Manon Lloyd: I love riding my bike. I love heading out on those long rides, but I do
have a bit of a confession to make. I do find myself gtting a little bit bored.
Hank: What, bored? Are you serious? Manon: Yes, especially on those five, six-hour
rides. Hank: Well, we're going to sort that out.
We're going to give you some tips and tricks to help you spice up your rides. Are you ready,
Manon? Manon: Yes, I guess so.
[music] Hank: Let's start off with my favorite one,
my number one top tip for any ride for that matter to be able to keep it nice and interesting.
That's involving some intervals. Now, these intervals don't have to be horrendous, not
pleasurable, those really, really hard efforts that no one likes. No, they can be as simple
as riding for 10 minutes on the hoods. Then 10 minutes on the drops. Now there's loads
of benefits to this. This can get you used to sitting in that aerodynamic position. You
could also change up your cadences, go for 110 rpm for 10 minutes and 70 rpm for 10 minutes.
It's all about keeping it different. Chucking in some variety in there.
[music] Manon: Or, by all means, you could do some
really hard intervals, 20 seconds on, 40 seconds rest, and repeat as many times as you can.
By having these intervals and numbers to think about, your ride is going to fly by.
[music] Hank: Now, I have to say, I like to know the
road to the exact kilometer. I have a one-hour loop, a two-hour loop, a two-and-a-half-hour
loop, and a three-hour loop that I do all the time, but it does get-- well, it does
get a little samey, a little boring. Manon: Get adventures with your routes and
mix it up. Try planning a brand new route. You've never ridden before.
Hank: It's even worth putting some really short, but steep climbs in there and even
long climbs. [music]
Here at GCN, we've been using our friends Komoot. Now Komoot is great because it gives
us another sense of adventure. We can plan the really exciting routes that all the cycling
community have been on and enjoy them for ourselves. It's not only that because we can
use this to find friends to ride with in our local area, but also share the pictures from
our rides and we can get to views like this one.
Manon: Don't be afraid to stop off and take in the views. While you're at it, why not
take a cheeky picture of your bike for the GCN app? Look how beautiful this is. That's
Wales over there. It doesn't get much beautiful than that. Left a bit, Hank.
Hank: To me? Manon: Yes, yes, yes.
Hank: To me. Manon: Right stop there, right there. Now
get out of shot. Hank: Am I out of shot?
Manon: Yes, yes, that's great. Thanks. Hank: Have you got it?
Manon: Yes kind of. Hank: Please tell me you got it.
Manon: After all, in my opinion, getting out by bike is the best way to explore your surroundings.
Take in all the beautiful views and make a little tour of your local area.
[music] Manon: Now if you have written literally every
road in your local area, don't worry, we've still got options. You could always drive
to a new location that would usually be too far to ride, park up and explore some totally
new roads. I guess that's where I'm off today. Hank: There is another option to loops. You
could do a one-way ride. Head out and then get the train back. Now this works great because
if you're clever, you can check the weather forecast, work out which way is the wind coming
from. That way you can make sure you have a tailwind for your entire ride. Now, this
is not only good to see new places, but also you get good average speed. Ollie once told
me that, never tried it though. [music]
Hank: This is my absolute favorite one to pass the time on a long ride, getting some
of your friends to ride along with you. Now you have to be quite choosy with your mates.
Try and find an entertaining and funny one; that's if you have one that is.
Manon: Or if you just haven't got a mate with any banter, you could play Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Hank: Yes. One, two, three, Rock. Manon: Say, "Hi, Hank's dad."
Hank: Say hello [crosstalk]. Or you could play 'I spy'.
Manon: Yes. Hank: I spy with my little eye, something
beginning with T. Manon: Tree.
Hank: Got it, got it. Manon: Or you could have a little singalong.
Hank: Yes, [singing] "When I was a young--" Manon: Enough, enough, enough. You could--
21 questions. Hank: Okay.
Manon: Ready? Hank: Yes.
Manon: Who's your favorite presenter? Hank: Dan Lloyd.
Manon: Eh? Wrong Lloyd. [laughter]
Hank: Or you could play Catch Me If You Can. Right, catch me.
Manon: Oh, no. Not that one. Hank: You know what they say?
Manon: Time flies when you are having fun. Hank: Yes, it does. You can natter and natter
the whole ride through. Before you know it, you've done a five-hour ride and it's gone
so fast because you've had so much fun. Manon: This doesn't mean you have to do the
whole ride with him, so, Hank, I'll join you for two hours. Give you two hours of banter
and then I'm off, all right? Hank: What? You're not doing the ride?
Manon: Hell, no. Hank: Are you serious? Great. I need to find
some new mates. [music]
Manon: When I had a long training ride and I had some really hard intervals I would pretend
I was in a race and I was in solo breakaway. I'd just get my head down, put the power out,
pretend to have the bunch chasing after me. Just got some few extra watts out when I was
pretending I was in a race. Hank: I used to see every town sign as a finish
line and sprint for it and then celebrate if I won it, even if I was solo.
[music] Hank: [cheers] Aha, get in. That's all I wanted.
Come on. There you have it, our top tips to keep your ride nice and interesting.
Manon: What's your favorite ways to keep entertained on a ride? Let us know in the comments section
below. Hank: Don't forget, give it a big thumbs up.
We need to shoot because, well, that tractor's catching us up.
[laughter] [00:06:46] [END OF AUDIO]