Cycling Weekly — December 07, 2017

bronze medals in the 1972 and 1976
Olympic team pursuits by training on
his daily bike commute: “Riding to
work and back as fast as I could,” as he
remembers it.

The big miles method
Few riders were coached in the
way coaching happens today. They
determined their own training, and they
took the Shane Sutton approach: when in
doubt, do more miles. Hard miles mostly,
too. Time triallist Mick Bradshaw says, “I
did a regular 10-hour night-shift, so from
January 1 each year, I got up at 4pm, was
out at 6pm, did 60 to 70 miles, and was
through the factory gates at 9am. I rode
home in the morning, slept until 4pm and
repeated that, Monday to Thursday.”
Bradshaw would keep to that
schedule during the season, adding
racing at the weekend.
“That’s how I did my whole racing
career,” he says. “Later I worked in the
daytime, but I still did 70 miles in three
hours every night after work. I loved the
feeling of pushing hard. I still do. And all
my training was done on two gears, 42x15
in the winter and 42x14 in the summer. It
tricked my brain into thinking my 57x12
race gear was lower than it was.”
National 50-mile champion in 1988 and
winner of hundreds of open events, he was
“doing 400 to 450 miles a week”. Was it

the best way to train, looking back?

“It’s the only way I know. I explained

that to somebody in my club recently.

He tried it and it worked. Having said

that, I’d like to try the new methods they

use today.”

Darryl Webster was a very good road

racer and a multiple national champion

on the track, in time trials and in hill-

climbs. His approach was slightly more

scientific than Bradshaw’s, reflecting

developments in understanding.

Webster’s Eighties training schedule was

still self-made but influenced by a book

informed by a fair amount of science:

the Italian Cycling Federation’s training

manual, Agonistic Cycling. This is how

Webster summarises his programme:

“Starting Christmas Day, I did 40 miles

every day for two weeks, alternating

flat-out and tempo riding, always in a

42x16 gear. After that, I added long group

rides, four to six hours, on Wednesdays

and Sundays. I did weights twice per

week, circuit training once, and sit-ups

and press-ups on the other days. If the

Name Pre-

season

mileage

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Daily

average

(miles)

Massage? Weights or

physical

training?

Hobbies,

relaxation?

Ambition for

1966

Chris

Holloway

1,500-2,000 TV 30-60mi

bit-and-bit

Evening ’10’ 30mi fast — 14 No No; some skipping,

back, arm exercises

Children, wife

and house!

Beat a 1-55-30 ‘50’,

a sub-4hr ‘100’

Mike

McNamara

2,500-3,000 — 40mi bit-

and-bit

26mi steady 40mi bit-

and-bit

— 16 Yes Think both help but

practise neither

Drink, dominoes BAR title

Norman

Cole

1,000 Rest 60mi 40mi 60mi 30mi at 15’s 14 No Very little weights,

some PT off-season

Long walks, records

(Beatles, Dean

Martin)

Sub-4hr ‘100’

Jim

Boydell

1,000-1,500 Nil 40-50mi Club ’10’

or ‘25’

30-40mi Nil 14 Yes Both WT and PT Club and district

committee work

Higher up — and

win a KWS

club champ

Pat

Ryan

3,000 min. Training based entirely on rides to and from work (26mi each way) — No WT when

facilities available

Eating and sleeping To get nearer

the top

Geoff

Cross

3,000 min. Rest 45-60mi Evening ’10

or ‘25’

55-70mi Rest 16 No Doing WT this

winter. Practise PT.

— Improve all round

Peter

Smith

2,500 Rest 30mi 30mi 30mi Nil 22 Yes WT yes; PT no. Reading, evening

classes.

Ride the Tour

of Britain.

How they trained in 1966 Training schedules of the best all-rounders of 1966, originally published in Sporting Cyclist magazine

Mick Bradshaw would regularly

crank out 400-plus miles per week