Bank holiday training advice for the Wiggle Dragon Ride

With two bank holiday weekends coming up, and good weather forecast, this is the perfect time to ensure legs are ready for the 120 and 200km challenges of the Wiggle Dragon Ride on 5 June.

The longest climb to prepare for is the 14mile stretch from Port Talbot to the top of the Bwlch. Both rides will cover this stretch of the route. Following on from the successful training weekend, Andy Cook has the following advice for riders.

He said:

“It’s definitely time to get out and try and ride as much as possible. At 118 miles, with such a significant amount of climbing, the next two weekends of double bank holidays will provide the opportunity for mini training camps”.

“I’d recommend riding three days back to back for around 4- 6 hours (75 – 80 miles) with an active recovery day on day four (1-2 hours). On each day warm up for 15 – 30 minutes then build in some blocks of 30 minutes where you ride at a pace that is ‘comfortably hard not hardly comfortable’ which should simulate the sort of pace you need to be climbing the long climbs of the Bwlch (twice), the Rhigos and the shorter but steeper Cimla climb. Drop back to a steady pace for 20 – 30 minutes between each effort”

“The key to success will be adopting a sensible pacing strategy that also includes a sensible nutritional strategy. It’s very easy to go too hard too early and either ride with a group that goes a bit too hard and digs into those important glycogen stores early. So practice on these long rides taking on board approx 65 – 80 grams of carbohydrate an hour”.

“The steepest gradients reach 10%, so a strong club rider will manage with a standard 39/53 chainset with a 26 sprocket. However, I would recommend a compact or a triple for most riders”.

The Wiggle Dragon Ride sold out in 22 hours, demonstrating its continued popularity. Cook’s highlights for 2011 include,

“the views from the top of the Bwlch and best of all, the Rhigos. The descents are also fantastic but take care as the bends are quite tight. The ride from Southerndown with views away to Porthcawl, Swansea and the Gower are also breathtaking. It’s always nice riding in the Vale along the roads of the 1958 Empire Games course and through Wick, home of Nicole Cook.”

In addition to the key climbs, riders should not overlook some of the short, sharp climbs in the first part of the route leading to the coast and out of Glyneath. Training over the next two weekends might well make all the difference to your level of enjoyment, so get out there and enjoy it!

For further details, visit www.wiggledragonride.com.

Accelerade is the nutrition partner of the Wiggle Dragon Ride – products can be purchased at 10% off retail prices online directly from Wiggle http://www.wiggle.co.uk/accelerade/ using the code dragon 1.