ON A ROLL
ISAAC WILLIAMS SADDLES UP AND DISCOVERS A NEW SIDE TO CYCLING
ee those trees up ahead?
Don’t stop sprinting
until you get to them.”
I’m in the leafy expanse
of Richmond Park,
London, staring at some foliage that's
further away than I would like, while
Rob McCarthy, a pro team rider with
Canyon, is talking me and a small
group of fellow rookies through a
favourite session of his: power sprints.
These involve getting into a
high gear and, from a standing start,
working as hard as you can – stood out
off the saddle – for around 30 seconds.
One all-out effort turns my quads to
jelly and my lungs to fire; it also helps
me see cycling in a different light.
The UK is a nation of two-wheelers:
Strava’s end-of-year report revealed
that users of the app logged one
billion kilometres in 2018, while the
Department for Transport estimates
that over one tenth of the population
ride a bike every week. Yet those
numbers would be drastically lower if
the cycling in question was not to get
to work, or occupy a leisurely Sunday
afternoon, but to get fit; cycling, for
many, is a mode of transport, rather
than a form of fitness. The folk at
Canyon, however, want that to change.
“Cycling can be a crucial part
of any fitness programme,” says
Canyon’s global communications
manager Thorsten Lewandowski, “and
that doesn’t mean you have to spend
hours on the bike. Intervals and hills
don’t need to take any longer than 30Aerobic benefits ++++++++++
Upper-body strength +++ +++++++
Lower-body strength ++++++++++
Core strength ++++++++++
Fat loss ++++++++++
Canyon’s range of Fitness Bikes can be found at canyon.com/en-gb/fitness-bikesS
minutes, and rather than being cooped
up in a gym, you get all the natural
benefits of being outside.”
After a few more reps – totalling
no more than ten minutes – I can
attest to the effectiveness of such a
workout, and few places are as primed
for cycling as Richmond Park. Clearly,though, not everyone is within reach
of such suitable surroundings, and the
time it takes to get to your local park,
or quiet stretch of road, might negate
the time it takes to complete a quick
fitness session on your bike. McCarthy,
however, says that’s a problem a bit of
imagination can solve.
“Even if you don’t live in the most
cycle-friendly place,” he says, “the
chances are there is at least a small
hill, or somewhere you can get some
sprints in.” Failing that, there is another
option: “I don’t have a Wattbike," says
McCarthy, "but if the weather’s bad
I’ll get on the rollers and so whatever
session I had planned, only indoors.”
Rollers allow you to train on your bike,
from the safety of your own home – and
unlike a stationary exercise bike, you
get all the balance benefits that come
with having to stay upright."Where do we put the
stabilisers?" Isaac
gets to grips with his
bike for the dayRob McCarthy in action
for his succinctly titled
team Canyon dhb p/b
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