Coachingsarah & anthony

6 HABITS BEGINNER CYCLISTS MUST AVOID | RIDER SUPPORT

with Rider Support

34:53·14 February 2025

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TOPICS

GETTING INTO CYCLING

Beginner cyclists often develop habits that hold back their progress without even realizing it. Anthony and Sarah break down six critical mistakes to avoid—from neglecting bike fit to death-gripping the handlebars—and explain why seemingly small details can transform your riding. Whether you're new to cycling or looking to tighten up your fundamentals, this episode gives you the roadmap to ride smarter from the start.

Key Takeaways

Proper bike fit is foundational: moving from 172mm to 165mm cranks can yield 15-20 watts of extra power, and simple adjustments like hand positioning can eliminate numbness and improve comfort
Vary your training zones instead of defaulting to high zone 2/zone 3 every ride—you need different physiological adaptations, not just more suffering
Watch professional cycling to accelerate your learning curve on bike handling, tactics, and racing dynamics, especially with free resources like YouTube breakdowns
Fuel strategically before, during, and after rides rather than restricting calories on the bike and binge eating afterward—poor timing torpedoes your whole recovery window
Relax your grip on the handlebars and keep your elbows loose as shock absorbers; death-gripping causes speed wobbles and transfers tension through your whole body
In crosswinds, position yourself on the road with space to move into the wind, stay in the drops for stability, keep pedaling for control, and avoid freewheeling

Expert Quotes

"Cycling is this thing that never has a finish line—you can keep putting more focus into it and it will ruin your personal life, your relationships, your job. You need to pause and reflect on what you're actually doing. —Anthony"

"You cannot go from an apprenticeship—you turn up day one in your new plumbing or electrician apprenticeship and go straight to wiring a full house. There's a whole process, and cycling really has that. —Anthony"

"If you're buying yourself this level of detail with jockey wheels, your bike is probably immaculate. If you have spare cash and want to splash it, yeah, they're a nice little upgrade. —Anthony"

KEY QUOTES

“To move from 172 to 165 crank seems to be giving most people like 15 to 20 watts extra so number one I would say is neglecting bike fit.”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host and coach

“You have the 16inch pizza the evening after you're you know 100 mile on a Sunday and now you're after taking in 4 and a half th000 calories on a Sunday evening when you needed those calories Saturday evening to fuel for the Sunday session and now Monday you're sitting in an office job all day and that carbohydrate is just getting converted into fat and you're gaining weight and you're wanding week after week why you keep getting heavier even though you're cycling every week.”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host and coach

“When you're gripping the bars so tight and your arms are so locked out all that shock from the road is just transferring up like your elbows are your shock absorbers when you're loose and you're free you can just absorb that shock and you look fluid on the bike which you also handle much better.”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host and coach

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT2 SECTIONS

Beginner Cycling Mistakes to Avoid

Welcome to this week's Rider support this week we're going to talk about riding in a cross wind how you position yourself ideally a perfect posttraining routine with first six mistakes that all beginner cyclists must avoid Sarah Anthony let's go straight in because we have a lot of questions today I'm not even sure we're going to get through them all Anthony what are the main habits that you think beginner cyclists should avoid and there's loads we do get this question in a lot yeah so I think I add in top of the list after my conversation with Phil Bert last day who's the inos physio around bike fit and the gains you can make on bike fit stuff like you know I would have thought for a long time it's just normal like my hands getting a little bit num towards the end of ride that's all very avoidable if you have a good bike fit also to move from 172 to 165 crank seems to be giving most people like 15 to 20 watts extra so number one I would say is neglecting bike fit and number two which you haven't been a victim of this so much since you started cycling because you kind of have the benefit of my years of cycling and you know working a coach off the bat like even you know I'm your third or fourth coach you've had since you startedand uh it's writing every session at the same speed a a lot of people come into cycling and they are rightly so feel like okay if I only have an ER available I need to go out and train as hard as I can for an ER and you end up defaulting into riding kind of high zone two zone three and then you just get the set of physiological adaptations associated with riding in that zone and you miss the adaptations of riding in all the other zones H how many's that two y um not watching cycling I think is a huge one that people are sleeping on you learn so much from watching cycling whether you're a racer whether you're doing sportifs or just Club runs watching bike racing really teaches you an awful lot about bik r i it sounds obvious but it really does it teaches the tactics are hard you're still getting them I think it's there it's changed a lot now in the last couple of years because you don't really have any excuse when I started watching cycling years ago myself my mom used to try and watch the Ross which was televised the the race that you've done a few times Ireland's kind of Premier weekl long race we used to try and watch that we used to try and watch the Church of France and we hadn't a notion about what was going on we were like what is happening at the front what's happening at the back don't understand this all but now because we have so much access to YouTube there's a zillion creators out there that will literally break down a race why is Caleb Ying sprinting like this why did he wait to go until this at this point so you can't actually become really informed about racing I was lucky enough I had you there explaining to me I asked around a 100 million stupid questions and can I say there's nothing as nice as coming in from a Saturday spin or a Sunday spin having your shower and just sitting down in front of the the racing especially the classics are about to roll around and I think we are we talking about doing a little watch party for the classics yeah maybe we'll maybe announce something on that soon we let everyone know about that soon yeah so we'll get together and watch it together okay so that's three for I think is taking cycling too serious too fast and I spoke about this in a podcast recently where cycling is this it's this like thing that never there's no Finish Line you can keep putting more focus into it it will ruin your personal life it'll ruin your relationships it'll ruin your like job it'll ruin all your prospects if you let it there's no Finish Line you can keep getting more and more series pumping more and more time into it pumping more and more Finance into it and at a point that makes sense if you're trying to make the junction from Cony or the U23 dvo team to World hor it makes sense that you upend your whole life to try and make this because there's a huge financial gain on the far end if you do make it if you're starting out and you're like a catto Rider and you're pulling your whole life apart for bike racing you need to pause and reflect and think what am I actually doing here like we've seen quite a few Lads coming through the club now at this point and you know everyone I'm like the cynical l l cuz I've seen it so many times before now but you're like take a breath and calm down I know you have these crazy aspirations that you want to go world over but just take a breath and calm down and put in an appropriate amount of level appropriate amount of attention detail love for the level you're at now once you get to the next level you can step up the attention the detail and the love but going around and talking about altitude training camps when you're Cat 4 and looking for marginal gains it's not the thing it's not the roadblock for you in terms of your development it's learning how to handle the bike it's learning how to dress properly eat properly all the stuff that goes into ler and being a bike rider I love that turn of phrase ler it's like the apprenticeship is it's you cannot go from an apprenticeship you turn up day one in your new Plumbing or electrician apprenticeship you don't go from there to wire in a full house like there's a whole process you would hope you would like to think between there and by the time you graduate and cycling really has that there's definite steps that you need to take along the way ignoring hydration and nutrition I think specifically if you're coming into the sport and you're trying to lose a little bit of weight what I mean by ignoring nutrition is not eating at the right times like you should be eating all through your bike ride and fueling pre- bike ride and fueling the night before for for the bikee ride but instead you eat nothing on the bike ride don't fuel before don't fuel the night before and then you just binge out at some random time on calories like after the bike Rod CU you feel like I quote unquote earned it so you have the 16inch pizza the evening after you're you know 100 mile on a Sunday and now you're after taking in 4 and a half th000 calories on a Sunday evening when you needed those calories Saturday evening to fuel for the Sunday session and now Monday you're sitting in an office job all day and that carbohydrate is just getting converted into fat and you're gaining weight and you're wanding week after week why you keep getting heavier even though you're cycling every week it's crazy isn't it there's still so many people out there that don't fuel for their rights and you know we've had loads of nutritionist on the podcast it really can be simple enough exactly as you outlined I think for me the biggest take is eating on the RO of course fueling before is really really important on the night before but on the ride there's so many people out there who don't have a jelly don't have a gel eat absolutely nothing on the spin singular gel and it yeah yeah and it and it completely just derails their whole day they feel absolutely terrible they might get through the spin but that has a massive knock on effect as you said Anthony ruins their whole day after they're probably starving they're reaching for the takeaway menu so fueling on the ride is just going to increase your enjoyment M as a newbie with cycling a millionfold trust me my last Newbie one is and you might expect this one it's just death grip in the handlebars yeah where I see a lot of talk on expain about speed wobbles and things like this and this only happens when you're really nervous on the bike and when you're nervous on the bike we've a question later on about Crosswinds and it's the same thing when you're gripping the bars so tight and your arms are so locked out all that shock from the road is just transferring up like your elbows are your shock absorbers when you're loose and you're free you can just absorb that shock and you look fluid on the bike which you also handle much better but I've see this problem with newbies a lot on Des sense where they're so worried about the speed on The Descent they grip the bars so tight lock out the elbows and that transfers all the way through their body and into the bike and you actually see speed wobbles which can be super super dangerous like a high crash risk in these speed wobbles by just gripping the bars way too hard yeah it's just that tension that you have in your hands I did it as well I mean when I first started cycling I was getting pains in my hands from gripping so tightly but that's not to say have your hands like really Blas on top of the hoods like do hold your handle bars but just be kind of mindful of how the tension that's going through your body yeah like you can grip the bars like I I feel like gripping the bars is more technique than it is aggression like you just need to have your TBS properly wrapped around the bar so if you do hit a Paul your hands won't just slide off like I remember doing Ross moon with one of my teammates Casto years ago and he just had his hands on the top of the bars he hit a Paul honestly like a hundred people went down in the crash was broken like AO Vietnam was broken bikes lad screaming helicopters crashing it was like Leal but all because you didn't just wrap us homs yeah it's it's it's you it's the one thing that you always say to me if for coming if we I in gravel but if we're on a road and the surface is getting really rough you're like oh make sure you lock your thumbs I think that's a really really good tip okay there're all amazing tips six transform your indoor cycling with ruvy the platform that brings Real World Roots and augmented reality to your training whether you're preparing for a big event or you're just looking to explore Ruby lets you experience the legendary rids like ala and Paso D stelvio from the comfort of your home Ruby's 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these settle a bet ones every single week as well he says yes sir he says V2 Max intervals are the key to getting faster but I think focusing on threshold work gives better long-term results can you explain the difference between the two things for people who don't know V2 and threshold it's just two different zones two different adaptations so you're like V2 Max depending how you're your zones if you use the roadman zones we use it' be a zone five effort you were doing V2 sessions during the week classic V2 session it'd be four minute effort six minute off four minute effort six minute off do it three or four times they're pretty hard you're going nine out of 10 effort can't really go much harder for them threshold stuff is typically steadier Stace where you could do that for 20 minutes like 2 by 20 typical threshold session but you might get 2 by 40 you could graduate up to a threshold or you see you know I do a session happy hour where I just do an hour sitting on my FTP for an hour and then warm down after it so if you're getting ready for time trials and stuff like that it's just a totally different physiological adaptation to each one of those like V2 Max intervals they are important for like improving your body's ability to take in and utilize oxygen at High intensities and they're great for boosting like Peak aerobic power and increasing your maximum sustainable effort for a short burst like if you're trying to if a break has gone clear like there's two ways to get into the break as well as in a bike race you're like kind of contrari and aggressive as soon as someone jumps you're in their wheel but you never know which one is gone clear so you're following multiple moves all the time and trying to Surf into these wheels there's a bit of position to stay at the front of the group to be able to jump into all these wheels or if you're gone super well times have had good form I've seen teammates who are going have good form they don't follow any of those moves they wait till the move establishes itself at 35 40 seconds and it looks like it's the one and then they'll V2 Max effort to ride across to that so they'll ride across inside four or five minutes to to break so they're riding huge non-sustainable power to get there and then recover them when they get there but they're two different tools inside a toolbox it depends what your goal is if your goal is road racing you're going to need a mix a two if you're only doing pursu which is a 4 km effort you're only really going to need 4 minute high four minute power and if you're steady or state time trial hill climber you know you might need to focus more on your like deterior specific specificity it's a hard word to say it's the idea that as you get closer to an event the demands you're trying to mimic the demand of the event closer and closer so we talked about you for Badlands and we were chatting with a friend and a coach this morning and he was saying as he got closer to bad land he started stacking his week instead of riding his 15 hours maybe spread across seven days he started again his 15 hours spread across Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday to mimic the demands as he got closer y it's the same type thing so you can't really answer the question what's better it's just like two different tools which is better at getting faster yeah I I I totally get you well if it's better at just speed it's V2 it's V2 higher Zone okay next question hey Anthony I'm getting a new gravel bike and want to know what gear r show I should go with can you break it down really simply for me my eyes usually start to M over when people start talking about 521s Etc but I know that this is going to be an important decision I've have loads of gravel events coming up a few local here in the UK and I'm doing the rift in July okay so I've been using Shram for the last few years I think go Shram for me if you're doing these events I say that only from experience cuz I wrote Badlands what was it two years ago three years ago on your Canyon which Shimano do2 went actually had it in Rift as well yeah two problems with it so that's why I'm such an advocate for Shram now went through the first River Crossing that Rift with the di2 from Shimano and it just dead and ended up having to do single speed for the rest of it and Badlands I hit a bump and the solder came off the battery in the Sea post and obviously in the middle an hour I couldn't resolder the battery on and yeah that you're bad lands even though you trained for months ahead of it nightmare so I've been Shram since and absolutely loved it so in terms of gearing I'm actually changing up my gravel bike in the next few weeks so I'm exploring gearing myself at the moment so on the rear I'm going to go with a one boy because there's a lot less trouble on a one boy and we're going to put you roughly on the same system Sarah so I'm going to go with a huge spread on the back like a 1046 on the back so a huge spread on the back 1046 means that this guy is going to have loads of gears for climbing load gears for climbing loads of the ratio of front to back determines that so on the front I'll probably go with like a 46 chain ring on the back depending you know what sort of reuer is how strong he is you go anything from a 40 to a 408 maybe 46 loads for 48 on the front like a 4810 is a really solid gear to push if you're you want to go on a group ride or you want to show some road wheels on your gravel bike and rip it up outside it's a big gear in terms of roll out if you go onto that Sheldon brown website uh he has the gear roll out calculator and you'll see how big a gear it is I can't remember off top of my head if it's bigger than 5311 but it's comparable size someone will tell me down below roll out inches and then having that 46 on the back gives you a lot of you know spinning for going up hills like if you can't go up a hill on your for 46 on the back you know the next step up from that's like a ladder or a ski lift yeah okay like so these are kind of going into like almost like mountain bike gearings one with the stuff now so it's yeah it does feel very Mountain biky where I would have started out on just like say 1121 when I was on the road so it's like 10 gears that are just straight through but there's much bigger spreads now and you need it for one boy because you don't have that ability to go so when you talk about much better spreads the two things that I'm concerned about are some body who knows nothing about this is will I have enough gears for getting up steep climbs and then when I'm coming down am I going to run out of Gears really really quickly and just have to kind of Freewheel down and then get dropped by everyone on The Descent no well that's what I mean like you've did 10 and your 46 is a huge spread on both sides so it's going to cover everything yeah perfect so that's your recommendation for this yeah that's what I'll be going I think it's look solid okay amazing okay next question hi Anthony and Sarah I listened to your meorc is Dead episode and you inspired me to go outside of my comfort zone and travel to newer destinations this year you didn't actually say which destinations you guys are going to could be interesting to maybe tag along I'm a longtime listener and a longtime fan James we're going to go to Vegas for our first one are we Viva Las Vegas I don't know James do you want to hang like come on that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas but are we going to do uh are we going to do a Meetup are we going to do Roman ride the day before or something yes we are so we're going to try and get as many Road men over to this as possible it's going to be an amazing event the day before we're hoping to run a Meetup and Ride part of the course together the roads won't be closed for that but on the day the roads are going to be 100% fully closed very very safe the ride actually takes uh takes us through Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area that's one of the most beautiful places and J the two pilots we are in the club they fly into Vegas a lot and they were ining that Red Rock National Place is unbelievable these are guy these are pilots who travel and ride their bikes all over the world and they are going to come and do this ride with us as well and there's going to be this also uh kind of like a Village area where we're going to meet everyone it's called downtown Summerland and that's where everyone's going to hang out and maybe have a couple of beers after and we'll be there to say hello to everyone couple of be after I say I'll be in the casino and miss the event I've actually never been youve never been to Vegas I want to play carrots yeah I've been to Vegas and I didn't bring a bike let me tell you that this is going to be a very different different trip for me that was party Sarah this is Fitness Sarah but I'm in party mode casino but there's all shows and stuff in Vegas oh yeah Davida is playing when we're going to be over there so R you wouldn't David that's going to be amazing what are you talking you want to go and see pink or maybe Adel or who whoever is straight gangster but yes I cannot wait for that we also have a link if you want a little bit of a discount Roan 20 I'm going to put that in the show notes reach out to me directly on Twitter Instagram if you have any questions about it any worries about it as well as I said it's a really safe event it's run by the atap series and it's just so professionally done it's going to be absolutely epic and we're going to be doing more of these events right the year so we'll keep you post on on all of those as well we are so excited to announce that we are partnering with whoop whoop are changing the game when it comes to wearable technology and health monitoring whoop is a wearable health and fitness coach that provides you with feedback and actionable insights into your sleep your recovery your training your stress and your overall health Sarah and I have been using for years and we love the insights it provides into our body's inner workings it really gives us a look under the hood and you're going to see Matthew vandero Richard caras and other Elite level cyclist wearing whoop but it isn't just for those Superstars all the data is personalized to your unique physiology and fitness levels if you're interested in taking control of your health and your Fitness so that you can excel in all aspects of your life you have to go and check out whoop go to the URL now which is join.

Indoor vs Outdoor Training

Woop.com roadman I'm going to pop that in the description below and you're going to get a free month access to whoop membership on me I promise you won't regret okay next question Anthony can you help settle a bet another one he insists veg team maybe he insists indoor training sessions are more effective for Fitness gains but I think long steady outdoor rids are where it's at what's the verdict you like indoor don't you I mean if we're talking about Fitness gains not social not you know the camaraderie that comes to I don't like indoor like if you're did just say like do you want to ride indoors or outdoors I want to ride Outdoors but if you're looking for a physiological adaptation and you only have like most of us don't have access to an amazing training Road right on our doorstep there's a bit of slobbing through traffic lights and bike paths to get to somewhere you can actually train so if You' have like an hour to do 90 minutes to do you're almost always better doing that indoors to get bang for the book uh like indoor sessions are going to be much more controllable which is going to make that time spent much more efficient you can much easily easier regulate your power so if you have a specific effort to do like a one of my favorite sessions give clients like a toata effort 20 seconds on 10 seconds off like full gas 20 seconds on very hard to get the terrain outside to go full for 20 seconds then recover for 10 and then go full for 20 when you're worried about cars and stuff so if you're looking to control intensity focus on a structured workout like do those shorter Stu intervals or even anything up to I'd say a threshold interval it's just any interval almost is easier to do indoors and outdors now is it as enjoyable that's another debate I think if you're riding long steady endurance stuff like there's no comparison you need to get outside and hang with friends and also you need to learn how to dress Corner in the rain like you know cycl is an outdoor sport it's not an indoor sport well there's huge benefit for indoor sessions for specific intervals yeah like if you're just looking physiological bang for the book indoor is where it's like yeah okay Anthony I've seen a few ads pop up for o oversized ceramic jockey Wheels is this something I need what's the benefits definitely not something you need trying to sell yourself on that one I have seen these as well like the ceramic speed camic speed are two big uh they're yeah like they're marginal they they've done an amazing job of signaling speed like because they've made them big bold and colors so it's like your way of like flying a flag and saying it's like your virtue signal in almost three like I care about the detail I care about speed but in terms of like the actual difference they make it's quite minimum so the kind of theory with them is you'll have seen the like you know what talking about the big oversized things so they pair oversized jockey wheels or pulley Wheels with ceramic bearings that's really they're stick you pair the two of those together and that is designed to reduce friction over traditional steel bearings so they have that lower friction which means there's less energy in the whole driv TR system needed to power at all and theoretically this is going to make you a little bit more efficient especially at higher speeds the larger jockey Wheels also allow for a smoother chain line which interior could improve drivetrain efficiency also and shifting performance particularly under load some people report better power transfer with the reduced friction and smoother chain management system but it it's all very very marginal like should you get them they look cool as I was going to say do they look is it something that you see in a bike and you're like oh they look kind ofage they look really cool especially if you like you know if you have them paired with a really nice group set like a Shram red group set and them is like it's cool like it's really cool but yeah terms and I think if you're buying yourself this level of detail your bike is probably Immaculate like if you're going down to that type of you know nitty-gritty on your bike everything else is probably pretty well kept looks absolutely gorgeous so are you suggesting that this listener gets on look if nobody needs them but if you have spare cash and you want to Splash Cas yeah they're a nice little upgrade okay hi Anthony and Sarah I can handle headwinds and Tail wins just fine but cross wins absolutely destroy me I either get pushed all over the road or end up working way harder than I should what's the best way to stay in control and be more efficient when riding and strong Crosswinds any tips for positioning in a group this is like the 600 million doll question as well this is something I very much struggle with Crosswinds I think one of the tips is like back to what we're saying to starts for newbie uh mistakes it's just locking out and being too tense in it you want to keep your body as relaxed as possible and avoid fighting the wind so instead of gripping the handle bars tightly focus on having that lighter grip maybe maybe slightly wider on the bars to give you like I think if you're super narrow on the bars that feels quite unstable as it is and allow your bike and your body to move under it like you're you know a balloon just getting blown around in the wind don't fight it I think also you can position yourself on the bike to counter the wind like if the wind is coming off your left shoulder you want to be slightly leaning into the wind as well I think that's going to help with balance and it's going to prevent you from being blown off course and then in terms of like Road position if you don't want to be like leaving yourself in the gutter or you don't want to be depending on which way the wind's coming from so if the wind is coming from your right and you're in again depend on what country you're in but say you're in a country where you're riding on the right hand side of the roads you're in the right hand Gutter and the wind is coming off your left shoulder you don't want to be right at the edge of the gutter because if there is a gust there's nowhere for you to go you haven't got a foot where you can go with the wind you're going to fall off the edge of the cliff or off the edge of the road so you want to position yourself in that case further left than the road so you can take a little bit of a swerve a little bit of a sway and likewise you don't to be positioning yourself too too uh far out onto the road that if the wind's coming from the other direction the wind blows you into a passing card it's trying to you know pass you with you know a meter to spare and then all of a sudden you're blown into that meter so giving yourself the whole Road or as much of the road as possible and that could be taken Lanes as well which you know I'm a big fan of controlling the lane if there's traffic behind and I don't think it's safe for the car to pass I'll take that decision out with their hand and I'll say I'm taking the whole Lane if you're going to go around me you're going to overtake me like you're overtaking a tractor not like you're overtaking a cyclist and then I think the last one is like you know the idea of like leeward side the sheltered side on the on the group spin just moving like if you're moving up to do a turn so many groups get this wrong so many breaks get this wrong in races you're coming through to do turns you're coming through on the sheltered side to do a turn so if you're struggling you're positioning yourself on the shelter side on the coast road is a great example for us yeah that is the thing isn't it it's positioning helps so much I know that you gave me a couple of great tips because I'm never really quite sure where to position myself and am I in the correct spot like if we're riding in a crosswind I will usually try and position my handlebars kind of where your hip is that's the best way cuz then if I swerve which I'm going to in the wind yeah my hip is going to come along and hit your bars not my me going into your front spokes yeah so that's kind of the way I do and when I'm doing that or trying to get into this really shelter position I'm looking at my watts and I'm even though I'm going the same speed I'm keeping up with Anthony I can tell straight away that my Watts have dropped because I'm not putting as much effort out because I'm in the optimum sheltered position also what you don't do well with it still at the moment is you do position yourself quite well but you still ride in the hoods on it oh yeah whereas you're more stable in the drops in the drops the other thing I will say say that I have learned about riding in Crosswinds is keep pedaling I find that if I'm maybe not so much in a group because always pedling if I'm in a group or I'm a little bit more sheltered if I'm out on my own and I'm freewheeling in a crosswind you just don't have as much control over the bikes don't freee ever don't fre and then the other thing that I will say is Anthony we've come across this a few times I know you're you're a little bit like oh how's that happen but people who have like the deep rim the Deep set we wheels and they're finding it strong a little bit harder to control their bikeing Crosswinds and stuff change your wheels so that's I don't know like I know I know I know that you're never impressed with someone who has deep wheels and can't handle their bike I'm kind of with you I'm like you should be able to have the strength to hand it's not that much of a difference it's marginal like you know everyone has de Bish Wheels now no one's riding you know open Pro box rims anymore so everyone's riding like 40 mil deep Zips at a minimum like so but it is something to think about for this listener that it's something he's struggling with maybe he's likely on 80 mil deep rims to just you don't see him that often unless he's triathlete or something like that so could say if it's 40 50 m like you don't need to worry about changing your wheels just focus on the other tips okay do we have time for another question sure yeah we roll it okay Anthony what exactly do you do when you get home from a spin I need a really clear system do I need protein straight away or do I share first do I stretch do I need more more electrolytes do I clean my bike break it down for me like I'm a toddler need to just take that intensity down and just relax just okay what what happens to us when we come back is we have two dogs staring at us so Anthony and I then go into negotiation phase about who's taking the dogs out so that's step one for us I okay if you're ideal if he is he seems uh really into this question so if you're going ideal scenario what's it look like I not saying I do this ideal but this is yeah I'll call you out here if you ideally you want to come in and you don't want to have to deal with your chain rusting up and seasoning the next day so if you can come in and wipe the Dirt Off Your Chain and lube it before you even put the bike in the shed or in the hall or wherever that's a good start then I think no you don't need protein what you need is carbohydrates so you want to be having carbs to protein in a 4: one ratio so you can make that up yourself like Yuri Carlson talks in the podcast that we had with about making literally eyeball in it scoop of protein handful of berries squirt of honey you know so your four parts carbohydrates to one part protein but I just think chocolate milk it's balanced four to one there's commercial recovery drinks you can do as well well I don't know I never find them as nice as chocol milk tast nice there used to be lion bar one which is lovely from power bar but I don't have they make it anymore but chocolate milk's lovely so I'd have that straight away literally just neck it then into the shower and then as soon as you get out of the shower I used to get into a set of I'm not even sure if they make them anymore skins like it's a compression cloting I used to put them on not really for the recovery compression benefits more because they were just like really cozy and they made you feel good after training hydration is then kind of my focus for the next rest of the evening really where I'm sipping on electrolytes trying to get back any fluids I might have lost and within 60 to 90 minutes you're probably looking to have a hot meal that's like macro balanced again just just topping up that you're in that glycogen replenishment or glycogen re-uptake window where your body is more sensitive for reabsorbing glycogen and it will be later in the day so I used to be really strict on that but I think if you just get in have the chocolate milk straight away that's a lot of the good work done and then you have your balanced meal or you know might be a cheun of salad or something uh in the next 60 to 90 minutes you're pretty much set and then rest of the evening I think if you could do a little bit of stretching a little bit of foam rolling or trigger pointer y something like that it's a good little benefit and then rinse and repeat you're getting your kit ready for the next day yeah exactly and like if if you're coming in and we had a question from a listener a couple of weeks ago that saying that he couldn't wind down after a spin he was training in the evenings and he was find it hard to sleep then if you're coming in later in the evening and you're finding that your spin is going to affect how you relax for the rest of the week that stretching maybe some mindfulness meditation try and get the parasympathetic nervous system firing back up and relax kind of all of those fight ORF flight feelings that you've had on the spin that can be really really good as well and as we said earlier stick on the uh cycling racing and relax I think that's it jobs are good roadman thank you for tuning in to another roadman podcast there's another interview up here which you will enjoy and please don't forget to subscribe to the channel and if you're feeling very generous you could share it with your friends into your Club WhatsApp group see you next day

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What are the most common mistakes beginner cyclists make?+

Rider Support coaches highlight six key mistakes: poor bike fit, training every ride at the same moderate intensity, ignoring professional racing, taking the sport too seriously too soon, mismanaging nutrition and hydration, and gripping the handlebars too tightly. Addressing bike fit first tends to produce the fastest improvements, since it affects every single ride.

Does crank length actually make a difference for beginner cyclists?+

Yes, and it is one of the most overlooked elements of bike fit. Rider Support note that switching from 172mm to 165mm cranks can produce 15 to 20 watts of additional power for many riders. Most beginners inherit whatever crank length came on their bike without questioning it.

Why do beginner cyclists not improve even when training regularly?+

The most common cause is training every session at the same moderate intensity, which produces very little physiological adaptation over time. A periodised programme needs clear variation between hard efforts and genuine easy riding. Beginners often add junk miles at a pace that is too hard to recover from and too easy to produce a training stimulus.

How important is nutrition and hydration for beginner cyclists?+

Nutrition and hydration errors are among the six habits Rider Support identify as holding beginners back most consistently. Under-fuelling rides and arriving at sessions dehydrated compromises performance and slows recovery significantly. Getting the basics right, eating enough on the bike and drinking consistently, matters far more at beginner level than any supplement or marginal gain.

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Key Takeaways

Proper bike fit is foundational: moving from 172mm to 165mm cranks can yield 15-20 watts of extra power, and simple adjustments like hand positioning can eliminate numbness and improve comfort

Vary your training zones instead of defaulting to high zone 2/zone 3 every ride—you need different physiological adaptations, not just more suffering

Watch professional cycling to accelerate your learning curve on bike handling, tactics, and racing dynamics, especially with free resources like YouTube breakdowns

Fuel strategically before, during, and after rides rather than restricting calories on the bike and binge eating afterward—poor timing torpedoes your whole recovery window

Relax your grip on the handlebars and keep your elbows loose as shock absorbers; death-gripping causes speed wobbles and transfers tension through your whole body

In crosswinds, position yourself on the road with space to move into the wind, stay in the drops for stability, keep pedaling for control, and avoid freewheeling

Expert Quotes

"Cycling is this thing that never has a finish line—you can keep putting more focus into it and it will ruin your personal life, your relationships, your job. You need to pause and reflect on what you're actually doing. —Anthony"

"You cannot go from an apprenticeship—you turn up day one in your new plumbing or electrician apprenticeship and go straight to wiring a full house. There's a whole process, and cycling really has that. —Anthony"

"If you're buying yourself this level of detail with jockey wheels, your bike is probably immaculate. If you have spare cash and want to splash it, yeah, they're a nice little upgrade. —Anthony"

KEY QUOTES

“To move from 172 to 165 crank seems to be giving most people like 15 to 20 watts extra so number one I would say is neglecting bike fit.”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host and coach

“You have the 16inch pizza the evening after you're you know 100 mile on a Sunday and now you're after taking in 4 and a half th000 calories on a Sunday evening when you needed those calories Saturday evening to fuel for the Sunday session and now Monday you're sitting in an office job all day and that carbohydrate is just getting converted into fat and you're gaining weight and you're wanding week after week why you keep getting heavier even though you're cycling every week.”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host and coach

“When you're gripping the bars so tight and your arms are so locked out all that shock from the road is just transferring up like your elbows are your shock absorbers when you're loose and you're free you can just absorb that shock and you look fluid on the bike which you also handle much better.”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host and coach

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What are the most common mistakes beginner cyclists make?+

Does crank length actually make a difference for beginner cyclists?+

Why do beginner cyclists not improve even when training regularly?+

How important is nutrition and hydration for beginner cyclists?+

6 HABITS BEGINNER CYCLISTS MUST AVOID | RIDER SUPPORT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

Beginner Cycling Mistakes to Avoid

Indoor vs Outdoor Training

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

5 THINGS PRO CYCLISTS DO THAT YOU DON'T | RIDER SUPPORT

HOW PRO RIDERS DESCEND REALLY FAST BUT SAFELY | RIDER SUPPORT

WHY CYCLING FAST MAKES YOU SLOW | RIDER SUPPORT

RELATED CONTENT

5 THINGS PRO CYCLISTS DO THAT YOU DON'T | RIDER SUPPORT

HOW PRO RIDERS DESCEND REALLY FAST BUT SAFELY | RIDER SUPPORT

WHY CYCLING FAST MAKES YOU SLOW | RIDER SUPPORT

WANT THIS APPLIED TO YOUR TRAINING?

6 HABITS BEGINNER CYCLISTS MUST AVOID | RIDER SUPPORT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

Beginner Cycling Mistakes to Avoid

Indoor vs Outdoor Training

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

5 THINGS PRO CYCLISTS DO THAT YOU DON'T | RIDER SUPPORT

HOW PRO RIDERS DESCEND REALLY FAST BUT SAFELY | RIDER SUPPORT

WHY CYCLING FAST MAKES YOU SLOW | RIDER SUPPORT

RELATED CONTENT

5 THINGS PRO CYCLISTS DO THAT YOU DON'T | RIDER SUPPORT

HOW PRO RIDERS DESCEND REALLY FAST BUT SAFELY | RIDER SUPPORT

WHY CYCLING FAST MAKES YOU SLOW | RIDER SUPPORT

WANT THIS APPLIED TO YOUR TRAINING?

6 HABITS BEGINNER CYCLISTS MUST AVOID | RIDER SUPPORT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

1.Beginner Cycling Mistakes to Avoid

2.Indoor vs Outdoor Training

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

5 THINGS PRO CYCLISTS DO THAT YOU DON'T | RIDER SUPPORT

HOW PRO RIDERS DESCEND REALLY FAST BUT SAFELY | RIDER SUPPORT

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RELATED CONTENT

5 THINGS PRO CYCLISTS DO THAT YOU DON'T | RIDER SUPPORT

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WHY CYCLING FAST MAKES YOU SLOW | RIDER SUPPORT

WANT THIS APPLIED TO YOUR TRAINING?

6 HABITS BEGINNER CYCLISTS MUST AVOID | RIDER SUPPORT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

1.Beginner Cycling Mistakes to Avoid

2.Indoor vs Outdoor Training

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

5 THINGS PRO CYCLISTS DO THAT YOU DON'T | RIDER SUPPORT

HOW PRO RIDERS DESCEND REALLY FAST BUT SAFELY | RIDER SUPPORT

WHY CYCLING FAST MAKES YOU SLOW | RIDER SUPPORT

RELATED CONTENT

5 THINGS PRO CYCLISTS DO THAT YOU DON'T | RIDER SUPPORT

HOW PRO RIDERS DESCEND REALLY FAST BUT SAFELY | RIDER SUPPORT

WHY CYCLING FAST MAKES YOU SLOW | RIDER SUPPORT

WANT THIS APPLIED TO YOUR TRAINING?

Beginner Cycling Mistakes to Avoid

Indoor vs Outdoor Training

Beginner Cycling Mistakes to Avoid

Indoor vs Outdoor Training