(soft pop music)
- As we inch ever closer
to the chequered flag of 2017, we're here, yet again,
for another edition of Ask GCN Anything,
so let's get the party started.
It's actually one of my all-time favourite questions
here on Ask GCN, and it comes from Karthik Sharama,
who asks, how to cycle very fast?
Well first off, thanks for getting in contact,
but here is my very simple answer.
One, get your bike.
Two, make sure it's in tip-top shape,
so clean, mechanically sound,
with the tyres pumped up,
and three, get out and ride your bike.
Four, enjoy.
Five, do that as often as you can and you'll get
fitter and fitter, and faster and faster.
And six, watch this video, which you could think
we made just for you.
- If you're not a particularly strong climber,
you don't have to go hard up the hills.
Instead, why not play to your strengths and go hard
over the top of climbs and on descents as well.
It's easy to focus on fitness as the key
to increasing your speed,
but don't fall into the trap of neglecting your skills.
It's almost irrelevant how fast you can go up a hill
if you can't go around corners and get yourself down
the other side quickly.
Practising these skills, like cornering and descending,
can really pay dividends.
Especially if you're lacking in confidence.
- It's time for the rapid fire round.
I'm gonna rattle these of as quickly as I can.
First up is this from Casey.
Do I have to worry about bike light mounts,
mainly the rear one, scratching my bike.
I'm worried the grit will get under
the rubber light mount clamp and the vibrations
from the road will scratch the seatpost or frame.
My advice, Casey, every time you've been for a ride,
clean it, replace it, job done.
Next up is this from Trevor Holmes.
Hi chaps, great content as ever
and heart warming vids from Dan.
Thanks very much.
My question is, is there a release date
for the cook book from the chef
that Si has been with recently.
Yes there is, it's out now.
You can get Hayden Groves' three tour cookbook
by heading to 3tourchallenges.com and you can buy it there.
And it's three, with a number three, not a written three.
Next up is this from Charles Farrell,
Hey guys, how come the riders
in the pro peloton use paper race numbers?
The teams spend so much on R and D for aerodynamic gains,
yet put paper numbers on the back of the jerseys.
Would it be more aero to use iron-on transfers like those
that are used to put team names on leaders jerseys?
Charles, I could not agree more.
You are right on the money.
Next up is this from Gareth Willox.
If you're heading out for a winter ride, not race,
about 100 K, is it a good or bad idea to warm up
on the trainer first, cheers.
Well Gareth, it's not a bad idea to warm up on the trainer,
there's no harm in doing it at all.
Or you could just warm up gradually out on the road,
but basically, do it if you feel
it's gonna be a little bit better for you.
Next up is this from L L.
We need another presenter challenge if you agree.
There's one coming up very very soon so watch this space.
Rod GU asks what's the usual weight gain
in kilogrammes during the offseason?
E G from the pros to you guys.
Some guys put on as much as five or six kilogrammes,
other guys don't put on much at all.
Generally speaking in the winter I used to put on
about two, two and a half kilogrammes but not much more.
But again, it depends on the physiology of the pro and also
how determined they are to keep the weight the same.
If you put too much weight on,
it can make it very difficult in the early part
of the season to get back to race weight.
But me, about two and a half kilos, no more than that.
And finally this from Olivier Picard.
How long should I wait before training again after a cold
to avoid getting sick again.
Best thing you can do is to listen to your heart
and also be honest about how you feel.
So if your heart rate is above 10 or 15 beats above
its usual rate then that's a pretty good warning signal
from the body to back things off.
So listen to your body, make sure you feel right,
and just for safety's sake, add another day on
as a bit of a buffer and start training nice and gradual.
Well let's slow things down just a little bit
with this question from fo-ad at-ah,
I hope I pronounced your name right there.
Hello GCN, now we all know that the flatter the terrain,
the more important the absolute power becomes,
and the hillier the terrain, the more important
power-to-weight ratio becomes.
Now since I live in a flat city
with maximum category four climbs,
should I hit the gym and get big strong legs
for me to generate more power?
Or should I be happy with my 61 kilos
and 4.5 watts per kilo cat four climbing skills.
Well Fouad, if you're pretty confident you're not
gonna be climbing anything bigger than a cat four,
then you are exactly right, absolute power
is the be all end all in essentially flat terrain.
Just make sure you don't become muscle bound
and put on so much weight that you actually
become pretty inefficient on even the smallest of climbs.
But yeah, get to the gym, work on your power,
work on your absolute power very much like lots
of the professional riders do these days.
Many many pros, especially sprinters who need to generate
those big amounts of power, they do get to the gym
and push some pretty heavy weights.
Or, if you're not really a big fan of the gym,
you wanna do something slightly different,
we've got some body weight workouts here that Simon
is very ably demonstrating in this video.
- Getting better at cycling isn't just always
about riding your bike.
Paul here, our resident fitness expert, is gonna take us
through a six minute workout that's gonna make us
fitter, stronger, and faster.
And Lord knows, Paul, I certainly need plenty
of that middle one.
- [Paul] Exercise number one is gonna be mountain climbers.
Exercise number two is gonna be squat lunge lunge.
Exercise number three is a core exercise
which is a ninety degree ab crunch.
Exercise number four is going to be five jumping jacks,
and then five floor jacks.
Exercise five is squat jumps,
and exercise number six is a straight arm plank,
with a little twist.
Finally on this weeks show, we have this question
from a jolly giant who asks,
I'm wanting to improve my FTP this winter.
FTP, remember, is functional threshold power,
how much power you can produce for an hour.
Now I've been cycling for six years doing 6,000 miles
a year or seven to eight hours per week.
And currently I have an FTP of just under 400 watts.
What percentage improvement should I
be looking at to achieve?
Thank you in advance.
Well first up jolly giant, thanks for getting in contact,
but also that is a mightily impressive
functional threshold power if your numbers are correct.
Now, if you're a heavier person, then an FTP
of around 400 isn't quite as unsurprising,
but by any stretch that is quality, so well done.
Now, if you're looking at making some improvements,
it's very difficult for me to put a percentage on it.
But just looking at how many hours you spend
on a bike per week and how many miles you do a year,
it's not out of the ordinary to expect you could do
a little bit more in terms of volume,
but more importantly, look at improving how smart you train.
So use that time wisely and I'm sure that you can find
some percentage gains there.
But what I think is vitally important here,
don't just focus on your FTP,
focus on other areas of your cycling.
So your endurance, your explosive power,
and also your top end speed as well.
And also your power-to-weight ratio.
If you keep your FTP the same, but drop a little weight,
basically you'll become far more efficient as a bike rider.
So, as I said before, very difficult to put
an actual percentage on this, it's just gonna depend
on how determined you are and how hard that you train.
But if it is your FTP you're particularly looking
at to improve, watch this video, I think it will help.
- Doing two 20 minute intervals or two 30 minute intervals
a couple times a week will do you a world of good.
- We've said it before but we'll say it again,
consistency is absolutely key
to making improvements in cycling.
So that means regular shorter workouts are more effective
than one massive ride per week.
- That's it for another edition of Ask GCN.
Please do keep those questions coming using
the #torqueback down in the comments section
and across on social media as well.
And we'll do our very best to answer
as many questions as we can.
Now, if you haven't already subscribed
to the Global Cycling Network you can do so for free
by clicking on the globe.
That way, you will not miss another video.
Now for a couple of other videos I think you will enjoy,
how about clicking just down here.
When Dan went to Zambia to basically look
at how much difference a buffalo bite makes.
Now that is an absolutely amazing video,
please cast your eyes and donate, watch that one.
And if you want something a little bit different,
how about clicking just down here for four more bits
of weird and wonderful retro tech.