Never stop adventuring. That's always been my approach to training rides. Yes, I might have certain efforts to do in training, but I still want to ride to new places and to see new or interesting things. I really enjoy that sense of exploring. It's the reason why I fell in love with this sport to start with. When you're younger, you know you can travel so much further away from home on a bike than if you are just walking. And that feeling of exploration is something I've never lost. Trying new routes on my training rides keeps things fresh. And when you're in your 17th year of racing, you have got to mix it up a bit to stay interested.
This is actually how I ride my bike most days. I have a general plan of where to go, but then I just go off and do whatever. I change up my routes all the time. I know some guys like to do the same routes. My former teammate Richie Porte liked to do the same loops over and over again. But I am the total opposite.
It means I'm not good at following a Garmin because I don't ever really do it. But if I'm concentrating, I usually know my bearings. Maybe if I'm somewhere totally new, like when I went to do some training in New Zealand in 2023, I have my routes planned out. But I'm not fanatical about it. Swifty (Ben Swift) has every ride planned out to the precise kilometre. But I love an adventure.
This story is from the February 2024 edition of Cycling Plus UK.
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This story is from the February 2024 edition of Cycling Plus UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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GANARY A COALMINE
The James Brown tune 'It's a Man's Man's Man's World' comes on the radio, filling the coach, and does nothing for my pre-event nerves as I sit surrounded by serious-looking, wiry, tanned men in Lycra. It's 6.30am, pitch black outside and I'm feeling very out of my depth as a relative newcomer to the world of clipless pedals and hurting for fun. Last night's stress dream involved being very unprepared to get married and being handed my great-grandmother-in-law-to-be's hideous silver dress with lace trim to wear minutes before the ceremony was due to start. I'll let you psychoanalyse that one.
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