To embark on the road to Struggle readiness, pick from our top New Year’s resolutions for cyclists and harness your willpower into becoming stronger, fitter and faster.
1. Cycle Your Journeys
Whether it's riding to work, spinning to the shop or sprinting to the gym; cycling short journeys can help up your milage or count as a recovery spin between training sessions. It can also save time and money parking the car. More importantly, cycling will help reduce your carbon footprint and help towards a greener future for your children.
2. Shun Sugar
Cutting out sugar is a great resolution for a Struggle rider looking to lean up. But nowadays it’s much harder than simply cutting out chocolate and enduring a dry January.
High levels of sugar are hidden in the most unlikely of supermarket foods. The easiest way to reduce your sugar intake is by eating clean; by that we mean cooking from fresh ingredients. Also try replacing sugary snacks with good fats likes nuts and lean protein like boiled eggs to keep you fuller for longer, regulate blood sugars and stop you reaching for the leftover Quality Streets.
What’s more, it’s proven that cyclists with a low-sugar diet benefit from a bigger kick when they down that emergency energy gel. Perfect when you’re 90 miles into Struggle Dales and about to hit the final climb.
3. Ride with the Family
It's hard to come back from a long weekend ride to get back on your bike and ride with the kids. But encouraging the next generation to choose cycling over computer games is in your hands. So turn the telly off, pull their helmets on and head for the cycle path.
If your husband or wife fancies getting into cycling you should aim to encourage them as much as possible. Set aside time to ride with them - which is separate to your own training miles - and ride at their pace not yours.
Struggle Moors Launches 100km Route
4. Spend Less Often on Bike Stuff
Over-consumption on kit and gear won't make you a better rider. It's so easy to get caught up in the next big thing in cycling stuff. If your online browser history is filled with endless online cycling brands then this is the new year's resolution for you.
Try setting up a savings pot called 'bike stuff'. Top it up until you have enough for something you really want - like a new carbon bike or a set of lightweight wheels. These will give you an advantage on the Struggle climbs, while a new outfit won't.
5. Ditch Junk Miles
Junk miles are considered to be those brisk rides when you’re cycling too hard to call it base training but not hard enough to get the training benefits of an intensive session.
Although the weekly club ride is a great social blast on the bike, if you’re aiming to get fitter and faster for our epic Yorkshire sportive try to structure you training. Ride your hard rides HARD (intervals on the turbo or local hill reps) and your easy rides EASY!
Junk miles fatigue the body and obstruct you from maxing your power during intensive sessions. With more effective training now, you’ll feel the benefits come sportive event day.
Struggle Zwift Training Sessions
6. Train in Zone Two
While interval training is fundamental to increased sportive fitness, many cyclists overlook the training benefits of long steady state riding.
Zone two training helps to build endurance. This type of training also enhances lactate clearance to combat fatigue while riding. Another benefit of zone two training is that it teaches your body to burn fat as fuel to help you lose weight and be a more efficient sportive rider on less food.
Riding with your heart rate or power output at zone two requires a lot of discipline and commitment. If you don’t know your training zones there are ways to find out; take a simple at-home Ramp or FTP test on Zwift and use a few calculations like this test by Training Peaks.
7. Up your Mileage
If you're reluctant to stray from your habitual 60 miler or the idea of a century leaves you shaking in your winter booties, this is a perfect New Year’s resolution for you… and it’s very achievable.
Take a big red pen of ambition and draw a circle on your training calendar around 19th May. This is when you should be able to comfortably ride 100 miles.
Plot into the calendar a weekly long ride. Whether it’s two miles, five miles or 10 miles, week by week you should aim to up your milage to hit 100 before event day.
3 Tips for Training Plan Success
8. Ride More Climbs
Climbing is simply science. Power-to-weight ratio rules. However, there are other ways to climb the Strava leaderboard of your local hills or to smash Trapping Hill.
Start by hunting out hills. Stop avoiding the steep gradients and seek them out while planning your rides. Try to finish each ride with a climb - when your legs are at their tiredest. This is great stimulation for our gruelling Yorkshire sportive.
Practicing hills will not only strengthen your climbing legs but also your mind, pacing and technique. Come event day you’ll be cresting the climbs, clicking up the gears and pressing on, while your fellow riders ease off and gasp for air.
9. Get in the Gym
Health clubs across the country rub their hands together as society vows to join a gym in January. But joining a gym for the winter can be a great way to keep fit when the weather worsens.
Watt bikes, spin classes and circuits are good cardio options when there’s ice on the roads. But at the gym you’ll benefit most from a weekly structured strength and conditioning program using light weights.
There’s also plenty of body weight exercises you can do at home without joining the gym that will strengthen your legs and core for cycling.
Strength Training Plan for Cyclists >>
10. Stretch Away Injuries
On the road to readiness for Struggle Dales sportive, your biggest obstacle will be injury. To avoid the dreaded DNS (did not start) keep yourself supple and stretched after every training session.
If you are feeling especially achy and sore, spend 15 minutes stretching in front of the TV on an evening. For extra brownie points use a foam roller, book a monthly massage or join a yoga class.
11. Turn off technology
And if all this sounds like it’s sucking the enjoyment out of your beloved cycling hobby, then you’ll love New Year’s resolution number eight.
This is perfect for cyclists feeling overtrained, vulnerable to loss of mojo or becoming obsessed with live Strava segments and power meters.
Once a month, go for a ride without your cycling computer! Ride with friends or your local club, stop at a cafe, look up at the views, smash a climb, bimble at the back of the bunch, sprint for a sign and remember why you love riding a bike.
From Struggle HQ we wish everyone a happy New Year!
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