In a sport hung up on rules and details, it’s easy to feel you’re falling short of the mark and failing to fit in. Dr Josephine Perry goes to work on imposter syndromeWe tend to think of cycling as brilliantly accessible. It takes us on adventures, provides the backbone of our social life and, if you commute by bike, saves thousands on motoring expenses. But cycling is not always as accessible as we like to think, and newcomers often feel shut out. From the obscure ‘rules’ that […]
Sports psychologist Dr Josephine Perry explains why mastery, autonomy and belonging are the holy trinity underpinning your passion for cycling.Given you are reading Cycling Weekly, it’s fair to assume a few things about you: you’re rarely happier than when riding a bike, your favourite bike-buying equation is N+1, and much of your daydreaming involves sunny days, smooth roads and coffee stops. When your motivation goes AWOL, however, you feel lost and unhappy and in […]
Winners at WorldTour level are truly exceptional, but what makes them so? Chris Sidwells investigates what sets apart the best cyclists from the merely excellent onesSIENA, ITALY - MARCH 06: Mathieu Van Der Poel of Netherlands and Team Alpecin-Fenix, Julian Alaphilippe of France and Team Deceuninck - Quick-Step & Egan Arley Bernal Gomez of Colombia and Team INEOS Grenadiers during the Eroica - 15th Strade Bianche 2021, Men's Elite a 184km race from Siena to Siena - Piazza del Campo / Breakaway / #StradeBianche / on March 06, 2021 in Siena, Italy. (Photo by Luc Claessen/Getty Images)Three hundred and eighty-nine watts for four hours and 45 minutes, rising to an average 439 watts over the final 60km. And he had...
In the virtual world, winning and losing is all down to the data. Are the avatars up the road beating yours fair and square? David Bradford gauges the state of play.In many ways, e-racing has been our saviour over the past year. Having a competitive outlet to replace all the cancelled outdoor events has kept us sane, fit and distracted from lockdown monotony. But anyone who’s developed an e-racing habit will attest that it comes with a certain level of doubt and distrust: are the […]
The ‘comfortably hard’ zone may seem just right to keep fitness ticking over through these uncertain times – but it must not become your default, as Brendan Housler explains “I need a plan this year, otherwise I’m just going to end up riding around doing random workouts,” said my mate Chris as we caught our breath at the side of the road. It was a crisp day earlier this winter, and we had just completed one of those spontaneous sprints, the kind with no […]
