Preparing for a Bicycle Race

I’d  like to start this column by saying that this years’ Feast of the Sto. Niño was clearly different from the previous iterations. I first experienced it back in January of 1983 and although I had my utmost respect for the Holy Child, it didn’t go inside the crevices of my heart until last weekend.

Maybe it was because of the pandemic and Odette. Or maybe because my wife and daughter had to get up at 3AM to attend mass.

Surely, this celebration, the procession and the Mardi Gras, while it was still the same, is so different for me. I always think that Cebu has a trio of huge monthly events in close proximity- Christmas, Sinulog and Valentines. Hopefully, this will bring out the best in all of our individual hearts.

Back to what this column is all about- cycling and sports, in that order.

Training for a bicycle race is just like training for any sport- you have to set your goals first. Is it to just finish the race, aim for a podium or to win it all? I won’t bore you with the details about training since the internet is full of them.

However, if you want to reach your training goals a little quicker, then get somebody to help you. An experienced friend or coach can be a great partner to expedite your fitness.

You should also have consistency with your training. When you are single, then consistently shouldn’t be a problem, but when you have a family, a job or a business, then you have to prioritize which is important for you and then set aside time to train. The thing with bicycle racing is that there is no cheating in training. Probably in other sports, you can cheat training and eating but in cycling, you will be found out. You will have to give up some of your time for training.

With the rainy days, consistently is difficult especially if you don’t have a trainer. Better still, get a smart trainer. With trainers, you can compress your outdoor training rides into short and intense rides, but unfortunately, it’s uncomfortable and boring. That’s why some folks find it hard to train on a trainer.

Watch what you eat. In cycling, you are what you eat. It’s okay when you are still young because your metabolism will work for you but as you get to my age, metabolism is now the enemy. It’s not only watching what you are eating but also, a lesser serving is required. Always remember that cycling is all about power-to-weight-ratio, that is, if you have more than average power and your weight is low, then you can go further and faster.

My landlord when I was still in college, the late Alfredo de Jesus Sr., used to tell me that the actual game is easier than the training sessions. Ceding, as he was fondly called by his friends, was the only Cebuano player for the Philippine Football Team back in the 50’s. What we see is the ease of Matthieu van de Poel riding over the cobbles or Tadej Pogacar scale the Alps. What we don’t see is the suffering they have to endure to make it look easy for the fans on race days.

If you want an easy race, then you have to train hard for it.