Bicycle racing for almost anyone

I know we can get fancy about training programs, but my program is clear, simple and unemcumbered with jargon.

• Ride as much as I can to get a decent base (adapting the body to cycling again)
• then build up to race speed with extra 'intensity' rides
• then race some summer crits and track.

What does this involve? I've moved from well under 100km a week over winter to a regular 100+km a week for 3 weeks at about 26kmh, followed by 3 weeks of 130km+ at 28kmh. Now I'll lift to 150 at 30kmh, then 200km/week at 30kmh or higher. Doesn't sound like much - and it isn't - but it's enough to get the heart, lungs and legs back in the swing of things. I've ridden bikes for over 30 years, so I have some adaptations that allow me to get back into it without too much effort, but if you are a newbie to cycling be aware that slow and steady progress is best. I think I saw a 5 week guide to riding the Sydney to Wollongong ride recently, where in those 5 weeks you work up to 2 x 1 and a half hour rides on the bike each week. Now that's certainly enough to get you to Wollongong, but in what state? Euphoria at the achievement coupled with cramping and a general feeling of physical exhaustion, I'd imagine. Far better to at least double that to 10 weeks, more if you can, and work up to steady 2-3 hour rides at around 26-28kmh. It'll still be a stretch - on that course 90km feels like 120 - but you'll do it far more comfortably.

My rule of thumb - do 3 times race (or ride) distance per week for at least a month to adapt to the effort required. Let's call Sydney to Wollongong 100km as it's mostly uphill, except that last sweet bit. So you should be doing 300km/week in order to have adapted sufficiently. Less than that will see you suffer - which is fine, we can all achieve 'stretch goals' at times - but you will have pushed a bit too far and will risk injury or crashing through inattention. Underprepared, you will also be 'crawling' those last kays when you should be enjoying them!

OK, I got sick, tried to push on but got sicker. So I stopped. I had reasonable form, was doing 200km/week and racing 50km on a weekend. N0t quite the 500km/week I'd like to do but there you go. Anyway, after about 6 months of good solid, regular kilometres I dropped back to less than 100km/week to get over the cold/flu. Of course once I did that I stopped racing. Suddenly I had no real motivation to train, so I really slacked off. 5 months and an additional 4 kg later, I'm back. I've been doing 20min sessions on the indoor trainer and the occasional 30-40km ride. So I'm back to 100-130km/week. It's spring but it feels like summer here (north of Sydney) and the crits - maybe even some track racing - beckon. I'd better get some base miles in, then lay on some intervals. So how is your training going?

I've written about Sydney's velodromes - from Surry Hills to Bass Hill - here. If you can add to the history of these tracks please post a comment.

Track or Velodrome racing involves a specialized bike: just one fixed gear (ie no freewheeling) and no brakes. Gearing from 47 to 53 teeth on the chainring, 14 to 16 teeth on the rear sprockets. A variety of events take place, from scratch races to handicaps, timetrials to pursuits. The racing is usually in the evening under lights and the tracks are short and banked, with the steepest banking reserved for the shortest tracks. These races are very fast and exceptional bike skills are needed. Read more here and again here.

The Central Coast Cycling club conducts track, road and crit races on the Central Coast of NSW, just north of Sydney. I have put some info on the club here.

I have a few bike and racing images here and more here. Take your pick.

Well I find it bizarre anyway. I don't think there's an equivalent male cyclist's site, although there are several where you can post your favourite bike photos... anyway, I stumbled over Miss Ciclismo and thought I'd share.

It happens. You can practise falling, so you get good at it (but is that self-defeating?). You can also be so careful in bunch racing that you get dropped, or never win a sprint. Or you can just keep an eye out for danger and recognise the signs. But sometimes it just happens... Ahead of me was a car about to turn right across my path. Many times have I been in this situation – will that car give way, or won’t it? Well, it did, but not before I was distracted enough to turn into the corner a bit late, sharpening the bend. I was riding my road bike, a Colnago, rather than my regular criterium bike and I completely forgot about the longer cranks and lower bottom bracket. In an instant, at bottom dead centre of the left-hand crank rotation, my pedal struck the road and levered my rear wheel into the air. The bike went up and sideways in one motion, before settling. I didn’t come off but I lost time getting my balance back and found myself heading for the median strip. Rather than turn harder to the left and try to miss it, I went over it, or tried to, anyway.

I was once a member of the Randwick Botany Cycling Club - in fact I raced there from about 1985 until 1996 or so, before moving northwards to the Central Coast Cycling Club. RBCC is a good club with a positive attitude to developing riders. Races are held on Saturdays on their dedicated crit circuit at Heffron Park in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra. It can be bumpy down the main straight and the headwind can hurt but it's a good safe circuit with some technical corners. Recommended. I have written more on my time at the RBCC here.