News and Events | Pedal Performance Coaching

January 10, 2017February 17, 2017

Sharing Information

One of the best ways to learn is to share information and so I’d like to share with you one of my go to blogs. Having worked at British Cycling and studied many of its coaching courses I came across Andrew, who was one of the most helpful coach educators, especially when it comes to sports science.

Andrew Kirkland has been a British Cycling coach educator, sports scientist at the Scottish Institute of Sport and Lecturer in sports coaching at the University of Stirling.

Here’s the start of one of his articles. If you want to read more see the link at the bottom.

Weight Management for Endurance Performance

Introduction

I always try to start my blogs with a wee story and this one is no different. You see, this topic is very personal. One that has affected my life as long as I can remember. That is weight, or body mass to be more accurate.

As a kid I was obese. Not only that, I was born ginger, had a squint eye and I had the motor ability of a starfish too. At primary school I was always getting into fights as I was an obvious target for bullies. The loser of a fight was the first one to cry. I learnt never to cry regardless of the beatings I took. Others learnt that no matter how strong or fast they were, they would never win against me.

In my late teenage years, I discovered the joys of cycling. It helped me escape home life and gave a great feeling of freedom. I’ll never forget Jed Holmyard of the Edinburgh Bike Co-op who sold me my 1st bike. The ride home from Bruntsfield to Musselburgh, a journey of about 12km, was a major achievement. On arriving home, I slept the rest of the day.

Riding the bike had an immediate effect! Weight started to drop off. I cycled further. I got thinner still and people would comment how good I looked. I lost more weight. I got faster on the bike. I got a new lighter bike. I went faster. I lost more weight. One day when out riding with my mate Davie, a girl in a group shouted “hey you…..watch you don’t fall down a drain ya skinny git”. I immediately assumed they were shouting at Davie. After all he was one of the best young climbers in the country. But she was shouting at me. It was the happiest day of my life. After a while, the improvements stopped and I started to get ill loads. This was a warning sign and luckily I heeded it and didn’t push into oblivion.

The environment people are in, either past or present has a huge influence on how they behave, and that relates to weight management too. Many athletes have the capacity to push their physical boundaries beyond what is considered to be normal. That’s what makes them stand out from the crowd but that capacity can have very serious consequences if it’s applied in the wrong direction.

In this Blog, I’ll discuss why weight management is so important within a sporting context, highlighting some of the issues that coaches and athletes should be aware of specifically related to eating disorders. Images are simply to look pretty rather than to relate to the text for obvious reasons. I used the words weight and mass interchangeably for ease of understanding.

Weight and Endurance Performance

In cycling and running there are two ways to go faster:

To become fitter and more efficient
To be lighter.

The former comes down to training effectively and consistently… (read more)

October 31, 2016February 17, 2017

Fitz Podium

Congratulations to Neil (left) on his podium finish at the 165km Fitz Classic Challenge ride over the weekend. Neil’s been training with Pedal Performance Coaching for over 18 months now and proves that determination and hard work can pay off.

Having moved with work from London to Sydney he’s been riding with Sydney Cycling Club and has many great results to his name including:

8th in the masters road race championships, NSW
3rd in club hill climb championships

October 28, 2016October 31, 2016

Creative Coaching

This is a great example of creative coaching. “The favela of Chacrinha in Rio de Janeiro is home to Brazil’s first Olympic badminton player. His father, Sebastião Dias de Oliveira, explains how he introduced badminton to the community using samba.”

October 27, 2016October 31, 2016

World Masters Athletics Championships

At the opening ceremony for the World Masters Athletics Championships this year Jackie Joyner-Kersee was quoted in saying:

“Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind”

With categories up to 90+ its great to see so many athletes here from all over the world competing. For a full listing of events and age categories please see the competition schedule.

November 23, 2015November 23, 2015

Cyclocross for Triathletes and Winter Training

If you’ve had a long season on the road and are ready for something new, why not give cyclocross or CX a go. When the weather turns and you don’t want to get your racing bike wet or dirty CX is a fantastic alternative. Cyclocross bikes are very similar to road bikes but with more powerful brakes, easier gears for riding off-road and more clearance between the frame and tyres. Build your strength, aerobic and anaerobic endurance and give your bike handling skills a boost. Learning how to perform a running dismount and remount for hurdles in a CX race will see you running past people in your triathlon transtions and gaining vital seconds.

You can pick up a used hand bike for around £500 with disc brakes or new from £800.

Not sure what Cyclocross is all about?

“Skinny tyres, mud, short, sharp off-road races, with hurdles, obstacles and intense action. That’s cyclo-cross, a form of off-road racing that predates mountain biking by decades.”

If you’re based in West London there’s some great coaching and training sessions run every Thursday evening between October and December each year. British Cycling Development Coach Mac has a real passion for the sport and is happy to coach you, whatever level you’re at.

If you’d like to know more please get in touch.

Chris

September 20, 2015March 1, 2025

AMASRA & THE NORTH TURKISH COASTLINE

Arriving at Istanbul airport, putting the bikes back together & setting off into the city on a bike was a great start to our big trip. Riding down on the coastal path on Sunday & discovering that every patch of grass was taken up with families, a reminder of Clapham Common on a sunny day but they were cooking Çay & meat on hot charcoal fires, balloons tied up in rows on string & a man standing with a rifle trying to shoot them. We caught our breaths briefly to sip cay & eat ice cream overlooking our newfound land, this was starting to feel like an adventure already & we hadn’t even made it to the hostel.

Wind forward about a week & after 2 days of riding on main highways we finally find ourselves some space & country lanes. We breath a sign of relief as we settle into our new ways, drinking cay in the shade, eating ice cream, purifying water with our Steripen & riding between villages, some pretty & some not so much & trying not to get too much bitumen on the tyres from the melting roads. We’d rely on petrol stations for food, water, Çay & on one occasion so far, a place to sleep but things were about to change as we entered the back country. One thing never changes though, there always seems to be men in the shade conducting what Anna likes to call ‘secret men’s business’, while the women are working hard in the fields picking potatoes, taking cows for a walk, shifting heavy loads & all fully clothed head to toe & in the heat of the day.

After much deliberation & a wealth of options from the hand built beautiful bikes of Chaz Roberts & his 5 month waiting list to British designed but Taiwan built Thorn bikes in Somerset, we settled on American Surly Trolls. These bikes appeal to our youthful side that thinks ‘proper touring bikes’ are for older people, whereas mountain bikes are more fun & have the added benefit of going anywhere! For Anna, the Surly’s personality really comes through when you’re trying to park it & the added 20kg luggage takes hold.

Not knowing what’s coming up next adds an air of excitement to the day but I’m not sure if Anna & I would have set off from Amasra at 8am in 30degC heat had we known what we were about to confront. The first 16% climb straight out of the town was brutal but then as we descended almost back to sea level & back up again, a gentle ride along the coast felt like a hard hill rep training session. At one stage a man who later introduced himself as Ben, called us into his cafe & we sat under the shade of vines while he plied us with a typical Turkish mixture of bread, grapes, onion & tomato, oh & a pot of cay. We were even made to feel like stars as local women were called over to meet us & strangely Anna was told that she had a perfect nose & asked whether it was her own or the product of plastic surgery.

As we continue our journey across the Turkish coastline the scenery is changing. Figs become riper on trees, perfect for snacking on & there are nuts everywhere. This changes over time to nuts & pine trees, olive trees & then pastures. The heat remains & we wake at 5:15am to the call to ‘morning prayer’ (there’s always a mosque or speaker close by though pitching your tent on a football pitch next to a mosque is a little loud), make a simple breakfast & head off by 6am. By 8am its pushing 30degC & we stop before its hits 38degC for a long lunch. Then another 2 hours on the bike at around 4pm & see where the day has taken us.

6am breakfast

The coastline is beautiful & people friendly. Its just such a shame that a lot of people here don’t use bins & waste is strewn everywhere, on beaches & at the sides of roads, blowing around in the wind – plastics, nappies, broken bottles. Where it is gathered in steel bins, at the sides of roads or at disposal sites it is burnt.

June 7, 2015June 7, 2015

Saturated Fat & the Balance of Omega 3 & 6

As is often the case when new research comes to light, disproving a ‘diet-heart’ theory that has formed dietary recommendations since 1977, there tends to be confusion in the media.

I’m lucky to have a close relationship with an Accredited Sport’s Dietitian that keeps me up to date & in this case share advice to implement the latest findings on saturated fat before the – on average – waiting time of 17 years between research & practice.

To summarise in a direct quote from the Updated Evidence in the X-PERT Educator Manuals, November 2014:

“Advice to incorporate polyunsaturated fat into the diet through processed vegetable oils such as sunflower, corn, safflower & spreads has led to an unbalanced intake of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. The ratio was previously 1:1 prior to the agriculture revolution but has now increased to 16:1 in westernised populations. Omega-6 fats are pro-inflammatory whereas omega-3 fats are anti-inflammatory and therefore the balance needs to be reinstated to reduce systematic chromic inflammation. Polyunsaturated fat, due to the multiple double bonds, are also less stable and thus more prone to oxidation forming free radicals that lead to cell damage, Cardio Vascular Disease (CVD) & cancer & therefore readdressing the balance between the different types of fat will assist with cell integrity.

…”The recommendations to eat unprocessed foods with saturated, monounsaturated fats & some omega-3s from fish & grass fed animals, but avoid trans fats & omega-6 rich vegetable oils & an excessive intake of high GI carbohydrate has been shown to improve health status.”

This doesn’t mean that you should eat lots of butter, just that butter, for example isn’t as bad for you as it was once thought. Its really important that you continue to eat well as part of a healthy, balanced diet, with sources in the approximate proportions shown in the ‘Eatwell Plate‘ diagram below:

January 2, 2015May 21, 2015

‘Cycling with Cheese’

With so much on offer around Sainte-Foy, the team at 45 Degrees North are introducing the nicknamed ‘Cycling with Cheese’ week as a new addition in 2015! It is primarily aimed at people who love to cycle but are relatively new to the sport or take a more leisurely approach to their riding.

With less time in the saddle you get the chance to explore the local area. Whether you would like to take the scenic walk to our local fromagerie, visit the market or try many of the more adventurous activities available or just kick back on the balcony this week could be for you!

November 15, 2014February 6, 2018

Tales from Tajikistan, it was quite eventful!

Ever heard of the Pamir Highway? Its the 2nd highest road in the world & we cycled over it with 20kg of panniers on our 10kg bikes! Here’s our latest blog.

Sneak peak:

Well, we have been chewed up and spat out by Tajikistan. The last few weeks have been beyond hard and we are all looking a little worse for wear as a result. We being, me, Chris and a good proportion of our gear. The Trolls have come into their own though and handled the terrain well which is good because we chose them with Tajikistan in mind. So was it worth it?

Thinking back, the injuries started way back on day one when a wasp flew under my sunnies and stung my face. I woke up at the Yeti Hostel in Dushanbe the next morning with my face feeling strange, so took a selfie to see what was wrong and nearly fell out of my bunk when I saw myself. It didn’t stop us getting out into Dushanbe though. I perched my sunnies lop sidedly on my face and we hit the streets in search of high energy snacks, pasta, oats, some warm clothes and a GBAO permit for Chris – we had a high altitude adventure to prepare for!

November 6, 2014April 7, 2015

Enchanting Uzbekistan

How many people have even heard of Uzbekistan, let alone cycled through it? Here’s how we got on, detailed in our latest blog post.

Sneak preview:

We were sitting by the side of the road somewhere between Samarkand and Bukhara eating fresh pomegranates that a man had walked by and handed us, when a boy of around 12 years old galloped past bareback on his donkey. He was in pursuit of three bullocks which had also just galloped past, jumped a canal and disappeared off down a slope. The boy paused on the embankment to look at us looking at him and gave a wave before kicking his donkey and galloping off after his charges. I’ve never seen anyone galloping on a donkey before, let alone bareback and I suddenly had the most surreal feeling of wow, I’m in Uzbekistan!