Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Your First Three Years ~ Part 5:

Practice Practice Practice!!

A Guide for Beginner (and Experienced!) Cyclists, to the Art and Practice of Cycling.  Becoming Proficient, Fit, and Happy on your bike.

For the past few weeks we’ve been concentrating on a laundry list of skills.  The things we’ve been discussing are useful or essential for a new (or a more experienced) cyclist.  The thing with most of these skills is that they can be learned fairly quickly, but it takes a long time to master them.  Another thing about skills, if they are not used and consciously applied and corrected, they tend to deteriorate.

It is for this reason that professional pilots are required to undergo “recurrency training” on a regular basis.  Or, for that matter, consider a major league baseball player.  Guess what that individual spends the most time working on?  That would be throwing the ball, catching the ball, batting practice, and running the bases.  The basics.  All the rest of the intricate arcana of the game amount to little if the fundamental skills are not honed and sharpened.

Here’s the best suggestion set I can offer for bringing those skills to a fine sharp level, and then for constantly improving them.  It can be summed up in one word.  Practice.

At the beginning of our cycling “career,” we should set aside at least two practice sessions each and every week.  These can be done as part of the warm up for a ride, or as part of the cool down or they can be stand-alone exercises.  But schedule two separate one-hour sessions each week.

Schedule it!  Mark the “Skills Days” on your calendar, and make a solid commitment that, regardless of what else might be missed, the “skill drills” will be done!

Plan it!  Lay out a program.  Pick two skills for each one-hour session, and work on those for a half hour each.  That means that you will actively work and rehearse four individual skills per week.

How long?  Expect this initial skill practice to go on for six months.  Then establish the concept that you will revisit and re-practice skills on a regular basis, for as long as you ride a bike.  After that initial six month period, you may find that skill drills frequency can be reduced, but a wise cyclist will always be scheduling time for skill work, and planning which skills to refresh.

At first, do it alone!  Group participation skill drills don’t work out so well.  Of course it’s a good idea to get a proficient cyclist or coach to critique your skill work, but the bulk of the work is best done solo.

“So when do I get to go out and ride?  Good question!  Along about now, you are beginning to wonder if you’ll ever venture out of the neighborhood.  (Likely, you’ve already done so.)  That’s okay.  Start making some forays out into the world.  Keep them brief, and for now, avoid high traffic areas.

Don’t worry, we are going to go out into the world, and we’ll deal with how to do so in safety and in style.

Next Week:  Traffic Survival 101

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This series began with the post on Tuesday, 19 June 2012.  It is intended to continue for three years.  Each week, we will discuss exercises, skills, practices, and activities designed to bring the new (or “experienced”) rider a high level of cycling competence.  We’ll address common problems, and (always) stress safe practice.

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A Note on Timing:  This series uses Mid-June as the starting point of the “Cyclists Year.”  We do this because this is the time that most folks decide to start riding.  If you are following this guide, you can “adjust” the timing to fit your personal “first three years.”  Do note that some of the posts will concern weather and seasonal changes.  When that starts to happen, just swap the “months” around to fit your personal timeline.

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