Bank holiday training advice for the Wiggle Dragon Ride

With two bank holiday weekends coming up, and good weather forecast, this is the perfect time to ensure legs are ready for the 120 and 200km challenges of the Wiggle Dragon Ride on 5 June.

The longest climb to prepare for is the 14mile stretch from Port Talbot to the top of the Bwlch. Both rides will cover this stretch of the route. Following on from the successful training weekend, Andy Cook has the following advice for riders.

He said:

“It’s definitely time to get out and try and ride as much as possible. At 118 miles, with such a significant amount of climbing, the next two weekends of double bank holidays will provide the opportunity for mini training camps”.

“I’d recommend riding three days back to back for around 4- 6 hours (75 – 80 miles) with an active recovery day on day four (1-2 hours). On each day warm up for 15 – 30 minutes then build in some blocks of 30 minutes where you ride at a pace that is ‘comfortably hard not hardly comfortable’ which should simulate the sort of pace you need to be climbing the long climbs of the Bwlch (twice), the Rhigos and the shorter but steeper Cimla climb. Drop back to a steady pace for 20 – 30 minutes between each effort”

“The key to success will be adopting a sensible pacing strategy that also includes a sensible nutritional strategy. It’s very easy to go too hard too early and either ride with a group that goes a bit too hard and digs into those important glycogen stores early. So practice on these long rides taking on board approx 65 – 80 grams of carbohydrate an hour”.

“The steepest gradients reach 10%, so a strong club rider will manage with a standard 39/53 chainset with a 26 sprocket. However, I would recommend a compact or a triple for most riders”.

The Wiggle Dragon Ride sold out in 22 hours, demonstrating its continued popularity. Cook’s highlights for 2011 include,

“the views from the top of the Bwlch and best of all, the Rhigos. The descents are also fantastic but take care as the bends are quite tight. The ride from Southerndown with views away to Porthcawl, Swansea and the Gower are also breathtaking. It’s always nice riding in the Vale along the roads of the 1958 Empire Games course and through Wick, home of Nicole Cook.”

In addition to the key climbs, riders should not overlook some of the short, sharp climbs in the first part of the route leading to the coast and out of Glyneath. Training over the next two weekends might well make all the difference to your level of enjoyment, so get out there and enjoy it!

For further details, visit www.wiggledragonride.com.

Accelerade is the nutrition partner of the Wiggle Dragon Ride – products can be purchased at 10% off retail prices online directly from Wiggle http://www.wiggle.co.uk/accelerade/ using the code dragon 1.

Wiggle Sponsored rider Rich carter, puts himself and his Verenti to the test in preparation for his upcoming sportive calendar for 2011!

Wiggle beats titans of retail to prestigious innovation award

Verenti – Wiggle’s unique brand of sportive bikes – won the Product Innovation title at last night’s Oracle Retail Awards, triumphing over Waitrose, Tesco, Boots, The Conran Group and Asda to take the win. With entries from almost every major retailer in the UK, simply reaching the shortlist was an achievement in itself. Wiggle had also been shortlisted in two other categories: Non Store Retailer of the Year and Growing Retailer of the Year.

More than 1,600 retailers gathered at the awards ceremony, widely regarded as the Oscars of the retailing world, at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Among them was Wiggle’s director of marketing Martin Talbot.

He said:

“Achieving a nomination at these awards – let alone winning one – is an extremely creditable thing to do as they are open to every retailer in the country. It is a testament to Wiggle and our hardworking staff that we achieved three nominations. To go one step further on the night and win the award for Product Innovation of the Year for Verenti is terrific. To have taken the title over the likes of Waitrose, Tesco and Boots is a great achievement and demonstrates that Wiggle has a place among the best retailers in the country.”

Tim Danaher, editor of Retail Week, said:

“The quality of entries this year was extraordinary, as you can see from our list of finalists. Wiggle’s story is truly remarkable, reflecting the entrepreneurship which is the lifeblood of the retail industry. The ability to develop an own label brand as a growing online business highlights what a forward thinking business Wiggle is.”

Of Verenti, he added:

“Spotting a gap in the market as sportive events continued to boom, Wiggle assembled a dedicated in-house team of designers, researchers and testers to develop the Verenti range specifically for these type of events.”

Wiggle is quickly growing accustomed to glitzy award ceremonies, having won the Cross Border e-Retail title at the e-Commerce Awards for Excellence last October as well as BikeBiz’s Online Retailer of the Year for the second year running. Last summer, Experian Hitwise UK named Wiggle as Britain’s most visited bike website for the first half of 2010, a title it has enjoyed every year since 2006. Wiggle was also ranked fourth overall in the sport and fitness retail industry sector. And the accolades don’t stop there: for seven years running Wiggle has won Best Mail Order Company in 220 Triathlon Magazine’s awards.

And……..They’re off!

The season has now officially started. Well according to me it has. There are many opinions when the cycling season starts, but for me Milan-San Remo is the start. Some of the emotional Belgian romantics will disagree and I take their point, but they’re wrong! Last Saturday marked the start of the race season proper. And what a start it was. Australian powerhouse Matt Goss from HTC Highroad adding another win for the American super team, outsprinting Fabian Cancellara for the victory. The last 10km of the race were, as always, crazily fast. This year there was an added pace as a group of about 25 riders had distanced the remainder of the peloton by just over a minute and they were determined not to let that advantage slip.

The legendary climbs of the Cipressa and Poggio that always sort the “men from the boys” from about 25km and 5km from the finish, were taken at frightening speed and only the strongest survived to contest the sprint. HTC Highroad certainly have a wealth of sprinting talent to pick from Goss, Renshaw and Cavendish all have wins to their name this year. If one of them is having an “off” day one of the others is never far away. The exciting racing was certainly a pleasant break from the minutiae that has dominated the cycling stories until now. The uninteresting race radio debate drags on, as does the seemingly never ending list of those who have been tested (and in some cases re-tested) positive for banned substances. Cycling has more to offer than this and most cycling fans I speak to are now quite bored with this negative vibe and are now hoping that the drama of the Spring Classics can provide a boost and much needed uplifting.

I’m particularly looking forward to the Tour of Flanders. Having witnessed the action first hand last year the “Ronde” has a special place in my heart and I’m hoping that it can match Milan San Remo for action. Paris-Roubaix will be special for many this year also. For the first time there will be a chance for the public to ride the course the day before the race (just like the opportunity available in Tour of Flanders) .Good Luck to you if you’re taking part in either event. I was lucky enough to experience the pave twice last year and the buzz of riding over the revered routes of legends has no comparison in my opinion.

Closer to home early season Sportives have begun. I’m keeping my powder dry for a little while longer and hope to kick off in early April at the Wiggle Super Series New Forest ride. This event is yet another that has sold out and an alternative ride has been provided on the previous day to ease disappointment. I can’t believe the number of Sportives that selling out! The popularity of these events is huge now and shows no signs of slowing. The backing of companies like Wiggle is really adding to professionalism of the event organisation and I’m sure that this is having an impact on the growth in popularity.

As my first event approaches my training is going reasonably well. Last week I was able to combine a family trip away with friends with a lovely training ride in Wiltshire. After an exhausting weekend chasing the little “Carters” down the rapid slides at Center Parcs ,I left Mrs Carter at the gates of Longleat and set off down the Wylie Valley towards Salisbury. Even the vicious headwind that stayed with me all the way home couldn’t destroy my enthusiasm as the Verenti Rhigos and I wound our way from village to village following the beautiful River Wylie.

I endured one heart stopping moment when I encountered a farmer leading his prize charolais bull down the road towards me. As I stopped to let the 1 ton beast past I realised that my dhb windproof jacket was bright red! Luckily he didn’t appear too interested in the strange man in lycra and I was soon on my way again. After a winter of local riding it was lovely to be riding in some unfamiliar territory. I tend to stick to routes that I know when the weather is not great as you never know what can happen. Now that Spring appears to be well on the way I intend to venture further a field and am looking forward to exploring some new areas.

At last years Wiggle Dragon Ride I was woefully low on hilly rides and it showed. I struggled on the first few climbs and, although the second ascent of the Bwlch was better, I know my overall time would have been faster had I varied my training schedule and taken the time to seek out some hills. Perhaps I’ll manage a trip into the principality and see if some of the “Wiggle Tafia” can show me around. That would certainly prepare me for some of the pain I’ve got lined up for the summer months.

That’s all for now. I hope your plans are progressing nicely,

Ride Safe.

Rich

A massive thank you to all of those that turned up to the Wiggle Super Series South Downs 100 Sportive event last weekend. With beautiful sunshine all day however a tad chilly in the morning it was fantastic to see all riders having a great time making the most of some fantastic cycling around the Downs. For those of you that couldn’t make it you can check out the video below.

The last event of the year will be the Wiggle Super Series, Southern Rough Ride (MTB) on Sunday 31st Oct

Southern Rough Ride Sun 31st Oct 2010 – Click here to enter!

Road.cc Kilmeston