This week on the RAGBRAI Training Blog, Coach David Ertl reminds us to go back to basics – ride, and have fun doing it.
The technology we as cyclists have is truly amazing. No other athletes, except maybe Formula 1 drivers, have as much telemetry recorded every second about us. Data is on our phones, bike computers or watches, and beamed up to the cloud and shared with the whole world on Strava seconds after we finish a ride.
As a coach I can work with someone halfway around the world and see where they rode, their speed, mileage, cadence, elevation, temperature, heart rate, and power. I can see what their heart rate variability and respiration rate was at 3am last night. Amazing! And I’m a scientist and I love data, but the longer I’ve been at this coaching gig, I’ve come to realize that some of the most useful coaching tools are some of the simplest things. So I’m going to share those with you. Even if you, like me, enjoy all this technology, I think you’ll appreciate taking a step back to the basics.
Ride your bike
The best training for cycling is to ride your bike. Doesn’t get more basic than that. As the great Eddy Merckx is attributed to saying, “Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” There is a principal in training called specificity. The best way to train for something is to do it. You are going to ride RAGBRAI, so ride your bike to train. Gee coach, tell me something I didn’t know, you are saying! But the point is that to prepare for riding hundreds of miles on RAGBRAI you need to ride your bike hundreds of miles in training as well.
Ride your bike some more
As discussed in last week’s blog, you need to ride progressively further to improve and be able to handle the distance of RAGBRAI. But you don’t need to increase very much. Another rule of training is to only do enough more each week to push yourself a little farther.
There are a ton of complicated training plans you can do. Or, you can use the very basic one I’ve created for all of you that lists the number of miles you should aim for each week, increasing just a handful of miles each week. There are also all kinds of crazy workouts you can find to try. If you’ve ever been to a spin class at a gym, you know what I’m talking about. But you don’t need to do all sorts of dizzying intervals at specified heart rate or power (unless you want to). You can just ride, a little bit farther each time.
Eat food
There are literally hundreds of drink mixes, bars, gels and chews to choose from (see what I did there?). These are all scientifically created to get into your muscles as quickly as possible. These do work well. But nature has done the same thing. A banana has quickly digestible carbs, contains minerals, and comes in a handy and easy to open package. They also taste good. I don’t know about you, but I would just as soon enjoy my calories as they are going down, and not too many of these scientifically designed products taste as good as a good ole fig bar or banana.
Psst – you don’t need a $10,000 bike
Don’t tell your local bike shop I said this, but the best bike for RAGBRAI is one that works well, fits you and is comfortable. If you need a fancy-schmancy $10,000 bike to do this, then go for it. But if your trusty $800 one does the trick, you are in luck. Save the cash and go buy some good fitting shoes, shorts, gloves and helmets. These accessories really are worth the price and you will be thankful you invested in these for RAGBRAI. This year’s RAGBRAI kit is really sweet, by the way.
Data is optional
While its fun to see how far and fast you ride, and can share with the world on Strava, you really don’t need all that bike technology if you’d rather do RAGBRAI unplugged. Yes, it’s handy to know how far you’ve ridden, but the phone in your pocket can tell you that with a simple app (e.g. MapMyRide). I know too many people, myself included, whose ride has been ruined because some battery died. We say, if it isn’t on Strava, it didn’t happen. Well, it did happen and you know it, and that’s enough. Likewise you may be interested in what your power, cadence or heart rate is, but that isn’t going to change the fact that you are going for a 30 mile ride. Technology is great but don’t become a slave to it.
Have fun
This should go without saying, because RAGBRAI is all about having fun. But I’m going to say it anyway because you might just take this training thing a bit too seriously. When we were kids, where did our parents buy our first bike? In the toy department! Bikes were toys, and I’ll let you in on a secret – they still are. Do you ever get home from work and say to yourself: ‘I have to go ride now’. Well if you do, slap yourself up side the head and remind yourself that you ‘get’ to go play by riding your bike. Our time riding our bikes is our adult playtime. It needs to be fun. If it isn’t, you are doing it wrong.
So there you have it. Don’t take your training or yourself too seriously. Go ride, and have fun doing it.
Coach David Ertl
Find All 2025 Training Blogs
Find all of Coach Ertl’s Training Blogs, as well as the 2025 Training Plan in our Training section on RAGBRAI.com.
David Ertl is a USA Cycling Advanced Certified Coach. He coaches individual cyclists through the Peaks Coaching Group www.peakscoachinggroup.com/davidertl . Coach Ertl also provides cycling training plans and ebooks at his website: www.CyclesportCoaching.com. He can be contacted at [email protected].
