csbooth12-blog

[csbooth12-blog]

Rocky road to 1st cat

Similar to my approach to teaching or coaching, I start this blog at the end with the desired achievement. The overall aim for 2018 was quite simply to become a 1st cat and to cut to the finish I achieved this. I am elated to have reached my seasons goal and to have ticked off several other milestones along the way. However, the successes of a season does not in my opinion do justice to the countless hours, dilemmas and internal battles that go on in the journey to achieving success. In this blog, I aim to explain my 'rocky road' to reaching my seasons goals.

The last time I wrote one of these, I'd just crashed at the East Lancs Road Race back in May. It hurt alot - both mentally and physically. I was so eager to push on that I didn't take the rest my body needed. I took a week off then forced myself back onto the bike and battled on with a sore hip. I had just started training with a coach and a power meter and did not want to stop training at this point in the season. I can recall my hip ceasing up as I trained through spiked efforts on the flats down by Pilling. Unsurprisingly, despite racing most weeks, I was picking up minimal points.

Still with a dodgy hip, poor form and with a 2 week holiday to Marrakesh in July, I adjusted my goals, giving up on the 1st cat aspiration and decided to come back with the aim of winning a regional A road race. During the holiday, I'd planned to do some training in the gym but with the worst static bike in existence, I didn't. This was a blessing in disguise as my hip finally had the opportunity to recover. (I also proposed and she said yes 👍😁).

We came home in wedding season - more obstacles to overcome in regard to my cycling but by waking up early and racing regardless of how much i'd had to drink, I managed to build up momentum and fitness quickly. A string of results followed - 8th at Oakenclough, 2nd at Clieves Hill, 5th at Capernwray in the regional champs and finally a win on the same course that I crashed on at the Chronomaster RR. I was over the moon with my form but horrific news that a fellow local racer and legend Rick Taylor had died whilst riding abroad hit the whole NW racing scene hard. It puts things into perspective. Life is short, live it to the full and don't waste time doing stuff you don't want to do. Set yourself objectives and don't quit until you reach them. Rick did this better than anyone and he did it whilst enjoying himself and having a laugh with everyone. He will be greatly missed and never forgotten.

A new dilemma unexpectedly arrived. Did I want to deliberately aim to achieve 1st cat? I had 165 points (35 points short) and it was dawning on me that if I went up a category I wouldn't be able to race as much, I'd have to travel further for races and it would also be a lot tougher racing. Would it be as enjoyable? I plan to go for it but things rarely go to plan. This was no exception.

A puncture in my next road race in East Yorkshire followed. I missed a lap, played about solo behind the bunch doing repeated efforts to catch up before backing off again. A missed opportunity. I crashed at my final Salt Ayr of the season. A rider hit the deck in front and I went over my handlebars into a bush of nettles. Scratching for days. I rode hard and well at the Nateby RR, always at the front in true classics weather. Horrid and grim. a rider went down on the last corner, sure enough I hit him and went over the handlebars for the 3rd time in the season. Still I got up to finish 10th, a good result before finding out the news that they weren't giving Nat B points because the race wasn't quite long enough. A poor race in Yorkshire again followed before my final race of the year. The Bob Swailes RR at Endmoor. I love this race. It was my first proper road race a few years back and I got dropped. Last year I got in a break and eventually got dropped again. This year I wanted to win it. Actually I needed a win to get to 200 points.

A great race and maybe my most favourable result of the year, weirdly. I got 3rd from a break of 6. Adam Hartley of 100% Me showed his class on the last climb and the rest of us battled for the podium. I was really happy but ultimately 3 points short of 1st cat and that was my season ender.

Not a chance was I stopping there, not when I was so close to my aim. My mum came with me as I travelled the width of the country to Hull for an E12 crit. Only 8 riders on the start list means only 3 points for the winner. Luckily some generous 3rd cats from the first race agree to race to make up numbers. What followed was actually the toughest hour of racing in my year (numbers wise) the Welsh national TT champ was there along with some others who were chasing their elite licenses and they refused to make it easy with attack after attack. I hung in there in the front group for 4th - 17 points and the seasons aim ticked off.

What a year with many lessons learned. Keep plugging away at the things you love, stay committed and success will follow. I'm expecting a tough season next year and with new challenges both on and off the bike, I am excited for what 2019 has install for me. Hope you enjoyed reading this and thanks for everyone who has supported me, especially Hannah. It really helps. Here's to all athletes who dedicate themselves to achieving their own personal targets. Everyone's journey has different obstacles to overcome and with the right mindset and determination, you will reach your summit.

[csbooth12-blog]

Ups and downs

Self confidence is a complex concept. It comes, it goes, it gets damaged and it returns in the space of only a few races or training sessions. The issue here is that self confidence is arguably the most significant contributer to the decisions made during a bike race. When confident, I ride hard and aggressively, I attack, I follow moves, I believe in my ability, my power and I get better results. When my confidence is low, I am less self assured, I ride conservatively, I question my instinct and I regret those decisions later. This season has had so many ups and downs (and it's only May) that I have no idea how to sustain high levels of confidence.

The season started better than expected with a first (from a field of 9 riders) at a very cold winter series crit at Hillingdon. This was followed by a double puncture on the very wet Redbridge circuit the following weekend... I guess that's just the nature of the sport. A month later, another puncture at a Nat B in Ipswich. I chased back on and finished 21st in the bunch and was glad to get some bad luck out the way early in the year. Salt ayr crits started up soon after and a few top 10s and a 2nd from a break lifted my confidence. I knew that I was going well and physically in good shape going into my early season target race - the Sloan trophy in the NE. It is a course that suits me, quite attritional and I was well up for it and had great legs. I made the decisive break of 10ish riders and was going really well when BANG! Maybe I had too much pressure in the tyres at 120PSI??? Maybe I was to blame or was it more bad luck? I prefer to attribute failure to my own decisions as it's easier to rationalise them than to blame some unknown lady luck. I blame my tyre pressure, lesson learned. I take out my anger on 5 Strava segments when I get back to Lancashire. 4 KOMs achieved. Frustratingly, I knew I could of had a good result that day.

I carried my form into the Bickerstaffe RR where I made the break of 4 and took 3rd. My confidence was partially restored but my legs took a turn for the worse. A poor showing at salt ayr on Tuesday and getting dropped at Stamfordham GP. I felt awful, low in confidence, self belief in tatters and legs ruined. I had overtrained. I took a week off.

A bunch finish at West Penine RR a week later and a strong ride at salt ayr set me up well for a win at UCLAN on the Thursday. I made a break with two strong Crimson lads and we gave it a good go but ultimately were reeled back in. I launched a last gasp effort with two to go. Feeling very strong, Istayed away to the finish. My belief in my ability had returned and my confidence restored - I had a high expectation for the weekends RR by East Lancs.

Feeling super and for the first time on a power meter I get the legs turning on the rollers. Wow the legs were tingling and ready to perform.... or is it the beta allanine? I'm not sure? The race sets off and some strong lads from Crimson start drilling it on the front on a very attritional course. Riders were getting spat everywhere, I relish my poor positioning to try out the legs and bounce up to the lead group with relative ease. I felt outstanding. I wanted to win this. I was very confident all of a sudden but this did not last long. About 30 mins in, I see the rider in front lose control of his bike and hit the deck. I had no where to go so brace myself for impact and hit the fallen bike/rider at 28.6mph. A front flip followed and I leave alot of skin on the tarmac as my body and helmet drag along the road surface.

With no broken bones, people told me I was lucky. Am I? I guess they are right, it could be worse, I'm sore, feel like I've been hit by a car but I hope to be back on the bike this week. Despite this, I'm not feeling all that lucky. Every time I get a bit of momentum or a good result something else goes wrong.

I love the unpredictability of cycling, there are so many factors that influence the outcome of a bike race. This is also a highly frustrating part of the sport. I am struggling to attribute my failure to anything other than bad luck. I just hope it changes. I have big goals for the season and I am still motivated to achieve them. I just hope my confidence hasn't taken too much of a beating for me to achieve them.

[csbooth12-blog]

Patient training

Whether it's waiting for a good time to make a move or coming back from an injury, patience is most certainly a virtue of any good bike racer. Unfortunately, my patience leaves something to be desired.

When I explained to Hannah that I would be writing my next blog on the importance of patience she challenged me - "why are you doing that?" she said "You can't even wait for chips to finish in the oven". She makes a good point, I can't. For some reason beyond my understanding, I'd rather eat slightly raw bits of potato now than wait for them to turn into delicious golden brown chips in 5 mins time. It's the same with a lot of things.

In reflection, my past experience in sport is littered with errors in patience. I was too impatient to work on my flexibility when I was a rower and overtrained on the ergo instead - this later contributed to a serious back injury. I felt that as a 20 year old late starter, I needed to make up for lost time quickly. In my early bike races, I was so impatient to prove I was a strong rider that I would just ride solo off the front and as you would expect, I'd blow up and be caught. I did this a number of times. Looking back, I shake my head and wonder what the hell I was thinking but the truth is I'm still making impatient mistakes now, particularly in relation to my training.

Last season, I did finally learn how to choose a move to follow or how to wait for a good time to attack. This gave me a good level of success as I got into a number of decisive moves. Yet still my impatience would shine through every week in training. I recall my 2nd to last race of the year - the Bob Swailes road race at Old Hutton. I really wanted to do well after puncturing the week before but due to work, I missed 3 days of training on the week running up. The day before the race I planned to do 1 hour easy but I felt uneasy about missing training. I knew it would do no good but I felt good and wanted to make the most of this training session. That 1 hour easy turned into 3 hours with an average speed of over 20mph. My strava ride title called it 'steady three' but I knew I'd over done it. Despite feeling rubbish i remained confident in my ability and the race started well. I made an early break with Ben Barlow and we were joined by one other. Almost inevitably, my legs failed on lap 4 of 6 and the other two went on to take 1st and 2nd. I wondered what could have been if I had just been patient and stuck to the training plan.

It's now January, l am in good shape. My recent FTP test was decent with an average of 414 watts for 20 mins (see pic below). However, this is making me feel so impatient to race that I am pushing as hard as I can in training. I am chomping at the bit to get going but I know I've still got two months until my season starts and it's a long season. I know that I am at risk of over training or 'peaking' too soon. Certainly, looking at my training diary, if I was a rider I was coaching I'd tell myself to back off a bit but it's not that easy to change emotions and behaviour. My emotions want me to make the most of every day and every effort in my training. My head is telling me that I am being impatient or perhaps even greedy. I want all the fitness I can get and I want it all right now but the key to progress is consistent training and this comes with patience. Greedy riders will likely lose more than they gain over the course of a season as pushing too far beyond current physiological limits causes the body to burnout, get sick or get injured. Being patient allows the body to fully adapt and grow stronger. This takes time. It can't be rushed. I just need to adhere to my own advice.

I am trying to stay relaxed and my patience has improved building up to this season. I allow myself to have a full day off the bike and a steady ride once a week but I find those days hard mentally even when as a coach myself I know exactly how important recovery is for adaptations to occur. I am also been more patient with my diet, allowing myself treats whilst steadily bringing my weight down by eating in moderation. This is particularly difficult for me as my mindset is fixed on all or nothing extremes. I either eat as much as I can or if im trying to lose weight I eat next to nothing. More on my diet some other time.

My patience levels are a work in progress but as with most things, I believe it is something I can improve by challenging what I know and reflecting on how I feel and behave (cognitive dissonance). Patience is a mental battle and I hope I will win the war over the course of next season. Ive got big objectives and i believe that patience is the key to my success.

[csbooth12-blog]

Getting stronger

Off season training has properly begun and for anyone who follows me on Strava they may have noticed a rapid decline in my weekly mileage. This is because I am in a phase of strength development and have replaced cycling with lifting weights and a Monday night bounce at the local trampoline park - great fun and great for developing your range of movement. I am trying my best not to panic about this and to have trust in the evidence that supports my yearly training plan. The trouble is that I can almost sense the watts leaving my body. This makes me anxious, especially given the impact that fatigue is currently having on my ability to pedal powerfully when I am getting on a bike.

So why am i doing weights training?

1). It develops the bodies ability to produce force

2). It helps develop a wider range of motion and counteracts muscle imbalances and weaknesses

3). My little brother lifts more than me (see his 'warm up' pic below).

Supposively, if I structure weights training in a way that compliments cycling it should enable me to apply greater force through the pedals. This means more power to support my greatest weaknesses - climbing and sprinting. Ideal.

Furthermore, and most crucially for me, given my track record in sport, it should help reduce the likelihood of injury. It does this in two ways. Firsty, the weakest point of a muscle is where it attaches to the tendon. By increasing the load capacity of these 'unions' through lifting weights, they are better able to cope with the sudden changes in power during a race. Secondly, imbalances in muscle groups means opposing forces are applied to joints. Cyclists commonly have imbalances between their quads and hamstrings. This can lead to tracking issues in their knees - something I've suffered from in the past and hopefully never again.

What am I doing in the gym?

1). Hip extension exercises

2). Personal weakness exercises

3). Core and upper body strength exercises

4). Combination exercises

For years, racing cyclists avoided weights training like the plague, mainly out of fear of weight gain. However, if planned carefully with specific exercises, reps, sets and recovery - it will improve the recruitment of specific muscle groups and not increase their size and shape. Basically, I won't look any bigger but my muscles will apply more force - perfect. Hip extention exercises such as squats, dead lifts and lunges focus specifically on the prime movers in cycling (I.e. the main muscles that allow the legs to turn the pedals).

I have identified my hamstrings and calfs as a personal weakness so exercises such as leg curls and heel raises help to isolate these. It is always the backs of my legs that tighten up first in a race so the purpose of these exercises is to help prevent this next season.

Never neglect core (or trunk) exercises. You may hear these terms interchangeably with some arguing that apple's have cores and others arguing that trees have trunks. Whichever term you use, these will help cyclists improve the transfer of energy from a (hopefully) still upper body to the pedalling lower body, meaning extra watts. Doing these exercises also helps with posture and balance.

Finally, I'm fairly confident that combining the above weights exercises in quick succession with plyometrics and cycling sprints should see improvements in my maximum power output. However, this is my own assumption based on what i know - Lifting weights stimulates the nervous system to activate more muscle fibres. Plyometrics (e.g box jumps) and bike sprints activate large numbers of muscle fibres. I could be wrong but combining these together should mean a greater power output... in theory? The proof will be in the pudding.

My hope is that come April, these training methods will result in less effort for a given power output. This would see an improvement in my physical capability at races that will give me a leg up on my competitors.........that is unless they all read this and do the same. Only time and patience will tell.

[csbooth12-blog]

To ride or not to ride?

‘Off’ season is here and one week on from road racing, it feels a bit strange to not have any external pressure to ride. I’ve never experienced an off season before but what I did not expect was feelings of anxiety and nervous excitement.

Time off from training is supposively a must for racing cyclists. Having spoken with a number of fellow racers about this, the common consensus is 2 weeks off and plenty of unstructured riding in the build up to Christmas. I ask myself how this will benefit me next season? In principle, two weeks off sounds amazing. However, physical exercise is well ingrained in my lifestyle now and it isn’t possible for me to do nothing. I’ve been sedentary before. My first year at uni saw me reach100kg+ in body weight and satisfy my addictive personality through gambling, eating and drinking. Luckily in my second year, my focus was chanelled into rowing. Exercise has become my addiction ever since.

Instead of nothing, I have opted to enjoy a few weeks of unstructured and varied exercise to start my off season. Variety in your training serves a purpose of keeping things interesting. After months of turning pedals, it serves an opportunity of doing something different. This week, I’ve exercised this principle of training through cyclocross, football and hiking. Oh and a couple of leg spins on the wattbike. Not exactly time off the bike but i felt i needed to keep the legs turning for cross season and cross is a totally different beast to road cycling.

I’m going to need a full blog to explain this unusual discipline of the sport but to reflect on the scenes from Chipping show ground, I will quote my fellow cog set coaches. 'It was like Glastonbury on bikes but with better toilet facilities’. As I waited in the wind and rain on the startline, I tried to take in my surroundings of shivering men, goose pimpled legs and claims of 'sticking to track cycling through the rest of winter’. We finally got going and the mud made the wheels feel square as I slogged my way through every pedal revolution of the snaking course. I can see how the technical nature of cross improves bike handling but this was beyond technical. It was survival. Unfortunately for me, I had a lesson in tyre pressures as I punctured and withdrew from the race after only 25 mins. A small relief at the time but as I power hosed the thick mud from my bike in the evening I was filled with dissapointment.

I’m not a cross racer so my motivation isn’t about winning but at the expense of £14, I still want to get to the finish. There’s something heroic about completing a CX race like this one. I’m sure dryer courses have more of a technical challenge but on a day like this, you need a strong mind, legs and a degree of insanity just to get to the finish. Congratulations to all the young cog set riders and their parents that took part. Some brilliant performances and results on display. On to the next one.

The primary purpose of having some time off is to physiologically recharge the batteries and psychologically give yourself a break to avoid burning out. The trouble is, the agitation I am experiencing stems from an underlying desire to keep improving and I’m struggling to see how just 'stopping for a bit’ satisfies that desire. I need goals and I need a plan for winter. Without them, I am just wishing to get better. This week has given me an opportunity to take stock, assess my strengths and areas of improvement from the season and set new goals.

The first thing to change is smarter planning and periodization. I’ve trained smart this year through 45 min interval workouts before work. This has seen progressive improvements in the number of intervals, the power I can maintain and a reduction of recovery time between intervals. However, I need to be even smarter if I’m going to continue seeing improvement. For this, I am formulating an annual training plan of various phases. The division of different phases allows riders to emphasize training on different aspects of fitness at different points of the year. Trying to do it all throughout the whole year would be too much for any rider.

In a nutshell, my focus through the early phases of the training year is to improve mobility and develop maximum force through strength training. I will also be building endurance through increased volume over November to January with a secondary focus of improving my leg speed through cadence drills. I will continue to ride cross and have planned in some football and squash aswell. Even writing this blog is part of the improvement process. It gives me time to reflect on the demands of my new approaches to training. Hopefully I will see the benefit. Let’s see how it goes.

[csbooth12-blog]

End of season, start of blog

My first full season of bike racing finished this weekend and with it came some reflection. This reflection has led me to write this blog - more as an aide memoir than a plead for attention or publicity but if people are interested then great.

The plan is to blog about all things cycling but with a focus on the demands of road racing and my experiences as a racer and also as a cycling coach and coach educator with British Cycling. All views are my own.

Retrospectively, I've achieved and learned so much in my first full season of road racing. To have got through a year without any health issues is refreshing for me. As a rower, I got half decent before a prolapsed disk in my back stopped me in my wake. As a duathlete, I qualified for the world champs before damaged knee cartilage forced me to hang up my running trainers for good. Third time lucky? I tentatively continued to cycle after recovering from my bad knee last september and progressed my training slowly over the winter. To be honest, i was just thankful to be able to cycle again. A new job in coach education at British Cycling allowed me time to broaden my knowledge of conditioning and preparation while I patiently re-built my aerobic base and worked on my fundamental movement skills to develop strength that will hopefully keep me injury free.

As spring came round, I upped the intensity with short sharp wattbike sessions on a daily basis ready for the road season. The season started slowly with a dodgy fear of cornering in a group at speed. Race by Race, I progressed through several process and performance goals before the elusive first win - a 3/4 road race organised by Croston velo. A sneaky solo attack with 1 lap to go was enough for me to take the trophy, prize money and a cracking pair of Rudy project shades. First product goal of the year ticked off. Buzzing!

The season started to flow with a number of podiums in salt ayr crits and another win at the Dave Rayner memorial 3/4 road race by 3RT. The champagne got sprayed as I achieved my 2nd cat license - another product goal ticked off.

Everything from there on out was a bonus as I started to enter E/1/2 races and re-adjust my goals. I found a knack of getting into breaks. I prefer it that way, id rather be being chased than doing the chasing. 13th in the Calthwaite RR taught me that. Some have accused me of been lucky with making several winning breaks. Inwardly I dont think it is luck. I love the process of making the break. It's fascinating - there are so many factors that determine whether it will stick or not. I have attacked myself and let others join me, I have followed the wheels of others into breaks, I have bridged to a break in a small group and I have bridged solo. I've been in my fair share of failed breaks but I was always willing to try again. This aggressive racing style seems to have worked well for me even if I have no Sprint to contest the win. My ten top 10 finishes all came from breakaways amassing a grand total of 125 points. Two other breaks I was in stayed away to the finish. Unfortunately I was dropped from both before it got that far. Firstly at the north west divs where I attacked from the gun and got dropped from the break after 70 miles - a pleasing performance if not the outcome I was hoping for. Secondly at old hutton 2 weeks ago where a strong and motivated Ben Barlow from Cog Set (where I coach) had a great result on his home patch. I didn't have the legs to stay with him.

In summary, a promising first year and still a lot to improve on. A morale boosting 4th place to finish the season after single handedly splitting the original break of 13 to a select group of 4 has left me with a high level of motivation and to enter winter training on a high.

Now enough looking backwards. I now look towards the future. I imagine the next post will be on CX. I should be entering at chipping on Saturday with no expectation and with the aim of keeping my training varied.