What if you could become a stronger cyclist for less than the cost of a cup of coffee a day, would you do it? 365 days and $5 per cup comes out at $1825, which might buy you a nice set of wheels or some more aero gear, which makes you go faster, but power or watts per kilogram is the name of the game in cycling. Over the past year, I’ve introduced a range of different interventions into my training and diet, most of which are either free or cost less than a cup of coffee a day. During the next five weeks I’m going to cover off what they are, explain why I did them and what the results were.
In my N=1 series of becoming a stronger cyclist for less than a cup of coffee a day, I am going to take you through my journey from my local Masters C to Masters A in the space of 18 months, at the age of 57.
If you are reading this series for the first time, you can go back and read the blogs I’ve already posted. There are four to go and I will post two a week on a Tue & Fri.
In the interest of engaging the TR community, I would love to hear from you and which training interventions have worked well for you and which have not. I know there will be a lot of crossover with existing topics. My message to everyone out there regardless of your age is to try new things, prefereably one at a time, so you can attribute the gains to the intervention.
Part 1, where I start with a daily smoothie and Creatine.
Part 2, where I incorporated sprint training into a weekly Zone 2 ride
Part 3, where I introduced strength training
Part 4, where I started taking sodium bicarbonate before races and strong group rides
Part 5, where I adopted a periodised and masters training plan
Part 6 Lactate Threshold and VO2 Max testing
Part 7 Increasing Carbohydrate intake in races
Part 8 Increasing protein intake
Part 9 90min Zone 2 rides with different inputs observing average heart rate