MAKE THE MOST OF GOING SOLO

Lockdown rules oblige us to ride alone, which might seem sad and lonely, but also opens up big opportunities. Hannah Reynolds explores the many benefits of 'flying solo'

- Hannah Reynolds

Though you might enjoy riding solo under normal circumstances and spend a large part of your training – through choice or necessity – on your own, it feels different when it’s compulsory. Many of us are missing the buzz of competition, whether racing or just sprinting mates for a town sign, as well as the sociability and chat of group rides. Even so, enforced solo riding offers some real benefits – and I want to explore how to make the most of them.

Lockdown has narrowed our focus in ways that are not altogether pleasant but which can be turned to your advantage. Without the distraction of racing and group rides, you have a chance to create a truly individualised and effective training plan. One of the key components of individualised training is working to carefully prescribed and calculated training zones.

Now that most of us have power meters and/or heart rate monitors, we can really pinpoint our effort level and ensure our riding remains in the correct zones for making maximum fitness gains – specificity that doesn’t work as well in a group setting. Cycling Weekly’s Michael Hutchinson, as a former national time trial champion, spent a lot of his career racing and riding alone, through choice, because of its benefits.

“Using a power meter, you quickly realise group riding doesn’t work,” says Hutchinson, “even if the speed of the group remains constant, your power can be wildly different depending if you are on the front or sat in at the back.”