Innehållsförteckning för March 2024 från Cycling Plus

Whether you scribble notes in a dog-eared journal, plan and analyse your workouts on TrainingPeaks or track goals and progress on Today’s Plan, training diaries are a fantastic self-development tool for riders of all levels. A training diary will sharpen your organisation, identify weaknesses, enhance your confidence and ensure you keep improving week after week. From complex power data to simple notes on ride feel and nutrition, your diary can be as detailed or as basic as you choose. All that matters is that you start tracking the small daily details and insights that can help to make you a stronger rider.…

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01 Find your fit ● If you can’t try before you buy, study the sizing charts extensively as the sizing of our helmets on test varied between brands (MET helmets are well known for coming up small, for example). The cradle, or retention system, secures the helmet onto your head and should be easy to adjust on the move. A dial and ratchet is currently the most common system on mid-range helmets (budget options can have a buckle), but ensure it sits neatly against the back of your skull. Spend some time experimenting with the cradle’s internal height adjustment, too, to ensure you’re getting the absolute best fit for your head shape. Also, make sure the helmet straps sit flush against your cheeks and chin. Although absent on the eight…

01 WHAT’S THE SECRET BEHIND NEW YEAR WEIGHT LOSS? You’re a few weeks into 2024 and your plans for a faster, lighter you have hit a wall. “Why am I not edging closer to racing weight?” you lament. “What am I doing wrong?” Well, you might not be doing anything wrong. You might just need a little patience, plus a dollop of reality. “It sounds simple but losing weight is all about creating an energy deficit,” says Dr Adam Collins, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Surrey. “It’s about fewer calories in and more calories out. Of course, we know it’s not that easy in practice.” Weight loss isn’t an exact science but, roughly, a pound of fat contains around 3,500 calories. “Cool,” you ponder. “I know from my…

Profile Design Sonic Ergo 4525a £129.99 You don’t need a designated time trial bike to enter TT, but a set of clip-on bars will help you stay aero and in more comfort during the race. These are a solid pick with plenty of adjustability. Castelli Fast Feet TT shoe covers £45 These TT-specific aero shoe covers from Castelli are coated in silicone to save drag when you’re racing at speed. Grooves on the Lycra leg portion detach airflow for even more speed gains. Nopinz Speedpockets From £14.99 Barnstaple’s Nopinz are a major presence in time-trial racing, with their race number pockets, belts and sleeves aiming to make drag-creating flapping race numbers a thing of the past.…

Triangle Time Trial series This fun Otley Cycle Club summer series welcomes novice and experienced riders on courses from 10-30 miles. You don’t need a TT bike: any road-legal bike is allowed. otleycycleclub.co.uk CTT National Road Bike Championships These offered roadies, youth racers and veteran TTers alike an 18-mile blast in 2023. Tri-bars, deep-rim and disc wheels were banned. 2024’s champs will be announced soon. cyclingtimetrials.org.uk CTT Classic Series The competition consists of six national events. The series starts in Salisbury on 17 March before going on to Buxton (29 Mar), Herefordshire (21 April), Scottish Borders (5 May), Cornwall (26 May) and the Lake District (9 June). cyclingtimetrials.org.uk…

“In 2007, aged 28, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), prompting me to embrace cycling to help me maintain my fitness and strength. I rode London to Paris with my friend Si and we raised over £5,000 for the MS Trust. The experience ignited a passion for charitable rides. In 2012, a vision-affecting relapse coincided with Si’s son, Jasper, being diagnosed with leukaemia. Inspired to support Jasper, I organized a charity ride from Silverstone to Spa in Belgium. With Si and 25 others, we cycled 400 miles over 4 days, raising £23,081 for five causes. Despite Jasper’s tragic loss in October 2013, the success of the ride2spa led us to organise more events in his memory. We cycled to the Monaco and the Monza Grand Prixes, Yarmouth2barmouth—a 312-mile journey…

Better call Sole CX World Cup, Val di Sole 10 December 2023 ● The riders on the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup series must contend with all sorts of harsh conditions and technical terrain. No course offers a test of skill and nerve quite like the resort of snowy Val di Sole in Trentino, Italy. Women’s World Cup leader Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (pictured) was edged out by Manon Bakker. Another first-time WC winner, Joris Nieuwenhais, won the men’s race.…

Eddy Merckx. The Cannibal. The GOAT: Greatest Of All Time. As with Muhammad Ali in boxing or Pelé in football, if people only knew one cyclist around the time of the moon landings, it was that Belgian… Like Novak Djokovic on any surface of tennis court, or Michael Phelps in any swimming discipline, Merckx won across every type of race. Track, cobbles, mountains, sprint. Hour, day, week, fortnight. The lot. (There are comparisons to another great, albeit more superficially: as a young man, he resembled Elvis.) In the late 1960s and early 1970s Eddy conquered all, relentlessly, mercilessly. Sometimes by, literally, miles. Five Tours, five Giros, a Vuelta. All five ‘Monuments’ (Milan–San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Giro di Lombardia). Countless titles and records. He almost literally won everything:…

● Look at the lightweight road offerings of most of the established brands, equipped with the brilliant Ultegra Di2, tubeless-ready carbon wheels, carbon one-piece bar and 3D-printed, carbon-railed saddle and you’ll be looking at a price tag close to £10,000. With upstart online-only brand Elves, however, the price is a mere £3,999; and the Taiwan-based company’s R&D team is headed up by David Chiang who has more than 20 years’ experience in bike design, working for the likes of Specialized and Giant. 01 In the frame Not only do you get an impressive specification for the money, you’re also getting a UCI-certified frameset that weighs in at just 870g (claimed) with a fork that adds just 430g more. The frame is built from a blend of T800 and ultra-stiff and…

● The key to choosing the best commuter bike is ensuring it’s comfortable and practical for the type of riding you intend to do. If your commute is short and you’re not in a rush, the best option could be a flat-bar bike, such as a hybrid or mountain bike. Or, if you want to cover lots of ground quickly, a drop-bar road or gravel bike may be a better choice for you. This month, we’re concentrating on the flat-bar, hybrid variety across a range of prices. 01 Hybrids A hybrid bike is best thought of as a hardy road bike that takes some influence from mountain bikes. It borrows its off-road cousin’s flat handlebars and a more upright, traffic- and comfort-friendly position. Like a road bike, modern hybrids are…

● I’d be happy to recommend any one of this flat-bar quartet for different types of riders. The Croix De Fer is a comfortable and well-appointed bike that’s great for venturing onto track, trail and gravel. The gearing is good, the braking excellent – a familiar theme with this foursome – and its WTB tyres are more at home off road. If your commute has rough roads or takes in unsurfaced routes it’s very much worth a test ride. The other steel bike, the Ridgeback Expedition, has a regal and upright ride, and with its rack and mudguards, comes commute-ready. It’s super-comfortable too, and smooths out the roughest of winter roads, but as an expedition-ready bike it’s carrying a fair bit of weight. This may or may not be an…

Over 2,000m above the shimmering blue expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, I’m cycling across Tenerife’s sun-scorched volcanic caldera, past meteorite-shaped fragments of glistening black obsidian, eerie red sand dunes, twisted needles of rock and the stark 3,718m cone of the Teide volcano. This is the high-altitude lunar landscape of Tenerife’s Teide National Park – a world of strange volcanic formations, hallucinogenic colours and one unique two-wheeled challenge. PLAYGROUND OF THE PROS Tenerife – a beckoning blip in the Atlantic Ocean, 300km from Africa – has become one of the key training gounds for the world’s best cyclists. The best elite riders of recent times, from Sir Bradley Wiggins to Primož Roglič, have come here to boost their aerobic fitness and sculpt their climbing skills in the airless landscapes. The island…

The Testers Oscar Huckle Technical writer Oscar has close to a decade of cycling-industry experience under his tyres Matthew Baird Editor Matt is CP’s editor and has been testing Lycra, helmets and shoes since 2008 Ashley Quinlan Senior technical editor Ash is on a bike as often as he’s off it as part of his job to review products Warren Rossiter Senior technical editor Warren’s been testing bikes and kit for 20 years, rating over 2,500+ bikes along the way…

Road, aero road, time trial, gravel, commuting… bike helmets in 2024 are split into many genres and sub-categories. But can you find a helmet that can do it all? We’ve tested lids from £65 to £190, all with the MIPS (Multi-Directional Impact Protection System) safety insert, to find out. Often overlooked in the search for aero gains, safety should come first when choosing a bike helmet. Happily, the lids here pass the relevant safety tests for European sale, and many come with added protection measures, including crash-replacement options as well as the aforementioned MIPS. While EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) dominates the build, the helmets here offer many ways to aid rider comfort, venting, speed and safety. Comfort and sizing are key considerations, with internal height adjustments, retention systems, strap adjustability and…

The minibus pulls up outside the futuristic façade of UYN HQ in Asola, Italy, while robot mowers tend to the immaculate lawns outside under an azure sky. I’m clutching what feels like a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory golden ticket inviting me on ‘a tour of discovery of the most advanced research academy in the textile industry’. I received my hot ticket as part of the worldwide launch of this sustainable apparel and footwear brand. UYN, by the way, is pronounced ‘win’ and stands for ‘unleash your nature’. We’re ushered into the imposing entrance hall of the large showroom building and assigned to groups, each with different-coloured wristbands. Then we’re swept off in different directions by our guides for the day: ours is sales and marketing executive Stella Varchi, who,…

Punctures. Cobbles. Crashes. Ask the average cyclist what Paris-Roubaix means to them, and it’s unlikely that they’ll regale you with stories of famous wins or daring moves. Instead, they’ll focus on the brutality of road cycling’s most notorious Classic, nicknamed Hell of the North. A 256.6km race that includes 54.5km of cobblestones over 29 separate sections (or secteurs if you know the lingo), the iconic Monument began in 1896, and often falls on Easter Sunday, when conditions can shift like the allegiance of Judas – any rain turning the dusty pavé into a mud bath. Thousands of spectators line the streets and cobbled farm tracks of northern France, experiencing the mind-boggling speed up close as the peloton winds its way from the outskirts of the French capital to Roubaix’s velodrome…

“The number of case studies where women have trained as men and then burnt out is extreme,” so says Dr Georgie Bruinvels, exercise physiologist and co-creator of the FitrWoman app, which enables women to track their menstrual cycle and offers nutritional suggestions tailored to their changing hormone levels. “The primary guidelines around training are focused on men – huge importance needs to be placed on training as a woman as opposed to training as a man.” As Bruinvels explains, muscle activation pathways differ between sexes, and a key example of this is that women find it harder to use their gluteal muscles and hamstrings. “For example, when cycling out of the saddle, women are more likely to rely on their quads than men, who’ll more naturally use their glutes and…

How long does caffeine stay in the body? To boost your riding, you’re looking at anywhere between 3-4mg of caffeine per kg of body mass. As an example, that means between 210-280mg of caffeine for a 70kg cyclist. These effects are at their highest when caffeine levels peak in the blood, which can be 15-45mins after consumption. Caffeine has a half-life of up to 5hrs, so if you consumed 100mg of caffeine, you’d still have 50mg of caffeine in your body after 5hrs. In both peaking and half-life, it’s hard to be totally prescriptive as age, bodyweight and how sensitive a person is to caffeine impact on metabolism. What are yaw angles? Tie a thread to your seatpost and set off due north. If it’s a perfectly calm day, that…

Bike Lounge Nottingham History ● Started pre-lockdown in 2020 by owner Rodney, who’d had enough of 10 years on the road as a bike rep. Initially a sofas-and-screens cycle cafe, but soon morphed into a traditional but wide-ranging local bike shop. Located in Beeston, a suburban centre about four car-free miles from central Nottingham along the city’s bike-path network. What makes the shop special? ● ‘Everything we sell, we know,’ says Rodney. ‘We’ve tried all the gear and bikes. We’re not beholden to a supplier or a brand – we stock what we know works well.’ Why is a local bike shop so important? ● It’s in touch with the local community and the people respect the advice! We do club and group rides, and stage regular evening events. We…

● The grooved valleys, sinuous rivers and panoramic passes make the verdant Yorkshire Dales one of Britain’s showcase cycling regions. No wonder the 2014 Tour de France kicked off with its screen-filling scenery. (They enjoyed closed roads, but the cycle.travel website offers a very close alternative route on some of the Dales’ many quiet, picturesque back lanes.) Rugged farms, robust market towns, and cyclist-friendly fireside pubs and cafes help, too. There are at least three dozen named dales in this imposing north-western chunk of Yorkshire, just about every one a cycling joy. Candidates for the grandest include Swaledale (fjord-like in its upper reaches between Keld and Muker); Wharfedale (most cinematic, with film-set Kettlewell, Grassington, and Bolton Abbey); and Wensleydale (broad and lush, with vivacious market town Hawes, and All Creatures…

SUDDENLY, CYCLING THE VIA FRANCIGENA is a thing. Five years ago, I hadn’t even heard of this Canterbury-to-Rome epic. Now it seems half the people I know have done it. And the other half are planning to. It’s more than a grand-scale bike route. It’s a pilgrimage, walked or horsed for centuries, for reasons transcending tourism. For the faithful, the journey is logged in some celestial ledger rather than Strava. And the payback is the writing off of all sins, not just a few kudoses. The most famous bike pilgrimage is the Camino de Santiago, the network of ancient pilgrim routes to Santiago de Compostela in western Spain. As big for medieval Christians as the hajj still is for Muslims, it dwindled in popularity until the 1990s, when only a…

Key session ● “I plan my sessions in my diary so I can replicate upcoming races. This is a virtual mountain day, with my Wattbike connected to Zwift, to simulate a hilly stage of the Haute Route Alps. I rode up Alpe du Zwift (12.2km, 1,036m+) twice in the 76.3km ride, climbing steadily with a heart rate of 162-166bpm. My max HR is 185bpm, aiming for steady, sustainable power. → Ride 2:45hrs Zwift ride with 2 x climbs → Distance 76.3km → Virtual elevation gain 2,293m → Avg watts 237W (257W normalised) → Avg HR 151bpm → Avg HR (climbs) 162-166bpm → Calories burnt 2,500 → Avg speed 27.7kph Recording my training data means I can see how I’m improving, or adjust my training when needed. For example, I noticed…

Pico de Las Nieves, Gran Canaria ● Another Canary Islands must-do, Gran Canaria’s Pico de Las Nieves is 1,955m tall. This stunning stratovolcano offers beautiful views of the dense forests, folded mountains and hazy Atlantic Ocean below. And after battling up the 42.1km ascent from Maspalomas in the south, and tackling some seriously steep sections at 11.8%, you’ll have earned them. Puy de Dome, France ● The famous lava dome in the Massif Central is one of the youngest volcanoes in the Chaine des Puys. This historic Tour de France climb made an explosive return for the 2023 Tour. The road to its summit is 5.8km long and tops out at 1,415m, averaging a killer 10.3%. It is now only open to cyclists for special days and events, such as…

01 Castelli Tempesta Lite £350 Sizes S-3XL Colours Grey Womens version? Yes THE ITALIAN BRAND’S “LIGHTEST and most packable” Gore-Tex jacket has taped seams while the lower back uses stretchy Gore-Tex Topo fabric to keep things slim but unrestrictive (the fit across my chest was a little tighter than I’d like, though). There’s an opening at the back to access jersey pockets, but it’s not easy to use with gloves on. Reflective strips run right down the arms and along the back hem. The collar is cut high, but can be folded down. There’s a YKK Vision zip, but no draught-excluding tab on the inside, nor zip garage under the chin. At the wrist, an inner cuff helps keep the elements out. The jacket beaded off water effectively without wetting…

MET Vinci MIPS £100 Weight 269g Colours Titanium; Lime Yellow; Blue; Red; White; Navy; Black The stylish Vinci, positioned near the bottom of MET’s road range, has a do-it-all road riding feel and I’ve happily used it for racing, relaxed big rides and commutes. The 269g weight makes it competitive for this price and heightens the climbing appeal, while the 16 ventilation channels are effective for when ascents and sweat levels spike. The internal and removable gel padding is plush and quick-drying, while the basic MIPS plate is tidily inserted and matches the ventilation channels. There are clear visual similarities in the overall low-profile shape and positioning of the side vents with Tadej Pogačar’s Tour de France-winning Trenta. That shaping makes it feel like a swift lid, and its low…

UYN Airwing shirt £139 Due to their structure, the sleeves are aerodynamic without being compressive or restrictive. The 3D knitted construction also creates highly breathable areas. Elsewhere, the lightweight, quick-drying and organic Natex material is stretchy and odour minimising. This is designed for high temperatures and comes with a two-year guarantee. UYN Ridemiles Woman Bib Short £129 These long-distance shorts have a 3D knitted insert creating strategic areas of breathability, and a proprietary high-density HC120 foam pad. There are no seams in the gluteal area, for comfort and increased elasticity. A single, seamless perforated strap sits at the front, with two further straps at the back. The silicone-free cuffs help the legs grip firmly.…

● Tyre levers ● 15mm wrench ● Pump or CO2 inflator and accompanying canister ● Chain splitter ● Quick link ● Spare inner tubes ● Inner tube patch kit ● Valve extender (if riding deep-section rims) Bikes are essentially very simple machines. You can practically strip one down and build it back up by the roadside with little more than a multi-tool! Most common mechanicals are easy to fix, as long as you’re carrying the right tools and spares. Carry the following with you on every ride and you’ll never suffer the embarrassment of cramming your training bike into an Uber! To fix a puncture, you’ll need to start by removing the wheel. Most bikes have quick-release levers, but if you’re riding a single speed, fixie or bike with an…

Time trial (TT) is known as the ‘race of truth’. It’s you and your will power against the clock. You may have seen TTs happening at a race circuit or bypass near you. Uniquely everyone rides alone and there’s no drafting, which sets it apart from sportives. Peak TT season runs from April onwards, but you can find events over the whole year. And don’t think they’re just for hardcore time-triallers on stripped-down machines. Governing body CTT are offering childcare at some races in 2024 and there’ll be road bike-only races where aerobars are outlawed. 1,200 There are around 1,200 ‘open’ time-trials to enter in the UK each year, plus plenty of club-run events too HERE TO HELP Kate Allan Kate’s a competitive time triallist for Team Bottrill and has…