Conquer the Bike Leg: 10 Cycling Tips for Triathletes
Since Matt’s guest post was such a big hit last time, (Coping with Injury: 5 Stages of the Injured Athlete) he’s back!
And we have something special planned…
Since so many Triple Threat Life readers are preparing for their first triathlon, or their first long-course triathlon (70.3 or 140.6), we’ve created a 5-part Triathlon Tip Series!
Whether you’re tackling your first race or aiming for a PR in your next long-course triathlon, the key to success lies in mastering the details. In this series, we’ll break down 10 actionable tips for each part of the race- swim, bike, run- and discuss other important areas like transition and nutrition. These tips will help you become more efficient, race faster, and most importantly enjoy the journey along the way.
This series will include:
Conquer the Bike Leg: 10 Cycling Tips for Triathletes (this post)
10 Tips for Your Next Triathlon: Transition Edition
10 Tips for Your Next Triathlon: Nutrition Edition
Best of all, if you're a member of the Triple Threat Life Club, you’ll get a free e-book at the conclusion of the series that compiles all these tips into one place, making it easy to access and reference as you prepare for your next triathlon.
Sign up for the Triple Threat Life Club.
Let’s dive in and get you one step closer to crushing your triathlon goals!
Why you can’t think about each triathlon leg in isolation
In a triathlon, each discipline is crucial to your success. But the beauty of the race lies in how each leg builds upon the one that came before it. While many athletes place a lot of focus on the running portion of a triathlon, it’s important to consider what takes place before the run, because that will affect the run, either positively or negatively.
If you want to become a better triathlon runner, you need to be able to ride the bike more efficiently and pace your effort properly. If you want to have a better triathlon bike performance, you need to become a more efficient swimmer.
The swim, bike, and run aren’t separate challenges- they’re interconnected pieces of a puzzle that you must put together in order to build a successful race day performance.
The swim is your foundation. It’s where the race begins. Being comfortable in the water, maintaining good form and technique, and moderating your effort all play a big role in determining how the bike leg of a triathlon, and the rest of the race, will go. (That’s why it’s often said that you can’t win a triathlon during the swim, but you can lose it during the swim.)
The bike leg is where efficiency, endurance, pacing, and nutrition come into play. Proper pacing is key to conserving energy and setting yourself up for a strong run. Riding efficiently and executing your nutrition strategy can make all the difference in the latter stages of a race.
Finally, it’s time for the run- the final challenge where your mental and physical preparation will be tested to the limit. Everything you’ve done prior to this last lag of the race, from pacing during the swim to fueling on the bike, will impact how you perform in the last few miles of the run.
Every discipline requires specific training and technique, but the way they work together is what will ultimately get you to the finish line faster.
Tip: In triathlon, think about your energy like a cellphone battery. You only have so much charge to last through the day, and how you use it determines how well you function.
You start the race with 100% (or perhaps not, if you didn’t prepare and taper properly). If you use 30% of your energy during the swim and 60% of your energy during the bike, you’ve only got 10% left for the run. Not a great strategy. If you expend too much energy early on in the race (through poor pacing, bad form, or neglecting nutrition) you might find yourself struggling to get to the finish line. But if you manage your energy wisely, you’ll have a much more successful race.
*Guest post by Dr. Matthew Vermeer
10 Tips for Your Next Triathlon: Bike Edition
When preparing for a triathlon, especially a long course triathlon like a 70.3 or Ironman, there are many things to consider. Something that can make or break your day is the cycling portion of the race. Consider this: A triathlete will spend about half their entire race during the bike leg.
These 10 tips focus on preparation, efficiency, pacing, and technique to help you have the best bike performance, and triathlon, possible.
1.) You must be comfortable on the bike. All the disc wheels, aero helmets, and calf sleeves in the world won’t help you if you can’t ride consistently in an aerodynamic position. This starts with getting a proper bike fit (and the right size bike). A few tweaks in position could help you become more aerodynamic, push more power, improve pedaling efficiency, and enjoy your race experience more.
2.) Consider the contact points. While overall bike fit is important, there are two areas that need special consideration. Think about the fact that your body only comes into contact with two parts of the bike: the saddle and the aerobars/hoods.
Finding the right equipment and setup takes a bit of trial and error, but split nose saddles are typically the most popular option among triathletes for a reason. When we ride in the aerobars of a triathlon bike, a lot of pressure is placed on the front portion of the saddle. A split nose design helps to distribute some of this pressure evenly.
The set up of your aerobars is another consideration. Some aerobars are more streamlined with a cup-like design that cradles the arm, while others have cushioned pads for the forearms. You have to figure out what position works best for you and your overall bike fit.
3.) Stay aero- Being able to push power and ride efficiently with a full pedal stroke, all while staying in an aerodynamic position, requires quite a bit of training. Your neck muscles will need to get used to looking down the road. That requires strength and mobility in the upper thoracic area.
This becomes even more important if there’s crosswind, because those conditions require more muscular endurance. You need to hold be able to hold yourself in an aerodynamic position, while also holding your bike upright.
If you have a triathlon bike with aerobars, that’s great. But you don’t need a tri bike to do a triathlon. Plenty of people will use a road bike for a sprint triathlon all the way up to an Ironman. The decision about which bike to use will come down to a variety of factors including: your experience in the sport, goals for the race, financial considerations, and course profile.
4.) BE CAREFUL IN AID STATIONS. This needs to be said repeatedly. It starts when you see an aid station in the distance.
Ask yourself the following questions:
“What do I need?”
“Where are the athletes ahead of me?”
“How many are close behind?”
If you don’t need anything, stay close to the centerline and out of the way of other athletes. Even if you aren’t getting nutrition at an aid station, it’s important to slow down and pay attention to what other cyclists are doing. Athletes ride erratically, make last minute decisions, and sometimes drop bottles that go rolling across the road.
Don’t let all of your hard work and training go to waste by getting in a bike crash.
Read More: How to Navigate Triathlon Aid Stations Like a Pro
5.) Pay attention to your effort when climbing hills. Power meters are great to keep an eye on the energy you’re expending when climbing uphill. But if you don’t have a power meter, rate of perceived exertion (RPE) works just fine as well.
A surefire way to wreck your legs early in a race is to hammer up the hills by pushing way above your threshold. We don’t want to stand in the saddle and sprint uphill, but we don’t want to stay in a big gear with an overly low cadence either. Both can wreck your legs. Also, we don’t want to ride in an overly easy gear and spin uphill either. A moderate bump in power or RPE should be the sweet spot.
6.) Use downhills to your advantage. Don’t just coast down the back of the hill. Use gravity to your advantage!
Get in an aerodynamic position and use a bit of effort to maintain or increase your pace riding downhill. The idea is to moderate your effort when riding uphill and push on the downhills. You can use this technique on a rolling course to get part of the way up the next hill without a big power spike. Think about riding smarter, not necessarily harder.
Read More: Understand the Triathlon Training Triad
7.) Practice your hydration method. If you use a front bottle, is it positioned in such a way that you can drink through the straw without getting out of an aerodynamic position? Is your front hydration bottle easy to refill? If you use bottles in a rear cage behind the saddle, can you reach behind you, while riding at race pace, without losing control? Can you put the bottles back? Can you do this on both sides?
When going through an aid station, can you keep your left hand on the bars and use your right hand to grab a bottle from a volunteer? These are all important skills to practice ahead of race day.
Tip: Practicing grabbing and replacing your bottles on the bike trainer to get comfortable and fine-tune your technique. Then, progress to doing this on an outdoor bike ride.
8.) Stay on top of nutrition. The first half of the bike is typically going to be a bit cooler, with the potential for less direct sun. But that doesn’t mean you can neglect your hydration and nutrition early on, just because you don’t feel hot or aren’t very thirsty yet.
Frontloading nutrition is a popular strategy among triathletes- using a more concentrated first bottle or an extra energy gel early on. As we continue to the later stages of the bike, fatigue starts to set in and core temperature begins to rise, which can affect our ability to take in and digest nutrition.
Make a specific plan for how much fluid, carbohydrates, and electrolytes you plan to take in per hour of the race. Think about taking a few big sips every 10-15 minutes to space it out. If you’re forgetful, most watches and bike computers have a timer you can set to remind you.
9.) Know the course. Prior to the race, look at the course maps to study the elevation profile and layout of the bike course. Take a look at where any big hills might be and learn about any technical descents or turnarounds.
Longer races, like a 70.3 or Ironman, may have multiple laps, while some courses will utilize an out and back format. Do you know where the aid stations are so you can plan your nutrition strategy?
Knowing what to expect can help you budget energy and avoid situations that could be dangerous, like a tight turn at the bottom of a hill.
10.) Prepare for the run. Devote the last little bit of the bike ride to preparing for the run. This might look like spinning in a slightly easier gear to help lower your heart rate or taking your feet out of your shoes if you plan to do a flying dismount. (This is a skill to be mastered in training before ever attempting during a race.)
Start visualizing what you’re going to do once you get off your bike and head into T2. Plan ahead and remember that the dismount line can get a bit hectic, so take your time and stay safe.
We hope you’ve enjoyed 10 Tips for Your Next Triathlon: Bike Edition. Subscribe to the free newsletter to be notified when the next posts in the series will be published.
Remember, paid subscribers (members of the Triple Threat Life Club) will receive a free e-book at the conclusion of the 5-part series with all of the 10 Tips posts in one place so upgrade today!
Click here to sign up for the Triple Threat Life Club.