Innholdsfortegnelse for May - June 2016 i Bicycling South Africa

“Maybe cricketers are just lazier... LOTS OF FORMER TOP RUGBY PLAYERS HAVE SWOPPED RUCKS FOR ROCKS, HOSPITAL PASSES FOR MOUNTAIN PASSES AND DROP-KICKS FOR DROP-OFFS. There are enough rugby players turned mountain bikers to make a World XV – Joel Stransky, Butch James, Marius Hurter, John Smit, John Slade, Jeremy Thomson, Victor Matfield, Corné Krige, Tiaan Strauss, Chester Williams, Stefan Terblanche, Robbie Kempson, Breyton Paulse… even ex-Welsh skipper Colin Charvis has found himself on the Absa Cape Epic start line three years in a row. However, the only former cricketer to have a Cape Epic finisher’s T-shirt in his cupboard is Allan Dawson. And then came Gary Kirsten. South Africa’s former opening batsman took part in his debut Absa Cape Epic this year. I waited on the finish line on…

We live in a data-hungry society, and cycling is one of the most data-rich sports around. French pedal-maker LOOK entered the power-pedal market back in 2011, partnering with Polar – a household name, when it comes to heart-rate monitors and cycling computers – to create the Polar LOOK Keo Power Pedals, which transmit data wirelessly over a secure Bluetooth Smart signal. We’d opt to pair the Keo Power Pedals with the GPS-enabled Polar V650, as it’s ideal for capturing all your ride metrics and power data. The V650 also links directly to Strava, and to Polar’s online platform, Polar Flow. POLAR LOOK KEO POWER PEDALS // R26 999 // POLAR.COM/ZA…

As in: ‘PUT DOWN THE HAMMER’: This is when a rider (or bunch of riders) in a group start driving the pace up front. In professional races, teams will often ‘put down the hammer’ in a crosswind, in an effort so split the peloton and create an advantage. In social rides this is often a misguided attempt to assert strength, and often leads to ‘being dropped’ shortly afterwards. Mechanics may use the phrase to dissuade a colleague from damaging a bike when more subtle methods of replacing internal cabling prove fruitless.…

TAKE TIME TO ADDRESS STRESS / Fitting riding into your schedule leaves less time to deal with other responsibilities. Mental performance consultant Danelle Kabush says she often sees clients stressed from this imbalance. Take this exercise-free week to focus on other areas of your life you may have let slip. CATCH UP ON SLEEP / One study shows that if you’re consistently sleeping only six hours a night, you’re functioning as poorly as someone who hasn’t slept for two consecutive nights. So if you exercise for an hour each day, shift that hour to give you another in bed, and note the difference it makes to your mental performance. Identify ways to keep that extra hour’s sleep once you start training again. GET STRONGER / Weightlifters have a saying: ‘You…

A recent study published by Professor Daniel West’s group at the University of Northumbria investigated hypoglycaemia in Type 1 diabetics on days that they exercised. They compared standard dosing to a dosing 20% lower for the basal insulin dose (long-acting insulin). They used two groups: the Intervention group, and the Control group. Both performed a 45-minute treadmill run an hour after eating a carbohydrate meal, but the Intervention group took 75% of their normal post-meal fast-acting insulin dose. The evening meal was then followed by a 50% lower insulin dose, for both groups. The Intervention group did not experience hypoglycaemia (low blood-sugar concentrations) or hyperglycaemia (high blood-sugar concentrations), while 90% of the Control group experienced hypoglycaemia. This study illustrates how effectively exercise alters blood glucose control, and how important it…

CROSS TRAIN If all you do is ride the bike, then you’re missing out on maximising your ability and cycling enjoyment. For many, a well constructed and executed off-bike training programme can transform their cycling. In season, two sessions per week should be off-bike conditioning; off-season, you should do four days a week. And weight training is one way to boost endurance and power output. INDOOR CYCLING While cycling is all about getting out, between time and weather constraints this can be difficult to maintain. Training indoors can be an effective and time-efficient alternative. Indoor sessions provide high-quality training, and the convenience allows a high training frequency. There are never any weather issues to worry about, so it’s easy to stick to routine. If the weekend provides the only near-certain…

1 FAFFING BY GUY ANDREWS WHEN I STARTED CYCLING, A ride was simple. You couldn’t be late, because they’d be gone. We’d grunt “hello”, and little to nothing was said for the next five hours. Never mind thresholds and power-meter efforts, we’d ride each other into the ground. If you survived, you’d be better for it. Although, as a result, you had few friends, and even less to say to the ones you had. Fortunately, times have changed. It’s 9.20am and I’m still in pyjamas, eating porridge and writing emails. There’s a commentary in my head: I need 10 minutes to get to the café, it’ll take at least that to get dressed, there might be an extra toilet break, perhaps I forgot to lube my chain, but I did…

PART OF THE FAMILY Although I wasn’t (and am still not) a member of the Cycle Lab club in the East Rand, they always made me feel welcome to join their club rides. If it wasn’t for them and the other mountain bikers in the area, inviting me on rides and waiting for me as I slowly got quicker, I don’t think I would be this enthusiastic about cycling. Now, whenever I see riders on their own in the area, I invite them to join our group rides. Our social group gets an additional rider regularly – and we always hang back for the slower guys, as I was that guy a year ago. – ROWAN SCHOEMAN GUGU ZULU, 38 RALLY DRIVER, CASUAL MOUNTAIN BIKER, AND EPIC FINISHER – AND…

CHANGING GAMES I grew up playing soccer but discovered I needed something more challenging to do with my life. I needed to work hard for myself and do something that could change my life for the better in the process. This is when I tried cycling – and fell in love with it. A few months after I started, I met Christoph Sauser through the Songo.info charity project. He took me under his wing and changed my perspective of the sport. Now I race as an elite, and had the privelege of racing the 2016 Absa Cape Epic with Christoph. SIPHO MADOLO, 25 / PRO MTB RACER FOR SONGO.INFO /…

30 TO 60 GRAMS OF CARBOHYDRATES YOU NEED PER HOUR ON THE BIKE 20 TO 25 GRAMS OF CARBOHYDRATES IN MOST ENERGY GELS + H2O ALWAYS DRINK 250 TO 500ML OF PLAIN OR ELECTROLYTE-ENHANCED WATER WITH A GEL. THIS DILUTESTHECARBCONCENTRATION TO A LEVEL THAT YOUR BODY CAN ABSORB WITHOUT CAUSING BELLYWOES. LABEL CHECK Look for gels that contain multiple carbohydrate sources, such as fructose, maltodextrin, and organic dried cane syrup. The variety of carbs delivers energy at different rates, leading to fewer blood-sugar spikes and GI issues. DIY ENERGY GEL THIS HOMEMADE GEL HAS ONLY 500KJ AND 30 GRAMS OF CARBOHYDRATES PER 30G SERVING, AND COSTS ABOUT R8 PER SERVING. YIELDS 14 SERVINGS. 1/2 C AGAVE SYRUP 3/4 C BROWN RICE SYRUP 1/2 C HONEY 1/2 TSP FINE-GRAINED SEA SALT…

“As available training hours shrink, quality becomes more important...” ‘Train smart, not hard’ has become a common catchphrase in athletic circles – but how do you do it? Well, training smart is about scrutinising your training and broadening your scope. Here are a few methods to make your training smarter and more effective – and boost your performance. PLAN // Look at the year ahead, and be specific about your goals and when you want to reach them. They need to be realistic, but hard enough to stretch you. Set your goals around improving your weaknesses; first by identifying them – for example, endurance, speed endurance, strength, body weight, time management – and then by incorporating training and lifestyle adjustments to improve these areas. BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS // Find experts…

WIMPIE VAN DER MERWE AGE: 59 FAMOUS FOR: HOLDING THE RECORD FOR THE CAPE TOWN CYCLE TOUR’S FASTEST TIME, MULTIPLE CYCLING WORLD RECORD-BREAKER, AND EIGHT-TIME WORLD CHAMPION. You broke quite a few records in the early 1990s – what motivated you? When South Africa was still in isolation during the 80s we had to compete either through the Rapport Toer, or race oversees illegally. But after isolation was lifted, in the early 1990s, the selectors said that they weren’t going to select the old riders anymore; instead they would develop younger riders. I was in my prime when this happened, in my opinion, and I wanted to find a way to compete against the world’s best riders. So I decided I would go after world records. How successful were you…

THE INSIDE-OUT RIDE Taking its name from a 9km climb on the 75km route nicknamed ‘The Monster’, this race has all the ingredients of a classic MTB race. The route is technical but scenic, giving riders enough room to test themselves while still enjoying the views. The shorter routes are aimed at beginners, and come minus the title attraction, but still promise a fun time on the bike. This race has developed quite a reputation over the years, and it’s become a bucket-list event. So go and tick it off.…

“You can put aside the stresses of work and life and focus on the rise and fall of your breathing. SOMETIMES THE BEST PART OF THE RIDE IS THE MOMENT YOU ROLL OUT THE DOOR: the air of expectation, the nervousness for what the ride will bring, and the tell-tale signs that show how you’re feeling. The first few moments are nervous and exciting all at once. If I’m riding with others, I wonder how everyone else is feeling, and whether today I’ll be the hammer or the nail. There is joy in blocking off that time. In knowing that for the next few hours, your time is yours alone. You can put aside the stresses of work and life and focus on the rise and fall of your breathing,…

IS THERE A ‘CURSE OF THE RAINBOW JERSEY’? If you ask current women’s world champion Lizzie Armitstead of Great Britain, who opened her first season as world champion in dominant form with back-to-back wins in the women’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Strade Bianche, and then another in the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, then there’s no such thing as the ‘Curse of the Rainbow Jersey’. However, bad luck associated with the Rainbow Jersey is not to be taken lightly. Men’s world champion Peter Sagan had a less-than stellar start to the season – he scored a number of top-10 finishes, but no wins, after becoming world champ. But he picked up his first victory six months later, at Belgium’s Ghent-Wevelgem in March and then won the Tour of Flanders. Perhaps the Rainbow…

WINNING TIP SECRET STASH Remove the handlebar plug at the end of your road bike handlebar and place a rolled-up R100 note inside. This can be a lifesaver if you’ve forgotten to bring cash and need to pay for an emergency tube, or a cappuccino. – Michael Elliott, via e-mail See Through If you’re going to be riding in the rain, clean your sunglasses with Wynn’s C Thru. It makes the rain just blow off the lenses – and means you can clean them by just rinsing off. – Ian Milne Cash is King If you slice your tyre wall, don’t just put in a new tube, it will pop out and puncture again. Instead put a R10 note into the tyre, covering the sliced area. then insert new tube…

Q /A When should a paceline ride two abreast, and when should you single up? Always ride in single file. While it has been (and still is) common practice among cyclists in SA to ride abreast when it’s safe to do so on our roads, it’s actually against the National Road Traffic Act. According to Advocate Johan Jonck from Arrive Alive, section 0.2 of regulation 311 in the Act, which deals specifically with laws pertaining to cyclists, states that: “Persons riding pedal cycles on a public road shall ride in single file except in the course of overtaking another pedal cycle.” So you may not ride two abreast in a paceline, or you risk being fined. It’s also worth noting that if you’re in the Western Cape, where the ‘1-metre’…

When we think about fatigue we usually attribute it to overtraining. But exercise is not the only thing that can cause fatigue – there’s sleep quantity, sleep quality, diet, alcohol, hydration, and work stress. It’s important to take these factors into account when taking a rest day. If these are the reasons for your tiredness and are not addressed, rest days will be futile – you’ll simply end up adding to your fatigue.…

You attempted the Hour Record, but never broke it. How did you train for iiand what happened? In 1994, I was approached to attempt the hour record on a Lotus Aero Bicycle. Graeme Obree held the record at the time. Because we didn’t have a track back then, we did our training in a lab setting. We had to base our training on producing enough power to ride faster than 53km/h. We calculated that we needed to do 425 watts for 60 minutes to break the record. I could do it at a steady heart rate. Just before the attempt, the UCI examined the bike and told us that it didn’t meet their criteria. Because of this I had to saw 5cm off the saddle, leaving me with just 2cm…

Back in 1992, Wimpie van der Merwe was part of ‘Project Synthesis’, an ambitious plan to break many existing cycling world records, which involved input from a host of experts – from aerodynamic engineers to dieticians from the Sports Science Institute of SA. While he has used many types of bikes over a career that started in 1977 (and hasn’t ended yet), Van der Merwe set the CT Cycle Tour record in 1993 on the featured recumbent, completing the then-105km route in a time of 2:16:40, at an average speed of 46.1km/h – an average speed that remains unbeaten to this day. In 1993 Wimpie could push 425 watts for over an hour, and was at the peak of his career. CONTACT: WIMPIE@IMPACTSOLUTIONS.CO.ZA SHIFT HAPPENS Drive was achieved at…