My Training life on Team Tibco

I have now been in the bay area of San Francisco since early March, racing and training with Team TIBCO..

Many people ask me what it is like being a pro cyclist.  They want to know how hard I train, how often I race, how I spend my days, etc so I thought in this entry I would give you a little insight into my current training life with Team TIBCO.

Monday – Today was a recovery day.  I rode for 1hr (15 miles) and also did some core stability exercises. I used the day to catch up on my chores – grocery shopping, banking, bills but also took an afternoon sleep.

Tuesday – I met 4 team mates and we did an hour easy to warm up.  Then I did some intervals – 2x5mins and 2x3mins as hard as I could go.  Amber and Brooke also had similar intervals so we started a few seconds apart and chased each other.  Brooke and Amber took turns as the rabbit, whilst I was the chasing fox from behind.  After each interval, I could hardly pedal and was only able to suck in oxygen and try not to think about how much my legs hurt.  During the last hour of our training session, we joined a noon bunch ride and got some more high intensity speed work.

Wednesday – I woke up, ate my Aussie Weetbix with muesli, with a sliced banana and milk and drank a huge mug of Peet’s coffee.  Peet’s is one of our team sponsors and it is a joy to start the day with a strong “cuppa”.

I hit the road (on my Look training bike) at 8.30am, heading south to Los Altos to join the main bunch.  This bunch of 25 or so semi and full time professionals as well as some of our individual sponsors, plus five of my teammates:  Rushlee, Amber, Rachel, Brooke and Victoria; as well as a few of our staff, Director, Linda Jackson and Communications Director, Patty Phillips.

We did a 5hr training ride today.  I had some big chain ring hill intervals to do, and incorporated these into the days training session.  Over the 5hr ride, I consumed several Clif bars but we also squeezed in a midway stop at the Pescadero Bakery. I couldn’t believe the size of the cookies – the size of dinner plates but I managed to inhale it in a few bites. I downloaded my data at the end of the day and burned 3,100kcal so no worries with that cookie.

After eating a hearty salad sandwich and doing my customary stretching, I took a half hour snooze, did some emailing then cooked dinner.

Thursday – Today was a double training day.  I ate a light breakfast of vegemite on toast (one of my all time favorites) and headed out on Canada rd on my TT bike.  After a good warm up I did 2x15mins intervals.  These caused a lot of leg pain, especially after yesterday’s climbing.

I returned home, showered, ate a second breakfast and then drove south to San Jose to join our Look sponsors on their noon ride.  After a quick tour of the Look office and a chance to check out their latest wheels, bikes, etc that they have in stock, we hit the road.  This time I was on my road bike.  This time, Rushlee needed to do some intervals and she soon had us hanging on to her back wheel, as she hammered the pedals.  Brooke and I were on her wheel, in the drops, waiting for the Look staff to attack us.  We had been joking for half an hour that this training ride was “a race” so we were anticipating someone to launch down the road.  Sure enough, Chris (Look) attacked but Brooke was ready and pounced.  I won’t go into the details but the finish line was at the top of the climb and Brooke looked gallant in victory.

Friday – I love Fridays. Today is my recovery day.  I rode to Palo Alto for a massage and then did a light spin to loosen my legs on the way home.  I met 3 team mates at the Woodside bakery for a muffin and chat, before heading home.

Saturday – Today I did the Spectrum bunch ride.  I headed out early to get an hour of riding in first, then met up with a few teammates and the bunch.  I needed to do 4 x 1km maximum efforts within my ride.  I did each interval in the drops of my Ritchey bars, simulating a lead out.  I decided to do each interval in the lead up to the designated sprint spots (typically sign posts, imaginery lines drawn on the road, etc).  These intervals were great lead out practice, as a TIBCO teammate would launch after my interval and go for the sprint.

Sunday – Today I did a long day of climbing in the hills with many of the team’s sponsors.  I ended up climbing over 1,900m but at a lower intensity.  The aim of this ride was to build strength and endurance.  I returned home about 1pm, stretched, ate and took another nap.  In the late afternoon, I took the dogs for a walk and then cooked a roast beef with plenty of veggies.

Well, I hope my diary entries have given you a little insight into my weekly training schedule.  And for those that love data, I rode 22hrs this week (400miles / 600km) and expended 12,100kcal.

My next article will be all about racing in California.

Keep pedaling and hoping for sunny days and tail winds.

Helen.