Inside the Engine #2

Geraint Thomas in his rather readable tome "The World of Cycling According to G" talks, amongst other things, about his time in the British Track squad in the 2000s. His narrative unfolds around how, once the team had decided on its goals (essentially World domination), the team committed to meet the goal. The coaching and supporting staff did likewise and then it was a case of trusting the process.

I have long been a fan of trying to focus on the controllable variables that accompany time-trial racing. In Thomas's book (I am not going to call him 'G'), he restates some good coaching mantra that reinforce this philosophy, e.g. there will be external influences that can knock you off-track. Anticipate external factors but don't get all angsty about things you cannot control.

As amateurs and part-timers who have commitments off the bike that professionals do not have, everyone in TSE has to strike a balance between what time and effort we can commit to the sport. And the commitment piece is critical. You only get out what you put in and all that, in time-trialling it is very much a correlation between input and result. Outside of the track pursuit discipline there are probably as few external variables affecting performance as you are likely to get. So over the winter months it has been great to watch and participate in a team that is committed, is believing more and more in the processes of training 'right' and training 'smart'.

It has been interesting to see how riders have dealt with bugs, colds, time demands with work and family commitments over Christmas and the New Year. For some there have been outbursts of frustration when they've had a cold or virus, and this kind of frustration shows how committed the team are right now. Fortunately a combination of cathartic and communal social-media outpourings: "It's the end of the world, I missed a few days on Zwift" or "How can I possibly survive the season, I missed a week in December" have been dealt with through a mix of mutual support and also plain-speaking.

Trust the process, you are committed to you goals. Form is not irrevocably lost in a week or two. Indeed, quite the opposite is true. You will #SmashItUp, to borrow a Bottrilism, if you simply commit and follow through on the plan over the course of the year.

Over the course of winter most of the team's riders have put in anywhere between 50-80 training sessions, and it shows. Functional threshold power tests are strong and ubiquitous. Everyone is talking in watts and FTP now. The support structure is blooming and the direction of travel is probably as good as any amateur squad in the country.

And it's still only January...