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@clubman
'Pretty amazing. I'm always amazed at these 12 hr / 24 hr TT. I don't know how people do it much respect.'
This quote comes from the thread on last year's Icknield 12, and I hope what follows might give a hint at how to do it. Naturally I'm talking about racing generally, not just 12's.
I did not intend this thread to include a lot of discussion but it is clear that the concept of a racing programme needs more explanation.
Let’s say at once that this is not the only way to race, but it is a method that has been used by many successful riders.
This is the idea:
Don’t just enter the odd race at random, think of the season as a whole and pick objectives. Typical aims might be: promotion to the next category of racing licence, winning a club time trial, getting under the hour for 25 miles. The possibilities are many, the choice highly personal.
To achieve your best you will not just need the normal level of fitness you have from riding a bike, but good form also, and to achieve this you will need enough competitive riding to bring you to a peak of fitness, but not so much that you collapse into the exhaustion of overtraining. One of the most successful riders I know describes his best days with the phrase “I was really pinging”. The image is of something stretched almost, but not quite, to breaking point.
So, aside from whatever other training you do, you choose races with a view to reaching peak fitness at a particular time. It might be for just one event, or maybe for a couple of weeks – you’ll need luck to last longer than that.
Just for light relief I attach a photo of myself riding a 25. This was the peak of my form in 2001, actually more of a hillock. Sharp eyed observers may note the machine has a Sturmey Archer gear.
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