Lean, Light Recipes for Athletes
by Matt Fitzgerald & Georgie Fear
Matt Fitzgerald and Georgie Fear have come together to produce ‘The Racing Weight Cookbook for Athletes’. This book is aimed at endurance athletes, giving you the tools and knowledge to improve your diet, to fuel performance for training and racing. It’s all about obtaining your optimal racing weight through healthy eating, within the requirements of your bodies needs. It explains that conventional diets are no good for endurance athletes.
I’ve read the pre cursor to this book ‘Racing Weight: How to get lean for peak performance’ so was really interested to see what this book had to offer.
The book is also very cleverly aimed at different kinds of cooks. Those that can’t cook, those that can cook a little and those of us who love cooking. So even if you love cooking but don’t have time, you can use the ‘can’t cook’ section.
As both a coach and an athlete I was very interested to see if the cookbook would enhance what the first book delivered and it certainly does that.
There is a brief outline about the first book, but there is enough information for you not to need to read it. It’s easy to follow and won’t take you long to get started, a definite plus!
This book is really good for those of us who have never managed to stick to a diet for longer than a few weeks, that’s because it is not a diet book. It gives you lots of tips and tricks to get the energy you need without overeating, tips for swapping foods and best of all, lots of recipes. It looks at how many carbohydrates your body needs, dependant on your weight and the amount of hours you are training for. There is also a handy table that can help you score the quality of the food you are currently eating. It’s very easy to follow, which was great for me as I do tend to get bored very quickly.
I have to say the recipes are amazing and the pictures make the recipes look appetising. I particularly liked the chocolate peanut butter banana shake as a post workout meal. Eating post workout is something I struggle with, but this was a great recipe, easy to make and super quick to drink. Plus and I always think this the seller… it tastes great!! Really, it does!
I’ve also had a go at one of their Granola recipes, wow, honestly I have been bowled over by every recipe I’ve tried.
One thing about recipe books though, which I do dislike, besides the American measures, is the need to buy things that most people don’t have in their store cupboard. So essentially it’s all about planning and shopping.
I pondered over whether a club cyclist would buy a book like this or whether it was specifically aimed at competing athletes. On reflection, everybody who spends quite a lot of time on their bikes would benefit from this book, you don’t need to be competing, just putting the miles in, so maybe the title ‘Racing Weight’ will marginalise sales of this book.
Would I buy it? As a coach? Yes I would, as an athlete? Yes definitely. Would I recommend this book? Without a doubt.
The Racing Weight Cookbook gets a Cycling Shorts Star Buy Rating!
Four-year-old identical twins; Jake and Theo Riddle, from Queenstown New Zealand are literally the new kids on the block in BMX terms. A video of their skills caught my eye last month and I thought I’d share this compilation with you, it brings a smile to my face. The twins throw themselves right into jumps and drops – when they spill they just get back on their bikes.
“It was worse when they were younger and didn’t know how to fall but it didn’t seem to faze them, they’d just get on their bikes and carry on with blood on their chins. We’ve never pushed them to get back on their bikes.” Dad Steve said.
Jake and Theo got their BMX addiction when they were very little (as if 4 wasn’t young enough) they were attempting to pull stunts the minute they got their balance bikes as you can see form the last few frames of the film.
The boys skills are impressive for their age, they would put most BMX obsessed teen to shame. They’ve had offers of sponsorship deals and TV appearances from around the world, though I’m not sure they’ve taken up the offers yet, but if you’re looking for an agent Jake & Theo… ;D
Mum Emma said, “The boys don’t seem bothered in the slightest about their new cycling celebrity profile, they’ve just been watching Scooby Doo and going to kindy”.
Following my high scoring reviews of the Bike Floss (90%) and the Bike Polish & Frame Protector (100%) from UK Company Purple Harry, I now turn to their Wash & Polish Mitt.
It is made from good quality microfibre material and shaped into a three fingered ‘lobster claw’ glove, which according to their website “has been ergonomically designed with the bike’s shape and contours in mind – allowing access to difficult areas whilst avoiding catching on the drive train and snagging in components”.
For this review I will be comparing this mitt with my usual cleaning materials; standard square shaped microfibre cloths bought from my local Pound store!
The Mitt costs at least SIX times more than the cloths I have been using for many years for cleaning and polishing duties, but is it worth the extra expense?
I hit a problem with the Mitt straight away; I couldn’t get it onto my hand.
My hands are not excessively large, but I struggled for a while before having to resort to using scissors to cut the black narrow cuff stitched into the Mitt to allow my hand in. Due to the Lobster claw shape your second and third fingers are forced apart, which felt uncomfortable to start with, but overtime became less troublesome.
Also while working on the bike, because you have two pairs of fingers held together, it restricts how well you can get into those small little gaps and crevices that need to be reached while cleaning or polishing. My natural instinct is to use just the finger-tip of my index finger to get to those more intricate areas, something you can’t do very successfully with this Mitt as the combined width of two fingers stops you reaching as far as you would like.
Also with my normal square cloth I can easily reach every corner on the frame by using it in a flossing action by just pulling one corner into the tight spot, for example cleaning between the rear wheel and chain stays, the gap is far too narrow to get my finger in between.
Another disadvantage of using the Mitt is that the actual area of material that you can use for cleaning/polishing is very limited; meaning that it quickly becomes too dirty or clogged. You have the whole Mitt but in reality can only effectively use the finger tips for finer work and the length of your fingers for working on the more accessible areas.
To use the other side you will need to take the Mitt off and put it on your other hand. This means that it might become too dirty to finish the job, you will have to wash it after every use or you will need to buy a couple more!
My way of working is that I currently have several microfibre cloths in use, each one is given a different task depending on how dirty it is; brand new ones are used for dusting and polishing only, but once they become clogged or a little dirty they then move onto drying or light cleaning duties and the previous one used for this purpose is ‘downgraded’ to more dirty tasks and so on until the very last one is used exclusively for chain cleaning work – and once this is oil soaked it is binned and another trip to the Pound shop is made to buy a fresh one to start the process again.
These cloths can be washed too, but as they cost as little as 99p for three it is not worth the effort. As they are square shaped you can use every inch of the cloth, both sides included, and by wrapping your index finger in the cloth with the remainder held in the palm of your hand you can reach those smaller awkward places with a clean patch of fabric every time unlike the Mitt.
From the picture above; in the bottom left is a new cloth, and each one in a clockwise direction becomes progressively dirtier.
So, as you can gather from my comments, I would not recommend that you pay £5.99 for this Mitt, instead buy six standard cloths and use a rotation system similar to mine, you will get much more value for money and they’ll do a better job too!
Left, is a comparison of cleaning area between the Mitt and cloths for the same price. Unfortunately I am awarding my lowest score so far, all the effort that has gone into cutting out the shape, stitching it together and attention to detail like adding the cuff and Purple Harry label has not only cost a lot to do, it has also severely restricted its usefulness, which is reflected in my score below:
Sorry to the Guys at Purple Harry, I can only give the Mitt a paltry score of 17%.
With the constant rain that has become the norm here in the UK lately, it has become more important than ever to regularly clean your bike. This will not only reduce corrosion, but also limit the wear from those little bits of grit and muck that stick to the frame and components when cycling on wet roads.
The UK produced Purple Harry Bike Polish will not only leave your bike sparkling, it also leaves a protective layer of waxes and silicones, adding an extra barrier to your paintwork which will make it easier to clean in the future too!
Simply pour a small amount onto a clean soft cloth of your choice, apply to the bike in a circular motion and then wait for at least 5 minutes for the polish to dry, then buff off to reveal a gleaming silky smooth surface. Of course, as with any polish, avoid getting any on the braking surfaces and it’s not recommended for use on the saddle or brake levers!
In the past I have only used the same polish as I use on my car (Turtle Wax), and have been pleased with the results, but I was very impressed with the Purple Harry Polish.
The crown on my carbon forks had minute scratches that always caught my eye in the past, but now they are gone, to be replaced by a nice deep black mirror like shine!
I also got a good finish when applying the polish to the painted Aluminium frame, carbon forks, Aluminium chainset and even plastic mudguards, so it can be used on most bike surfaces (take extra care if polishing wheel rims not to make the braking surface super slippery!).
My bike has never looked so good, after using the Bike Floss sticks to clean the cassette and chain and now protecting every suitable surface with the Bike Polish, it is almost in ‘as new’ condition. This is impressive; when you consider that it is a 2008 bike that I bought secondhand, which gets used nearly every day, for either a weekend ride or my commute to work.
It is difficult to say how often you should apply the polish, I guess it depends on the weather conditions and how often the bike gets washed, and obviously you wouldn’t use it every time you clean the bike. Perhaps 3 to 4 times a year seems to me to be a sensible figure. The bottle should therefore last for years (Unless, because of the fantastic results, you go on to use it on your car, caravan, or boat too!).
I really can’t find any negatives; it just works better than anything else I have tried before.
So, a first from me, a score of 100% for Purple Harry Bike Polish!
Saturday saw the launch of a new women’s cycling team – Team Jadan, hoping to change the image and progression of how women are involved in road racing. Team Jadan had its official presentation in the historic East Yorkshire town of Beverley at the eponymously named Beverley Arms Hotel.
As you may or may not know the Cycling Shorts collective has taken it’s first foray into cycling team sponsorship. We are very proud to announce our Official sponsorship of the new women’s Cycling Team – Team Jadan.
When I met the women on the team I knew they had the right attitude and mindset that I like to see in sportswomen. Cycling Shorts had to be involved!
I’m really impressed with the team’s attitude towards promoting women’s racing to all levels of riders. They are a great group of strong focused women. The team are out to prove you can have a family, career and study but still be part of a structured cycling team. As we all know the cycling world is male dominated and it’s a place where women are still not given equal standing, it needs these ladies to shake it up a bit from the grassroots!
I should also point out we have a vested interest because our Sub-Editor (and women’s cycling game changer) Heather Bamforth will be one of the team’s key riders this season. So no pressure Heather!
Team Jadan is the brainchild of Victoria Hood who believes that the perception of what women of all levels can achieve in cycle road racing needs to be changed.
The concept behind the team is to provide a stepping stone for women to progress through the racing categories, keeping the experience friendly and supportive. The goal of the team is to break down the barriers for non-elite riders and to prove that road racing is accessible for women and that they have other options than just breeze rides and charity events if they want to gain more experience.
This year’s team is made up of a variety of levels of experience, all very strong cyclists in their own right, but the riders have also been selected for their attitude and because they are good ambassadors and role models for women’s road cycling. Team Jadan are here to prove you can have a full time job and family life as well as competing at a high level in what is a tough competitive sport.
The team will play a key role in the new Yorkshire Women’s Road Race Series (promoted by Victoria Hood) and the successful CDNW RR League (promoted by Team Jadan rider Heather Bamforth), both of which exist to provide a springboard for women’s cycling talent without the intimidating atmosphere of some of the traditional events on the race calendar.
When Victoria was looking for sponsors she chose the more continental style of sponsorship by including local businesses as well as international sports brands. The principal sponsor is Jadan Press, a Hull-based digital printers. The owner Pam Wainman was approached by Victoria and the two clicked immediately. Pam’s mother was a keen cyclist in the 1950’s and she sadly passed away just before Pam and Victoria met. When Pam heard Victoria’s plans for a women’s cycling team to encourage development of riders she decided she had to be part of it, “I know my mum would have been proud of the girls”.
The Sports brands on board are: Bioracer UK who provide the women’s team kit.
Cycling Shorts an online cycling magazine who are providing the team’s website and PR. Torq Fitness provides the team with performance nutrition products. Vankru Cycling have fitted the team’s bikes.
Cycling Photographer Chris Maher who is the team’s official photographer.
Yorkshire Sponsors: Jadan Press – Printers. Neil Thompson Strength & Fitness a personal Trainer – Neil wants to promote strength training for women as it helps fight off osteoporosis. Riley’s – a designer clothes retailer in Beverley. Prestige – an East Yorkshire company specialising in damp proofing, fire and flood restoration. Hugh Rice Jewellers – A Jewellery retailer with stores across the North of England.
The team aims to give back to its sponsors too. The team will all write about their training and racing experiences during the season. Through the www.TeamJadan.com website, sponsors are also encouraged to share their latest news.
The team is packed with personality, with different skills and backgrounds; A-level students, trainee teachers, mums and career women. They are out to prove that women can be involved in cycling with the same level of commitment and professionalism as their male counterparts, organising themselves as a dedicated competitive team with quality sponsors.
Meet the team: Victoria Hood – Team Captain – East Yorkshire
Victoria is a qualified ride leader and an NSI cycle instructor.
“The team I have is amazing they are all really strong riders but the important thing to me was that they had to be friendly and approachable, cycling is tough but it doesn’t mean you can’t have fun at the same time as racing. I want to promote women’s cycling, make it more accessible and help to bring more girls into the sport.”
Heather Bamforth – Manchester
Heather has over 20 years’ experience of cycling, and has raced at both national and international level on the road in the past. A qualified cycling coach, Heather has proved to be one of the key people in bringing about a change to women’s competitive cycling by making it appealing to all levels of female cyclist.
“Victoria asked me to join the team as she wanted to set up a similar level of racing in Yorkshire to what I helped to instigate in the North West. 2014 sees the inaugural Yorkshire Women’s Road Race Series which I hope will prove to be as successful as the North West races. I am looking forward to being part of the team and we have a beautiful kit from Bioracer, which definitely helps us look the part!”
Olivia Tomlinson – East Yorkshire
Olivia is the youngest member of the team and is in her first year as a senior rider. Olivia had some great results last season and is looking to build on her success last year.
“I have been riding since I was 14 – I took part in a local club’s time trials and joined in on their Sunday rides. When I was 16 I began to enter races and really enjoyed taking part in the events. For this year’s season I am looking forward to racing in a women s team, I’m hoping to progress and learn from the other more experienced team members”.
Annabel Sill – Hertfordshire
Annabel has been riding for 6 years. “Cycling and racing has been a big part of my life since university, and my current housemates put up with me having four bikes in the house and a turbo in the corner of the kitchen. I’ve been time trialling for five years, and started doing a mix of crits, road races and TTs in the 2013 season – and that’s how I met Victoria, she asked if I would like to join the team. I’m keen to promote women’s racing and I’m currently doing a British Cycling Level 2 Coaching course to help bring on youth and junior girls at my cycling club Welwyn Wheelers. I’m really looking forward to building on my strengths, and being able to race with and support the other girls on the team this year!”
Lauren Brown – Carlisle
Lauren is a feisty rider, who has a number of local victories under her belt over the last few seasons.
“Having raced for Abergavenny WCT last season, I’m looking forward to racing with the girls in National Series events and the CDNW women’s road race league and the new Yorkshire road race league. I’m from a sprint and track background then two years ago I switched to road. I’m a Level 2 British Cycling Coach and I help little kids improve their skills… well I certainly hope I do!”
Frankie White – Manchester
“I’m very much looking forward to racing in the UK and beyond with this lovely group of ladies. We have a great mix of characters on this team, each inspiring me to work hard and develop as a rider. I really enjoyed our first training camp in FebruaryI much prefer the long races, 3 hours is good for me, I’m the complete opposite to Lauren, she’s really good at 1 hour long crits. I find it’s not nearly enough for my style of racing, I love the endurance.”
Sam Thoy – Lincolnshire
Sam has been racing cyclocross through the winter, with 5 wins under her belt so far – a latecomer to cycling but with a fell running background she’s a very strong athlete.
Sam said “I am looking forward to this year, with our team doing some proper damage at the national team series events. I also fancy trying the round town circuit races and there is a race up Alpe d’Huez that I must do! I just love biking and racing, why did I not discover it earlier!”
With a history steeped in textile spinning, Sportful was founded in Italy in 1942 as an undergarments manufacturer, before developing its first cycling specific garments in 1985. Come 2002, Cipollini rode to become World Champion, one of the Italian cycling team members to be wearing Sportful kit in the professional peloton for the first time. It’s fair to say, the 60 years of working with professional athletes and distributors is testament to the quality of their products. And this year’s range looks to set the benchmark even higher.
I’ve heard raving reviews about Sportful from various different cyclists and when looking for new kit for the coming season their designs seemed to stand off the page with some pretty impressive supporting statements. With distinctive white, black and orange bursts of colour, I was excited by the idea that I may finally stand out on the Sunday club run. Plus, with a statement as bold as Developed by Women, for Women, I can’t possibly go wrong.
4mm layer of Poron – does my bum look big in this?
The first thing I noticed on unpacking the BodyFit Pro kit, was the attention to detail. Developed by Italian garments designer Linda Bellio, this year’s kit really is designed by a woman for women. Breaking the pieces down, Linda and Sportful have looked at every element and individual panel in a bid to make the ‘best performing kit’ for women on the market. Forget the ‘pink and shrink’ strategy, with insight from their sponsored Women’s team, ASD Top Girls, Sportful really have developed a kit to suit our womenly bodies.
The BodyFit Pro technology uses the same ergonomic lightweight materials as ridden by the Tinkoff Saxo team. The bibs have straps like no others I’ve seen before. With a flat no-seam design and elasticated flex, they mold perfectly to the body whether you’re on the bike or stopped for a coffee. Plus, a bonus to the flat-flex design means they fit perfectly around the bust for seamless aerodynamics (I could probably do with loosing the bust if we’re to really talk aero!)
The same BodyFit Pro technology is again bought into the leg with AeroFlow, to provide a tight compression fitting that supports the muscles.
Moving further down the body to an area I have the majority of my problems with when buying comfortable kit, I notice quite a thick padding on the sit bone area of the chamois (con), but a highly flexible middle section (pro). Although they felt rather tight, these proved extremely comfortable. According to Sportful, the Infinity Seat Pad features progressive damping with softer foam on the top surface, medium foam in the middle, and in the most important sitting area, a special 4mm layer of Poron that gives shock absorption and is lightweight, breathable, and avoids heat build-up. I didn’t feel as sweaty as I normally would at the end of a ride, but only warmer weather and a longer session will prove this.
AirMesh one piece shoulders with raw cut sleeves
Both the bibs and the jersey feature seamless, non-grip, raw-cut edge sleeves and legs. Every cyclist has a preference, but with a slightly bulkier thigh, there’s no chance of the horrible ‘sausage’ effect or irritation, yet enough natural grip in the fabric to stay in place for those crisp tan lines. Lovely!
Both the jersey and bibs have clearly been designed for the warmer weather, featuring a breathable AirMesh in the single-piece shoulders and underarm of the jersey and the sleeves of the bibs for maximum airflow . This not only helps keep the body temperature down, but also makes for an extremely soft feel on the skin, yet with holes small enough to not appear see-through (and hopefully protect from a”Froome-tan“).
The only silicone grippers you’ll find on the kit is on the base of jersey, helping keep three full back pockets in check whilst on the bike.
All over, this kit is comfortable, looks and feels great on, and it performs. Definitely not cheap, every bit of kit is designed for perfection and well worth the investment.
Cycling Shorts gives the Sportful BodyFit Pro range a Star Buy rating of 95%
Hayley Davies
Writer
Riding since Feb 2011 Hayley is a 30 year old female who loves adventures. If she’s not on one of her many bikes or in the water on a bodyboard/surfboard, then Hayley is probably out looking for something new to keep the adrenaline pumping! Website: www.hjdonline.co.uk
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Matt Fitzgerald and Georgie Fear have come together to produce ‘The Racing Weight Cookbook for Athletes’. This book is aimed at endurance athletes, giving you the tools and knowledge to improve your diet, to fuel performance for training and racing. It’s all about obtaining your optimal racing weight through healthy eating, within the requirements of your bodies needs. It explains that conventional diets are no good for endurance athletes.
This book is really good for those of us who have never managed to stick to a diet for longer than a few weeks, that’s because it is not a diet book. It gives you lots of tips and tricks to get the energy you need without overeating, tips for swapping foods and best of all, lots of recipes. It looks at how many carbohydrates your body needs, dependant on your weight and the amount of hours you are training for. There is also a handy table that can help you score the quality of the food you are currently eating. It’s very easy to follow, which was great for me as I do tend to get bored very quickly.
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