Medical professionals consistently recommend a well balanced diet and regular exercise as a prerequisite for good health. Regardless of ones primary motivation for cycling, an ancillary motivation was invariably the perceived health benefits associated with the sport. To those outside the cocoon that is the cycling world we are some of the healthiest people they know; those enveloped within the community know the real story.
It is a Tuesday morning, I have just finished a grueling two hour training spin with plenty of threshold work. From the moment I left my house to the moment I 'bunny hopped' the curb of my driveway and returned home, it rained. As soon as I get in the door my mind changes focus, it's no longer about braving the elements or wattage, the focus has shifted onto recovery. The usual routine begins - it's almost automatic at this stage. Recovery drink, shower, compression clothes and some good quality carbohydrates and protein. Time is at a premium when doing sessions before class so efficiency is essential.
I don't have a car and there is no way I am getting back into cycling gear for a fifteen minute commute into college so I opt for public transport. The rain has eased off somewhat, the sun is beginning to break through the clouds and the commuters seem oblivious to the conditions I have endured that morning. I sit on the crowded bus, dressed for weather ten degrees colder than that which I am currently faced with. I hear coughing and sneezing coming from the seats adjacent to mine, I immediately move to cover my face with my scarf -but in a way which disguises my insanity. I am a hypochondriac. This is the reality of cycling, a sport which is perceived to augment your health has an diametrically different effect; the immune system is so suppressed from the volume and intensity of training forced upon it that it is incapable of repelling infection.
The line between health and sickness is one which is increasingly blurred for competitive cyclists'. The Ras will test not only athletes' fitness levels but also there ability to deal with the suppressed immune system. Over time one develops unique, personal ways of promoting recovery and optimizing performance in latter days - all of these will be tested to the limit in a weeks time.
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