I have agreed to be your RAGBRAI training coach for your "hoped for" assault on RAGBRAI 36 this year. I say "hoped for" because no one knows if they are going for sure until May 1st. That's the day that we dump everyone's application off the top of the Register building and pick up the ones that don't blow away in the wind. But May 1st doesn't give you enough time to find your bike, let alone train properly for the upcoming rigors that will be visited upon you on this year's ride. So let's start training like you are already in.

Let's begin. First off, buy a bike. If you don't have one it will make training very difficult. Hopefully it is a road bike, because that is the bike that works best on the road. No, I'm not kidding now, a majority of the riders have a road bike with thin tires and enough gears to tackle any terrain that Iowa has to throw at them. Preferably it is in good working order, however if you are like some of our riders it is not. You see many of them have a tendency to ride 'em hard and put 'em up wet. If your bike has not had a check up since last RAGBRAI it would be a good idea to bring it into a bike shop to have them do a thorough tune up. It might be a good idea to have your doctor do likewise. Not to the bike, but to you. That low rumble that you hear behind you is not a semi, but age. Our demographics show that our ridership is getting older, and with age comes unforeseen conditions that you should be aware of before embarking on any exercise plan.

We're going to start off with some prep work before you get on a bike. Have you stretched your muscles since 8th grade gym class? I hope so because stretching is a very important step to getting your body ready exercise. It also helps to reduce injuries while exercising. Work all major groups of muscles when performing your stretching routine that includes upper torso, core area, and legs. When stretching, you want to go to the point where you feel a minimal amount of tightness or discomfort, hold that position for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds you should feel the tightness ease a bit, at that point try and go a bit farther into the stretch until you reach that discomfort point again and hold for another 30 seconds. Repeat for all the muscle groups that you are stretching. Do not bounce when performing a stretch; it does more harm than good. When you bounce the muscles and tendons, they have a natural reaction to tighten instead of loosen.
Additionally the bouncing motion can cause tiny tears in the fibers themselves. Don't expect to turn into Gumby overnight, a stretching routine will take time to pay back full dividends.

Ok, so we have you off the couch, and all stretched out and ready for action. Now jump on that bike, or elliptical, treadmill or trail and go for it. "What's that?" you gasp? You're hurting, you can't breathe, and you feel like you're completely out of shape? Well you're probably partially right about the out of shape part, but there is something else going on here.

Your body is not prepared to go from the static, couch position to full activity. Think of your body as a diesel engine, it takes awhile to warm up.
At rest your body concentrates all of its energy and blood flow into the organs that need it the most such as the kidney, liver and the brain, everything else gets what's left over. But when you begin to exercise, your muscles demand to be moved to the front of the line. The call for more power reaches the engine room and your heart begins beating faster and attempts to push more blood with each beat. Like shoveling coal to get a train up to steam, it takes a few minutes to get the aerobic glycol sis process really going. In the meantime the pain of the effort makes you want to quit. Don’t give in, wait a few minutes and you are guaranteed to feel better. A way to ease your body into the workout is to slowly work it up to speed by riding at a very easy pace until you can feel your body warm to the task.

Now that you are primed and ready to roll, head out, but don't overdo it, especially if you are just beginning your training for the year. Whatever cycling related activity you do, make sure that you ease into it. A rule of thumb is to not increase your miles, or effort more than 20 to 25% over the previous weeks mark. When you are done with your ride don¹t forget to stretch again, and don¹t forget to eat something shortly afterwards. Studies have shown that eating within 30 minutes after strenuous exercise aids recovery. I am not talking pork chops here; I am talking something that will refill your glycogen gas tank. There are many sports drinks out in the market that will help aid recovery, but they can taste horrendous and are a bit on the pricey side. A great alternative is chocolate milk. No I'm not kidding! It has the near perfect combination of protein, carbohydrates, calcium, vitamin D and fat that your body craves, and it tastes pretty good. My good friend, the late Dr. Bob Breedlove, swore by it. He would consume it during and after a long ride.

I hope some of these tips give you a good start. I¹ll be back next month with some more tips and hopefully by then the snow will be gone.