Coach Carter

This week, there will be many cyclists around the country going through their final preparation for this weekend's National time trialling championships - around 400 people in fact. Even more athletes will be racing across mountain biking, road racing, triathlon and other competitive events. Athletes have spent hours getting ready for their sporting challenges; a lot of money has been spent; and undoubtedly the biggest investment is emotionally. It begs the question - why do we do it?

Sport is strongly interwoven with our culture in the UK: in schools we use it to teach morals, values and ethics. In adults we use it for escapism, a release from the pressures of working life. For many, the pursuit of athletic excellence and skill mastery becomes our purpose in life: sometimes to the extent we forget that we choose to do it, and that its a fun hobby! Ultimately, people that choose sport are wanting a challenge: to see what their bodies can do - see how fast they can get, see how high up the rankings they can climb. Having been an athlete, I can understand the motivations for competitive sport.

One facet of my sport of cycling always seemed a little curious - the world of cyclosportives. Indeed, the upsurge in the popularity of this discipline has led to serious criticism of the magazines servicing the cyclists in the UK - too much page coverage given over to 'overweight men with hairy legs' spending all day riding 50 miles at the expense of 'serious racing' (or, men with shaved legs wearing lycra). Yes, there IS a challenge of riding long - completion of the route becomes the goal. When I finished racing, I did ponder if this might be the way I kept riding my bike: taking on the classic cyclosportive rides in France and Italy - at the time, I thought it would still be about riding the routes as quickly as I can: after all, that was the challenge that resonated with me.

However, recently I have started to understand more about this 'new world'. Having decided to enter the London to Paris this year, I have been taking part in a few sportive events - as a way of training. This past weekend I rode the Castle 100 event in Kent, keeping my athlete Craig company (for company read 'super domestique', even down to pacing up climbs and bottle carrier!). Craig is in training for the Leadville 100 in August - and while that is 100 miles off road, we have set some intermediate milestones - riding 100 mile sportives is part of that plan. Last year, Craig rode the Castle 100 in around 7 hours 45 minutes - this year we were able to knock off over 40 minutes, despite Craig still nursing his injured wrist and the shocking road conditions. It was fun riding with Craig, and also very satisfying helping him overcome one of his goal events in such a fine way. We even helped his belief in hill climbing - the way he was spinning up Holybourne hill was a sight to see!

How did I fare? Seven hours in the saddle was not easy - I was riding at an intensity within myself, but over time, I realised that was a demand in itself. The main challenge came mentally - the first 56 miles were fine (up until the lunch stop), but the second part of the race was a test of endurance - mental not physical. I found myself playing games to break up the distance "I can have a gel when we reach 70 miles". This wasn't my way of rationing fuel supplies (!) but more a way to break down the total distance into smaller chunks. I think the most inspiring 'bargaining' I did was calling out to Craig in the final 15 miles (whilst climbing another hill!) "I'll buy you a mocha after this"!!!

I also used the ride (103.5 miles actually) to test out a fuelling strategy for London to Paris next month. Before I set off, I aimed for:

• 1 x 750ml bottle per hour , containing 40g of SIS 'Go' energy drink
• 1 x SIS 'Go' carbohydrate gel every other hour
• 1 x SIS 'Go' energy bar every other hour (alternating with the gel)

Based on a 6h 30 ride time, I was therefore aiming to take in ~60g carbohydrate an hour (the typical rate of optimal carbohydrate absorption): or with my diet above, a total of ~1800kcal. Sounds a lot? Well, if you consider 6.5 hours of riding (at ~140W) would require me to use over 3 times that calorie intake, you can see how easily it is to come back in deficit. It makes post ride feeding strategy essential when you need to repeat this effort on subsequent days (as I will for London to Paris). So, even if the intensity isn't demanding, fuelling adequately is. I have't ridden many century rides, so gaining this experience was very important to me: especially as I have not eaten ~1800kcal in carbohydrate energy products very often. I soon understood why Ironman athletes crave savoury food during their races.

Fuelling requirements over this distance is hard - and its one thing Craig needs to practice ready for Leadville. I managed to stay away from the lunchtime buffet at the feed station - I was appalled at what some people were eating in the middle of the event: 2 miles up the road I saw one poor guy looking like he was having a heart attack, crouched over his top tube - indigestion! I even made sure I could stomach more nutritional product, taking on 70g of SIS Rego protein recovery drink.....don't worry, it was at least 30 minutes later I drank the above mentioned coffee, can't slow down whey protein / carb absorption rates with all that casein protein can we?

Yesterday, I was explaining my adventure to Hannah, the fitness editor of one of those maligned cycling magazines I mention above. I told her how I felt 'peeking over the fence' and visiting this new world. I told her how I completely understood why these events are gaining in popularity. Standing in the grounds of Tonbridge Castle after the ride, I was impressed how many people had completed the challenge: all walks of life, all ages, men / women, all shapes and sizes, some on £5000 road bikes, others on mountain bikes (or even shopper bikes complete with basket - no word of a lie!). Why do some people criticise this? Sure, I witnessed some absolutely shocking bike handling, some appalling eating habits, and some curious 'pacing' up and down hills BUT, our sport is massively popular right now - the more people we get on their bikes, the better. You never know, it might make more motorists turn to their bikes - good not only for the environment but also our safety on the roads as two wheel warriors.

I am pleased to have experienced this weekend, on many levels. My body and mind felt tired all day Monday - even in my yoga class Monday evening, I could feel the same poses taking more out of me mentally and physcially - you know that awful feeling when you just know you are on the end of a cramp? ouch! I would even say I am now looking forward to riding the 330 miles from London to Paris.