Headwind

Blows opposite to the direction you’re moving; you’ll feel like you’re working extra hard and getting nowhere.
IF YOU’RE ALONE Make your body small, elbows in, hands in the drops, head in line with your torso, which you’ll want to position as close to parallel to the top tube as you comfortably can. Shift into a slightly easier gear and relax your grip.
IN A GROUP
Draft. Take turns at the front of a paceline; even short pulls of a few pedal strokes help the communal effort. As long as you are within a bike’s length of the rider in front of you, the effort is easier. Closer is better, but don’t overlap wheels.

Crosswind

Hits you from the side; you’ll struggle to stay on your line.
IF YOU’RE ALONE
Note the direction the wind is blowing (you’ll notice trees swaying or feel it on your face) and lean slightly into the wind.
IN A GROUP Try an echelon. In this angled formation, riders align themselves on the protected side of a leader. If the wind comes from the left, for example, the second rider will stay behind and slightly to the right of the leader, and following riders will fan out behind him accordingly. This formation can fan out and is best done in small groups to avoid interrupting traffic.

Tailwind

Blows in the direction you’re headed, pushing you along. You’ll feel worthy of rainbow stripes.
IF YOU’RE ALONE Enjoy it while it lasts: your route may circle back into a headwind. If you’re trying to gain speed, tuck your body into an aero position, which will help you knife through the air.
IN A GROUP Time for a sprint. High speeds create the illusion of bigger gaps between riders, so use that to your advantage and make a move. But be careful; a tailwind can also fool you into thinking you’re having a great day. Avoid taking unnecessary risks that can lead to careless mistakes and crashes.

ROUTE PLAN TIPS:  Open roads along coastlines and ones that cross empty fields are usually windiest. Wooded or residential areas are more protected.

Get fitter and faster in one (hard) week a month. - By Selene Yeager

Tired of ditching social rides because you have intervals to do? Research indicates that you can do high-intensity work just one week a month, leaving the other three weeks for mellow rides. ­In the study, cyclists trained for a month, structured as five high-intensity rides the first week, then one day of intervals each subsequent week with easier rides mixed in. They improved power and VO2 max more than those who spread the intensity over the month. Here’s how to do it.

Additional Notes:
Warm up for 15 minutes with easy pedalling before all interval sessions in this plan. Cool down afterwards with a five-minute easy spin.

With the change of seasons, comes unpredictable weather. With planning and the ability to ride no-handed, you can quickly change your clothes with the changing weather – without having to stop the ride. – Lee McCormack

Pre-Ride Prep

An all-day ride might begin with a chilly morning, roll into a warm and sunny afternoon, become soggy with a late-day rain shower, then wane into a brisk evening. The slightest drop in the mercury coupled with high speed and wet skin can turn a good ride bad. You get cold, which makes you tense, which kills comfort, which wastes precious pedalling energy.

Mid-Ride Strip

You’re drafting along a ribbon of perfect asphalt. Your legs start to heat up and you feel sweat accumulating under your jersey. You want to lose the garments without losing momentum. On a flat or slightly downhill section, drop to the back of the pack to give yourself some space.

Five tips for maintaining your balance when your hands leave the bar. - Lee McCormack

1. Ride in a gear that allows you to keep a steady cadence and a static upper body. In real-world situations, you’ll want to keep pedalling. To build balance skills, practice while coasting down a slight grade, with plenty of space around you.
2. Sit upright with your pedals level and your hands on the top of the bar.
3. Shift your weight onto your feet. Keep your butt light and remove all weight from your hands. Let your palms barely rest on the bar, as if they aren’t there.
4. Steer and balance by subtly moving your hips from side to side. Keep your hands touching the bar for security, but resist the urge to use it for control.
5. When you feel more confident, take your hands off the bar. Lift them further away and for longer periods, and experiment with sitting up and pedalling. Soon your balance will improve, and you’ll be sitting up, hands free and able to change clothes, unwrap an energy bar or do that victory salute!

Reaching for your water bottle, grabbing an energy bar from your back pocket, indicating hazards or change of direction, or even putting your glasses on/off is easier, and safer, if you can ride steadily with one hand off the handlebar. Here are five ways to do it. - Mark Reidy

1. Check your path
Before you pop your paw off the bar, make sure the road is smooth and that there are no sharp turns coming up. Pedal an easy gear- after you pick up the water bottle, it’s too late to switch.
2. Move your hand to the centre
If you leave your hand on the brake hood, in the drops or even toward the outside of the grip, you’ll be unbalanced when you take the other hand off; the tiniest bump could cause you to flop the handlebar sideways.
3. Look up
You can’t see hazards if you’re not watching for them. Instead of staring at the nozzle on your bottle, look forward, alert for danger.
4. Steer with your hips
To adjust your balance and eliminate wobbles, pivot your hips rather than leaving your upper body. Controlling direction with a lower centre of gravity improves stability. (And never try to steer with the bar.)
5. Go easy on the brakes
Grab a fistful of brake and you’ll get body-slammed. If you need to use anything more forceful than a light touch, drop the bottle and put both hands on the bar before braking. (Give the riders behind you a clear heads up that there is a rogue bottle on the loose)

DON’T Spend too much time looking at his/her back wheel.

DO Stay abreast of riders beside you, and make sure your wheels don’t overlap.

DON’T Speed up when you take your turn at the front – consistency is key. The two front riders determine the bunch pace and you don’t want to be responsible for splitting the group, so judge the speed (or check your computer when you’re in the middle) and do the same speed.

DO Act as the eyes when in front. Warn the rest of upcoming dangers and obstacles while at the front. The lead riders are responsible for the entire group. Point towards the obstacle while calling it out.

DON’T Change your line (i.e. that of the rider in front of you) when cornering; that way, you’ll avoid bumping into riders or pushing them out across the road, and upsetting the pace and flow of the bunch.

DO Ride ‘obvious’ – trust the riders around you, but (not unlike driving) make sure you ride so that they don’t make mistakes.

DON’T Look back at the bunch. Ever.

Six common causes of crashes – and some tips on how to avoid them. And if you do happen to buy some tar, we offer a few tips how to fall without doing too much damage.

Not sure how much riding to do the week before the Cycle Tour? Follow our taper plan!

- By Chris Carmichael

Training can be a lot like booze; to have a great time you need to know when to stop. In the week leading up to a race or event, athletes can do more to undermine their training than they can to enhance it. Just like that ‘one more’ drink, it’s the prospect of getting a little extra something that lands you in trouble.

Mental-health professionals say that sometimes the tendency to have ‘one too many’ is rooted in insecurity, and in my experience that’s exactly what drives athletes to make mistakes in the week leading up to an important challenge.

Remember, training is stress, and in the short term it causes fatigue, which suppresses performance. A good training programme delivers the final significant workout far enough before your goal event to allow for both adaptation and complete recovery. For the majority of amateur riders, this means your normal training should stop seven to 10 days before your event and be followed by a taper period. No matter where your conditioning is with one week to go, that’s what you have to work with. But you can still control how rested and fresh you’ll be at the starting line.

A week of easy spins would ensure that you’re rested for race day, but to be fresh you also need hard workouts. Tapering is all about reducing the overall workload while keeping your body primed with intense efforts. To reduce your volume, simply cut back on the hours if your rides are 90 minutes then go 60, or make 60-minute rides 45. They don’t have to be complete recovery rides, but resist the urge to test yourself every time you go out. Trust your fitness. It’s there.

If you’re preparing for a long event, your week should have one longer “super compensation” ride. This is to deplete your carbohydrate stores and get your body to jump-start the metabolic processes to deal with that scenario so it’s prepared for the next time you deplete it race day. People ask me about carbo loading, and nutritionally it can work, but for long events I find a super compensation ride followed by a moderate increase in carbohydrate intake to be highly effective and less likely to disrupt an athlete’s routine.

If you’re doing a criterium or short mountain bike event, then you need to balance rest with a couple of short, maximum-intensity workouts in order to stay sharp without inducing fatigue.

Five climbing secrets that will have you soaring in 30 days – in time for the Cycle Tour!

This climbing routine, from ultrafit-certified coach Andy Applegate, will put so much power into your pedals, your buddies will swear they see wings as you leave them in your wake. Start today and you’ll see results in as little as 30 days.

- By Selene Yeager

Mind The Terrain
Look for and avoid sand, rocks or cracks that could cause you to slip. After you know what the riding conditions are in a particular corner, you can slowly increase your speed each time.

Apply Pressure
Do all your braking before the turn. Weight distribution is critical: To keep from sliding out, weigh the front wheel by putting your hands in the drops of the handlebar with your elbows bent. Next, exert pressure with your outside hand and foot. Don’t try to pedal in a corner.

Lean The Machine
Release the brakes and start the turn by leaning the bike—not your body—into the turn. This can be accomplished by pushing lightly with your inside hand; some call this counter-steering. If the turn is tight or your speed increases, lean the bike farther in, and vice versa.

Aim For The Inside
Carve a smooth arc through the apex of the turn: Start at the outside of the corner, near the center line. Aim toward the inside of the turn, then exit as far to the outside as possible.

Keep Looking…
in the direction you want to go. This will help you maintain a smooth line.

Make Your Exit
As you come out of the turn, gradually straighten the bike until it’s upright, then start to pedal again.

Mind The Rain
Painted lines, manhole covers and oily pavement become slippery in wet conditions. Wet roads exaggerate everything you do: Braking while the bike is leaning will cause you to skid more easily, and sudden turning can make your wheels slip. So slow down.