To start with, let’s be clear that not all breaks are bad for your cycling fitness. On the contrary, we’ve previously looked at a full six reasons to take an end of season break – a good block of downtime off the bike can help you rest, recover and reignite your competitive fire.
But on the other hand, kickstarting your riding after taking an unplanned (and relatively long) break is not the easiest thing to do. Being out of breath on a climb that you used to dance up with ease is quite often the unmotivating reality.
Building your fitness back up again can be daunting, but there are ways to ease back into things and make your return a more enjoyable and successful affair.
We spoke to cycling coach Jonathan Melville of BCA (Breakaway Coaching and Analytics) to find out the best approach for returning to cycling after taking a break and what are some of the most common pitfalls to avoid – as well as what to look out for in your riding data once you’re back on the bike.
RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU… Cycling Weekly To start with, though, here are some quick-fire pointers… The dos and don’ts of returning to cycling
DOs
Do : Have a couple of weeks’ unstructured ‘just riding for fun’ without a cycling computer tracking your ride. This will stop you comparing your riding with previous times on a loop or Strava segment Do : Watch out for over-use injuries caused by getting back […]
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