ARCC Ladies
26/2/10 – £1 million Sportsrelief bike ride
The BT Sport Relief Million Pound Bike Ride team have been gearing up for their big challenge by undergoing a training session at Hillingdon cycle circuit with trainer Greg Whyte.
David Walliams, Fearne Cotton, Davina McCall, Patrick Kielty and Miranda Hart were put through their paces at the circuit session in preparation for their non-stop relay from John O’Groats to Land’s End. The team are hoping to raise a whopping £1 million for Sport Relief in completing this mighty feat.
The team will be setting off from John O’Groats and it will be approximately 80 gruelling hours of nonstop cycling before they reach Land’s End. They will have to battle the elements at all hours of the day as they each take turns to cycle through wind, rain, and rough terrain in order to cover the 1000 miles and try to reach their massive £1 million target. Each celebrity will take turns cycling while the others cheer them on from the tour bus, their home for four days.
To sponsor the team and help them reach their fundraising goal, go to www.sportrelief.com
19/2/10 – 13,000 miles (a mere 325 trips to Chearsley and back!!!)
Mark Beaumont yesterday celebrated the end of nine gruelling months cycling the Americas. After completing his 
266-day journey from northern Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina, the 27-year-old Scot admitted he was ecstatic and emotional. Mark is the first person to climb the two highest mountains in the Americas and cycle between them in a single season. He began his epic journey in Alaska on May 29, 2009, where he climbed 20,000ft Mount McKinley.
The first part of The Man Who Cycled The Americas will be shown on Tuesday, March 23, at 10.35pm on BBC1.
13/2/10 Buying a bike?
Women are built differently. On average, we have shorter torsos, shorter arms, and longer legs than a man of the same height. Our hands and feet are smaller, our shoulders are narrower and our hips are wider.
What makes a bike Women’s Specific Design (WSD)?
Different bike manufacturers, have different approaches to WSD. Some modify a stock “unisex” frame by changing to a shorter stem, smaller handlebars, shorter cranks, and a wider saddle. Others take a more comprehensive approach, actually designing their WSD frames differently – often with a shorter top tube, a more relaxed head tube angle, a taller head tube, and perhaps a slightly steeper seat tube angle.
Shortening the top tube decreases the reach between the saddle and the handlebars – the most common problem for female cyclists due to our shorter torsos. Just shortening the top tube, though, can lead to other problems – less stable handling and increased toe overlap – unless other modifications are made. Relaxing the head tube angle slightly moves the front wheel further forward, so that toe overlap is less likely. A relaxed head tube angle also lengthens the wheelbase slightly, which makes for more stable steering. A taller head tube and steeper seat angle make it easier to accomplish a shorter top tube – minimizing toe overlap and at the same time increasing comfort by reducing neck and upper body strain (taller head tube), and taking advantage of a woman’s longer femurs (steeper seat angle).
Besides frame geometry, many other modifications can be made to a bicycle to make it more user-friendly for a woman:
- the handlebars can be smaller (narrower, shallower drop, and shorter reach) and the stem can be shorter and/or more upright, to further reduce the reach to the bars
- the brakes and shifters can be sized for smaller hands
- the saddle can be wider in the rear to accommodate a woman’s wider sit bones and perhaps have a cutout to prevent soft tissue damage.
- the weight and stiffness of the materials used can be altered to better suit a lighter-weight rider
- and of course the bike can be painted in a different colour eg pink or purple!
6/2/10 New Year Resolutions…
Did all those good intentions to get on your bike and to eat more healthily get buried in the snow? Chinese New Year starts on 14 February 2010 so I will be re-starting my New Year Resolutions – 1) Get on bike/turbo trainer 2) Eat less chocolate 3) Drink aloe vera gel everyday. A friend nagged me to put the third one on the list and gave me numerous bottles of aloe vera gel which can be found lurking at the back of my fridge. Allegedly it will cleanse my colon, boost my immune system and minimise any cycling-related aches and pains due to its anti-inflammatory properties! Worth a go I suppose – surely it can’t taste worse than sports gels?????
23/01/10 Back on the bike, back to healthy eating!
Seared tuna with Moroccan quinoa
Why it’s good: Tuna provides plenty of lean protein and omega 3 fats – great for reducing inflammation and aiding recovery – plus creatine, an essential muscle building ingredient. Quinoa has a good mix of carbohydrates, fibre and protein to aid refuelling of glycogen stores. The added vegetables and herbs provide a wealth of vitamins including antioxidants beta-carotene, vitamin C and E, and zinc, all important for quenching free radicals generated during training, preventing muscle soreness and aiding repair.
Nutritional information: Per serving: calories 489kcal, protein 34.4g, carbohydrate 27.9g, total fat 27.4g of which saturates 4.4g, fibre 1g
Ingredients – tuna (serves four)
- 4 tuna fillets about 115g/4oz each
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- Pinch of fresh oregano
Ingredients – quinoa
- 180g/6oz quinoa
- 500ml/16 fl oz vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion, diced
- 1 tsp each ground cumin and coriander
- Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
- Half a red pepper, diced
- Large handful of pitted olives
- 2 tbsp each chopped fresh coriander and mint
- 1 preserved lemon, rinsed and chopped, rind only
Method
- Mix the olive oil, lemon juice and garlic, and pour half over the tuna. Marinate for 30 minutes.
- Place the quinoa in a pan with the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil then simmer, covered, over a very low heat for 15 minutes.
- Leave to stand for 5 minutes, then fluff up with a fork. Set aside to cool.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and spices, and sauté for 2 minutes until soft. Stir the onion mixture into the cooled quinoa and fluff up with a fork. Add the remaining ingredients.
- Preheat a griddle pan or use a barbecue. Sear the tuna on each side for 1-2 minutes. Remove and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Pile the quinoa onto plates and top with the tuna. Drizzle over the remaining marinade.
22/01/10 While the rest of us were eating Christmas dinner ….
“The success I’ve had is a curse as well as a blessing because you try to live by a standard which you can never achieve” says Victoria Pendleton.
Yet it is the quest for perfection in everything she does, in the gym, on the track, which is the trait Pendleton identifies for her success. And the hard work. She was on her indoor turbo trainer for several hours on Christmas Day because it was too snowy to go for a ride.
She says: “I don’t think I’ve ever been close to perfection. And that’s good because there is always room for improvement. It upsets me if I’m late or underprepared. I’m always making a mental note ‘Must try harder’.”
24/11/09 – Potholes, potholes everywhere!
No surprises here but according to fillthathole.org.uk, Buckinghamshire Highways Authority ranks 147 out of 211 in terms of fixing road defects. Don’t leave it to someone else, why not report any potholes you find on your travels to Buckinghamshire County Council using the interactive maps on the “Highways on Call” pages of their website: http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/sites/bcc/a_to_z/a_to_z.page
18/11/09 – Cycling with ARCC
If you are considering joining a cycling club why not give ARCC a go and come along to a club ride? Vanessa who joined us on a recent steady ride said “I had a great first ride, everyone was incredibly friendly and we had a lot of fun!” Our steady rides cover a distance of around 40 miles so if you are fairly new to cycling and want to build up your confidence with a shorter ride get in touch and I will let you know when we organise a ladies-only ride.
Contact Rachelle on 07946 222159 or via email rachelle@amershamrcc.com for more information.
31/10/09 – Pedalling in Pink
When ARCC published an article in the local paper saying they welcomed beginners I’m sure they hadn’t anticipated someone who had hardly ever cycled turning up on a folding bike! I’m not sure who was more shocked – the group of lycra-clad men who were waiting at Annie Bailey’s to start the club ride or me. They were very supportive and a couple of weeks later I was going along to weekend club rides on a new road bike.
Starting in the Autumn made life more difficult but most weekends I found myself dragging myself from under the duvet and joined the steady (???) ride. I found it a hard slog as I was constantly at the back of the pack with the other riders taking it in turns to drop back and keep me company. I huffed and puffed my way up all the hills stopping every time I decide I couldn’t breathe anymore. Everything other club members took for granted was a challenge to me – changing gears, descending, removing my water bottle from its holder – and the thought of using cleats was totally terrifying.
Well one year one and amazingly the bike hasn’t been consigned to a corner of the garage. In that time, I’ve plucked up the courage to use cleats and to wear lycra, been to a cycling training camp (tortuous mountains in 20 degrees) in Spain, been on a cycling holiday (tortuous mountains in 40 degrees) in Italy and been on the club cycling weekend to Stratford-upon-Avon. As you can tell joining ARCC has been a life changing event and I am totally hooked.
If you’ve ever thought about joining a cycling club why not come and try out a few weekend rides. You never know you may find yourself joining the increasing number of female members in ARCC.
For more information or advice please contact me at rachelle@amershamrcc.com or on 07946 222159.
Food for thought for existing or potential “Amersham Cake-Eaters”
It would seem that anti-inflammatory diets have taken the cycling world by storm. The Garmin-Slipstream team have been using these plans to improve their recovery from hard training bouts and to allow their bodies to endure the successive days of hard riding required of them. It seems cycling teams have lived on wheat-based foods for many years as their staple food, arriving at hotels to be greeted with trays of pasta selections and large quantities of bread to fill up on.
They made the change from wheat-based products, due to their association with increased markers of inflammation in the body, to oat-based foods, and reduced consumption of red meats, which are also associated with increased inflammation, by substituting white meats and lots of fish. This diet is far removed from the high carbohydrate pizza and pasta-based feasts that many endurance athletes select in the belief that they are effectively refuelling for their next training session.
Feeling that too many sugary foods were being consumed on the bike which could have been increasing inflammation, Dr Lim recommended the riders switch to rice cakes, made from rice, vegetables and eggs, with sweet and savoury options for added variety, that are made up pre-ride/race and handed to the riders en-route. The rice will deliver sustained energy, eggs provide protein, and bacon, ham and the other selected savoury ingredients are adding further protein and assisting the replenishment of salts that will have been lost in sweat during training.
Dr. Lim’s Rice Cake recipe
1 cup of sushi rice cooked
3 eggs, scrambled and cooked in olive oil
Bacon or Ham (add all together and mix)
Other ingredients as desired, selected from:
Parmesan
Liquid Amino’s
Salt
Soy Sauce
Honey
Fruit
These ingredients are cooked, mixed and packed into a flat tin. Once cooled, they produce a sticky mixture that is easy to section into small portions, wrap in foil and consume on the go.
An abridged version of an article in Cycling Weekly UK on 9 April 2009 - www.cyclingweekly.co.uk
or alternatively you could just stick with the cake option ….
Chocolate Marbled Energy Bars as featured on the recent club weekend to Stratford-upon-Avon. (Adaptation of a Delia recipe)
Makes 16
Ingredients
5 oz (150 g) dark chocolate (75% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
5 oz (150 g) luxury Belgian white chocolate, broken into small pieces
100g chopped toasted hazelnuts – please note this recipe contains nuts 
4 oz (110 g) ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped into small pieces
5 oz (150 g) organic porridge oats
1 oz (25 g) Rice Krispies
1 oz (25 g) Bran Flakes, lightly crushed
3 oz (75 g) cranberries
1 teaspoon molasses syrup
5fl oz (150 ml) whole condensed milk
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C).
You will also need a nonstick oblong baking tin, measuring 6 x 10 in (15 x 25.5 cm) and 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep.
In a large bowl mix together the oats, Rice Krispies, Bran Flakes, apricots, hazelnuts and cranberries. Then, in a small saucepan, heat the molasses syrup and condensed milk until warm and thoroughly blended and pour this mixture into the bowl. Mix it all well with a wooden spoon, then simply tip the mixture into the baking tin, press it down evenly all over and bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown. After that leave it to get quite cold.
Meanwhile, melt the white and dark chocolate separately in heatproof bowls set over pans of barely simmering water, making sure the bowls don’t touch the water. When the cereal mixture has cooled, loosen the edges with a palette knife and turn it out upside down on to a board. Now, using a tablespoon, put spoonfuls of the plain chocolate all over the top of the cereal cake, leaving space in between. Then do the same with the white chocolate, but this time fill up the gaps. Next take a small palette knife and, using a zigzag motion, swirl the two chocolates together to give a marbled effect. Then lift the board and gently tap it down on to the work surface to create a smooth finish. Chill it in the fridge for about 1 hour, then use a sharp knife to cut it into 16 bars. Eat, Enjoy, Cycle 
.
ARCC Ladies
26/2/10 – £1 million Sportsrelief bike ride
The BT Sport Relief Million Pound Bike Ride team have been gearing up for their big challenge by undergoing a training session at Hillingdon cycle circuit with trainer Greg Whyte.
David Walliams, Fearne Cotton, Davina McCall, Patrick Kielty and Miranda Hart were put through their paces at the circuit session in preparation for their non-stop relay from John O’Groats to Land’s End. The team are hoping to raise a whopping £1 million for Sport Relief in completing this mighty feat.
The team will be setting off from John O’Groats and it will be approximately 80 gruelling hours of nonstop cycling before they reach Land’s End. They will have to battle the elements at all hours of the day as they each take turns to cycle through wind, rain, and rough terrain in order to cover the 1000 miles and try to reach their massive £1 million target. Each celebrity will take turns cycling while the others cheer them on from the tour bus, their home for four days.
To sponsor the team and help them reach their fundraising goal, go to www.sportrelief.com
19/2/10 – 13,000 miles (a mere 325 trips to Chearsley and back!!!)
Mark Beaumont yesterday celebrated the end of nine gruelling months cycling the Americas. After completing his
266-day journey from northern Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina, the 27-year-old Scot admitted he was ecstatic and emotional. Mark is the first person to climb the two highest mountains in the Americas and cycle between them in a single season. He began his epic journey in Alaska on May 29, 2009, where he climbed 20,000ft Mount McKinley.
The first part of The Man Who Cycled The Americas will be shown on Tuesday, March 23, at 10.35pm on BBC1.
13/2/10 Buying a bike?
What makes a bike Women’s Specific Design (WSD)?
Different bike manufacturers, have different approaches to WSD. Some modify a stock “unisex” frame by changing to a shorter stem, smaller handlebars, shorter cranks, and a wider saddle. Others take a more comprehensive approach, actually designing their WSD frames differently – often with a shorter top tube, a more relaxed head tube angle, a taller head tube, and perhaps a slightly steeper seat tube angle.
- the handlebars can be smaller (narrower, shallower drop, and shorter reach) and the stem can be shorter and/or more upright, to further reduce the reach to the bars
- the brakes and shifters can be sized for smaller hands
- the saddle can be wider in the rear to accommodate a woman’s wider sit bones and perhaps have a cutout to prevent soft tissue damage.
- the weight and stiffness of the materials used can be altered to better suit a lighter-weight rider
- and of course the bike can be painted in a different colour eg pink or purple!
6/2/10 New Year Resolutions…
23/01/10 Back on the bike, back to healthy eating!
Why it’s good: Tuna provides plenty of lean protein and omega 3 fats – great for reducing inflammation and aiding recovery – plus creatine, an essential muscle building ingredient. Quinoa has a good mix of carbohydrates, fibre and protein to aid refuelling of glycogen stores. The added vegetables and herbs provide a wealth of vitamins including antioxidants beta-carotene, vitamin C and E, and zinc, all important for quenching free radicals generated during training, preventing muscle soreness and aiding repair.
Nutritional information: Per serving: calories 489kcal, protein 34.4g, carbohydrate 27.9g, total fat 27.4g of which saturates 4.4g, fibre 1g
Ingredients – tuna (serves four)
Ingredients – quinoa
Method
22/01/10 While the rest of us were eating Christmas dinner ….
“The success I’ve had is a curse as well as a blessing because you try to live by a standard which you can never achieve” says Victoria Pendleton.
Yet it is the quest for perfection in everything she does, in the gym, on the track, which is the trait Pendleton identifies for her success. And the hard work. She was on her indoor turbo trainer for several hours on Christmas Day because it was too snowy to go for a ride.
She says: “I don’t think I’ve ever been close to perfection. And that’s good because there is always room for improvement. It upsets me if I’m late or underprepared. I’m always making a mental note ‘Must try harder’.”
24/11/09 – Potholes, potholes everywhere!
No surprises here but according to fillthathole.org.uk, Buckinghamshire Highways Authority ranks 147 out of 211 in terms of fixing road defects. Don’t leave it to someone else, why not report any potholes you find on your travels to Buckinghamshire County Council using the interactive maps on the “Highways on Call” pages of their website: http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/sites/bcc/a_to_z/a_to_z.page
18/11/09 – Cycling with ARCC
If you are considering joining a cycling club why not give ARCC a go and come along to a club ride? Vanessa who joined us on a recent steady ride said “I had a great first ride, everyone was incredibly friendly and we had a lot of fun!” Our steady rides cover a distance of around 40 miles so if you are fairly new to cycling and want to build up your confidence with a shorter ride get in touch and I will let you know when we organise a ladies-only ride.
Contact Rachelle on 07946 222159 or via email rachelle@amershamrcc.com for more information.
31/10/09 – Pedalling in Pink
When ARCC published an article in the local paper saying they welcomed beginners I’m sure they hadn’t anticipated someone who had hardly ever cycled turning up on a folding bike! I’m not sure who was more shocked – the group of lycra-clad men who were waiting at Annie Bailey’s to start the club ride or me. They were very supportive and a couple of weeks later I was going along to weekend club rides on a new road bike.
Starting in the Autumn made life more difficult but most weekends I found myself dragging myself from under the duvet and joined the steady (???) ride. I found it a hard slog as I was constantly at the back of the pack with the other riders taking it in turns to drop back and keep me company. I huffed and puffed my way up all the hills stopping every time I decide I couldn’t breathe anymore. Everything other club members took for granted was a challenge to me – changing gears, descending, removing my water bottle from its holder – and the thought of using cleats was totally terrifying.
Well one year one and amazingly the bike hasn’t been consigned to a corner of the garage. In that time, I’ve plucked up the courage to use cleats and to wear lycra, been to a cycling training camp (tortuous mountains in 20 degrees) in Spain, been on a cycling holiday (tortuous mountains in 40 degrees) in Italy and been on the club cycling weekend to Stratford-upon-Avon. As you can tell joining ARCC has been a life changing event and I am totally hooked.
If you’ve ever thought about joining a cycling club why not come and try out a few weekend rides. You never know you may find yourself joining the increasing number of female members in ARCC.
For more information or advice please contact me at rachelle@amershamrcc.com or on 07946 222159.
Food for thought for existing or potential “Amersham Cake-Eaters”
It would seem that anti-inflammatory diets have taken the cycling world by storm. The Garmin-Slipstream team have been using these plans to improve their recovery from hard training bouts and to allow their bodies to endure the successive days of hard riding required of them. It seems cycling teams have lived on wheat-based foods for many years as their staple food, arriving at hotels to be greeted with trays of pasta selections and large quantities of bread to fill up on.
They made the change from wheat-based products, due to their association with increased markers of inflammation in the body, to oat-based foods, and reduced consumption of red meats, which are also associated with increased inflammation, by substituting white meats and lots of fish. This diet is far removed from the high carbohydrate pizza and pasta-based feasts that many endurance athletes select in the belief that they are effectively refuelling for their next training session.
Feeling that too many sugary foods were being consumed on the bike which could have been increasing inflammation, Dr Lim recommended the riders switch to rice cakes, made from rice, vegetables and eggs, with sweet and savoury options for added variety, that are made up pre-ride/race and handed to the riders en-route. The rice will deliver sustained energy, eggs provide protein, and bacon, ham and the other selected savoury ingredients are adding further protein and assisting the replenishment of salts that will have been lost in sweat during training.
Dr. Lim’s Rice Cake recipe
1 cup of sushi rice cooked
3 eggs, scrambled and cooked in olive oil
Bacon or Ham (add all together and mix)
Other ingredients as desired, selected from:
Parmesan
Liquid Amino’s
Salt
Soy Sauce
Honey
Fruit
These ingredients are cooked, mixed and packed into a flat tin. Once cooled, they produce a sticky mixture that is easy to section into small portions, wrap in foil and consume on the go.
An abridged version of an article in Cycling Weekly UK on 9 April 2009 - www.cyclingweekly.co.uk
or alternatively you could just stick with the cake option ….
Chocolate Marbled Energy Bars as featured on the recent club weekend to Stratford-upon-Avon. (Adaptation of a Delia recipe)
Makes 16
Ingredients
5 oz (150 g) dark chocolate (75% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
5 oz (150 g) luxury Belgian white chocolate, broken into small pieces
100g chopped toasted hazelnuts – please note this recipe contains nuts
4 oz (110 g) ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped into small pieces
5 oz (150 g) organic porridge oats
1 oz (25 g) Rice Krispies
1 oz (25 g) Bran Flakes, lightly crushed
3 oz (75 g) cranberries
1 teaspoon molasses syrup
5fl oz (150 ml) whole condensed milk
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C).
You will also need a nonstick oblong baking tin, measuring 6 x 10 in (15 x 25.5 cm) and 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep.
In a large bowl mix together the oats, Rice Krispies, Bran Flakes, apricots, hazelnuts and cranberries. Then, in a small saucepan, heat the molasses syrup and condensed milk until warm and thoroughly blended and pour this mixture into the bowl. Mix it all well with a wooden spoon, then simply tip the mixture into the baking tin, press it down evenly all over and bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown. After that leave it to get quite cold.
Meanwhile, melt the white and dark chocolate separately in heatproof bowls set over pans of barely simmering water, making sure the bowls don’t touch the water. When the cereal mixture has cooled, loosen the edges with a palette knife and turn it out upside down on to a board. Now, using a tablespoon, put spoonfuls of the plain chocolate all over the top of the cereal cake, leaving space in between. Then do the same with the white chocolate, but this time fill up the gaps. Next take a small palette knife and, using a zigzag motion, swirl the two chocolates together to give a marbled effect. Then lift the board and gently tap it down on to the work surface to create a smooth finish. Chill it in the fridge for about 1 hour, then use a sharp knife to cut it into 16 bars. Eat, Enjoy, Cycle