Self Righteous Cyclist

Introduction Following on from my N=1 series of becoming a stronger cyclist for less than a cup of coffee a day, it was time try something new. I regularly listen to the Roadman Podcast, whose interview with Dr Andrew Sellars on breathwork got my attention.  Dr. Sellars explains that training the diaphragm and intercostal muscles can boost a cyclist's functional threshold power by up to 6%. The episode details how managing CO2 levels through nasal breathing and using a 30-breath resistance protocol can delay fatigue and improve overall cycling performance.  The protocol from the French study Sellers references ran for 48 weeks, broken down into eight six-week blocks: diaphragmatic breathing and nasal breathing first, then coordination work, then resistance training, then aero-position-specific breathing. The pro cyclists in that cohort increased tidal volume from 6.5L to 7.7L, a 10% improvement, and averaged 6-8% FTP gains. Summary of the known Benefits With some help from A...

The Bendigo and District Cycling Club hosted the Merv Dean Memorial 3 stage tour over the King's birthday long weekend at Sutton Grange and Harcourt just outside of Bendigo. 83 riders across Men's A, B & C grades and Women's A, from as far afield as Alice Springs, Mt Gambier and Adelaide signed for 3 challenging days of racing. More notably Alyssa Polities, a local star of road and track and heading to her second Commonwealth Games in just over 6 weeks and Mark O'Brien, who has won about every road and gravel bike race there is to win in Australia, were ready to serve it up to their rivals. The elites in A grade received a lot of the coverage, so this report is going to concentrate on the combined Women's A and Men's C grades. Whilst there was an overall General Classification for each grade, the stages, the sprint and king of the mountain primes and time bonuses were combined. Picking up time bonuses within each stage would be vital for those hoping to sta...

Northern Combine and Coburg Cycling Club hosted the Jack Wood Memorial Handicap to honour the memory of Jack on the Glenaroua course, just out of Broadford.  The 16min bunch of 8, started 18min behind limit on 34min in conditions as good as you could hope for at this time of year. By two thirds the way around lap one, we were down to 6, but still rolling strong. Shayne Kirby gave us a time call of 3min to the group in front and 7min to Tom McDonough's 25min bunch. It was deflating to know that we had made no progress on the group of 11 in front of us with a 3min head start, containing some pretty handy riders. On lap two, Shayne was parked at the top of the Sugarloaf Creek climb and this time the margin was down to one and a half and four to Tom’s group. This time we were in with a shot. We took the left hand turn onto the Broadford-Glenaroua Rd and had the 19min bunch in our sights. We swept them up and a good few of them including Roger Venning, Seb Slezak, Carl Simmons, Stephen ...