Cyclingnews Fitness Q&A - August 11, 2010

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Cancellara in the break royale, but cramps in the end prevented him from taking a second victory(Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

I think there are multiple causes and combinations of causes. A seat that is too high will cause the rider to slide forward and so move closer to the pedals. A seat that is too far forward destabilises the rider in the sense that they have to use increased upper body effort to maintain a solid platform from which to push the pedals than if they were sitting further rearward. This causes the rider to shorten up and push their spines further into flexion than might occur on their road bike.

Sometimes I'll also have a quarter of one of these Gateau Sport (sports cakes, from Overstims). I always carry two 500ml water bottles - both with energy carb drinks (Hi5 or Isostar Endurance) - and whenever I refill the water, I always add a sachet of the same powder. I rarely stop at feed stations and can't eat bananas! Last time I took energy gels I almost vomited - but that was ages ago, so maybe I could try to get back into them?

However, when blood flow is redistributed during exercise, the gut, liver, and kidneys experience a dramatic reduction in blood flow. For example, at rest, the gastrointestinal tract accounts for 25-30 percent of blood volume, during moderate and strenuous activity, blood flow to the gut is reduced to 1-3 percent of the total. A consequence of the reduced blood flow is decreased delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the intestines, which results in ischemic injury, increased permeability of the gut to bacteria, and inflammation.

Another possible cause of your symptoms is loss of sodium during the course of the 5-6 hour cyclosportives. The recommended sodium intake during exercise is 500-700 mg per hour, as this is the range of maximal sodium absorption from the intestine. However, it is possible that you may be losing sodium at a faster rate than this, depending on your sweat rate and the concentration of sodium in your sweat.

Obviously, you want to select foods that are low in fat and fibre and that are easy to digest. In addition, consuming small amount more frequently would be preferable to consuming a larger volume all at once. You might try carrying a salty snack food with you (e.g., crackers, pretzels) and see if that helps. Remember, you'll want to test out these modifications in a long-training ride, rather than during a race.

While increasing wattage at the same heart rate sounds good, and using more of the pedal stroke sounds good, there is a catch. There is definitely extra power available to those who work on their pedal stroke, but some things you can do with your pedal stroke you can train to be able to do in a sustainable way on a long ride, and some will only be good for short bursts, no matter how much you train them.

So, to answer your question, yes, working on starting the down stroke with forward push and ending it with a bit of pull back is a good goal. If you find it particularly challenging though, it's time to look at bike fit since a good pedal stroke usually comes pretty naturally once the bike fit is good. You also mentioned being a big gear rider. If that means you are routinely racing under 90 rpm, learning to spin will make you a much more competitive racer.

1. What will make it most likely that you will actually do the training? Several studies have shown that people who exercise before work are more likely to stick to a training plan than those who plan to exercise after work. After work people may be tired, or maybe other tasks are attracting attention or demanding time. Still, many people manage to train after work, so this is really an individual thing.

Several years ago the woman who is now my wife rode the Death Ride. She never trained more than four days per week with three of those being about an hour, skipped many weekend rides entirely, never trained over 80 miles (130km) in one ride, and never rode big mountains in training. She finished all five passes by keeping her heart rate strictly under a limit we had figured out would let her keep going, and by making generous use of low gears. The next day, she was full of energy again.

So, if your goal is really to ride the Tourmalet non-stop, the main thing is to practice riding a controlled pace including when you ride up hills. The best way to do that would be to use a heart rate monitor or power meter to measure and control your effort and experiment to find a heart rate or wattage you can sustain for the length of time you expect to climb. Keeping the heart rate below 80 percent of max is a good first guess if you don't have any other information about your own ability to go on.

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Carrie Cheadle, MA (www.carriecheadle.com) is a Sports Psychology consultant who has dedicated her career to helping athletes of all ages and abilities perform to their potential. Carrie specialises in working with cyclists, in disciplines ranging from track racing to mountain biking. She holds a bachelors degree in Psychology from Sonoma State University as well as a masters degree in Sport Psychology from John F. Kennedy University.