Scot Tares gets in the zone with his cycle training.

A recent study at Stirling University has investigated how training intensity can have measurable effects on performance, and the results may not be what you expect. The 29-week trial on a group of cyclists found that a programme of predominantly low intensity work mixed with around a 20% volume of high intensity sessions led to greater improvements in fitness against a group of riders that maintained a moderate intensity of workout throughout.

For many people new to cycling this may seem counter intuitive and they might assume that periods of cycling at a very low intensity is a waste of time, but it is this very approach that has formed the basis of a cyclist’s winter training programme for decades. Dr Stuart Galloway of Stirling University said, “It is a case of training smarter. We found in these cyclists that if you can make the hard sessions harder and the easy sessions easier then you will likely see better progress. Amateur athletes tend to spend a lot of their training in a moderate intensity bracket, which in our study showed much smaller improvements”

The question for those amateur cyclists who may not have experience in gauging the intensity of their efforts is how much is “hard” and how little is “easy”. Well, the easiest way, without using technical and often expensive equipment such as power meters and heart rate monitors, is to gauge your effort using perceived exertion. Based on a set of zones, where zone 1 is cycling at a pace that your gran with a basket full of shopping on her bike could pass you, to Zones 5 and 6 where you can’t talk and can only maintain the effort for a few seconds at a time, this method is surprisingly easy to use and if you trust your intuition, a relatively accurate method to gauge the intensity of your performance.

Many amateur cyclists are turning to professional coaches to develop structured and specific training plans based on a combination of intensity and volume; even those with very little time to train can achieve improvements in their performance and as an added bonus longer lower-intensity rides are key to losing weight. For those training for events such as the Etape Caledonia, this “smart” approach to cycling could be what you are looking for to achieve your goals.

Scot Tares

Originally published in the Courier 22.12.12

As the decades pass by and toys go in and out of fashion, each Christmas brings another “must-have” item on children’s lists for Santa. However, one item that never seems to go out of vogue is the humble bicycle; it’s been a staple favourite for children around the world and still remains a must-have Christmas list item for kids of all ages to this day. Thinking back to my own youth, I remember meeting all my friends out on our street in Dundee, mid-morning on Christmas day to give our new bikes a test run; usually our motley peloton in those days consisted of a few drop bar “racing” bikes, a Grifter and possibly even a Chopper. We spent a few hours testing them out for speed and their ability to ride ramps “Evel Knievel” style (riding a “Raleigh Racer”, not something I was entirely successful at), before the cold defeated us and the prospect of more chocolate, Christmas dinner and a read through the new Oor Wullie or Broons annual before bed drew us back to our respective homes.

It is heartening to see that bikes are still high on Christmas wish-lists and that come the 25^th  of December, those lucky enough to get a bike from Santa will be out on the streets burning off some calories and making some room for their Christmas pudding. Nowadays, however, it is not just children who are out on bikes on Christmas day showing off their new cycling kit; riders of all ages will be hoping that the parcels under the tree are two-wheeled related. However, if new bikes and kit aren’t motivation enough to get out on your bike over the festive period why not set yourself a challenge of completing a set distance during the Christmas holiday. There are established challenges already out there, such as the Rapha Festive 500 in which you can try and log 500km of rides between the 24^th and 31^st December, but there is no reason why you can’t set your own challenge, no matter how difficult or achievable. It is a great time to get out on your bike, as many of us are lucky enough to have some time off work over this period and what better way to spend your time off than riding your bike, especially when it means you have an excuse to eat another mince pie when you get back home.

Merry Christmas – Get out and Ride

Scot Tares

Twitter: @SkinnyTyres

Where to Ride

Scot Tares finds out you can enjoy cycling from the comfort of your armchair.

Alongside my passion for all things two-wheeled, I have several other past-times and pursuits that I enjoy: going to the mountains with my dogs and my mate, listening to and collecting vinyl records, and reading and collecting books. Books have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and one of the benefits to be had from them for me is that when I’m not up the hills, or out on my bike I can be reading about them, or even better reading about riding bikes in the mountains with camping and whisky thrown in for good measure; another two passions of mine.

My bookshelves strain under the weight of many books of all varieties, but it is probably cycling books, which fill seven full shelves, that are the most prominent. Friends have been known to remark that they are amazed that so much could be written about riding a bike. There are travelogues from people who have cycled all over the world; classic cycling fiction such as “The Rider” by Tim Krabbé; and biographies, one of my favourites being “In Pursuit of Stardom” by Tony Hewson which recalls a time in the 1950s when he, Vic Sutton and Jock Andrews blazed a trail across Continental Europe trying to make it as pro’ riders. Others such as “A Moustache, Poison and Blue Glasses” recall a rich and sometimes dark history of races and riders; several of which are packed with black and white photographs that evoke the passion, pain and suffering that seems to seep through the very pores of the sport.

Far from being a subject that has a limited scope, the sheer variety of books about cycling is astounding and increasing numbers of cycling related books are being published every year. One such book, “The Secret Race” by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle won the “William Hill Sport’s Book of the Year” Award for 2012 and is the third cycling book to have done so after “Rough Ride” by Paul Kimmage and “It’s Not About the Bike” by Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins. The latter sits on my shelf, but is one I have never actually got around to reading and after recent events is one that I am unlikely to do so in the future.

My wife has accused me before of having too many cycling books and I admit, that just like buying new bikes and components, buying books can be just as addictive and if the weather prevents you from getting out on your bike over the winter, then why not sit back, relax and pick up a good book instead?

Scot Tares

Twitter: @SkinnyTyres

Where to Ride: A road ride par excellence

Scot Tares

Twitter: @SkinnyTyres

Where to Ride: A road ride through Highland Perthshire

Copyright DC Thompson 2012

Scot Tares finds he has a love-hate relationship with indoor training.

Hate is a strong word, but that is exactly how I used to feel about turbo-trainers, the indoor resistance unit that your outdoor bike clips into allowing you to pedal away to your heart’s content without ever actually going anywhere. For me training on the turbo was an act comparable to Sisyphus pushing his boulder up the steep hill, only to find it roll back down before he reached the top. However, no matter how interminable I found the act of indoor training, I knew deep down that there were real and tangible benefits to be gained and quickly too, but I found the whole process intensely boring and would have been more enthused at the prospect of repeatedly hitting my thumb with a hammer. I’m not the only one either; cyclists often speak of turbo-training in hushed voices and with fear akin to that of the Pitenweem witch trials and tortures of 1705. Manufacturers of turbo-trainers are very aware of this mass aversion to their product and more and more are producing virtual reality equipment that allows the indoor trainer to simulate high mountain passes of the French Alps, or even connect up with other riders around the world for virtual on-line races. This is all well and good, and certainly an improvement on cycling alone in your garden shed on a wet Tuesday night in November, but I feel it is defeating the point a little; there is some training benefit to be had from such activities, but it still lacks focus and specificity. If I want to simulate riding in the real world I would rather just get out on my bike and ride outside; for me, the turbo-trainer is a tool that allows for intense training in short periods and it was with that realisation that my hatred slowly turned to love. The point I had been missing for so long was that I had seen the turbo-trainer as something to replace my outdoor rides with when the weather was bad, and many cyclists do use it this way, but this is where the disdain creeps in. Instead, now I use the turbo-trainer to complement my outdoor riding and with planning I can achieve noticeable improvements in my riding in short periods of time, due to the increased control that the trainer gives you over the intensity of the session. The key to such sessions is short but intense bursts of energy known as intervals.  Devised for specific goals the duration of the energy burst in these intervals can be as short as ten seconds and interspersed with periods of easier pedalling to recover. These kind of efforts are painful and difficult to complete, even when they are very short, but they acutely focus the mind. The point is that if you find turbo training boring, then you aren’t trying hard enough. Changing your indoor training regime to short, meaningful and focussed sessions will provide allow you to incorporate many short periods of high intensity pedalling, which accumulated will to lead to big improvements in your riding performance.

Remember, it’s not the turbo-trainer that’s boring, but the approach being used. Get out and ride.

Get out and ride.

Scot Tares

Twitter: @SkinnyTyres

 Where to Ride: Monk Myre – Blairgowrie

Copyright DC Thompson 2012

Scot Tares gets on track with his riding

“Cycling has brought me a lot of pleasure” – Sir Chris Hoy

Sir Chris Hoy, the UKs greatest ever Olympian and now immortalised with an eponymous Velodrome in Glasgow, is a household name who has inspired thousands of kids to get on their bikes and ride. Even my two children insist on a certain breakfast cereal because of Sir Chris’s face on the box. This inspiration has been great, but up until now opportunities for young riders to try out track riding have been limited to the three outdoor tracks at Meadowbank in Edinburgh, Belahouston in Glasgow and Dundee’s very own Caird Park. Now though, only four weeks old and the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow’s east end is packed to the gunnels with riders wanting to hit the boards. The track has already hosted the Scottish National Track Championships and “Thunderdrome” race meet and this weekend the cream of the world’s track stars descend on Glasgow for Round 2 of the UCI Track World Cup. It’s a fantastic coup for the Velodrome to be hosting an international competition so early in its life and the fact that 2000 tickets sold out in less than an hour demonstrates a voracious appetite from the public to see the gladiators of the fixed wheel battle it out on the wooden boards. Away from competition, the Velodrome is just as busy, with riders coming from all over Scotland to ride. Recently I was lucky enough to be part of a British Cycling School of Racing coaching session for 12 to 16 year old riders, and it was clear from the high level of skill and tactical nous on display that we are going to have many heirs to Sir Chris Hoy’s crown in Scotland; roll on the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Although a trip to Glasgow isn’t a hardship, in Courier Country we are lucky to have our very own racing track at Caird Park, where Sir Chris gained his first Scottish Championship title and which has recently reopened after extensive renovation. The outdoor track here isn’t as steeply banked as the one in Glasgow, but it still offers all the thrill and gives opportunities to learn a multitude of track craft on the way to becoming the next Sir Chris Hoy. What are you waiting for? Get out and ride.

Scot Tares

Twitter: @SkinnyTyres

Where to Ride: Caird Park Outdoor Cycle Track

Copyright DC Thompson 2012

Scot Tares explains why cycling is the scene to be seen in.

“Sometime jerseys are even uncool. The guys that have a bike and a helmet and that’s it, they’re my favourite mountain bikers” – Dave Wiens

I’ve never been one for bright, garish cycle clothing; I recently won a “Soreen” malt loaf cycling jersey in bright and garish yellow, and my modesty only ever lets me wear it when I am on my indoor turbo-trainer. I much prefer understated cycle clothing, with my biggest statement being my 1984 woollen “Charles Star CC” jersey, that I wear more out of nostalgia than for its bright red, white and black diagonal stripe. Saying that though, I do have a certain smug feeling putting it on that I can still fit in to a jersey that I got when I was 14, (what I can’t remember is if my parents bought it several sizes too big for me, so I would grow into it).

I am, however fully aware that my preference for more subtle colours on the bike puts me out of kilter with what is generally considered to be safe, meaning “noticeable” to other road users. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t make a point of trying not to be seen; when riding in winter, even if my waterproof jacket isn’t neon yellow, I still make sure it is plastered with reflective strips. Unfortunately however, even if you were to hang a disco glitter ball from your saddle and wear a clown costume I still wouldn’t register on the visual radar of some road users, but this isn’t an excuse not to make an effort to be seen, which I do. I have at least two tail lights, a very bright front light and several reflective strips on myself and on my winter bike. Now that the clocks have changed though, I have found it disappointing to see so many riders cycling through town, not only in dark clothing, but not even with lights on. One rider in particular, as I drove past was stationary in the middle of an extremely busy road, after dusk, waiting to turn right; they were virtually invisible. Despite the obvious danger to the rider and other road users, I also find this frustrating as it reflects (no pun intended) badly on the vast majority of cyclists that do make an effort to obey the rules of the road. It’s a sad, but undeniable, fact that many other road users have a less than healthy respect for cyclists, so why give them even more ammunition by riding without lights or not wearing clothing to make yourself more visible when out on your bike. Unlike a motorist who uses a mobile phone whilst driving, a cyclist who rides in a manner that is inconsiderate to other road users tars every other rider with the same brush, such is the minority group that cyclists are still seen by many to exist in.

What is heartening, is that despite the poor weather and dark nights I am still seeing increasing numbers of cyclists out on the roads cycling safely and visibly and being responsible and considerate to other road users that we cyclists must share our roads with, and I even saw one rider last week wearing a “Soreen” jersey who was visible from a long way off, which just goes to show that you don’t always have to be following fashion to stand out and make a statement.

Scot Tares

Twitter: @SkinnyTyres

Where to Ride: Cycling in the Angus Glens

Copyright DC Thompson 2012

Scot Tares finds as the nights draw in you can still get your fix of cycling on-line.

“Biking is my art form-my self expression” – Missy Giove

As a youngster I remember eagerly awaiting those rare Channel 4 broadcasts of the Kellog’s cycle race series and the Tour de France. It was the only time I, and many others from that generation could watch cycle racing and we gleaned the rest of our knowledge from the results pages of Cycling Weekly magazine. Move on quarter of a century and the internet is awash with cycling  related video clips and footage. During July I wrote about the Tour de France and I wanted to confirm my ageing knowledge of Chris Boardman’s Prologue Time-Trial Crash in 1995. A quick search on You Tube and the whole episode of that TV broadcast was available to watch. I then wasted several more hours trawling the internet for more videos of childhood heroes, such as Robert Millar and Greg Lemond. Today the depth and breadth of cycling related films available is fantastic; from home videos and amateur race films to HD quality full length films; there is literally something for everyone. If you want to know how to change a bottom bracket, there will be video instruction; if you want to know how to pull a lateral bunny-hop, there will be a film of some eight-year-old showing you how to do it. Sometimes it feels like too much information of course, and the instant access to everything can leave me feeling a bit cold and dazed and missing the days when there was a personal voyage of discovery to be had; the reward for your effort being that once discovered, the image, story or video was more treasured and therefore more memorable. But this is just the ramblings of a hopeless old romantic and, to be honest I can’t get enough of the deluge of cycling films on-line.

One of my favourite online cycling films of the moment is “Boy”, a very moving, Olympic-inspired video starring Timothy Spall that will have you reaching for the tissues: http://youtu.be/yHkOIFyC26E

And here are some others worth checking out:

• An internet sensation; this video went viral and launched the name of Danny McCaskill to the world: http://youtu.be/Z19zFlPah-o
• Martyn Ashton does some trials riding on a Pinarello Road Bike: http://youtu.be/7ZmJtYaUTa0
• Freeride mountainbiking at its best with Chris Sorge taking on the steep cliffs of Virgin, Utah: http://youtu.be/uExosD9J0LA
• If only every Mountainbike video was shot like this: http://youtu.be/0zLuqKNKOqs
• Girls and fixed wheels – Juliet Elliot: http://youtu.be/x4l_E-Xfw1w
• Reducing traffic congestion through the eyes of a bike: http://bit.ly/QXk9j6

This is just a small selection of my favourites. Now the nights are drawing in and there are less opportunities to get out and ride, why not sit back, get on-line and enjoy some quality viewing that we could only dream about 20 years ago.

Scot Tares

Twitter: @SkinnyTyres

Where to Ride: A road ride out past Scone Palace

Copyright DC Thompson 2012

Scot Tares gets muddy on the trail, all for the joy of cleaning his bike afterwards.

“Cleaning a bike’s like cleaning a toilet. If you do it regularly, it’s fine and easy. If you wait, it’s a truly disgusting experience” – Steve Gravenites

I’ve written before about cycling in the rain and it is one of those things where the thought of doing it is actually worse than the reality, (well most of the time anyway). And so it was one recent Wednesday, when some friends and I were due to meet for our weekly off-road night-time mountain bike ride. All day the rain had fallen and as I got home from work the thought of going out again was not appealing; there then followed a brief “text” conversation between myself and friends that went along the lines of: Me: “I’ll go out if you go out”, Friend: “Well I’ll definitely go out if you go out”, Me:  “I’m not bothered though, if you don’t want to”… It was the cycling equivalent of a Tarantino-esque “Mexican stand-off”; we could have spent all evening doing this and used it as the perfect excuse not to ride, each blaming the other’s lack of motivation as the reason for our laziness. Thankfully we got our act together and arrived in Dunkeld, switched the head-lamps on and hit the rain sodden muddy tracks and trails of Craigvinnean Forest that were doing a good job of imitating rivers. It was fantastic fun and if our faces hadn’t been thickly plastered with mud you would have seen the huge grins that adorned our faces throughout the ride. My smile faded as I got home and realised that I would have to hose the mud off the bike before I did anything else; it was dark, still raining, I was soaked to the skin, freezing cold and hungry and it was now 9pm, but I knew that if I didn’t do it now I would regret it the next day as I would then spend twice as long scrubbing off the dried encrusted mud from the chain-set and bike frame. I quickly got to work, cursing as I did so, but as I had known, the effort was worthwhile as the next morning I was then able to take a sparklingly clean and freshly oiled bike out of the shed for another ride in the mud.

Scot Tares

Twitter: @SkinnyTyres

Where to Ride: Mountain biking in Craigvinnean, Dunkeld

Copyright DC Thompson 2012

Scot Tares looks towards a bright future for young cyclists.

“After being encouraged by the team, pressured to perform and pushed to my physical limits I crossed a line I promised myself and others I would not: I doped. It was a decision I deeply regret. It caused me sleepless nights, took the fun out of cycling and racing, and tainted the success I achieved at the time. This was not how I wanted to live or race.” – Michael Barry, a former team-mate of Armstrong’s

For several years now I have coached children in cycling and last week I had the pleasure to be involved in coaching a group of 20 kids at the outdoor cycle track at Caird Park in Dundee. The vast majority had never ridden on a brakeless, fixed wheel bike before, but within the first few hours we had them racing each other around the track. The enthusiasm from each of them was infectious and as they sprinted for the line it was hard not to cheer out loud; I felt the same excitement watching them race as I had when I watched the track racing at the Olympics. As one rider crossed the line in his race heat, he pulled his foot out from the pedal and only just managed to keep his bike upright as he careered off the track onto the grass centre. It was spectacular and my heart was in my mouth as I ran over to check he was okay. Shaken, but unhurt, his first words to me were, “Did I win?”; I was happy to be able to tell him he had.

Later that evening, as I read through pages of online articles relating to systematic doping in professional cycling ranks perpetrated by many, including Lance Armstrong, I reflected on that young rider’s winning mentality at the track in Dundee. It takes that kind of attitude to get to the top in sport and those who want to get there are faced with many difficult sacrifices and choices. However, the people and support systems in place to help inform these decisions must be supportive of the rider and place their very best interests at the heart of everything they do. It was sad, but not surprising, to read how many people in a position of trust: managers, coaches, doctors, riders and those in governance of the sport failed in that very fundamental aspect of protecting those in their charge; the winning mentality for them had crossed a dangerous line as they actively promoted a “win at all costs” culture that had banned performance enhancing drugs at its core. It is very easy to vilify the riders and the choices they made, but peer pressure can be powerful and dreams of success even stronger. Many ex-professionals who chose not to “dope” still look back with bitterness at how they felt chastised and pressured to leave the sport they loved because they were not willing to conform to the illegal practices going on in their sport.

Despite calls from some quarters to move on and forget what has happened in the past, it is vital that answers are sought to the question of how systematic doping ever became part of professional sport; failure to do so will leave those that have crossed the line to bury their heads deeper in the sand and the future of professional cycling will be very bleak as a result.

For each of those riders at the track in Dundee and every other young cyclist that dreams of one day of making it to the top of their sport, their path will be difficult and it will take guts and determination to negotiate the obstacles in the way, but these obstacles are not insurmountable and are in fact part of what makes that effort worthwhile. However, never again should a young rider be put in a position where their success is measured at the expense of their integrity and to win they must sacrifice their own health and morals.

Scot Tares

Twitter: @SkinnyTyres

Where to Ride: A two Glen Route near Bridge of Earn

Copyright DC Thompson 2012

Scot Tares is relieved to find the creaking sound he hears as he rides is not coming from his knees.

“When your bike functions best, you don’t hear it – it’s silent, there’s no cracking, just shhhh – you’re gliding.”― Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk

There is nothing more infuriating than a squeak or a creaking sound on your bike and that was exactly what I had; as I rode I recalled the old VW car advert where the driver of the car was mystified as to where a squeak was coming from only to find out after stopping at a garage that it was the squeak of his sleeping passenger’s earing. I’m old enough now to have removed all the earrings that I once had in my youth, but thankfully not old enough for the intermittent creak to be coming from my knees; no, this creak was definitely coming from the bike. Like the driver in the advert, I was mystified, as when I stopped and pushed and pulled, turned and spun various moving parts of the bike, it sounded as smooth and sweet as a well maintained bike should, but as soon as my backside was on the saddle and the pedals were turning the noise returned.

Trying to listen to where a noise might be coming from on your bike as you are pedalling is very difficult indeed and as I tried to determine whether the sound was from the front or the back of the bike pedestrians must have thought I was practising some new form of bike yoga as I rode down the street, contorted every-which-way to try and listen to the sound closer. Eventually I settled for the middle of the bike and decided it was the bottom bracket that was at fault, so promptly took my bike to my friendly local bike shop where they fitted a new part. For a day or two this seemed to do the trick, (perhaps my bike, so pleased with the new bottom bracket forgot about its other ailments for a while). However, much to my annoyance, the creak returned and had now developed into a full blown clunk; fortunately, this time it was so loud that it was unmistakeably coming from the back wheel. Since changing the wheels I am now riding again accompanied only with a whoosh through the air, the sound of my breathing and fortunately no creak from my joints just yet. For me a loved bike will purr as you ride and as long as you tend to the occasional creak and groan it will continue to do so for many years. Some people will tell you a well maintained bike is silent, but the only silent bike is one left in a shed – Get out and ride

Scot Tares

Twitter: @SkinnyTyres

Where to Ride: An off-road route around Drummond Hill, Loch Tay

Copyright DC Thompson 2012