Tasting Zico Coconut Water

After today's gentle training ride around quiet Surrey country lanes I got a chance to try the new Zico Coconut Water hydration drink.

A month ago the kind folk from Zico UK sent me a box of 12 bottles to try out. According to their website the drink delivers brilliant rehydration result post workout.

This is a short video vox pop of my first taste of the coconut water.

Have you tried it before? (I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments below)

Zico Coconut Water from Rob Enslin on Vimeo.

The state of our roads

It seems the wintery weather has been hard on our roads. Is it me or is it getting worse? Riding through Leatherhead I came across this crater. At first I simply rode past it not really noticing. And then when I finally twigged I stopped and rode back to inspect it.

Now that I'm spending more time on the road again I'm noticing more and more of these 'craters'. Sooner or later a fellow cyclist is going to become of victim.

After passing the crater I started wondering whether a campaign organised by cyclists might help strengthen awareness and result on local council action.

Here's an idea. If each time we spotted a hole we took a snap and published it on the web: Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, mobile apps, blogs, etc and tagged then with appropriate tags (or hashtags).

Just a thought.

Mountain biking in the snow

I decided at the very last minute to go mountain biking in the snow. The decision to go riding had no real basis (it never does). Mountain biking in the snow is fun and with a mild dose of cabin fever setting in I needed some 'me time'.

It's really convenient living so close to the trails. In only five minutes, from my door, I can find myself deep in the Downs woods, with legendary trails like Summer Lightening, Leith Hill, and Westcott, close by.

I met Nigel, Kevin, Dante, Austyn and Niall at the Green and we headed out. The snow had fallen hard on the Downs so riding through 10cm of snow was hard work. The strange thing is that when you're having fun the effort is masked. You're somehow distracted from the energy-sapping snow-covered trails.

Less than five minutes in and Nigel's freehub body froze up, meaning he had no way of pedalling. Kevin decided to pour his urinal magic over the affected area to remedy it. Surprisingly it worked. Completely dazzled we move on.

We took in the usual trails, but somehow it felt different. It felt like being on holiday somewhere alpine-like. Yet, around every corner familiar landmarks greeted us. Before descending into Peaslake for a cuppa we rode Barry (Barry Knows Best) and it was surprisingly grippy. Barry is always a winner.

The Peaslake shelter was deserted. Only Nick and his ride partner was there. Any regular would know that Sunday morning is busy there. We had warm drink and the obligatory cake and called it a day.

Another 30mins and I was home... Exhausted. What a great day in the saddle. We are lucky that even when the weather is foul we can enjoy our sport and enjoy it with friends.

Ride time: 3hrs
Heart rate: 165/201
Distance: 40km (100% snow)

More photos here.

SL Ewhurst RR (15 August 2010)

Okay, so I decided to ride my local course, the Ockley/Leith Hill/Forest Green/Ewhurst circuit, overall 8 laps.

But before the race I bumped in Steve (Saunders) over for the week from Alpine France. It was great to catch up briefly, before the 70mile race. Also, it was a great occasion as I had two of my team mate out too, Si (Ernest) and Alex (Peterson).

At the start I was strong'ish. I was a little frisky too, so had a few diggs. I managed to get a little (5 riders) going, and at one point we nearly had a minute up the road. Unfortunately, it did not last long as two of the groupees dropped off (one tired and the other a flat).

I managed to avoid two unnecessary crashes and by the time we turned off the circuit for the final killer climb to the top of Leith Hill, I was sitting comfortably in the group, all together.

At the turn I went 'backwards' and nursed three cramping muscles to the finish. I don't know where I came but I suspect it was comfortably at the rear.

Race Stats:

Time: 3hrs

Heart Rate: 169/192 bpm

Distance: ~70miles.

The season begins... on Surrey roads

My 2010 race season is underway. After our team finally affiliated to the the Surrey League I was clear race in their Alfold Crossways road race organised by Festival. The racing began in the morning with the 3rd cats on the Kirdford circuit and Twitter friend @jaymcstay warned of the potholes claiming victim after victim with punctures.

Rather unusually I was forced to use my old trusty Viner EOM 16.5 race bike as I had last minute issues with my Giant, our AW Cycles team issue (albeit 2009 issue for me). Whilst not the lightest bike in the world it is a lovely bike to ride and with the road surface being what it was probably the most suitable frame material.

After signing on (race number 49), I was pleasantly surprised to discover team mate Matt (Melville) there too. Matt is the super start rider of the team and has been putting in huge amounts of work in preparation for the season. Also, his new team bike had only just been built up and he was pretty anxious to test it out.

At 1.30pm we set out for 5 and a bit laps of an undulating course around the Loxwood-Alfold-Plaistow area of Surrey. The lengthy neutral zone was a useful way to see how just how bad the surface was. My race tactic was to ride near the front and go with as many moves as possible, but not attack or be aggressive. I wanted to gauge how strong I was for this time of the year.

With the race underway immediately a few guys attempted to form breaks, but the mighty Ben (Instone) simply powered his way to any escapees offering everyone else a free ride across in the process. His testing ability clearly on display. For the majority of the race the pattern of attacks followed by Ben reeling them back in while the group held on continued. Matt had his fair share of aggressive riding - using the inclines to launch his attacks. On one accession it seemed to work when he got away with Andy (Bryson), from DCH (eventual winner of the race). The two had ridden superbly well until Matt's energy reserves ran out and ultimately forced to retreat and join the rest of the group. I handed him my spare bottle to tie him over for the remainder of the last lap.

Within the final 5km's the main chasing group became fractured with small groups of riders forming. By this time Matt had moved up front with me and we began to sprint for home. Content with the work I'd done during the race I eased back slightly and rolled in 14th. Matt finished a respectable 12th, however the bulk of the field not finishing at all. Special note for Chris Tune who I'd not seen race for ages, put in a sterling effort always attentive and quick to react.

Whilst not my best result I had a great day out in the cold sunshine finally finding a moment to express my physical form.

Final result:

1. Andy Bryson (DHCyclesport) 2:59:00
2 James Makepeace
3. Nick Abraham
12. Matt Melville (AW Cycles RT)
14. Rob Enslin (AW Cycles RT)

Physio stats - unavailable as I did not monitor or record any race performance data.

UK's Cape Epic 2010 route presentation: My nutrition talk

The Cape Epic (Epic) comes around once a year, usually around March (21st - 28th March this year). With the CE gaining increasing popularity yearly, it's big business. When I rode the 2005 edition it was still relatively new attracting a modest field by its current standards. With UCI points up for grabs, top riders, spanning the globe, descend on Cape Town to put their bodies through 8 days of epic hell.

Andrew Clayton from Pedal Studio, a spinning studio in Putney, put on an pre-Cape Epic event to offer advice to race entrants and to unveil the 2010 route. Andrew asked me to come along and give a short talk on nutrition. There's so much information on nutrition out there, a lot of it very technical, so I prepared a few slides on the practical side of nutrition within the context of the Epic. By way of an introduction to nutrition I reminded the listeners about the basic breakdown of the nutritional components:

1. Protein - helps repair the muscle tissue (recovery)
2. Water and salts - eliminate wastes, temperature control and helps digestion
3. Carbohydrates - fuel muscles (keeps you going and helps recovery)

Here's a summary of what I spoke about.

1. Develop good habits

The main reason people don't drink or eat is because they are just not in the habit of doing so.

• Start good habits now! Makes drinking a lot easier
• Drink at work and home (not only on the bike)
• Bottle is your best friend - carry one everywhere
• Learn to eat and drink while you train
  

2. Know your body - conditioning

The Epic is no ordinary race. Every stage is a race in itself. Before a rider undertakes to punish his or her body this severely it's important to know your own limits - just how far can you push it before it 'breaks'.

If you look at this typical Epic pattern (8-day stage race):

pre-fuel/hydrate > race > refuel/rehydrate > recover (day 1)
> pre-fuel/hydrate > race > refuel/rehydrate > recover (day 2)
> pre-fuel/hydrate > race > refuel/rehydrate > recover (day 3)
> pre-fuel/hydrate > race > refuel/rehydrate > recover (day 4)
> pre-fuel/hydrate > race > refuel/rehydrate > recover (day 5)
> pre-fuel/hydrate > race > refuel/rehydrate > recover (day 6)
> pre-fuel/hydrate > race > refuel/rehydrate > recover (day 7)
> pre-fuel/hydrate > race (day 8)

Pretty monotonous right?

There's a lot of fueling and hydration taking place so it's important that your body becomes accustomed to the repetitious nature of this feeding.

The single best way to prepare yourself is to mimic this behavior. Try using a block of training to expose yourself to it before you ride the Epic. If you find you're suffering from ill feelings you still have time to change your products or habit.


3. Planning

Nothing beats planning, right? Not enough can be said to emphasise planning. A notable benefit to good planning is reducing stress. If you're stressed you'll suffer. The only stress you need to deal with is the stress of the race (the inherent race stress - not self-inflicted stress). Here are a few specifics to look at:

• No shortcuts to nutrition - just do it
• Good planning controls your stress (the right type of stress)
• Packing: organise your nutrition to make it accessible and easy to reach
• Stock - how much and what to take? (buy UK or SA?)
• Times: meal, wake up, flights
  

4. Food and equipment

How you consume your nutritional products is important. From the type of bottle to drink with to where and how you carry your energy bars.

• Coffee and tea (go easy)
• Gels - convenient, easy to measure, messy
• Bars - solid food, minerals, convenient, but avoid chocolate-coated
• Supplements
• Use the 3 feed stations wisely (water, energade (*SA) & coke)
• Personal snacks (foiled portions from breakfast) & savoury
• Bottles vs Hydration pack - personal choice
• Anti-cramp tables (emergency)

5. BDA (before, during and after)

If you pick up any nutrition book you'll find the same information written: drink and eat before, during and after you race or train. There's a reason for that... because it's been proven time and time again that it's the most effective way to support you during the event and prepare you for recovery.

Before - water, water, water, good breakfast, berocca
During - water, energy drink, solid food (use feed stations)
After - recovery drink (within 30mins), water, water, water, good meal.

If you lose your appetite get some help. You NEED to be eating and drinking.

View the slide show.

[Me presenting 'Looking after you!' at the UK's Cape Epic route announcement evening in Putney]

Inspiration to train (feel it)

Yesterday I wrote about staying off icy roads to avoid accidents and ill health. I suggested 8 alternative ways to keep the heart pumping and maintain condition.

In the video below (by Landis Fields, PUSH PULL) see if you can relate to any of the details portrayed in it (facial expressions, sweat, kit, bikes, terrain) then watch it again and really feel it. The next time you're looking for inspiration watch it again and go train.

PUSH PULL from Landis Fields on Vimeo.