V-CLUB TRAINING CORNER
We’ve teamed up with Marilyn Trout, certified USA Cycling Elite Coach to answer V-Club members’ training questions. You can view her coach profile at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mountainpedalscoaching80903
Send your cycling inquiries to Marilyn, and for a limited time, if yours is selected to be answered in our V-Club column, VeloWear will send you a $20 gift certificate that can be used towards any purchase on VeloWear.com. To submit your inquiry, e-mail her at trout_mic@msn.com, and type “V-Club Training Question” in the subject line of the e-mail.
Getting Back in the Saddle
by Marilyn Trout
There is something every competitive cyclist has to battle through at some point. It's the big "C" word... crashing. However, there is a bigger "C" word, CONFIDENCE. The question now is, how can we get confidence back and ride without "our knees knocking."
Here's a few things to focus on:
- Confidence by osmosis - There is absolutely no better way to get more confidence than by sitting on a good, steady wheel. Someone who knows where to be before, during and after the corners, knows how to take them at speed and stays out of trouble. Find a strong criterium rider that may want to spend some training time with you. Have them take you through corners at speed so you can get the feeling of the correct line and being "glued" to a wheel.
- Starting position - This cannot be compromised especially in a criterium. The body must experience in the warm-up what you are about to ask of it in the race. Then you NEED to be on the front line and be able to be one of the top 5 into the first corner. Believe me, it is the goal of the good riders to break up the pack as soon as possible and they will keep a blistering pace right from the gun. Don't worry about results; take the race one lap at a time. Maybe for the next few races, concentrate on finding that steady wheel and riding in the top 5. If you only last half of the race because the pace has been wicked...so be it. Your goal is to stay clear of trouble, which you will certainly find near the back.
- Mental Training - "The body will only do what the mind allows it to do." For sure you need to do things that make you physically strong and fast (good training program for crits), you need to sharpen your technical skills (seeing how a good rider takes the corners...), you need to know how to tactically approach the race (reading the race) but to put it all together and ride outside your "mental box", you need to be able to attack those negative thoughts and be able to replace them immediately with positive, focused thoughts. That will take a lot of training time, actually your whole career. A very good book that I'd recommend is "The New Toughness Training for Sports" by James Loehr. I've read many mental training books but this is a must. (You can get a good used copy on Amazon.)
Focusing on these fundamental points certainly aren't limited to getting over the fear of crashing. In fact, if you incorporate these throughout your cycling career, you'll be in for a good ride.
"Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step." - Oswald Chambers
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