Gaining a Mental Edge Using Sports Psychology to Improve Your Cycling by John Hughes

Gaining a Mental Edge Using Sports Psychology to Improve Your Cycling By John Hughes

Paris-Brest-Paris ’79, ’87, ’91, ’95, ’99; Furnace Creek 508 ’89 (Course Record), ’93 (1st); Boston-Montreal-Boston ’92 (Course Record); Reno-Tucson record ’94 (849 miles in 54:17 still standing), Oregon North-South record ’95 (292 miles in 14:23, still standing); Race Across AMerica ’96; Rocky Mountain 1200 ’04

“It came together for me mentally, and once it clicked for me I realized that I really enjoy being on the podium and in the race, not behind the race,” said Tom Danielson. Danielson took third in the Tour of California in May 2011. “From that point on I just really viewed what I was doing from a different perspective, in a different light, and every time I went training I did it with a purpose and a goal I could achieve through hard work. He took 9th in the Tour de Suisse in June, finished in the top 10 in the Tour de France and led Garmin-Cervélo to the team classification win. (VeloNews website, November 18, 2011)

For seven-time U.S. national champion and women’s team pursuit world record holder Dotsie Bausch, mental preparation is just as important as physical. “While I train physically almost every single day, I mentally and emotionally train just as hard. You cannot expect your mind to be fit and ready for the intensity of competition if you haven’t trained it to be that way. I use visualization techniques. I use vivid imagery work, incorporating all five senses and lots of positive self-talk.” Bausch’s teammate Jennie Reed suffers from anxiety the day before a race. “I have always struggled with sleeplessness the night before the race as well. I sometimes have thoughts that go through my head like, ‘I just can’t do this’ … When that happens, I immediately turn those thoughts into statements like, ‘this is what I love to do, go after it.’ When I turn those thoughts around, I get excited rather than scared or nervous.” (VeloNews, October 2011, pp. 98- 100)

Billy Edwards, who finished the 1200-km (750-mile) Paris Brest Paris in August 2011, is an ex- Marine and pro triathlete. Afterward he said: “I race Ironmans, but this was something else. There was nothing that could have prepared me for this. Physically, I trained hard, my equipment was perfect … but mentally this was the hardest thing I have ever done, and I have been to war.” (VeloNews.com, August 30, 2011)

Why are some riders so nervous before and during events that they don't do well, while others are relaxed and have good rides? Why do some riders respond at key moments in rides, while others choke? Why do some riders show up for tough rides, motivated by the challenge, while others stay home? Why do some riders consistently perform better in events than training partners who are physically as fit? Why do some riders accept the pain while others slow down or drop out? Why do some riders train effectively while others waste time and energy? The difference, as the quotes above show, is mental. You can use sports psychology to gain a mental edge.

Sports psychology can be another tool in your toolbox to help you improve your cycling, just like effective training, good equipment and healthy nutrition. Learning the techniques of sports psychology is analogous to learning how to ride a bike, a series of skills developed over time: how to balance on the bike, how to shift, how to pedal smoothly, how to ride in traffic, how to ride in a group, how to corner and so on. It took time and practice to become a skilled rider and it takes time and practice to develop your mental skills. However, most cyclists can get greater improvement from investing some time each week in practicing mental skills than they could investing the same amount of time in training!

Sports psychology has three fundamental principles: 1. Your mind is like a TV. You control what you watch. If you don’t like the images, like Jennie Reed, you can change the channel (images).

2. You get more of what’s on your mental TV. If you are worried about an upcoming event, you’ll get more worried. If you’re excited, you’ll get more excited.

3. Our thoughts affect our feelings, and our feelings affect our thoughts. Negative thoughts, like “I don’t think I can do this,” lead to negative feelings of fear, anxiety, tension and fatigue. (Miller, 1999)

Sports psychology includes both: Objective factors – what we think – above the neck Subjective factors – what we feel – below the neck

In this article I describe both the objective factors and skills, and the subjective elements and skills. The article is divided into six practicums, including both objective and subjective skills.

Practicum 1  Event Selection and Goal Setting  Self-assessment  Focus

Practicum 2  Objectives for Improvement  Motivation  Relaxation  Calming Imagery

Practicum 3  Power Thoughts  Power Images  Affirmations

Practicum 4  Confidence  Anxiety

Practicum 5  Event Planning  Visualization

Practicum 6  During the Ride  Pain Management

Think of these as tools in your mental toolkit. Depending on the situation you may need one or several of your tools. The order in which I present them is also a good order in which to start developing the tools. Just like learning the technical skills of physically riding a bike, learning the mental skills takes practice. Plan on spending two to four weeks on each practicum.

Practicum 1: Event selection and Goal Setting, Self-assessment and Focus For Danielson, motivation and effective training came from goal-setting, and goal-setting depended on his race calendar. Let’s start there. Event Selection and Goal Setting What do you want to do next season? Ride with a somewhat faster group on club rides? Commute more days to save money and help the environment? Complete a specific event? Set a personal record? Participate in a tour? Ride a certain number of miles or kilometers for fitness?

Some of us are like kids in a candy store and want to do too many events or set too many goals. Exercise some restraint, since success depends on effective training, which is the result of overload and recovery. Experienced athletes are selective. The Grand Tour contenders prioritize their races as building blocks toward the season's main goal. Joe Friel recommends labeling each event in your schedule A, B or C. A event – one of the highlights of the season, an event for which you want to peak so that you can have your best ride. B event – one where you'd like to do well, although you aren't trying for a personal best. C event – one that you're doing for training, with no expectations about results. F event – to Friel's schema I add F events – no, those aren't failures – these are ones you're doing just for fun! A chance to try out a different type of event, or ride in a different area.

As you categorize each event remember that the fewer A events you have, the more likely you are to peak for each and have a ride to remember positively. Friel recommends no more than three or four A events. And the more F events, the more smiles on your face. (Friel, 2009) After categorizing your events, put each on your calendar.

Self-assessment Success depends on six factors, not just on training. What do you need to do to reach these goals? 1. Planning and goal setting 2. Mental techniques 3. Effective training

4. Proper equipment 5. Sound nutrition 6. Cycling skills

Think specifically about your strengths and weaknesses in each of the six areas, which will give you a framework for planning your training. This eArticle covers the first two topics. Consider the following:

Effective training. How mature are you as an athlete? How much experience do you have and have you ridden enough base miles to accomplish your goals? Do you have good endurance? Do you have the power and speed you need. Are you at the right weight to climb effectively? Proper equipment. Is your bike set up for the kind of riding that you want to do? Or is it set up as an aggressive road-racing machine? Do you have problems with cycling’s pressure points, which are covered in my eArticle Butt, Hands and Feet. Sound nutrition. Do you have a healthy training diet? Swiss nutrition experts have developed an excellent Swiss Food Pyramid for Athletes, which includes information on how to adjust what you eat, depending on your level of activity. I have written an eArticle, Eat and Drink Like the Pros, which also includes recipes for making your own sports nutrition. Cycling skills. Can you handle your bike safely and efficiently? Do you have an economical pedaling style? Are your climbing and descending skills good? Can you ride safely in a group? In traffic?

Focus While you are setting your big-picture goals for the season ahead and assessing your strengths and weaknesses, you can also be working below the neck to develop your ability to focus.

The simple technique of focusing solely on your breathing, called breath watching, can be learned in just 10 minutes a day and used to focus before a workout and get the most out of it or to relax and focus before an important event. If you suffer a mechanical or physical problem during an event, a minute or two of breath watching will relax you so you can deal effectively with the issue rather than panicking.

To practice, either sit in a chair with your upper body supported by your core and your hands resting on your knees, or lie on your back. Inhale slowly using your diaphragm. Your belly should expand as you breathe into the bottom of your lungs while your chest does as not expand. Imagine that you are inhaling white mist. Hold your breath for a few seconds and then exhale slowly, imagining that you are exhaling grey mist. By exhaling the grey you exhale all of the stress and fatigue of your day. You'll feel more relaxed as you exhale.

Then inhale a second time, focusing just on your breathing and on staying relaxed. Feel the white mist fill your lungs and then imagine exhaling the dirty mist.

Practice by repeating this breath watching – called chi gung by the Chinese – 10 times. You'll learn to relax further and to focus just on your breathing.

Before a particular training session take the 10 slow deep breathes to focus just on your workout. Then maintain the focus while you do a specific, purposeful workout so that you get the most benefit from it.

Of course, you may be going on a ride with your buddies to have fun, rather than for a specific training purpose. Don’t worry about focus. Relax and enjoy the ride!

Practicum 2: Objectives for Improvement, Motivation, Relaxation and Calming Imagery. In this section we cover the key topic of motivation, which depends on clear objectives, and how to relax more fully before an event or in general.

Objectives for Improvement After you have set your goals for the season (or longer) and assessed your strengths and weaknesses, the next step is to set objectives for improvement.

You can control your general preparation, training, equipment, etc., but you can’t control the outcomes of events, which depend on conditions and competition. Your objectives should reflect this. They should be S.M.A.R.T. Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time-oriented

For example, a rider’s objectives for one month in the spring might be to average three hours a week of aerobic cycling, 60 minutes of brisk tempo riding, 60 minutes doing general strength training, 90 minutes stretching and developing core strength, 60 minutes learning mental skills and cut calories by 500 / day. The objectives are: Specific – exactly which activities Measurable – defined amount of time Attainable – managing the time to put into training is within the athlete’s control Realistic – given the athlete’s work and family life, averaging a total of 8.5 hours a week is realistic Time-oriented – during specific month (or specific weeks within a training cycle)

You’ve entered your A, B, C and F events on your calendar. You’ve assessed your strengths and weaknesses and know what you need to do in each area to improve. Now develop progressive objectives for improvement for each month leading up to your first events and continuing through the season.

Motivation Defining and meeting objectives is the key to motivation. As a coach, much of what I provide to an athlete is motivation via a clear set of training objectives and accountability. The objectives are behavioral targets, which the rider then tries to achieve. These specific, measurable behaviors are within the athlete’s control. 5

The objectives are phrased in positive terms. For example, “lose two lbs (one kg) every month,” rather than “stop being so fat.” Focusing on a positive future rather than a negative current self- image improves motivation.

Reinforcement also helps motivation. Write down your big picture goals and post them where you’ll see them every day: on the refrigerator or bathroom mirror or on a sticky above your computer screen. Write down your improvement objectives on a calendar or in your training journal. Then break the objectives down into weekly plans. These will all reinforce what is important for improvement.

Reward yourself when you meet objectives. No, I don’t mean have a big piece of chocolate cake after you hit the hated gym the required number of hours each week. If you’ve had a successful week, give yourself a pat on the back. Write a few lines in your journal about how good you feel. Celebrate the milestones such as completing a longer ride – perhaps take your significant other out for a healthy dinner.

Progressive Relaxation Ever get nervous the night before or morning of a big event? We talk about "getting psyched." Psychologists have studied this and learned that as you get more excited – up to a point – your performance improves. But if you get too excited, your performance will decline. You want to be excited enough so that you are motivated to do well, but relaxed enough to allow your body to practice the skills you have learned: how to ride comfortably in a group, how to climb smoothly, how to corner smoothly.

By learning progressive relaxation, you can learn to relax both physically and mentally and to feel the difference between muscle tension and relaxation. Start by lying on your back on a firm surface in a quiet environment: Inhale, scrunch your right toes under the ball of your foot and toward your heel. Hold for 3-5 seconds and then exhale for about 10 seconds and progressively relax your toes. Repeat one or two times with your right toes. Next inhale, tighten your right calf muscles pointing your toes and foot away from your leg, hold and as you exhale slowly release the tension. Repeat one or two times with your right foot and calf. Reverse direction, inhaling and tightening the muscles on the front of your lower leg to pull your toes toward your knee, holding and exhaling and releasing. Then inhale and tighten your hamstring and gluteal muscles, pushing your right heel into the floor. Hold, exhale slowly and release the tension. Repeat several times. With each repetition, the muscles should feel more relaxed. Repeat the process with your right quadriceps, inhaling, stiffening your leg, holding and relaxing as you exhale. Before starting on your left leg, shake your right leg gently side to side, noticing how relaxed it feels compared to your left leg. Repeat the process with your left leg.

Now move to your arms: Start with your right arm. Inhale, tighten your right hand into a fist, hold for a few seconds, exhale slowly and relax, repeating several times. Next, tighten and release your biceps several times using the same process. And then your triceps. Shake your right arm gently and feel how relaxed it is. Repeat with your left arm.

Now progressively relax the upper body. Remember with each stretch to inhale as you tighten the muscles, hold for 3-5 seconds, and exhale slowly and completely as you relax. Inhale and tighten your core muscles around your stomach and low back. Hold and release slowly while exhaling, then repeat several times. Next, tighten your chest muscles, hold and release. Then tighten your upper back muscles pulling your shoulders back and relax. Then scrunch your shoulders up to your ears and relax. Finally contort your face into a grimace and let go.

Does this feel good or not? Would you rather be stressed before bed or relaxed?

Calming Imagery You’ve learned how to focus on your breathing and then to use progressive relaxation to relax more fully. This works well in training and the night before an event, but you may not want to take time to go through the process when a medical, digestive or other problem hits during a ride. Find a calming image that works for you, and you can summon it at will.

When I was in senior management at Stanford University, by the end of the day my stress level was high. I commuted by bike, and when the days were long enough I could climb Old LaHonda to the top of the Santa Cruz mountains and descend a few miles toward the ocean before turning around and riding home. When I started dropping toward the ocean I rode out of the forest and could see the soft fog over the green hills. Combined with the exertion of the climb, that view brought great calm. That became my calming image. I didn’t have to climb Old LaHonda, I just had to imagine that view and feeling.

For some people, the beach with the surf washing in quietly is a calming image. For others it’s a quiet walk through a favorite park or lying in the sun in the yard or. Think about yours now.

After you go through the progressive relaxation sequence, experiment with different images to find a quiet, calm place that works for you. Then practice imaging yourself there. Keep practicing until you can go to your calming place at will. Then when you need to relax right before an event, or when you have a problem, you can take a few slow breathes and go directly to your calming place for a few moments.

Practicum 3: Power Thoughts, Power Images and Affirmations Your thoughts affect how you feel, and how you feel affects how you ride. In 2002 I coached Allen Larsen for the Race Across AMerica. In every conversation, we talked about how competitive he is. He had a strong image of himself as a competitive racer. That image, 7 reinforced by the phrase “I am very competitive,” helped him push himself to exhaustion to beat Stefan Lau in an epic battle for Rookie of the Year. Let’s learn three mental techniques to change how you think and feel and to improve how you ride.

Power Thoughts Look back at your list of events and your self-assessment. Then get out a piece of paper and free- associate. What words describe you as a rider (or describe the rider you are becoming). You may think of words like “powerful,” “strong,” “fast,” “steady” and “aerodynamic,” which describe how you ride physically; for example, how you climb or descend. You may also identify words like “aware,” “focused,” and “relaxed,” which describe your attitude while riding, that you are alert to other riders, the course, the conditions, your nutrition, etc. Other words may describe your intentions during an event, e.g., “in control” and “chasing down.” These words help keep your intentions focused down the course, instead of looking over your shoulder. Looking back, even in your mind, may evoke fear of getting caught, which produces tension so that you don’t ride as smoothly. The words should all be positive and affirm how you perform when riding at your full potential.

The key words should be so powerful that each actually creates an image in your mind and a feeling in your body. For example, “aero” might evoke the image of a diving hawk and the feeling of your body extending and becoming streamlined.

Each word can be used in a specific situation to help your performance. When climbing think “strong” or “rhythm,” instead of “damn this hurts.” You’ll climb better and enjoy it more. While fixing your second flat, repeating “calm” can help you focus on the task at hand and not waste energy.

As homework, look at your list of words or phrases and pick at least three to help you ride better. Each day when you ride, start by using your breathing to help you focus, to still the perhaps negative chatter in your mind. Then, in a specific situation, repeat the appropriate word several times, to evoke that feeling. When climbing repeat “powerful” or when riding into the wind repeat “streamlined.” Research has shown that repetition is key. By repeating the words over and over on a daily basis, you’ll change your thought patterns. Research has shown that when such techniques are practiced over a long-term period, your thoughts become more positive.

Power Images Your mind works with images before it forms thoughts as words. By creating power images, you can control even more directly how you think and feel. Look at your list of power words and free associate. Make a list of the images that come to mind. For “power” you might envision a particular animal, for example a horse, running smoothly. For “great endurance” you might imagine a flock of migrating birds, wings beating smoothly. A hunting cat might evoke “crafty” – crouched down, ears forward, timing the leap, motionless except for the slight twitch of the tail. When you want to evoke “relaxed,” what better image than a house cat standing up and slowly arching its back in a relaxed stretch.

Practice using your power images on your rides. When descending, instead of thinking aero or tuck, imagine a hawk diving. When climbing, imagine that horse, powerful muscle rippling, moving smoothly up the hill. 8

Affirmations You can expand your power words into power thoughts. Take a half-dozen of your key words and write down self-affirming statements. For example, write down, “I am a powerful climber” rather than “I want to develop more power.” The latter subtly reminds you of what you view as a negative aspect of yourself and reinforces that negativity. Here are some examples: “I am a powerful rider like a big cat.” “I have great endurance like migrating birds.” “I move forward smoothly and effortlessly, like a spinning water wheel.” “I love going hard.” “I love testing my limits.” “I am mentally prepared.” “I am aware, in control of my ride to do my best.”

Write down your affirmations and put them in one or more places so you’ll see them every day: on the bathroom mirror, on the refrigerator door, taped to your handlebars. Like power words, repeat your affirmations several times a day to program your brain. Practicum 4: Confidence and Anxiety Confidence and anxiety are directly related. The more confident you are that you can complete a workout or an event, the less anxiety you’ll feel. Let’s start with how to increase your confidence. Confidence The confidence that you can achieve your goals to your satisfaction comes from complete mastery of all the components necessary for success, which were listed in Practicum 1: 1. Planning and goal setting 2. Mental techniques 3. Effective training 4. Proper equipment 5. Sound nutrition 6. Cycling skills

In Practicum 1 you identified your goals and assessed what you needed to do in each of these six areas. In Practicum 2 you set your monthly and weekly objectives for improvement in each of the areas you need to work on. By meeting all of your objectives and mastering all of the components you’ll develop confidence.

In 1987 my friend Warren dropped out of the 1200-km (750-mile) Paris-Brest-Paris. Warren is an engineer specializing in failure analysis and he used the next four years to prepare meticulously for PBP ’91. He analyzed, tested and perfected his equipment, clothing, nutrition, pacing and every other variable. When we got to the start Warren was 100% confident he could ride his bike to Brest and back. He also believed that he probably could finish within the 90 allowed hours. Warren and I wrote an article on Testing Equipment for Long Rides, which is on my website and illustrates the approach.

I expanded on the concept in my eBook Stop Cycling's Showstoppers. Showstoppers are the 9 things that force you to stop before you have reached your goal(s). The eBook covers all of the six factors above, as well as environmental conditions, ailments, injuries and safety. Stop Cycling’s Showstoppers is organized in workbook fashion, with a self-assessment checklist at the end of each chapter.

The confidence that you can ride an event to your satisfaction also comes from the mental programming you worked on in practicum 3: power thoughts, power images and affirmations.

Anxiety Even veterans feel some anxiety before an important event. Even if we prepare as well as possible, everything is not 100% within our control, and we can’t be 100% confident of the outcome. The result is anxiety.

We’re all familiar with the feeling of stress, which comes from a situation where we have to cope with something we’re not 100% confident we can handle, like riding a certain distance, doing a specific weights workout, completing a new task at work or dealing with a family situation. Stress results in certain physiological and mental changes that psychologists call arousal. (Humara, 1999).

There is an optimal relationship between how aroused you are and how well you perform. This relationship between arousal and performance applies in situations ranging from learning a new task to completing a difficult event. The relationship is a bell-shaped curve.

Reprinted, with permission, from J. Hughes and D. Kehlenbach, 2011, Distance cycling (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics), 185.

As you become more aroused, your performance increases to an optimum point of arousal. If your arousal continues to increase beyond that point, your performance suffers.

If you have low arousal you won’t put enough attention and energy into the task and will under- perform. If you are too excited you will get tense, which will drain energy and divert your focus, and your performance will suffer. Note that different individuals respond differently to the amount of arousal. What motivates you may psych out your buddy.

A certain amount of physical excitement will help you push harder to perform better; however, if you are too tense, your coordination will suffer and your spin won’t be as smooth. Likewise, if you are too tense, your ability to read situations and react appropriately and quickly will suffer.

To a certain extent, if you are worried about how you’ll perform in front of your friends, this will motivate you. However, if you get too worried and start thinking negative thoughts “I can’t do this” or “this is too hard,” they may become a self-filling prophecy.

If you perform well in training but performance suffers during an important event, anxiety may be part of the problem.

Amateur athletes like us are more prone to anxiety than the pros. We have less experience in big events and less practice managing arousal. (Cuncic, n.d.)

What to do? First, as described in the section on Confidence, prepare as thoroughly as possible.

Then look back on your training and prior events to see whether physical tension and/or mental anxiety are problems. Or whether you have trouble getting your body moving and/or mentally motivated. Don’t wait until right before a workout or event, but based on your self-knowledge use the tools you’ve learned in advance: Physically tense. Days or weeks before an event, practice breathing slowly and deeply, focusing just on your breathing. Then use progressive relaxation to relax more fully. Right before the event, focus on your breathing to relax and call up your calming image. Mentally anxious. Again, starting well before an event, practice your breathing to empty your mind of negative thoughts. Then repeat your power words, use your power images and repeat your affirmations. Physically low energy. As with too much tension or anxiety, having enough energy requires preparation. Remember that training and participating in events require overload and recovery. Make sure that you get enough rest. Eating a healthy, carbohydrate-rich snack about an hour before a workout or event will raise your blood sugar and give you energy. Try some warm-up activity like jumping jacks to get your heart rate up or tell yourself you’ll give the workout 15 minutes of solid effort and then evaluate how you feel. Mentally low energy. Your brain can only burn glycogen for fuel, so a carbohydrate-rich snack will give you more mental energy. As with not enough physical energy, low mental energy may be the result of insufficient rest. Focus on your long-term goals and immediate objectives. Work out with a partner – you’ll give each other energy. Practicum 5: Event Planning and Visualization Event planning is an analytical way of further increasing your confidence by anticipating likely and unlikely occurrences during a key event – and preparing for them. Visualization is the subjective process of imaging you are riding the event and experiencing it so that during the event it feels familiar.

Event Planning Remember that what you think about strongly influences how you feel. Event planning includes thinking about the ride, the challenging parts and possible problems and figuring out how you’ll 11 deal with them. Remember the story of Warren who analyzed and tested everything before an important ride.

Event planning starts with gathering as much information as possible. Research the event itself on the event’s website and reach out to other riders who have done the event. You’ll get some great advice and probably a few horror stories. From the horror stories, in particular, you can learn what went wrong for other riders.

As you research the event, think about the following questions:

Course. Based on my strengths and weaknesses, which will be the harder parts for me? The climbs? Descents? Flats? Do I have the technical skills necessary to ride each part of the course or do I need to be cautious on some sections? Are there sections where traffic is a particular concern? Conditions. What are the anticipated conditions? How might they change? If they change, what would I do? What clothing should I carry in case conditions change? Other riders. How many others are participating? What are their probable skill levels? More riders increase the fun and offer more opportunities to draft, but also increase the risk of crashes. Equipment and clothing. Do I have the right gear for the course and likely conditions? Have I tested all of it under similar conditions? Is it well-maintained? What might go wrong during the event, and what would I do if it does go wrong? Nutrition. Do I know what foods and fluids work for me and in what quantities? Does the event offer these, or should I bring my own? Do I have a nutrition plan? Do I have trouble eating and drinking enough? How will I stay on plan? Do I have gastric issues? If these strike, what will I do? Fatigue. Based on comparable events or my training, how will I feel in the latter part of the ride? Although tired, do I usually finish feeling pretty good? Or do I drag in? If the latter, how should I adjust my final training? Change my nutrition before and during the ride? Manage my pacing? Comfort. Again, based on comparable events or my training, do I feel good (other than some fatigue) the entire ride? If not, could I adjust something before the ride? Or change how I ride the ride? I’ve written an eArticle called Butt, Hands & Feet: Preventing and Treating Pain in Cycling’s Pressure Points, that provides numerous tips in these areas. Mental. Am I usually confident and upbeat throughout a ride, or do I get the blues? If I get the blues, what can I do?

Some people are very detail-oriented and, for example, want to know the exact length and grade of every climb. Others carry a general visual picture of where the climbs are and which one is the hardest. Know thyself. If lots of data helps you gain confidence, then dig it out. If too much data freaks you out, stay more general. I find it helpful to create three scenarios:

1. I’m having a great ride 2. I’m having my expected ride 3. I’m not having a good day

Depending on the importance of an event, the scenarios will be more or less elaborate. For a 200 km brevet, for each scenario I’ll write down my expected arrival time at each checkpoint. I want to be sure that even if I’m having a bad day I’ll reach the checkpoints, including the finish, at the cutoff times. I also want to figure out if I may need extra clothes if I might be riding into the evening or even lights for an early season brevet. All of my analysis of what might go wrong includes figuring out solutions so that even in the worst case I’ll finish within the cutoff.

You can also rehearse your ride. For example, rehearse a century by doing a 50-mile training ride on similar terrain. Every five miles or so think about where you’ll be another 10 miles into the century. Note in advance where the aid stations are on the century and imagine on your rehearsal ride when you get to each. Think about what time of day it’ll be, what conditions probably will be like and how you’ll feel. Visualization Event planning and rehearsal rides are analytical, above the neck. Visualization is emotional, below the neck, feeling as if you are riding each part of the ride. Visualization is similar to rehearsing a ride; however, instead of thinking about each section of the ride, you imagine how you’ll feel for each section. Dotsie Bausch uses visualization before all of her important races.

To visualize a ride, start by using one of the relaxation techniques so that your mind is completely empty. Then engage all of your senses. Just before the start of the event, what will you smell? The volunteers’ coffee as you sign in? What will you taste? The last bite of your pre- ride snack? What will you feel? The chill of the morning air? What will you hear? Chatter among riders? What will you see? Bright colors?

As the ride starts you hear riders clicking into their pedals. You feel air moving by. Keep using your senses to feel yourself riding the entire ride.

In 1992 I was going to ride the Boston-Montreal-Boston 1200-km (750-mile) event. I’d never ridden it before or even ridden in New England. I knew that the first part featured short, steep hills, then there were three big climbs and then flat to Montreal, and that we returned over the same course. I broke the race into three sections. To improve my visualization I put on shorts and a jersey, riding shoes and my helmet and sat outside – one day in the rain! I did three visualizations, one of each third of the event, each one taking about an hour on successive days. I then repeated the sequence.

At BMB I started with the fast bunch and they dropped me on the initial steep hills, but I wasn’t worried – I’d visualized this. Over the next 12 hours I reeled them in and took the lead, as visualized. Trying to ride through the night I got very sleepy so, as visualized, I stopped, stretched and ate to get my blood sugar up. I went on to finish first and set a course record.

Through visualization you can pre-ride an event, imagining the different sections and circumstances and what they will feel like – and thus gain tremendous confidence. Practicum 6: During the Ride and Pain Management The previous material largely focuses on skills to practice and use during training and before an event. Sports psychology can also help you during an event. 13

During the Ride For me rides over about 50 miles have three parts: 1. The first part when I’m feeling fresh and enjoying the ride 2. The ugly middle when I’m tired and the finish still seems far away 3. The final part when I can smell the barn

What to do in the ugly middle? Calming imagery. Use your calming image to go to your quiet place. By simply relaxing, the ugly middle won’t seem quite as ugly. Season goals. Remember your goals and why you are doing the ride. Power words. Repeat your power words and phrases to help convince your mind that you can do it! Power images. Call up your power images to feel more like you can do it! Repeat affirmations. You practiced your calming imagery, power words, power images and affirmations not only to help you prepare for a ride, but also so that you can call on them at times like this. Focus on short-term goals. Rather than thinking about how far it is to the finish, focus on just riding to the next aid station. Or the top of the next hill. Eat and drink. On our training rides Warren and I learned that if one of us wasn’t having fun, he hadn’t eaten recently!

What if something specific goes wrong? Relax. Take a few deep breaths, use your calming image and eat a bit to relax. Assess the situation. Can you fix it? Or how can you continue without fixing it? Improvise. Broken rear derailleur cable? Jam a stick into your derailleur to hold it in your preferred cog. You have four speeds: big chain ring, small chain ring, standing and sitting! Focus on the problem at hand. Distinguish between what you can control and what you can’t. Persevere. Don’t quit as soon as something goes wrong. Adjust expectations. Remember your three scenarios and that now you are in scenario #3 and it will just take longer.

Pain Management After Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4-minute mile in 1954, he said, “There was no pain, only a great unity of movement and aim.” (Brewer, 2009) When you are trying to push your limits in terms of speed, distance, power, course difficulty, competition or some other factor, pain will accompany you. How can you focus your attention like Bannister so that you are just riding in the moment, free of external distractions?

Attention has two important aspects: Width. Your ability to shift from the narrow focus of reading this article to a broad focus when riding your bike through traffic. Direction. You can also shift your focus from external stimuli to internal stimuli. (Nideffer, 1976)

Riding in a group, particularly racing in a group, you want a broad external focus. Riding alone on a training ride, your focus should be broad (so that you are aware of the road) and internal (so that you are training with the right intensity). Chris Horner, who took second in Tirreno- Adriatico in 2012, is one of the best tactical racers in the pro peloton, racing a stage with a broad external focus. At age 41 he can also shift to a narrow internal focus to do well in time trials against riders 15 years younger!

Pain happens. How can you control your focus? Relax. When I was competing in RAAM I took an eight-week class in pain management by a doctor who was trained in both western and Chinese medicine. The class was in pain management primarily for cancer patients. He helped us understand that when we felt pain we’d often get tense, which would increase the sensation of pain. Shift focus. He also helped us understand that there is the physical sensation of pain and our psychological reaction to the pain. By shifting the direction of our attention away from the locus of the pain, we would feel less pain. Breathe. Pain often disrupts your breathing rhythm, and you can feel short of breath. If the pain is intense enough it may even cause you to stop breathing momentarily. You learned to breathe to relax in Practicum 1 – use that skill to regain control of your breathing. Rhythm. Pain may also disrupt your cycling rhythm so that your pedal stroke becomes choppy. Use an image to help you feel more rhythmic so that you pedal more smoothly. I like the image of a spinning water wheel. Associate. Top athletes usually direct their attention to the pain, focus on it and gather energy from it. They use it to drive them onward, thinking, “If I’m hurting this badly, they must really be hurting.” Disassociate. You can also direct your attention away from the pain, shifting your focus from internal to external. Sing your favorite song, talk to your companions, anything to get your mind away from the physical sensation. Persevere. When I was racing RAAM, Lon Haldeman told my crew, “Don’t let John quit over anything that will heal in two weeks.” I had open blisters on my butt. My crew kept applying bandages and we proudly finished RAAM. Lon’s advice is sound, but be very careful to distinguish between pain due to a problem from which you’ll recover fairly quickly and pain which signals a potential season-ending injury. Cope. If you are riding in an endurance event, then you may need to cope with a problem in order to persevere. In my eBook Stop Cycling’s Showstoppers I give tips on how to deal with nutritional, mechanical, environmental, points-of-contact and medical issues.

After taking the class in pain management I tried several of these skills. I got on my CompuTrainer, warmed up and then punched it up to my time trial pace. I then directed my attention away from the pain in my legs and focused on relaxing my upper body and breathing and pedaling rhythmically. I was able to produce 5% more power without increasing my heart rate or the pain!

15 how to balance on the bike, how to shift, how to pedal smoothly, how to ride in traffic, how to ride in a group, how to corner and so on. It took time and practice to become a skilled rider and it takes time and practice to develop your mental skills. However, most cyclists can get greater improvement from investing some time each week in practicing mental skills than they could investing the same amount of time in training! Open your mind to the possibilities, and enjoy the journey!

Resources Brewer, Britton W. ed. (2009) Sport Psychology. International Olympic Commission handbook. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, West Sussex, UK

Chungliang, Al Huang and Jerry Lynch, Ph.D. (1992). Thinking Body, Dancing Mind: Taosports for extraordinary performance in athletics, business and life. Bantam Books, New York, NY.

Cuncic, Arlin. (2009). Sports and Performance Anxiety. about.com

Friel, Joe. (2009). The Cyclist’s Training Bible, 4th ed. VeloPress, Boulder, CO

Hughes, John. (n.d.). Mental Training Techniques: Relax, Breath, Do Nothing Extra, www.coach-hughes.com

Hughes, John. (2010). Stop Cycling’s Showstoppers: Sharing 35 years of experience to keep you riding. RBR Publishing Company, Atlanta, GA, Atlanta, GA

Hughes, John and Dan Kehlenbach. (2011). Distance Cycling: Your complete guide to long- distance rides. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL.

Humara, Miguel. (1999). The Relationship Between Anxiety and Performance: A Cognitive-Behavioral Perspective. Athletic Insight: The Online Journal of Sports Psychology. Volume 1, Issue 2

Lynch, Jerry Ph.D. and Chungliang Al Huang. (1998). Working Out, Working Within: the Tao of inner fitness through sports and exercise. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York, NY

Miller, Saul, Ph.D. and Peggy Maass Hill. (1999). Sport Psychology for Cyclists. VeloPress, Boulder, CO.

Dan Millman. (2000). Way of the Peaceful Warrior. H J Kramer, Tiburon, CA.

Nideffer, Robert Ph.D. (1976) The Inner Athlete: Mind Plus Muscle for Winning. Thomas Crowell, New York

Riewald, Suzie Tuffey, Ph.D. (n.d.). Arousal Management. National Strength and Conditioning Association Performance Training Journal, Volume 7 Number 1, Colorado Springs, CO.

Ungleider, Steven, Ph. D. (1996). Mental Training for Peak Performance. Rodale Press, Emmaus, Pennsylvania.

About the Author

John Hughes earned coaching certifications from USA Cycling and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He enjoys coaching riders with a variety of goals and fitness backgrounds. For more information, visit www.coach-hughes.com.

John is the author with Dan Kehlenbach of Distance Cycling: Your complete guide to long- distance rides, published by Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL

John’s cycling career includes course records in the Boston-Montreal-Boston 1200-km randonnée and the Furnace Creek 508, a Race Across AMerica (RAAM) qualifier. He has ridden solo RAAM twice and is a 5-time finisher of the 1200-km Paris-Brest-Paris. Much of this was accomplished during a 24-year career at Stanford University, where he balanced a professional career, family and cycling.

John lives in Boulder, Colorado, where he served for 12 years as Managing Director of the UltraMarathon Cycling Association and editor of UltraCycling magazine.

His other publications available from RoadBikeRider include:

Stop Cycling’s Showstoppers: How to Eliminate the Factors That Force You to Stop.

Intensity: How to Plan & Gauge Your Most Beneficial Training Efforts

Nutrition for 100K and Beyond: Detailed Nutrition and Hydration Guidance for Successful Distance Riding

Beyond the Century: How to Train for and Ride 200 km to 1200 km Events

Preventing and Treating Cramps

Eating & Drinking Like the Pros: How to Make Your Own Sports Food & Drink – Nutritional Insight from Pro Teams

Butt, Hands & Feet: Preventing and Treating Pain in Cycling’s Pressure Points

Mastering the Long Ride: Riding and Finishing 100 km and Longer Events

Year-Round Cycling: How to Extend Your Cycling Season.