Jacob Tipper journal: the cyclist’s A to Z to surviving coronavirus

Jacob Tipper and five other cyclists are keeping rider journals for The British Continental this season. The 28-year-old Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling rider is a three-time UCI road race winner. This is Jacob’s third journal entry…

Turbo. This is your life now.

Aerobic. You’ve all seen zombie movies. They’re a marathon, not a sprint. Keep that aerobic system tuned up as it will be useful once it all kicks off.

Base. Back to base training now. Just 10 months of it before you can get ready for the 2021 season.

Chamois cream. You’re going to need this on the turbo. (Veloskin is the best).

Disc brakes. Your new bike comes with them but you haven’t got a clue how they work. Well, this is your chance. You’ve got the summer to learn all these new things, like aligning the pads and bleeding them. You will be an expert in no time.

eTap. Don’t risk it. Noone’s going to be around to pick you up. Get a groupset that works.

Flanders. You don’t need modern-day racing. Just watch the classics on YouTube. 2010: what a year!

Gym. Best get hitting some iron. Those skinny cycling arms aren’t going to be much good if you can’t carry the panic-bought shopping from the shelves to the car.

HUUB. Best cycling shorts for long turbo session guaranteed.

Isolation. In fairness, most cyclists are introverts who ride by themselves anyway so I don’t really feel like a lot is going to change here.

July. When I am praying we can get back racing again.

KICKR. Struggled for a good one for K, so I’ve just gone for a popular training device I’m not allowed to endorse.

Leffe. Whilst it’s offseason you can at least enjoy Belgian beer, even if you can’t enjoy their racing.

Mountain biking. Before we get locked down, go and get some offroad skills in, see the countryside for the last time until you’re limited to repeats of Countryfile.

Nutrition. Don’t forget to hit your macros. The shelves may be bare but there should be enough lentils, couscous and multivitamins left to hit your targets.

Off season. That has started now. Enjoy it while you still can.

Peaking. Who knows when you should aim to peak for? It won’t be for a few months at least though. Try and hold that form off until at least we have an idea when racing will start back.

Q Rings. Nope, times are still not desperate enough to resort to those.

Rollers. The high-risk turbo trainer for those who like to live life on the edge and don’t like resistance, if you’re not already accustomed to rollers, don’t try and learn while our emergency services are already struggling.

Secret Training. With no races and no group rides, this is the perfect time to tell everyone you aren’t training at all. And then launch into amazing form come July even after you ‘have only ridden your bike a couple of times’.

Turbo. This is your life now.

Unlawful. If cycling in groups does get banned, don’t be a boomer about it. We don’t need people to still hate cyclists when they aren’t even on the road. Riding solo is better than not being able to ride at all.

Visualisation. You can at least visualise racing. Visualise a whole new world where you can actually get up climbs.

Watts. Without racing, power numbers and tests are the only motivation for a while. Just hope the watts are kind to you.

(C)X. If you’re not going to have a road season, you’ve at least no excuse not to focus on cyclocross.

Yellow jersey. I’m afraid I don’t think there is going to be one this year. Back to highlights of Lance!

Zwift. With the pound crashing, Zwift Droplets are now your new currency. They’re probably worth more.

Featured photo: James Huntly Photography