The Hot Chillee London-to-Paris ride is 500km over three days. There are many more leisurely versions of this route, some shorter and some over longer periods of time; this version of the ride however is no walk in the park, it isn\u2019t even a ride in the park.<\/p>\n
The need to train properly for this event (and just for general improvements on the bike), is every bit the case for our experienced riders, as much as it is the less experienced ones. We\u2019ll all cycle the same distance at the end of the day, and while some may do it quicker, the less speedy among us will actually have their bums in the saddle for longer. Both versions are hard, quite literally.<\/p>\n
So, training is paramount. For everyone. No excuses.<\/p>\n
While we\u2019re fairly savvy when it comes fuelling ourselves properly with our sports nutrition products, none of us are completely immune to the temptations of an unhealthy snack, a fast-food treat, a beer\/G&T\/glass of wine or even a cinnamon bun. And the cinnamon bun (courtesy of the Cinnamon Caf\u00e9, Windsor in this case) is actually worth the mention, because it\u2019s the size of a football.<\/p>\n
Slot one of these bad boys away mid-ride and you\u2019ll be feeling it all the way home, and not in a good way. The Cinnamon Caf\u00e9 Windsor must know this as they also sell it in half portions, not that we paid any attention to this on a recent training ride, more fool us.<\/p>\n
The point here being not to become so strict with your diet that you can\u2019t enjoy the occasional treat, but by understanding how our bodies run a little better and by using the right blend of performance sports nutrition and real food, the dividends are immense; be that going out for the Sunday club run or by cycling to Gai Paris, in three days, the long way.<\/p>\n
We can all talk it up, but the actual \u2018doing\u2019 can be a little more difficult to achieve sometimes. Finding the time to fit in that training ride, turbo session or even a swim, run or whatever other activity to boost fitness and mental preparation can be hard. And if it\u2019s raining, or it\u2019s so-and-so\u2019s birthday or you have to Veet your legs, it\u2019s easy to get side-tracked and allow the mind to create convenient excuses not to crack on with the business end.<\/p>\n
At the end the day, you just have to get up off your ass and do it. \u201cSuck it up buttercup\u201d as one our HIIT Cycle instructors at the gym likes to tell us, regularly. Actually, as an aside, its actually been proven that phrases that rhyme are more likely to work, be believed and be remembered, than those that don\u2019t \u2013 \u2018No pain, no gain\u2019 for example has more far impact than, \u2018If you don\u2019t hurt yourself, you won\u2019t get any better\u2019.<\/p>\n
The good news, the really good news, is you\u2019ll feel amazing afterwards, so that demoralising headwind or never-ending sluggish climb will all be a very distant and different memory once those endorphins kick in and take over.<\/p>\n
Not much else to say here really. They do. Velly jelly.<\/p>\n
(*free to replace Swains Lane with any nasty ass hill in your local area)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hear about when members of the SiS team cycled from London to Paris<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[398],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cycling"],"acf":{"subtitle":" The Science in Sport team, as you might expect, is well populated with budding cyclists. We also have almost as many runners (and some who do both), a steeplechaser, a powerlifter, a hockey player and smattering of footballers.<\/p>\n She, the powerlifter, and he, the steeplechaser, have both recently placed themselves on two wheels to see what all the fuss is about, along with a number of people who have either dusted off old bikes, or bought brand-spanking new ones, to take on the Hot Chillee London-to-Paris ride along with the rest of us self-proclaimed \u2018cyclists\u2019 in the office.<\/p>\n","product_skus":"","post_banner":"https:\/\/www.scienceinsport.com\/sports-nutrition\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/11\/BLOG-Lessons-Learnt-500km-Header-1600x500.png"},"yoast_head":"\n