 In this video, myself and the BMC team machine SLRO1 wanted to share with you how we've been preparing for a 267 kilometer bike race happening on the 15th of February. So very shortly, it's called the Melbourne Abortable and apparently it's the second oldest one day bike race in the world. Now we're gonna break this video into five main parts. Number one, we're gonna talk about the machine that I've chosen. Number two, the support I need to complete the race. Number three, the training required to ensure I can perform well. Number four, the nutrition. And number five, what is the end goal? So why am I doing this race when deep down over the years I've sort of become more of a crypt pick than anything else. But before we talk about these five key things, I wanted to quickly apologize for my lack of content in February. As many of you will know who follow the channel, if you watch the Caleb Ewan video, you will have heard me talking about a new channel format from February onwards. And truth is, I've had some personal things arise in my life and they've become the number one priority. Having said that, when I get back from Melbourne Abortable late February, we'll be implementing a new channel format which looks like training tips on Wednesdays, which includes gear reviews and a vlog style video on Fridays. This is Wednesday, Friday, Australia time, where I can share with you all the craziness of riding and racing a bike and having a young family. Albeit, the girls are growing up super quick now, grade four and grade one this year. So maybe not so young family after all. So the first thing that I wanted to talk to you about is the bike that I'm choosing, the race machine. Now, many of you who follow the channel, you will know that I purchased this machine recently. With a few agendas in mind. Number one, I wanna review this road bike for you and I'm gonna be comparing it to the giant TCR. But one of the key characteristics why I could justify buying this bike in preparation for the Melbourne Abortable is comfort is a key characteristic for an all-round race bike. It's one of the more comfortable bikes on the market from what I've been told. So I was keen to experience that. And I guess when you're talking about riding a bike 50 to 100 kilometers and it's an all-round race bike, comfort is important, but is it the most important feature? Probably not. But if you are racing your bike, if you are sitting on your bike for seven hours, I could arguably say that comfort becomes the number one priority. Not only are you gonna spend all that time on the bike during the race, but also in training leading into the event. And let me tell you, I've noticed some significant benefits of training on the BMC for long hours, over say the giant TCR and the Chapter 2 rare-a. Neck and shoulder stiffness, lower back complaints have pretty much been completely alleviated since I've been training on the BMC team machine in preparation for the Melbourne Abortable. Additionally, I've taken the BMC to a specialist bike fitter to ensure I'm sitting on it properly with a focus on a comfortable position for the Melbourne Abortable. I've purchased a set of second hand, MV 3.4 clincher wheels for $1,200 AUD, or that's $800 USD, to ensure I've got both speed and weight on my side. And my friends at Trilogy Cycles will be taking the power meter off the giant TCR and placing it on the BMC so I can share all my numbers with you during the Melbourne Abortable bike race. So I sit here very happy with my race machine for the Melbourne Abortable as we speak. The second thing is support for the race. And the first thing that I needed to do was to sit down with my life partner, my wife, Alice, and ask for her support. Now, when I sat down with her, I was pretty confident that she wasn't listening to a word that was coming out of my mouth. But I needed to confirm, number one, there's dates and availability for me to be away for the weekend. Number two, set the expectation surrounding training requirements over a 10-week period. And number three, I concluded the conversation with a simple request for a blowjob later that evening. But as I thought, she wasn't listening. The second part to support is the on-road support that I will need during the race. Now, I'm very fortunate that I am friends with the owner of Inform Team Insight Make. They're a national road series team and they're going to be at the event with cars, people in feed stations, et cetera. And I reached out to them and asked if I could kindly use their support infrastructure during the race to be properly hydrated, fed. And if anything happened to the bike, any technical support, and they gave me a thumbs up. So thank you very much to Camer Kim and Pat Lane and the team at Inform Team Insight Make for your support for the race. So number three is the training. A very important factor out of the five things that I'm going through here. And the first thing that we need to look at is the race itself. That will take roughly, let's call it, seven hours. From the research that I've done and from what I've been told, pending weather conditions, the first one to two hours will be solid before a breakaway forms. And the last 60, 90 minutes, maybe a bit longer, you just never know, you will also potentially be on the pedals hard. There's also a small hill climb towards the end of the race, which apparently destroys part of the field because of the fatigue riders have leading into it. And in the midsection of the race, from what I understand, it can be very tame, assuming you've endured the early surges and haven't found yourself in the break. So before I started my training preparation, there were three questions that I needed to ask myself. Number one, can I sit on the bike for at least four hours and pedal at a consistent and comfortable rate? Let's call that zone two, without the heart rate drifting through the roof. Number two, can I then add in a heavy 60 to 90 minutes session before pedaling for another two to three hours at a consistent rate? And the third one, lastly, can I pedal for 60 to 90 minutes at high intensity, then ride comfortably and consistently for a few hours and then pedal hard for roughly an hour at the end? That is most likely what will be required for the Melbourne to Warnable. So I need to consider that when in training. So essentially what I've done is I've implemented five key strategies. Now, if you want more details on cycling training, road cycling training, you wanna take your performance to the next level. I have a free video training, which I'll link to below. But for the purpose of this video, the five key strategies that I've implemented using the three-week build or the step ladder approach include, number one, starting with a predominant focus on base fitness. That is, can I get the heart rate drift under control for a solid three to four hours before transitioning the focus to high intensity or replicating race conditions? Number two, while training base fitness, and because I was already partially conditioned before I started this training block, I was still incorporating one or two high intensity sessions a week. And because I was out on the road a fair bit and I wanted some variation, I downloaded an app called the Sufferfest, which connects to your smart trainer and provides an array of high intensity workouts that are designed by globally regarded road cycling coaches. Not only did these sessions optimize my time, but they also created very good variation in my training plan. And let me tell you, the sessions are brutal, but highly effective. Number three, I then started to merge the high intensity sessions with the longer base rides. So I did a longer base ride and finished that off at high intensity for roughly an hour. Then I did it the other way around. So I started off with a fast bunch ride and then I went on a longer ride. And that was actually the day Caleb tore my legs off. And number four, I've recently tied it all together. So two weeks out from the race, I basically replicated the conditions I expect. So literally a few days ago, I got on the Sufferfest. I did a very difficult high intensity session for about an hour and 15 minutes. I then went out on the road and just pedalled at a consistent rate. Would have been zone two or zone three for, I'll probably say two to two and a half hours. And then I went to the track and finished off with some high intensity work for about 45 minutes. So it's probably not exactly what I will encounter at the Melbourne to Warnable, but it's not far off it. And you need to be careful in training, particularly when you're two weeks out. You don't want to over fatigue yourself. And the other consideration that I had to deal with is the heat and the humidity up here, which was about 33 degrees. It ended up being that date, about 70% humidity. And the last one, number five, wedged in between all this has been targeted rest periods, recovery rides, massages, et cetera. So the fourth thing I wanted to talk to you here about is nutrition. Now, I'm not here to give you nutrition advice. I'm just gonna share with you what I've personally done. And if you're after nutrition advice, I definitely recommend seeking the advice of an expert. However, essentially what I've done is kept things relatively the same. And that is number one, I've had a diet high in veggies. Number two, I limit the amount of meat consumption that I have. I'll eat meat probably once or twice a week. And the meat that I do eat is free range and organic. Number three, you might have noted from previous videos that I do do a bit of fasting. So I was 16 hour fast twice a week on my rest days, although given the heat conditions in the Sunshine Coast and the humidity, particularly during summer, I get very hangry. So I haven't been implementing much fasting in recent times, although this week, so we're two weeks out. This is a bit of a rest week for me before I lift it again slightly before heading into the race. I will be doing a 24 hour fast this week to help sharpen up the weight and also detoxify. And the last thing is I'm not a pro cyclist. I'm not gonna win the Melbourne Warnable. So you've gotta live your life. I've still been having a cheeky beer here and there and also I can't resist a bit of dark chocolate or a lot of dark chocolate in the evenings. Now, in addition to nutrition, supplementation is also key. So what have we got here? So in my post-ride smoothies, I normally have a smoothie after any difficult ride, I will put in some protein. So I don't actually use whey protein. I use a plant-based protein. It could be hemp, pea and rice, whatever it might be, nothing against whey. I'm just intolerant to dairy and whey is a byproduct of cheese production. So I stick with plant-based protein and I've also, I don't have it on me because I've just run out and just ordered some. I also put in some turmeric powder into my smoothie because turmeric protein helps with the recovery process and turmeric helps with inflammation and when you're really riding long and hard, being able to mitigate the volume of inflammation that typically occurs is very, very important. Now in terms of performance, I've been taking something, I've just got to go get it, give me a sec. Yes, I've been taking something called ModEx. Now for transparency, this isn't sponsored but ModEx did send me two of these bottles to try. And essentially the idea of this drink is that the active ingredient is called, I'm gonna get the internet to pronounce this for you, pygmygenol. And that essentially triggers an array of physiological adaptations which include better blood circulation, tissue recuperation and it alleviates cramping and muscular pain, the list kind of goes on. So the question is, have I noticed these in training? And as always, it's kind of hard to say because you're doing all these other things as well, what is actually taking place? But if I reflect on sort of the race simulation that I did a few days ago in very hot and humid conditions, I was expecting to be really fatigued, not only later that day, but also the next day and I'd had 100 mil of this that morning and I've been supplementing about 30, 40 mil every other day, 100 mil on the big day when you're going for like a high intensity ride. So my fatigue levels were definitely not as extreme as I had anticipated and my performance during the actual ride itself, particularly the high intensity that I did in the last sort of half an hour of that ride sort of exceeded my expectations. Now obviously I've been doing the training but if I think about the physiological effect that that supplement is supposed to have, then potentially it's doing its job. And I'll link to some of the information on this supplement for you below. Now the other supplement that I've just started to take, now I've been taking this on and off throughout my cycling career for a very long time because it's something that I really think works and it's called better alanine. And in simple terms, better alanine helps muscles fight the buildup of lactate and prolongs your ability to ride longer by reducing the levels of fatigue that build up in the muscles over time. My only issue with this supplement is that it has been known to cause some liver issues in some people and there's a tingling sensation. There's actually like physically you can feel something happening in your body when you're shortly after taking it. So I limit the amount of time I'm on this supplement. So I'll be taking this two weeks leading into Melbourne to Warnable and then I'll shut it off until potentially the next big target event later on in the year. Now lastly, what am I doing pre-race and during the race? Well, 48 hours before I'll be carb loading, light meal the day or night before. The morning before I'll have soaked oats with my special turmeric powder in it. I'll have blueberries, banana and some raw nuts. And then during the race itself a lot of people go on about having gels, have a gel every hour or two hours. I don't like gels because they spike your insulin levels. And if you start spiking your insulin levels on a seven hour bike race going up and down, up and down. At some point in time you're gonna crash pretty hard. So I'm gonna have some bars which are more, let's say low GI every 45 to 60 minutes assuming I can reach the back and eat them. Depends what's happening in the bike race. And then towards the end of the race I'll start to implement the gels because it is a faster release. You get a faster effect but you don't wanna be doing that in my opinion early on in the bike race. So they are some of my supplementations at a high level. So the fifth point that I wanted to talk to you about is why am I doing the Melbourne to Warnable? Particularly when over the years because of time in the week I've become more criterion focused. So now I'm doing this bike race which requires 10, 15, 20 hours per week in your bigger weeks to prepare in an optimal way. And the truth is while there is some romance around doing the Melbourne to Warnable it's one of the penultimate events here in Australia for amateur athletes. It's a bit of a bucket list item. The truth is that the reason why I'm doing it I was looking for a goal back in the last year and I was speaking to a good mate of mine Brian Scott. Now many of you will know Brian now from the Tour Down Under series we were there together and Brian said I'm going to do the Melbourne to Warnable and literally straight away I didn't even think about it said I'm gonna do it with you. And the reason like my inspiration is as I've gotten older I've recognised that the opportunity to share an experience like this training, going to adelaide together and the race itself and the beers that we can have in the years to come and reminisce on what happens those opportunities to share those experiences with a good mate are diminishing. So I grabbed this as quickly as I could and I was in and I've had a great experience to date training for it sharing the goals and the ambitions of doing the race with a good mate going to adelaide with him and then we've got the race itself to look forward to. That's pretty much it. I'll catch everyone in the next video. We had to fight to get a meal, yeah wrongfully accused we had to fight to get a pill that's why we write to get a deal here on the team you gotta eat you know despite the n***a skills keep it riding for the fam you gotta like