Recently, I have been attending some coached sessions and I wanted to write a little bit about it, because it’s something that I have found to be really beneficial. It’s a women’s only coached session which is held at Prestwold Airfield in Leicestershire. The sessions are held by British Cycling Coach Dean Hughes who runs a really good session that im confident almost anyone could benefit from. The link to the British Cycling event page can be found here for anyone who is interested.
Firstly it’s been really good to be able to turn up and find a whole group of female riders all from the local surrounding area. It’s been brilliant to meet so many like-minded people and that without even starting makes it a really good environment to train in. When I meet someone else who cycles, there is always that common ground, but it’s good to meet cyclists of a similar ability to yourself.
The training sessions have been targeted to help improve group riding skills and to prepare for some of the skills required for racing. This is what appealed to me, as having done some time trials this year I wanted to explore the possibility of entering some races too and it seemed like a really good place to start. Racing wise, I wasn’t quite sure if I was fit enough, or if I had the ability technically so by joining a coached group session, it’s given me a better idea. If not that just the encouragement to just try and see. What really is the worst that can happen?
I need to be fitter and plan on working on this over the winter. I want to have a good training season to build up stamina. During long steady rides I have good stamina, but once the pace is upped slightly that’s where I start to drop. That said I think I have more power than I thought I had, it’s just a question of “will I have that power several miles in!?”.That said, I have definitely improved with saving my energy as much as possible by being shielded, although, I’m not stranger to riding on wheels to help myself anyway!
For anyone interested in these coached sessions in Leicestershire, for further information visit the British Cycling Website.