If you are relatively new to cycling and preparing for a tour, go gently, change and improve your riding style gradually. This isn’t bicycle boot camp! Drop your shoulders and try to keep your back flat. Start with a 5-10km ride. Relax later; see how you feel then try cycling every second or third day. Add 10km per week or second week until you can cycle your expected daily touring distance (80km) with reasonable comfort. Add some gear if you are careening for more, though avoid making your tour into an endurance test and gradually build yourself up to cycle beyond your daily distance. A well conditioned cyclist has 70% more capacity to cycle farther with more comfort.
Adjust your training as you wish, as long as you feel confident you are progressing and can ride the average tour distance 60-100km per day. Train for endurance and long periods of time in the saddle. Though it is important to stop and enjoy the sights and have snacks, recovery or rest breaks are part of the training. If you get some aches or pains you may have tried to increase your distance too quickly. Take a few days off to recover, and then gradually build your endurance.
Build up comfortably: Do [three] 45 minute workouts per week. Warm-up and cool-down all parts of the body. Perform at least 20 minutes of aerobics during a session. Aerobics develop heart and lung efficiency and cardiovascular endurance.
Look for opportunities to train. Ride to work, ride in the morning, evening, carry some weight, climb some hills. Riding against the wind can be the equivalent to hill training. Once your body becomes conditioned from some training, it will start to look forward to the challenge. Cycling an extended distance on a flat open road improves lower body muscles, hill climbing improves upper body muscles, as you stand and pump from side to side. So get out there and pump some muscle.
Braking
Practice using both brakes with more pressure on the front than the rear, to maintain control. Try braking at slow speeds, then higher speeds to gain experience. Ride with your fingers on the brake levers if you expect to stop suddenly.
Emergency Stops
Practice braking on different terrain and conditions such as gravel and wet corners, to better understand how your bike behaves. Lower your center of gravity during heavy braking by sliding back in the saddle for more control. Pump the brakes on steep descents to reduce excessive heat on the rims.
Gearing
Learn smooth-shifting patterns, after some practice you should be able to navigate the gears as if it were a weekend. Your trail or touring bike can have as many as 21 speeds or more. The number of speeds refers to the total gearing combinations possible between the chain ring and the freewheel. A 21-speed has three gears on the chain ring and 7 gears on the free wheel. Small gears in the front make pedaling easier. Large gears in the rear make pedaling easier.
Begin training by selecting gears that maximizes cadence (pedal rpm) and maintains your capacity to do effective work. Your muscles and gear shifting will evolve to increase your cadence and speed. Count your pedal revolution and strive for an efficient cadence of 80rpm, adjust your gearing to maintain cadence. Soon you will learn to judge gears in advance.
Gear-up to your best speed by mixing gears opportune for your skill and the terrain. Calculate your distance and speed.
- Gear Inches (GI) is forward distance per pedal revolution.
- GI = wheel diameter inches x (chain ring teeth / freewheel teeth)
- Gear Ratio. A 1:1 ratio is “first gear”, one wheel revolution per pedal turn.
- 21st gear is 3.7:1 ratio or 3.7 wheel revolutions per pedal revolution.
- GR = chain ring teeth / freewheel teeth.
View the chart to determine shifting pattern for touring.
Conditions Gear number Translation Level, no wind 45-95 * coming soon.
- Gentle hills or wind 40-100
- Increased hills 35-105
- Steep hills 30-105
- Mountainous 27-100
- Off-road 25-90
Heart Rate
A healthy heartbeat (during actual training) should read low at 60% of the maximum. Calculate based on your age.
Maximum heart rate = n – (age)
- Men (n) = 220
- Women (n) =226
Monitor your pulse to recognize whether you may be training too hard for a fun relaxing tour. Counting the pulse at the carotid artery has proven to be the easiest place to locate the pulse. Press gently on one side of the neck with your index and middle finger until the pulse is felt. Count each beat you feel to determine your heart rate. Measure your heart rate in the middle of activity. Take your pulse for ten secs; multiply by six to arrive at beats per minute.
Age Heart Range (bpm)
Range Lower Upper
20 – 30 140 175
31 – 40 130 160
41 – 50 122 150
51 – 60 115 140
60+ 100 125
If your heart beat is at the ‘lower end’ of your range, you are not getting effective training. In contrast, the “upper end” of your range is the danger zone. It’s best to maintain a training effort that produces a heart beat somewhere in the middle. Experiment for your best training effect.
Resting Heart Rate is the rate your heart is pumping when you have been sitting quietly for a while or when you are sleeping is your resting heart rate. This rate indicates your cardiovascular fitness level. The normal resting heart rate is 15 to 20 beats per minute slower than your ‘usual’ heart rate. A person who is in good aerobic condition usually has a lower resting heart rate.
Take your resting heart rate for 60 seconds before you get up in the morning. If you are ready and conditioned for ‘the piece de resistance’, then conquer some big hills, you will feel enormous satisfaction with the breeze and exhilaration of the downhill.
Pedaling
Focus on pumping from the thighs to provide muscle power, as one foot pushes down, the other should be pulling up. Pump your knees up and down smoothly, with no side motion; your upper body should remain stable.
Improve your pedal stroke by pedaling at low cadence. Think about your ankling and strive for a steady flow of power all around the spinning circle and a smooth shift of energy from leg to leg.
Your foot should be situated so that it pushes the pedal as far around the circle as viable. Heel down, toes up at the peak, pushing forward; heel and toes level at the front, pushing down; heel high and toes down at the base, pushing backward; lift your toe to push forward before reaching the peak again. Train your ankles for smooth pedaling and not only will you’re cycling improve, your legs will be the envy of all.
Cadence is the number of times you turn a pedal in a minute. Proper cadence will provide efficient cycling; your body will give you more distance on less fuel. Strive for a cadence of 80 rpm of the pedal by gearing up or down depending on the terrain. Focus on keeping relaxed and not bouncing in the saddle, soon you will maintain an even cadence using higher gears to increase speed, with ease. Practice your pedal strokes, a cadence of 80rpm is the most efficient for your muscles while conserving energy.
Stretching
Ten minutes of stretching before a challenging ride will warm you up and make you more limber for an easier more enjoyable ride; stretching can also help prevent injuries. Stretch slowly, no bouncing, hold for 15 seconds. Push the wall and stretch your calves, switch your leg.
Pull your foot back so your heel touches your backside for a quad stretch, do both legs. Sit with one leg extended and hold your ankle for 15 seconds for a hamstring stretch, switch legs. Stretch regularly before a ride, you will cycle with more ease.
Workouts
Interval training is the best way to train for a long ride. Ride as hard as you can for intensity (3 – 8mins.) Then relax a few minutes with plenty of easy spinning; repeat your interval 5 times in a day, train every second or third day. Intervals will increase your cruising speed.
Power+
Generate more power Warm up 15mins, spinning a high cadence. Climb a steep hill. Ride 30 seconds, as fast as possible. Rest for 90 seconds.
Repeat this fast-slow ride about 5 times, keeping your cadence high. Cool down for 15mins. And take time to stretch.
Endurance+
Generate more endurance Warm up for 15mins, at as high a cadence as you can. Ride a route of 30km, throw in some hills. On the route ride moderately fast for five mins. Then slow some for ten mins. Repeat this cycle for about five times. If you are up to it, do it all over again. Cool down and stretch.
Do this five times every third day at least a month before a big ride. During the winter use a bike trainer to keep your fitness level up (30-60mins. / day).
Suggested exercises for cyclists to strengthen muscles include abdominal crunches, squats, leg presses, pull-ups, rows, pushups, dips, bench presses. Swimming is excellent cross training. Sit-ups will build a strong stomach and diaphragm to encourage a healthy back.
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