side you counting. Start with trying to do 1 pedall stroke per second and work up to 12 or 15 pedal strokes per 10 seconds (70-90 strokes per min: pedalling speed in the cycling fraternity is called Cadence).
. At first the bike will be difficult to keep in a straight line and you may bounce around on top of the saddle. It will also feel as though you are pedalling like a lunatic and getting no-where as the speed of pedalling seems in no-way matches your speed. Good bike set up (and oilly chains) lends itself better to good pedalling.
Pedalling like this initially seems both crazy and ineffectual. But actually, you are less likely to suffer stiff muscles (lactic acid build up) ...and you will be moving along much faster than you think. You will find over distance, this pedalling is both easy and biologically much more cardio-vascualr efficient so you will burn more calories than churning a big ugly old gear and going red in the face.

Try to practice being in a gear which allows you to pedal at a good cadence whilst keeping total control over the bike before going out on the road.
Non-cyclists often ask "how far did you go the other day?" To which the reply is actually irrelevant because 40 mile pedalled badly is a waste of time and possibly extremely painful. Many cyclist say " I did a 4 hour ride just yesterday" Which is actually only mpressive if it was pedalled with style.
Jo public are often amazed at even a 25 mile bike ride but what they don't realise is that with a little help, cycling is actualy easy if you pedal in the right gear.
You could also find a Tunturi spin cycle at the gym - this will help you quickly and smoothly without coming off or runniing someones granny/dog combination over. (and don't listen to Gym instructors - they want you to "tone up" and "loose fat" and will not help you to pedal properly).
Hope this helps.
PS If you are going to impress people on this site, you will have to look at, at least 90 mile ride before you get much help/sponsorship. Have fun and good luck with raising funds.

Anonymous

Pm me and we can work a few rides out, hee hee, JOKE!