Like Never Before, Understand What It Takes To Perform At Your "Highest Potential."
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Develop & Improve As a Cyclist
Mental Toughness…
Cycling in its totality is a progressive activity. Cycling skills, performance, speed,
endurance, and overall talent improves the more you engage in the activity. As a
result, there are several cycling keynotes that must be satisfied in order to improve
your cycling abilities. The first is your mental outlook. You must possess the mental
conviction that you can and will reach your “Highest Potential” as a cyclist. The
belief you have in your abilities will generate the confidence that will overcome
doubts in your capability as fatigue sets in during your rides. For example, if you
are comfortable maintaining an average of 15 mph, you should possess the inner strength
to challenge yourself to ride at 16-
When preparing to put yourself to the test, if your mental outlook is weak, it is quite easy to give in to aching muscles and psychological discouragement which are all common fallacies. However, by exercising positive mental exposure during these critical times, it will serve as the cornerstone to your improvement as well as the secret to your success in the future. Once you have become comfortable with your mental and psychological abilities; sticking to the task regardless of how challenging it may become, with time and continuous commitment, you’ll be amazed of how easy it is to reach your “Highest Potential.” In addition, it is extremely vital to surround yourself with other cyclists with a positive outlook. They will also serve as a significant token towards your mental progress.
Be Realistic…
To reach your “Highest Potential” as a cyclist, you must be realistic in the extent
of how much improvement you can summoned within a reasonable period of time from
the inner core of your mental stimuli. When you are aware of your limitations, then
you are prepared to work to improve your performance with time. For example, if
your nominal cycling speed is 15 mph but you eagerly desire to ride in the mid 20s,
it would be unrealistic to move yourself to that level before physically and mentally
training for such a leap. Riding in a group where the average speed is between 22-
Your mental and psychological toughness should be viewed as your silent inner coach that is constantly inspiring and guiding you to reaching your “Highest Potential.” When you take the stance in placing your cycling achievement vastly above your ability, it makes reaching your “Highest Potential” an impossible task. When you focus on the outside stimuli rather than pulling your strength and inspiration from within yourself, you are putting yourself in a position to fail. If this happens, you have compromised your mental outlook, and are in no better position than when you had started your ride.
Professional Athletes Being Realistic…
There is no doubt that your mental capacity plays an integral part in your cycling improvement, but your mental strength by itself is not enough to help you reach your “Highest Potential.” During an interview with several Olympians that had reach their “Highest Potential” in their respective events; they were asked “How did they improve their abilities to go the distance?” One replied, “I found success when I worked on preparing my mind to deal with the challenges that lay ahead." Another stated, “We were better prepared to do the physical activities that required getting our fitness level up to the point where our bodies could adapt to the physical demands placed upon it." In this case, cyclists must be consistent and persistent in their efforts. To get your body use to sitting in a pedaling posture for long periods of time, you must work through the pain and discomfort and trust that your body will make the adjustment over time.
Aching Muscles & Improved Cycling…
Like any other sporting activity, when making a transition to cycling, you will experience some soreness and discomfort in certain muscle groups at first. For that reason, slow and gradual improvement is the objective. As each part of the body becomes stronger, increase the intensity. This is vital and should never be overlooked when planning and implementing your training program. Such soreness stems from an inflammation of the muscles. This inflammation is directly linked to the fact that the muscles are not accustom to a new physical exercise, or you could be possibly pushing yourself too hard too soon. This soreness is not an indication to quit, but slow and gradual exercise routine will help the soreness subside. You can treat such soreness by means of muscle stimulants, like “massage” or “A warm Epson salt soak” and if all else fail; the good old ice is recommended. If you continue to perform/ride at the same intensity, your muscles will eventually get the message and make the adjustments. However, if you ride at a higher intensity, the muscles will not have time to heal, thus having the aches and pain prolong for a longer period of time.
Improved Cyclists Maneuvers…
With this fundamental understanding of the primary milestones to accomplish in becoming a competitive or improved cyclist, let’s take this one step further. Let’s examine a few primary acts an improved cyclist must maneuver. As an improved cyclist, your mission is to ride with other accomplished cyclists to further this transition and continue improving. A group that have been riding together for some time would have developed some familiarity amongst themselves. For example, safety practices, maneuvers, methods of traveling; in a pack or straight line and etc. As a result, it is imperative you get acclimated to these practices.
Drafting is a common act among skilled cyclists. The purpose of drafting is to punch a hole in the atmosphere so as a group, a large air pocket opens up and gives the group the best opportunity to move uniformly and quickly together. If you do not wait for the previously pulled cyclist to tuck in at the rear of the pace line, they will be hung out and struggle to keep up with the group.
Drafting occurs when the cyclist infront of you experience a majority of the wind resistance as they ride at a certain speed; simultaneously you get to ride at the same speed or faster with less resistance which in turn saves you energy over the distance of the ride. In other words, while there is another cyclist riding in front of you, they are punching an air pocket in the atmosphere for everyone else to follow.
Drafting done properly gives the cyclist a break from wattage or power output. It will also put the trailing cyclist as close as six inches off the rear wheel of the leading cyclist. Drafting within such close proximity among a cycling group of about two or more cyclist takes considerable skill and cooperation. For example, if you find that you are too close to the cyclist ahead of you, do not slam on the break or stop pedaling. Keep pedaling “Soft pedal” but not fast enough to improve your speed. By “soft pedaling” it sends the message to the other trailing cyclist that you are slowing but not enough to greatly affect the overall speed of the group. On the other hand, if you slam on the break you could start a chain reaction that is catastrophic to other cyclist and innocent bystanders. A soft or gentle squeeze of the break lever would be more suitable at this point.
Never create a split in the group by causing other cyclist to slow down rapidly. This action will negatively affect the other cyclists’ energy management over the distance of the ride. This places them in a compromising situation because it forces them to make up for an error made by someone other than themselves. When fellow cyclists have to expel more energy than is needed to catch up with packs due to an error on your part, it lets you appear amateurish and unfit to keep up with the pace. When this happens, the cyclist who is affected by your error may fall off the pace and the distance between them and the main group will gradually increase. If it is your turn to pull and you wait for the previously pulled cyclist to get on the rear by not increasing the speed, then the previously pulled cyclist will reap the benefits of the draft and the pace line will continue without any disruptions.
Finding the Draft is another important aspect an improved cyclist must also maneuver. Such knowledge takes time to develop. When you have acquired and develop such skill by using your sense of feeling and listening, you are ready to move to the next phase. When you are in the draft, there is a distinct difference in the amount of air or wind that will hit your body. As a result, the less wind that hits you, the quieter the sound of the passing winds. At times, you may have to move slightly to the left or right of the leading cyclist to find the exact drafting position. With these insights, you’ll understand how to adjust your angle base on wind resistance, speed, and direction.
Pulling is the opposite of drafting. Pulling occurs when your fellow cyclists who once lead the group is ready to peal off to the back of the pace line to recoup expelled energy. At this point, the cyclist in the second position will now take over the lead duties.
Like drafting, pulling must be executed with care. If you are riding second in the pace line and the cyclist infront of you indicates that they are approaching the end of their pulling duties – by a shrug of the elbow or a tap on the hip, you must be mindful as they peal off and make their way to the rear of the pace line. Never speed up immediately, if you do, the group will react to your action. If you speed up, the group will speed up as well and literally sling shot past the previously pulled cyclist before they get a chance to adequately get to the back of the pace line. This is a common occurrence among inexperienced and inconsiderate cyclists and you do not want to be labeled as either.
Hydration…
As a cyclist, hydration must be viewed as a life and death situation. Without the proper levels of hydration, a cyclist can seriously compromise their overall performance and abilities, health, and safety. On ANY given bike ride, a cyclist must have present on their bikes two water bottles with their choice of hydration. Beverage choices vary with the individual cyclist. However, to learn more about the appropriate ways to select the best beverage based on your individual cycling abilities, visit us as www.gpsports.info.
As you cycle, individual cyclist will face thirst at varying moments. As a result,
liquid intake occurs sporadically. GP Sports Cyclists are recommended to hydrate
themselves every 10-
As an improved cyclist, you will often find yourself riding at a comparable speed
between 15-
The number one priority during this hydration maneuver is safety. Safety is compromised if you fail to keep your bike steady which can further result in weaving back and forth. As a result, your bike handling skills will be interdependent on how well this maneuver is executed.
Peripherals…
Your peripherals serves as your constant monitoring system as far as what is going on around you as you ride. As a cyclist, your visual sense must be on high alert at all times. You must be alert to mistakes other cyclist may make infront and behind you. You have to be alert to motorists who can sometimes come dangerously close, and you have to be alert to obstacles that could be in your cycling path. The monitoring factors pointed out can be constantly checked by slightly looking to the left or right.
By practicing your peripheral views, you will develop the ability to readily identify
objects that are not in full view. Nevertheless, if you find it necessary to look
directly behind you, it is of extreme priority that you maintain full navigational
control of your bike. In other words, keeping your hands steady while briefly glancing
behind you is a priority. With practice, such glances occur over either shoulder
or under either arm-
GP Sports Cycling & Fitness’ number one goal is to get you to ride at your “Highest Potential” on any given day. As a result, your overall health, fitness, safety, and athletic achievement become the bedrock of our existence. We want you to “Get It Right the First Time.” GP Sports Cycling & Fitness can be reached at gpsncyclingclub@gpsnewz.com for any further information. We hope to hear from you soon.
