Is it just me or is it hot in here?

So how do you train for a bike ride across the Nubian Desert in Sudan? Good question. At the moment here in Queenstown it’s anything but desert like conditions – it’s the middle of winter which means that it is either snowing, raining or cold – so any sort of African conditions are few and far between. Add to that the need to get into cycling shape and necessity becomes the mother of invention.

I could bundle up and get on the bike, fight the slush, the gravel on the shoulders and the pending southerly gale – or I could just take it all inside. I’ve come up with a plan that is either ingenious or just plain stupid – either way, it gets me riding my bike and in the heat too. I recently got a hold of a wind trainer – for those not in the know, a wind trainer is a contraption that attaches to your bike to turn it into an exercise bike. A couple snaps, clicks and presto – instant indoor training device.

To ease my way into heat training I nudged up the heater a few notches and set up the bike in the living room in front of the TV. Checking the thermometer it was a pleasant 26c as I started to ride. Now pleasant for stretching out on the couch is one thing – but pleasant for riding a bike at full stream is another. Sure I’ve ridden in 26c heat more times then I can count – but remember when you are actually moving there is wind to cool you down – but not in my living room! The heat hit me like a wave, before I could say, “for the love of god could somebody crack a window!?” sweat was pouring down my arms and pooling on the carpet. My shirt was long gone and the water bottle I’d filled was drained faster then a cold-one at a kegger.




I decided that the best thing to do would be to put something motivating on the TV to distract myself from the overall unpleasantness. I flicked on the Olympics only to see that they were showing race-walking and ping-pong – both of which looked more enjoyable than what I was doing. I just kept thinking how much fun a pleasant walk in the cool rain would be, but I’m stuck on this bike, pedeling like a madman in my living room. I had thoughts of the mechanism snapping and suddenly finding traction and being launched through the window – hey at least it would be cooler out there…

Desperate measures were required. I flicked on a DVD and stumbled upon one of the best training sessions of my life. I put on a Pearl Jam concert film titled, Immagine in Cornice – it’s a compilation of performances from their Italian tour a few years ago. It was fantastic to ride to, during the upbeat songs I’d hit it hard and during the more mellow bits, I just cruised along. It was a great session of interval training all set to some pretty rockin’ tunes!



After 90minutes I was spent – I drained enough sweat to rival a Bikram Yoga session and my backside felt like I’d been gang-raped by a rugby team - but the training has begun. As I ramp up time and resistance I will also increase the heat. It could be 40c when I’m out there and I need to be ready for it – or at least know how I’m going to react to it. So until the sun shines I’ll be locked in the house, punishing myself – and loving every minute of it!


Cheers
SK