Article from the June 2013 issue of Ride Magazine.
Work, family, the bike – not many can juggle all three and be successful. We speak to some racing snakes who do just that.
Is it possible to train, race or take part in big events and hold down a demanding job or bring up children or, tougher still, do all three? The answer is yes.
There are many riders who train and race at all levels and successfully manage to balance this with a full-time job and a family. Sure, there’s less opportunity for riding, but there are also plenty of riders with ample leisure time who don’t make the most of it.
Alastair Davies, a rider with a demanding job, races and wins at elite level. “Cycling is a big part of my life, so even when there is ‘nothing’ to train for I am riding my bike,” says the national sales manager at the eyewear brand Oakley. Alastair finished 21st on GC at the Absa Cape Epic with pro teammate Oliver Munnik and was a standout during the PPA Summer League.
“I really enjoy the tactics and dynamics of road racing. Obviously getting a result or two here and there helps the morale a bit and makes the 4.30am wake-up calls a little easier.
“In January, we put together a local team backed by Orbea and we’ve had some fun with it. My teammate Lieuwe ‘Heffie’ Boonstra finished third overall in the league, and I won the first race and wore the yellow jersey for most of the season,” he says.
He trains throughout the year, doing between six and eight hours a week and the same on weekends, including some racing during the season. “Anything over 15 hours a week is a result,” he jokes. “When the Epic comes round I try to ramp up my training a few hours by riding into work and doing a lap via Hout Bay or the Blockhouse on the way home. If I manage this twice a week, I am stoked.”
He’s a proponent of the ‘overload and recover’ training philosophy. “In Cape Town we are fortunate to have racing at Killarney race track on Wednesday evenings in summer, so when work permits I like to add ‘Big Wednesdays’ to my programme,” he explains. He’ll do a light spin in the morning, go full gas in the evening at the track, recover with lighter rides on Thursday and Friday and then race over the weekend. “Not too much science to it, but it does seem to work for me. It’s the ‘recover’ bit of that phrase that most people forget to do.”
Not everyone can or should ride every session flat out, but, as Alastair illustrates, every ride needs a purpose. Treat every time you get on the bike as a workout. That doesn’t mean that it always has to be fast, painful or intense – it could be a recovery ride – but simply that it should support your goal.
Nic Lamond, brand manager for Trek, Bontrager and Craft, agrees. “I have an amazing cycling programme from Science To Sport coach Benoit Capostagno which I just plug into my calendar and then press play. He knows my work constraints and has always matched my goals to a realistic estimation of how much time I would have to train. Some days are intense but short. Others are longer recovery rides.”
‘Never ride for more than four hours in training. The body takes too long to recover from that.’
“I don’t think there is a single ride that requires me to be on the bike for more than four hours. That is something Christoph Sauser shared with me years ago, and it’s stuck: ‘Never ride for more than four hours in training. The body takes too long to recover from that. If you are going to ride for more than four hours… just pedal faster!'” Taking advice from the prolific Swiss maestro seems to have worked. Nic finished 29th on GC with partner Carl Pasio at the 2013 Absa Cape Epic.
“I started Epic training in earnest in the second week of January. I did about 10 to 12 hours a week on average. This included one power session – mostly active core strength-building exercises and leg-press work. I also signed up to the PPA Summer League around the Cape with a fairly strong but social team in the sub-vets category,” he says.
The simple act of setting a goal is also important. If you don’t know what you’re training for, you could be riding steady when you should be going hard or riding flat out when you’d be better off working on endurance. “The Summer League got me into a racing mindset and comfortable with revving really hard for long periods of time. I didn’t perform very well, but I was happy to use the League as a building block for the Epic,” says Nic.
Conflicting Interests
Even with a clear idea of what you want to achieve, there will still be times when work and the bike come into conflict. The answer is simple. Work pays the bills, so it comes first.
“I’m not sure working in the bike industry does help,” comments Nic. “My boss is very understanding, as he was also riding the Epic, but that doesn’t change the amount of work I still needed to produce in the build-up to the race. He certainly didn’t go easy on me.”
“March is a manic time of year for anyone remotely involved in cycling,” he adds. “Leading up to the Absa Cape Epic, I was spinning with the work demands of the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour Expo and the logistics associated with supporting the Trek, Bontrager and Craft brands at the Epic itself. At times I was putting in a two-hour training session in the morning and following it up with 10-hour work days.”
“As a cyclist, working for Oakley is amazing,” claims Alastair. “But does it allow me to ride during office hours and train like a pro? No. Just like every other guy and girl with a job at this year’s Epic, I put in leave to partake in the suffer-fest.”
The challenge of juggling work and racing is one thing, but balancing your cycling with your relationships is quite another.
“Relationships are tough enough without a silly bike race sapping all your available time and energy,” says Nic. “I try to dedicate time to just hanging out with my girlfriend. No bike talk! She is such a big part of my life, on and off the bike, in the support she offers that it really is non-negotiable.
“The stress of not getting this balancing act right can derail any race preparation. Believe me, there is nothing better than seeing someone you love at the finish line when you are battered and broken. So do whatever you need to make sure she wants to be there to pick up the pieces.”
Having a family is the next level, and it pulls on the heartstrings in a way the office and perhaps a girlfriend or boyfriend never does. A family is a 24/7 commitment.
Squeezy Does It
The double whammy of career and kids can persuade many to take a few years away from the sport or to cut back dramatically. But there’s room for work, family and the bike.
Theresa Ralph has an eight-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son and works in the challenging, fast-paced IT world while also racing for Biogen Britehouse. With Swiss partner Damian Perrin, she finished fourth in the mixed category at the Absa Cape Epic.
Theresa believes it’s important to be realistic about how much time you can put into riding once work and family have been taken care of, rather than becoming obsessed with finding more time to ride that just isn’t there.
“With a goal such as the Epic, you do need to fit in longer training rides over the weekends. With small children it just means that you need to get up earlier so that you still have most of the weekend to spend with them,” she says.
“I train in the week before work, then during lunchtime I go to gym or instruct spinning classes,” she adds. “Dr Jeroen Swart is my coach, and he formulates sessions to enable me to get maximum results from the time that I can afford. A typical week is between 15 and 20 hours, depending on my race schedule.”
Ask yourself how many hours you have to train and then design your programme around that goal. That could mean changing focus rather than giving up completely.
On Another Tack
Obviously, people who only have four hours a week are not going to be able to tackle something like the Absa Cape Epic. Instead of stage races, they should look into doing one-day events.
These briefer, more intense training sessions and short local races take up less time than the kilometre-munching trips around the country, but they still provide a way to get your racing fix and feel the buzz of competition.
Alternatively, riders should think laterally. This could mean making use of annual leave or flexitime or, when on holiday, sneaking off before the rest of the family wake up.
“The kids do come to races with me sometimes. They love waiting at the finish line to see me come in,” Theresa says. An understanding and supportive family deserves an understanding and supportive cycling parent. “I was doing the nine-to-five thing last year, but, because of the children’s increasing demands on me, I have since structured my working day to being a two-thirds day. This also means less pay, which has led to my not attending too many away events this year.”
Time Management 101 for Bike Riders
Plan ahead
Set specific times for work, family and the bike.
Be flexible
The demands of career and children aren’t always easy to predict, so be prepared for the bike to take a back seat from time to time.
Have a goal
You can only train efficiently if you know what you’re training for.
Commute by bike
Get to your desk, set yourself up for the working day and get in a training session on a workday.
Make every session count
An hour’s work on the IDT once the kids are in bed is time well spent.
Get up early
Train or race early in the morning and you can be home by the time most people are eating their cornflakes.
Give something back to them
If your family supports you in your training and racing, show how much you appreciate it. Combine races with a family outing and maybe promise to take a couple of months off the bike at the end of the season.
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