Wear chamois cream !
Team managers often give a pep talk to all of their riders to motivate and encourage them for the race ahead. This pep talk may or may not have been given at this years Tour of Dubai, and it revolves around chamois (pronounced shammy) cream ;
Listen to this while you read ;
Riders of the team of 2015 , if I could give you one piece of advice chamois cream would be it . The long term benefits of chamois cream have been proven by pro-cyclists , whereas the rest of my advice has no basis other than my own meandering experience . I will dispense this advice now .
Enjoy the power and speed of your youth . Oh , never mind . You will not understand the power and speed of your youth until they’ve faded . But trust me , in 20 years time you will look back on youtube videos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you , and how fast you really were . You are not as un-aerodynamic as you imagine .
Dont worry about the future .Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to fix a puncture with a banana . The real troubles in your life are going to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you on a recovery spin at 4pm on some idle Tuesday .
Do one thing everyday that scares you.
Sprint .
Don’t be reckless with other peoples carbon wheels. Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours .
Climb.
Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old training diaries . Throw away your old racing licenses .
Stretch.
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting cyclists I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone
Maybe you’ll ride the Ras, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have a Pinarello , maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll race untill your 40, maybe you’ll attack in a handicap race in the Pheonix park at 75 . Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.
Train, even if you have nowhere to do it but on a set of rollers in your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly. Read cycling magazines instead .
Get to know your coaches. You never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your training partners. They’re your best link to your past race wins and the people most likely to ride for you in the future.
Understand that training partners come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young and fast .
Live in Merchtem once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Monaco once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Punctures will happen. Teammates will attack you. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young, tubs never punctured , teammates always rode for you and under sixteens respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to ride for you. Maybe you have a 80% vo2 max. Maybe you’ll have 4 % body fat . But you never know when either one might change .
Don’t mess too much with your cleats or by the time you’re 40 your knees will feel 85 .
Be careful whose coaching you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Coaching is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the bin, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for perhaps more than it’s worth.
But trust me on the chamois cream.
If you need some chamois cream look no further that HERE
Barry
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