Intro and Patreon shoutout
Today I want to give you 10 lessons from 10 years of cycling. Let's cue that intro! The big question is this. How do we use cycling as a tool to improve our health, our happiness and our long changes? That is the question on this podcast, we'll give you the answers. My name is Anthony Walsh and welcome to the Rowman Podcast. Roadman, welcome back, it's another roadman cycling podcast, a little bit of a musical intro there, as we're cracking on rolling on to the new year, any of our underage listeners, I'm sure we'll be heading back to school next week, but everyone else is already back to work. Today what I want to chat about is 10 lessons I've learned from the last 10 years of racing. going to be really rapid quick for our lesson. Someone of our stupid, someone took me a long time and are harder and I have the scars to prove it. Before I dive into today's podcast, folks, let me give you a renewed new year push towards our Patreon account. Patreon is what phones the whole show. It's what pays for the hosting. It's what allows me to reach out and, you know, cover expenses for guests who need to travel or buy equipment to come on the podcast. It's what makes the whole show tick. So, you can support the podcast if you're enjoying listening to this really simply and easily by just buying me a beer once a month. Would you see me out on the bar in pre-COVID times and go, oh, you know what bro, I've listened to the podcast quite a bit. Do you want a beer? That's all I'm asking is to buy me a beer once a month. You can do that over on patreon and patreon.com forward slash Anthony underscore well just point me a beer once a month and in return you're going to get access to the secret podcast. Ooh, no, that's a haunted podcast. That's something completely different. The secret podcast is a podcast I don't release to the general public. The next one will be coming out this weekend for the secret podcast patreons. So sign up now to get your chance to listen to that. Okay, let's crack into 10 lessons from 10 years of racing. Lesson one, it always slows down. The pace in a race always slows down. So if you're in a line out and you're thinking, I can't hold on, how long the pace stays lined out and lit up really depends on the level you're racing at. If you're in category three, it slows down early. If you're in category two, it slows down a little later. Cut one little later. And then as you step up to pro, it slows down a little later. I remember being in line outs in Canada and the Tour of Bose, a UCOI 2.1, and they just felt like they were lasting forever with, you know, amazing riders like Philip Duygne and Francesco Mansebo driving the pace. But you know what? It slows down eventually. Lesson one, it always slows down. Lesson two, watch the good lads. Where looking off and I mentioned it yesterday, we just set up the roadman cycling club. It's every Saturday morning, 9.30 a.m. from the bay in Clontarrif if anyone is interested. But one of the motivations for setting up the roadman club is to have this mix of abilities because a lot of clubs I see them segmented and divided based on ability. But we have this mix of abilities there and it means you can, as I say, watch the good lads. Because that's how I learned. I remember riding with swords when I was super new in the game, super green and I would just watch religiously what Sean Lallydonne. He was one of the senior riders who was sprinting against Kelly back in the day on the top guys of a generation and I'd watch everything he'd done. And as I went up the ranks, I continued this, when the good riders eat, where do they position themselves in the bunch? You know, They run and everything. Howard, what's their recovery strategies?
Progress, group rides, and ego
Watch the good lads because they didn't get good for no reason. Number three, take time to progress. This one is super simple, but cycling is a sport that rewards patients. When I started out, I was crap. I remember thinking a puncture in a boy craze one day just to save face. I was real, real bad. And over time, it's amazing how, not only how I perceive myself, but how others perceived me change. I went from being really bad, to be in decent, to be in the local fast guy, to go on to races, go, what are you doing here? It's not for pros. You will progress, but the progress won't be rocket fast. Be okay with that. Number four, love the group ride. The group ride is such a magical place in cycling. It's an environment that's, it's a safe environment, but it's a learning environment, and it's miles go easier with friends, It's so central and beautiful to Erisport. It's something worth cherishing and it's something worth protecting. I've done full podcasts on that, so I'm not gonna harp on it. And again, it's another one of the reasons I set up Roadman, a cycling club that I just wanted to preserve everything that's good about the group ride and really in the painted in the tradition of like, La Metier is the French say, it's the idea of an apprenticeship where you start out liking apprentice, coming into a group ride with humble tools you progress as the weeks and the months go by until you become part of something cherished, which is the group ride. And like the idea of becoming a part of the group, that's the ultimate prize. It's not the fastest in the group or the strongest in the group or the loudest or the funniest. It's about just being a part of this new collective. So it's the idea of shelving individual identity and becoming a part of the collective. That is number four. Number five, never have an ego. No matter how good you get in cycling, if you win Cat1 don't worry, there's a full rack of Conti-rotors who are better than you. If you win Conti-Races, don't worry, lads don't even look at Conti-Ras, like they're pros, they only count World Tour and Pro-Conti as pro. If you're pro-Conti, look the World Tour lads are looking down at your nose, that's you. If you're a World Tour, the top-coil in the world are looking down the nose, actually, unless you are Peter Saagan, Alephaleeb, MVP, never have an Eagle. And even then, never have an Eagle, because Rem goes common and he's gonna blow you out of the water. So just never have an ego full stop. That's actually a good little trait of the boy because well because anyone with an ego you generally come across like a prick. Next lesson, one of my own here number one, two, three, four, five. We're on to number six. I learned the hard way that French lads are really good at so often. I remember going over to France and being pretty at ease in Irish races, winning Irish races and pretty comfortable. I was very, very comfortable at the Irish level and going over to France, haven't been winning in Ireland and felt that he is in the top level races in Ireland, going over there and just being pack fodder again, just French lads are good at cycling. Next one, never do something new on race day, whether that's new socks, new shorts, new jersey, Or as I learned in Alma for the Nationals back in 2015 or 2016, new jails. I took new jails that day and the gastro distress I had that day was untold. We were in a decent group, I think we were going for tent or something on the road in the Nationals. And I actually couldn't even open up my sprint to go for a tent. But when the race finished at the finish line, I had to maintain my speed. And I went down the finish in Gantry at about 45 kilometres an hour in search of a cafe. Running in the cafe door, I was half undressed as I got in the cafe door and that toilet, it was like a rush, it hasn't been the same since, it was shocking.
Equipment, Zwift, and pacing growth
Next one, number seven, equipment rarely matters. Unless we're talking about time trials or track racing, start out with humble equipment, especially if you're young and you're listening to this podcast, you don't need the latest Pinarello carbon wheels, compact super record. It makes such a trivial difference. Training, coaching, these things are what make a difference. It's just fundamentals. It's, you know, I'd equate it to equipment is the cherry on the cake. The training on the coaching is building the cake at the bottom. Number nine, Zwift is not cycling. If you're sitting inside and you're spending an hour after hour on Zwift and you're signing up for for the is Poxy E-Races online. This is gaming, this is not cycling, this is virtual gaming, it's not cycling. Cycling involves outdoors, it involves the air, it involves the sun, it involves the elements, it involves the stories and the drama, it involves getting a puncture, four hours from home, and gonna lift off a farmer. It's about the story along the way. That's what's beautiful about the group ride. That's what's beautiful about the cycling, it's who we become on the journey. That is not what Zwift is. Zwift is not cycling, Zwift is a virtual gaming platform. If you use Zwift, you are a gamer, not a cyclist. Number 10, leave yourself somewhere to go. It's something me and my training partners have always said, leave yourself somewhere to go. So it's January now, like if you're training, just absolutely full stick at the moment, where's the progression in February? Where's the progression in March? Always leave yourself somewhere to go. I remember one of my training buddies, Sean McKenna and it was the easiest example of leaving yourself somewhere to go. The first year we tried to get her properly in Ireland, he was really, really strong, one of the best Reuters in Ireland, but he only wrote the bike Tuesday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday. And it was so easy to, the progression for him was so easy because as a coach, how do I progress him the following year? I say to him, okay, Seanny, now you're riding Wednesdays. Now you're riding Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday. It's so easy, leave yourself somewhere to go. You know, don't peek too early, there's all other ways of saying that but leaving yourself somewhere to go is such a nice casual way of saying that and it makes such sense. There we go. There is 10 lessons all you have learned from the last 10 years of cycling and they are in quick for it. It always slows down, watch the good lads, it takes time to progress, love the group right, never have any ego, French lads can cycle, nothing new on race day, equipment rarely matters, Zwift is a gaming platform and leave yourself somewhere to go. Roadman, this has been another Roadman cycling podcast. Thanks for tuning in. I'm gonna catch you again tomorrow. Hey Roadman, it's Anthony again. Just before you head off real quick, I just wanna mention the Roadman blueprint. It's the ultimate coaching package. It's four months long. It's four months of one-on-one coaching sessions with your own professional Roadman cycling coach. It's four months of strength and conditioning plans. So you never need to worry about is this strength and conditioning plan aligned with my cycling goals. It's four months of nutrition plans to fuel all that. It's four months of boil hacks which you know I love so much and I'm getting to pick the brain of all these experts and it's four months of motivation to make sure you never miss this session and every single session you hit it with commitment and with purpose. The whole package is 997 euro. I have a limited number of places on the roadman blueprint. If you're interested in getting started, pop me an email and add me in at roadmancycling.com. This is the ultimate coaching package for those looking to take their cycling and performance to the next level.