When attempting to increase physical performance, you only get fitter / faster / stronger when you push your body out of its comfort zone and force it to overcompensate. Repeated small cycles like this are what bring the big gains over the course of a season. But what about technical riding? I would argue that […]
The best training and riding tunes
This is part three of three of a small series on music and riding. Parts one and two are here. I mentioned some favourite riding tunes in a diary update, so I thought it was about time to update that. Luckily we’re never forced to stick to just 10 tracks when riding. But with a nod to […]
The effect of music on athletic performance
This is part two of three of a small series on music and riding. Here’s Part One, in case you missed it. My own, highly subjective and anecdotal, experience is that music definitely helps me train. But I was interested to know what the science behind this might be, partly triggered by an excellent article from […]
Riding with music
Do you or don’t you? Along with helmets, Campag /Shimano / SRAM, and what do you think of Lance [oh, hold on, we seem to have resolved that one…], the question of whether to ride with music or not always has the ability to divide opinion. Even such luminaries as Bradley Wiggins have expressed their views. […]
Losing the mojo
Mojo, confidence, groove, the zone, call it what you will – I’ve lost it. And it’s proving pretty hard to find again. Can anyone help? At the end of March 2013, I broke my hip in the closing kilometres of the ABSA Cape Epic. At the time it seemed like a hard fall but nothing […]
Sauser and Ariane Kleinhans take the 2013 O-Tour
The first weekend in September saw not one, but two rounds of the UCI marathon series – the Val di Fassa Bike and the O-Tour Bike Marathon; and it was the latter which both world champion Christoph Sauser and team Subaru-MarathonMTB.com chose to attend. It’s an 88km, 3,000m climbing race, taking in two loops out […]
First race back – keeping calm at the Garmin Bike Marathon
My 2013 marathon season was supposed to be great – the http://marathonm.wpengine.com/2013/04/08/reviewing-the-2013-absa-cape-epic/ followed by the http://marathonm.wpengine.com/2011/06/18/the-absa-cape-epic-vs-the-craft-bike-transalp-powered-by-nissan/ plus a whole lot of European marathon races, with no doubt some UK road racing thrown in for good measure. As it was, that all came grinding to a halt in the final kilometer of the Epic, with a broken hip, thanks to […]
Return to the O-Tour
The O-Tour The O-Tour takes place from a village called Alpnach, a little way outside Lucerne in German-speaking Switzerland. It’s a pretty straightforward-looking course profile – big climb, descent, bit of flat, another climb, into the finish. And there is no messing about at the start – the climb ramps up pretty much straight out […]
Altitude training for marathon racing
I didn’t know it at the time, but I broke my hip on the final day of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic, one kilometre from the finish in Lourensford. Needless to say, that has resulted in my 2013 season being rather different than planned. Far from coming off the Epic to start a brilliant European season […]
How to taper for big races
It’s one of the great mysteries of training and racing: how to turn up on race day with the perfect blend of enough of the right kind of training in the legs, but also enough freshness to be absolutely pinging? Disclaimer first – I’m not going to attempt too much sports science. My history degree […]