I’m not a big fan of training on the stationary bike. The scenery never changes and despite the lure of watching TV, it becomes monotonous. Our great climate here in Colorado affords us the opportunity to cycle outside most of the year. If you ask my friend Roger, he would say all year, but the short, cold, icy days of winter dampen my enthusiasm!

It helps to have something or some reason to train. Strangely, just doing it because it’s good for me doesn’t cut it. My reason this year was to get ready for a cycling tour in the Alps, ending with a time trial up the Alpe d’Huez. That was the goal – the positive reason to train. It also helps to have a negative reason – to justify the money spent on a new bike, a trip to Europe, and the fear of coming in last!

My aim in training this year was to get miles on the bike and some serious hills. For some reason, cyclists like hills. Maybe because they focus the mind or maybe it’s for the downhill. Downhill is undeniably fun, in particular, on a tandem – but that’s another story. So this spring and summer was spent on the following:

Cycling to the office. We’re lucky to have a locker room for showering and changing. And it’s good for the planet! This is a 16 mile ride for me, primarily on bike paths. So that’s a two hour workout for the day. It’s easy to get too focused on my time by doing a repetitive ride like this. I know the route so well that it’s easy to know when I’m having a good or bad ride. That can be discouraging! That takes away from the fun of it and makes it a chore which is a bad thing. Because I’m lucky to ride on a bike path, I can liven things up by listening to pod casts. Anyway, a friend of mine points out that for every ten rides, one will be epic, one terrible, and the other eight will be normal. That’s just the way it is.

Longer rides on weekends. The goal would be 3 to 4 hours (hey, it’s less time than a round of golf) and some hills, say 4,000 feet of climbing. The foothills have some wonderful routes that offer steep (and not so steep) terrain. Interestingly, the foothills have steeper roads than roads in the mountains. I think the trick here is to avoid the monotony by introducing some challenges. For instance, the scoring system: plus one for everyone you pass and minus one for those who pass you. (That’s probably a ‘guy thing’.) Or, ten pedal stokes standing, then ten sitting, or ten hard, then ten slower. Variety helps.

Group century rides. These can be fun. Here is the opportunity to see more of Colorado with a group, 100 miles (or less) at a time. Food and drinks are supplied. That’s key on these longer rides as it’s easy to dehydrate or run your energy levels too low. Personally, I think the nutritional value of beer and chips is underestimated - beer for micro-nutrients and water, and chips for the salt. And, at the end of the ride you have done enough exercise to justify whatever you want to eat!

Culminating in a trip to the Alps. One of the guides was an ex-Italian national team racer. He would talk eloquently about what it takes to make the perfect espresso coffee, the proper way to walk, and the properties of salt. He’d also say how it’s essential to stretch and stay loose. Don’t tense up the muscles, especially those in the upper body, and most importantly, keep your head held high and enjoy the view!

So far this year, my bike computer tells me that I have cycled almost 2,000 miles and climbed 84,000 feet. This points to another way to make long rides more interesting – spend harmless hours looking at the cycling computer to see all the data. Nowadays, that’s gone beyond the basics and can include: altitude, temperature, gradient (the joy of discovering you’re on a 20% grade!), heart rate (I didn’t know it would go that high), and cadence - the fun you can have! My goal was about 2,500 miles for the year, so it looks like I’m just about on track.

GRAHAM’S KICK-FIT TRAVEL ROUTINE (30-20-10)

Below is Graham’s routine on his long trips to Europe and Japan to keep him in reasonable shape for cycling when he got home to Denver. It consists of three exercises with a descending order of repetitions per exercise. He did the entire routine three times on good days and once on days when there was no time.

Push Ups - 3 Variations:

Triangle push ups (chest to the hands in a diamond position under the chest) - 10 reps.
Hands shoulder width (standard push ups) - 10 reps.
Hands next to the chest (upward dog position), elbows close to the body - 10 reps.

Legs:

Jump Squats - 20 reps. From a standing position, feet shoulder width apart, crouch and spring forward. As you land, keep the feet slightly wider than shoulder width and squat. Jump back to the starting position. Make sure your pelvis does not roll under you. As you squat, stick your butt out.

Core Strength:

Single Leg Drop Kick and Recovery Stand - 20 reps. From a wide stance, right foot forward, crouch and place your left hand on the ground. Support your weight and bring your rear left leg between the left arm and right foot. Do not let your glutes touch the ground. Extend the leg, then retract it using your core. Place the foot behind the planted arm and stand up. Repeat for 10 reps per side.

Abdominals - 3 exercises:

Reverse Crunches - 30 reps. Keeping the legs bent at ninety degrees, engage your lower abdominals to rock your knees toward your chest and back to your hips.
Extended Leg Crunches - 20 reps per side. Extend the left leg and cross the right over at the knee. Now bring the opposite elbow (left) to the knee. To increase the level of difficulty or for more of a challenge, try the following. As you crunch upward, raise the leg and as you lower your torso, lower the leg a little. Make sure the head and torso move together so you are not just pulling on your head and neck.

Pelvic Lift - 10 reps. Lay on your back with your feet extended straight up at the hips. You can cross the ankles at the top when starting out. Place the hands under the lower back if you are in a hotel or on the floor, or use a rolled up towel for support. Lift the hips and pelvic region into the air, then slowly descend, engaging the lower abdominals.

Find a doorway and do a pull up everyday. (They will all think you are insane at this point!)