Training
Training Rides ~~ Training Ride Leaders ~~ Training Ride Routes

ACT 6 is going to be challenging. That is probably part of the reason you registered. You will be on your bicycle 4 full days. Start bonding with your bicycle now and you'll have a better experience on the ride.

Before you begin, please check with your physician regarding your ability to prepare for and participate in a multi-day bike ride.

Tips for Beginners
If you haven't cycled much (or much lately) you have to begin somewhere. How about riding around your block or commuting to work? Build up to higher speeds and longer mileage, but ride regularly. Time in the saddle is important. Even five minutes a day can start to prepare you.

Participate in the organized training rides. Ask the ride leader or other experienced cyclists any questions that you may have. There are no stupid questions! But be aware that opinions vary on most cycling topics, so ask a few people for input (former riders, cycle shop employees, your mentor). Be safe; listen carefully when rules of the road and group riding techniques are explained. Be sure to ride hills, even in your early rides. (See the Hill Training section for more information.)

Learn to read a cue sheet. Don't just follow other riders. Riders who do not put cue sheets on the bike where the sheet can be easily read while riding get lost! If you are following one of these riders, then you may also get lost. Follow the road signs on the cue sheet, as mileages are approximate. Use the map only if the cue sheet is not clear or you are lost. (Tip: The most inexpensive cue sheet holder we've seen is a simple clothespin.)

Have fun! Make friends that ride the same speed as you do. Exchange phone numbers so you can meet up on training rides. Having fun on the training rides will mean a more enriching riding experience, both while training and on ACT 6.

Safety
ACT SMART, ACT SAFE!!

• Before you get on your bike, put on a helmet. Always, always, always.
• Bicycles have the same rights and responsibilities as cars.
• Stop at stop signs and stoplights. If you are hesitant to stop because of the momentum it takes to get going again, learn how to down shift, just like in a car. (Read more about this in the Shifting Section.)
• When stopping at a light or a stop sign, stop behind the line of cars. Do not attempt to pass them on the right.
• Use hand signals to indicate intentions. Always use your left arm. Left arm out and up for a right turn; Left arm straight out for a left Turn; Left arm out and down for slowing or stopping.
• Never ride against traffic.
• Watch for car doors opening from parked cars.
• Stay as far to the right as safely possible. Give at least three feet clearance to parked cars and pedestrians.
• Always approach railroad tracks at a 90-degree angle.
• Wet roads? Double your normal braking distance.
• Leaves? Gravel? Ice? Relax, anticipate the road condition, keep the bike underneath you and stay centered over your bike. Try to keep the wheels straight. Don't brake or turn unless necessary.
• Never wear headphones while riding. You need to be able to hear approaching danger in order to avoid it.
• If you have pedals that clip to your shoes, make sure to get through an intersection before attempting to clip in.

Group Safety

• Call out hazards to your fellow riders.
• Ride single file. Although Wisconsin law does permit bicycles to ride side-by-side as long as other traffic is not impeded, it is simply safer to ride single file.
• If you need to pass, pass on the left side and yell out "Passing on the left."

You'll learn more about group safety in the ACT 6 training rides.

Technique Tips

• Spinning vs. Gear Mashing. Generally it is better to pedal faster in an easier gear than pedal slower in a harder gear. Mashing will tire you out and you'll end up slogging the rest of the distance.
• Brake before corners and take the corners slowly (if at all possible, do not brake while in a corner). Accelerate when straightening out. When cornering, keep your inside pedal up, away from the road.
• Occasionally take one hand off the bar and shake it. This relaxes your shoulder and elbow.
• Speaking of shoulders and elbows, don’t hunch your shoulders; keep them down and relaxed. Bend your elbows slightly.
• Improve your cycling by pedaling faster one day of the week, not riding faster. Shift the chain to an easy gear and keep it there on flat terrain. Concentrate on spinning the wheels smoothly.
• If you fall, do not put your hand out to stop yourself. Rather, roll as you hit the ground.

Hill Training
Proper pre-ride and during-ride nutrition is essential to climbing hills. Smile! A more positive attitude will relax you and help you get up that hill. Don't think about surviving the hill, your pain or fatigue, because you will inevitably slow down. Instead, take control of the hill and think about how much stronger you are getting by doing the hill. Don't anticipate the top, but focus closer and expect another bend, then another.

Ease into hills so you don't use all your energy early. To maintain momentum, downshift to a lower gear before you have to. Loosen up and change positions, such as middle of saddle, back of saddle (more hamstrings and glutes), front of saddle (more quads), and standing.

Over time, you will notice that the hills get easier as you develop more power. If a hill is just too much, then use your granny (easiest) gear or alternate sitting with standing.

Stand (get out of the saddle) when you start losing power. Stand so your weight is over the pedals. When standing, slightly rock back and forth, establishing a gentle, rhythmic, swaying motion, like a metronome. When standing, you can shift into a higher gear as you have your body weight to help you pedal. If you are standing as you reach the top of the hill, continue to stand until you are over the crest, increase momentum, and then sit down. If you sit down before reaching the crest you will slow down and the person in back of you may not expect it and run into you. The same applies if you are standing to pass someone on a hill.

Other Tips

• Don’t tightly grip the handle bar. Relax your hands and focus your thoughts on your legs.
• Keep your head up and look forward. It’s harder to breathe when you drop your head. Remember to breathe, and breathe deep.
• Relax the shoulders and keep them down and back, so your chest is open for strong, deep breathing, and keep your elbows bent and down.
• Keep knees tucked in – this maximizes your quads’ power.
• Keep back flat to help lower back muscles, quads and flexors work together.
• A shorter ride (20 miles) over hills is better for training than a 30-mile flat ride.

Shifting
Most people don't shift enough, which leads to premature drivetrain wear, sore knees (or worse), and one tired rider. Think of yourself as the bike's engine. Like an auto engine, you're most efficient pedaling at a certain rate, usually from 70 to 90 pedal revolutions per minute. To maintain this efficiency, shift every time you feel your pedaling rate (called cadence) slow or speed up. Following this rule, on a rolling course, you'll be shifting almost constantly to maintain that steady cadence. But at ride's end, you'll be fresh while a ride partner who shifts less will be spent.

How do you know what gear to select? Don't get confused by the many choices. The correct gear is a gear that allows you to pedal comfortably at the moment. There's no right or wrong gear and there's no proper sequence to follow. You just shift when your body tells you it's time for a change.

Shifting the right lever one click makes it slightly easier or harder to pedal. Think of this lever as a way to fine tune the effort required to pedal. As you pick up speed on a slight downhill for example, you'd click the lever once or twice to shift into a better gear for the speed. Shifting the left lever makes large differences in pedal effort. Think of this lever as a way to make it considerably easier or harder to pedal. Dropping into a valley for instance, you'll want an easy gear to get back out. But, you'll probably be in a hard gear because you were just riding downhill. To make the pedaling easy immediately, shift the left lever to move the chain onto a smaller chainring, providing much easier pedaling.

If you're at all nervous about shifting, practice. A good way to do this is to shift the bike when it's supported on a stand. You might place the bike on a trunk-style bike rack or in a repair stand, hang the nose of the seat on a low branch, or ask a friend to hold the bike off the ground by the seat. Once the bike is supported, use one hand to pedal and the other to shift while watching the chain move over the cogs and chainrings. With a few sweeps of the levers, you'll get a clear understanding of what's going on back there and should feel more comfortable about shifting a lot while riding.

Thanks to Jim Langley for this information on shifting. http://www.jimlangley.net

Too Much Training
You might be pushing yourself too hard if you are tired all the time, have difficulty sleeping, have muscle soreness or feel cranky. If you don’t feel well, take a break from training. You need to give your body time to recover. Once you recover, slowly begin training again. You will find that you will recover more quickly than if you had pushed yourself to get on your bike even when you were not feeling well.

Dangers: Bonking and Dehydration!
Hopefully bonking will never happen to you. If it has happened it you, it is something that you will never forget. Bonking is your body forcing you to screech to a halt because it is out of fuel. It comes on suddenly and takes awhile to recover. Dehydration is loss of water and important blood salts like potassium and sodium. Vital organs like the kidneys, brain, and heart can’t function without a certain minimum of water and salt.

So what's the solution? Eat before you are hungry and drink before you are thirsty. But you also have to eat and drink smart. It's not just the amount of food and fluids you put down. Timing is crucial too. Here are five strategies to help you feel great on the bike – for your whole ride.

• Eat before the ride
If you do much running, you know how hard it is to run on a full stomach. Not so with cycling. The
smooth pedaling motion means you can eat shortly before and during rides. And you'll need to
start off with a full tank if the ride stretches over 90 minutes, because cycling consumes about 40
calories per mile. So about one hour before you get on the bike, down about 60 grams of
carbohydrate if you're an average-sized woman, 80 to 100 if you're a man. How much is that?
Most energy bars contain about 40 grams of carbs and a banana packs about 30. Or try a bagel
with jam and a handful of raisins or a fruit bar.
• Prehydrate
You need food before the ride, but you also need to be sufficiently hydrated. Most people are
chronically dehydrated because they drink coffee and other caffeinated beverages like soda,
(mild diuretics), and they don't drink enough water during the workday. So most cyclists start a
ride dehydrated – and it only gets worse. Research shows that it's difficult to rehydrate with water
alone. So, drink copiously all day, and about an hour before the ride pound down about 16
ounces of a sports drink.
• Eat and drink during the ride
Drink before you feel thirsty. Your body's sensation of thirst lags behind its need for liquid, so
when you feel thirsty, it's already too late. Make it a habit to reach for your water bottle every 15
minutes and down four to six ounces (several big swallows). If you forget, set the alarm on your
wristwatch to sound every 15 minutes as a reminder. That beeping alarm is also a signal to eat. If
you are riding with others, remind them to keep hydrated. About every 30 minutes, eat the
equivalent of half an energy bar – about 20 grams of carbohydrate. Several fig bars, half a
banana or a piece of bagel work well, too.
• Hydrate after the ride
No matter how much fluid you ingest while riding, in hot weather you'll finish the ride depleted.
There's a simple way to be sure you've rehydrated after the ride – simply weigh yourself before
and after, and compare the figures. If you've lost weight, it's water you've sweated out, not fat.
(Darn!) You'll need to drink 20 ounces of fluid for each pound of body weight you've lost while
pedaling. Keep drinking until your weight has returned to normal, and your urine is plentiful and
pale yellow in color.
• The glycogen window
One last step – but it might be the most important. Studies show that your muscles replace their
fuel (glycogen) much faster and more efficiently if you eat plentiful carbohydrates immediately
after your ride. Your goal is to eat 60 grams of carbohydrate (if you're an average-sized woman)
or 80 to 100 grams if you're an average male. Your muscles will refuel best if you down this chow
15 minutes after the ride. The refueling process becomes less efficient after a two-hour post-ride
"glycogen window."
Notice that the amount of carbohydrate you should eat after the ride is similar to what was
suggested that you consume before the ride. Research also indicates that if you mix four parts
carbohydrate with one part protein, your glycogen stores will top off more quickly. That's as
simple as having cereal, a banana, and some skim milk for protein after your ride.
If you follow these five steps, you'll feel great while riding and recover faster.
Thank you to Dr. Amy Roberts for this information on nutrition.