Plans for the summer - 10 cycling goals
10 Cycling Goals for This Summer
We’re heading into the height of the summer; school holidays are upon us, the sun should be shining, we’re already on a hosepipe bang, waterlogged pot-holes are a distant memory (they’re still there, but at least you can see them now) and the misty mornings and long warm evenings stretch our days to allow even the most ardent office worker the time to go out and play after hours. Ok, the school holidays are almost done, but in Cornwall we know that means the best of the weather is still to come; the sun and the surf always pick up once the tourists go home.
So, what to do with this newfound sunny freedom.
1. Find somewhere new.
It's easy to stick to familiar roads and trails, but some of the best rides begin when you venture somewhere new. Whether it's a quiet country lane, a local trail network or a route recommended by fellow riders, exploring new places can make every ride feel like an adventure. I’m never lost on a bike, I might not know where I am, but I’m not lost, just exploring.
Ask at your local cycling café or bike shop, watch where other people ride (ok, maybe that’s a bit weird), use the Apps to find heatmaps, go old-school and pick up a map and find new roads or hunt out disused bridleways. Go mad and go foreign – really shake your ride routine up. If you keep things new, you keep things interesting, and you keep yourself motivated – no more looking for your ’why’, more looking for your ‘where next’.
2. Complete your longest ride yet
My coach set me this one as a summer task last year, and I’ve got plenty of friends who use the summer season to build their miles steadily with the plan for one last push to a new distance milestone. Don’t get overambitious (unless you’re willing to really train for it), going from couch to 500k isn’t achievable in a summer, but just pushing past your normal boundaries is, and the summer is an ideal time to build bike confidence and fitness, and push yourself.
As I learnt from mine (Truro to Exeter), plan your nutrition and hydration. I rode solo, and kept off the busy roads, but that also kept me away from shops and cafes and there are only so many jelly babies you can cram in a jersey pocket.
3. Plan an all day, or multi day ride
As I ride around, I see a wide variety of cyclists with very different ambitions for the day. Me, I’m generally out training, others are just enjoying a spin in the sun, and then there are those who are clearly out for the day, or the week. If you are thinking about Point 2, then you can plan a day ride with little more than you take for an hour, all you need is the ambition to go long, and a route that takes in a few cafes so you don’t have to pack a small feast into a jersey pocket. A multi day ride takes more planning, if only so you don’t cover the same ground twice. If you’re going feral then you’re going to need a lot of kit, if you’re planning on being more civilised, then all you need is a hotel booking and a change of clothes for the bar. Please consider the last point carefully; nobody wants to be eating their evening meal looking up at ‘a man of a certain age’ in baggy, sweaty Lycra downing a well-deserved IPA.
There a plenty of these routes available now, ready-made and well tested. Research your area and get out there. West Kernow Way, and more.
4. Watch a Sunrise or Sunset from the saddle
Right, boring stuff first, be careful and stay safe. Riding to a sunrise or sunset means you’re probably riding in poor light. Lights, high viz, or go offroad. Nobody wants to watch a sunrise from the back of an ambulance. You know your area, you know which hill tops, cliff tops, café stops and lake spots give the most spectacular views so head there, relax and enjoy the natural world for a few minutes before reality comes crashing back in with the toot of a car horn.
The cooler temperatures can also make longer rides more comfortable during warmer months, so if you are feeling the heat of ‘daytime’ training, get it done at dawn or dusk.
5. Join a local group ride
Group rides are great. Firstly, they help with point 1; other people know other routes, and you know spots they don’t. Share and be happy. They’re also great for learning group ride skills and gaining experience. They’re sociable; I like to ride solo, but I also like to talk utter rubbish with likeminded individuals while the scenery changes. Your local bike shop or café will be either running one or will know where you can find a club or group that do.
-Tuesday night, Bike Chain Ricci, Mount Ambrose 6pm (gratuitous plug),
6. Try a Different Type of Riding
In the Autumn and Winter I race Cyclocross, in the New Year I transition to MTB XC and race through to the next Autumn, and that’s about it. I ride my CX bike on the road in the summer, unless it’s broken, then I ride my MTB on the road. That’s not very diverse, there is a whole world of possibilities out there; road, TT, crit, gravel, adventure (???), unicycle, track, fat bike (probably thin bike), tandem and if you’re really up for a trip to the emergency ward, a Penny Farthing.
Try something new, see what’s out there, maybe you’ll like it, maybe you’re the next Olympic medallist. Team rider Lucy gave MTB XC a go this season and is now a regular podium visitor.
7. Mid-Season Bike TLC
This one was given to me by somebody I ride with, and probably because they hadn’t. Summer quickly builds the miles, tyres wear on the warm tarmac, speeds are faster now you’re not fighting a headwind, and your brakes wear quickly screaming down those Alpine descents. Bearings go; a summer’s worth of crank turns and wheel revolutions take their toll.
Service it yourself if you have the time and the tools, or get it checked over by your local bike shop.
Saint Piran have a great team of mechanics led by a World Tour level tech Mike Jenner. Book a service.
8. Turn every ride into a destination ride, or at least give it a purpose
6am interval sessions are never going to be about the destination, unless the ‘pain-cave’ counts! Plenty of your other rides can be though. Don’t think loop, home is the destination, think ‘there and back again’. I don’t mean a straight out-and-back, I mean have a destination part way round. Make the coffee shop, or a viewpoint or a hilltop a mini mid-way target.
And if there isn’t a physical destination, remember the purpose of training isn’t to suffer and get it done as easily as your coach, or self-commitment will allow, it’s also part of a journey – a faster you is the destination. And no ride should be without purpose, even if the purpose is to just drift and enjoy it.
9. Head for the hills
This one isn’t so easy in Cornwall, no epic climbs, or there are, but they are brutally steep and mercifully short! But Dartmoor is just over the border and there are plenty there. You’ll have a bucket list in your head of local test pieces or, more fun, legendary foreign climbs you’ve seen the pro Peloton fight up. Use the summer to head out and get some of them ticked off. In Spain, start early to avoid the worst of the heat, in the Alps, ride one side of the valley in the morning, the other in the afternoon so you stay in the shade.
10. Share a ride with friends or family
A lot of us will do the bulk of our riding solo, just because it’s easier to organise or fits our busy schedule more easily, but riding is, or can be a social activity, if only so you all suffer the climbs together. Take your friends out, and even riding with your family can be tolerable and rewarding if you’re desperate for company (you might need to establish some ground rules first).