One key ride to complete before race day

Most of us get nervous, excited, sometimes anxious before racing, after all, you only want to do your very best, and aim to beat previous best results. 

It goes without saying that preparation is key, and that preparation will comprise of a whole lot of training blocks which include technical and tactical refinement. 

In this blog, we want to introduce one more ride into your training plan, and it happens within the tapering period, sometime during the week or two in the lead up to your main event. 

We like to call this ride… 

THE CLARITY RIDE 

The clarity ride is essentially a relaxing, flat road, non-effort producing ride which usually will include a stop at the half way point, or somewhere near the end of the ride to have a drink (aka: coffee or tea). 

The ride should be completed in small gears, with higher cadence (85-90rpm), and should be no longer than an hour in duration. 

What is the point of the ride you ask? 

Well, remember when you decided to set your mind towards achieving the goal?

Do you remember the reason why you decided to embrace the challenge? 

And, do you remember that first day of training? 

This ride is about harnessing the thoughts and reasons why you started training towards your goal in the first place. It’s about reminding yourself of why you’ve actually decided to embrace the challenge. 

It’s not about putting pressure on yourself to achieve your goal, instead, it’s the opposite, it’s about taking all pressure away from yourself and allowing yourself to quietly reflect on why you’re actually riding in the first place. 

The clarity ride is all about just that, clarity! 

When you find clarity, it reinforces your drive which in turn helps you to perform at your best and can assist in overcoming some of the doubts that you may be carrying, or additional pressure you’ve been putting on yourself over the last ‘x’ number of months, or years. 

This ride isn’t about performance, instead it’s about enjoyment!

So in the lead up to your event, pick a day where you can switch off, relax and find your inner-clarity.

Think of it as meditation on the bike… (just pay attention to the road rules). 

Please feel free to leave some comments in the box below, we’d love to hear from you!