In your training leading up to the Cairns to Karumba Bike Ride I recommend that you focus on two things that are specific for this event. The first is to ensure that you incorporate climbing into your training and the second is to work on your ability to back up big rides day after day. Even though there is the option to obtain a lift up some of the longer and steeper hills there are some undulations and the potential for head winds along the way. Hill climbing will assist you on these days.

I would imagine that you are pretty busy so to fit this into your hectic schedule I recommend that you allocate the weekends start riding in a bunch and gradually increase the distance that you ride each week including a few hills. This will ensure that come the C2K that you are more comfortable riding around 100km. As you are training yourself for volume it’s important to keep the intensity of these rides low.  So, try and keep your heart rate below 75% of your max heart rate. When you are climbing focus on good form rather than smashing up the hills.

Back these weekend rides up with two-to-three short rides during the week of around one to two hours each. I usually recommend that my athletes do a high intensity one hour indoor training session on the Tuesday’s and Thursday’s as these rides but these can be supplemented for fast bunch rides. Indoor training is also a good substitute a few times a week if the weather is unfavourable to road riding. These indoor session might be a spin class at the gym you already belong too or just pushing yourself a bit harder repeatedly for several minutes during your ride.

By doing this you’ll be covering off you’re two basics; getting enough climbing in your riding and working on improving your ability to back up rides day after day.

In the next article we will be talking about how to develop good pedalling technique to help your hill climbing so look out for it.

Till next time,

Jodie Batchelor

Accredited Cycling Australia Cycling Coach under the Australian National Coach Accreditation Scheme (NCAS)