Cycling is taking over adland with a gang of media and advertising execs taking on a 160km endurance ride to raise money for UnLtd.
You don’t have to be a pro-cyclist to join the Yellow Jersey Challenge team as UnLtd CEO Paul Fisher can attest. He first jumped on a bike in May, and just completed his first 90km ride at the Sunshine Coast Velothon.
The challenge sees a team of execs from across media and advertising that have pledged to ride between 90km and 160km to raise funds for UnLtd. Already on board are Zenith CEO Nicki Scriven, Carat CEO Paul Brooks, Ten CEO Paul Anderson, AdRoll APAC MD and VP of sales Ben Sharp, SCA sales director Brian Gallagher, Radium1 chair and founder of UnLTd Kerry McCabe, but there are still spots on the team so contact UnLtd to join them.
Also, if you join the Yellow Jersey Challenge and become part of the fundraising team, you’ll get free entry to the Bowral Classic ride and a team shirt, in return for hitting a fundraising goal. Plus you'll have access to team training sessions and all sorts of other benefits.
The big ride is in October so join the team today and put pedal power into action!
Fisher is taking on the 120km Bowral Classic as part of the UnLtd Yellow Jersey Challenge so we asked him a few questions about his experience so far:
You’re training along with the UnLtd Yellow Jersey team for the 120km endurance ride as part of the Bowral Classic in October, what made you jump on a bike? Too old to run anymore! Too many mates urging me to get on a bike!
Before you started training for the Yellow Jersey Challenge at the Bowral Classic, what was the furthest you’d ever ridden? 30kms eight years ago!
So what is the UnLtd yellow Jersey Challenge? The opportunity to ride in the Bowral Classic, raise money for a great charity UnLtd supports – KidsXpress – and wear the famous yellow jersey – ok not the Tour De france one, the UnLtd one! In a sea (not sure the collective noun for cyclists!) of 3000+ black and white Bowral Classic jerseys, imagine 50-100 yellow jerseys – you could be one of them!
What was the first step to get into training? Convincing my wife I had to spend $1,000 - $2,000 on a road bike, shoes, helmet, lights, pump, spares, padded shorts – do you know how much gear you need just to ride a bike?!
Just how gruelling has the training been so far? I started on my old mountain bike and it was very gruelling! My first 20km bike ride I was in agony both during the ride and for three days afterwards! Since buying a proper road bike and all the gear however, it’s been less painful. Adding 10km each week to my ‘long’ rides at the weekends has been daunting as I started to go 50kms + and be out on the bike for more than two hours.
What’s the toughest challenge so far? Getting up in the Sydney winter mornings at 5.30am/6am for my ‘short’ rides, in six degrees temps! And hills!! I’ve discovered I’m fine on the flat and with a tailwind. But on hills and in headwinds it all changes and starts to hurt!
And what’s been the biggest achievement? I just rode 90km in the Sunshine Coast Velothon, having only ridden 60kms max in training. The atmosphere with 400 other riders was really positive and uplifting, the scenery was stunning, and I finished in a respectable time of three hours 39mins! I struggled on some of the last hills, but crossing the finishing line on my bike and not in an ambulance, especially with my wife and kids cheering me past the finish line, was I have to say one of the proudest achievements of my sporting life to date.
What does a typical training session look like? The 20 weeks plan I am following calls for two sessions in the week – building up from 20km in week one to 50km each session now in week nine, also some hills training – literally find a hill that takes 10-15 minutes to climb and go up and down it as many times as your legs and lungs will take you! The weekend ride is a long ride – I’m up to 90kms now after my recent ride, and that’s now into the 3.5-4 hours duration. As an industry colleague recently told me, cycling is the most selfish team sport on account of how much time you need to train and be away from your family!
How do you motivate yourself to keep pedaling? I focus on the goal of each session – usually completing the target distance in a target time, and I break that down into smaller distance and time goals. I focus on my hydration and nutrition and experiment with different drinks and snacks. I also set myself short speed or mini-sprint goals for example between roundabouts or other landmarks, or try to maintain a minimum speed as per my bike computer. I also look up and around at the scenery. I reward myself at the end of each ride with a coffee and a sweet treat! I can expend over 1500 calories on a 2 hour ride and on my 90km ride, according to my app, I expended over 2,500 calories – so I use that as an excuse to eat whatever I want post ride!
A lot of people seem to have switched from running to cycling recently, how is training for endurance cycling different to running? There is little to no impact on the body in cycling, it’s just core strength to hold the torso in position for long periods on the bike, lower leg strength to exert power on the pedals, and lung capacity/efficiency to keep breathing! Running created so many injuries for me and many others I know – hips, lower back, knees, ankles, Achilles. The commonality is the having the mental mindset to want to do the distance, and to keep going when it starts to hurt or get tough, and getting your hydration and nutrition right. You also of course cover far greater distances in cycling than running. And Sydney traffic can be bloody dangerous to cycle with!
Cycling is big news among media and advertising execs - how can they channel their competitive spirit into the Yellow Jersey Challenge? If you love cycling, want to have a fun day out, wear a coveted riders jersey, and ride with a bunch of industry colleagues and like-minded people, and support some children and young people in the process, then head to unltd.org.au/yellowjerseychallenge. We will pay your entry fee, give you your yellow jersey (top of the range quality) and you can choose your distance - 160km for the seasoned rider, 120km if 160 just seems too far, or 45km if you want to amble along at your own pace and stop at cafes and wineries along the way. As long as you raise $1,000 for UnLtd, your $200 entry fee and jersey are free.
Any advice for someone who wants to get involved but hasn’t been on a bike for years? Dig out your old bike, dust it off, get it serviced at a bike shop, find a plan online or go to bicycling australia.com.au, and start riding. If you haven’t got a bike, or want a new one, check out Gumtree for cheaper, used bikes within your budget. Get the bike fitted to your body at a bike shop. Find a training partner if you can. Sign up to the yellow jersey challenge to have a goal to aim for, read as much as you can, come on one of our training rides to learn from the more experienced riders, and most of all, have some fun, enjoy riding again!
There are a few big names on the Yellow Jersey team so far - who is your biggest competition in the team? My legs and my lungs are my only competition! I am just aiming to finish! Anything sub 6 hours for 120km I would be happy with. There are some riders who will be wearing the yellow UnLtd jersey, who will ride 160km faster than I will ride 120km! But that’s OK, these guys have been riding for years and are training long distances and big hills weekly!
Did you get any performance and technique tips from watching British Cyclist Chris Froome or Aussie Michael Mathews during the the Tour de France?
Not really – Froome tends to be in the front of the pack, I spend most of my time towards the back! I’m happy to see an Englishman winning the TDF again though!
The team will all be sporting the UnLtd Yellow Jersey - exactly how flattering is the Yellow Jersey and lycra combo? Really depends on your body shape! I will say the yellow jersey is a tight fit and there is nowhere to hide those winter layers of fat!
All members of the Yellow Jersey Challenge get free team shirt - what do you keep in the pockets of your jersey?
Snacks, mobile phone just in case of emergency, rain jacket if you can find one that folds small enough to fit, and as many jelly babies or snakes as one pocket will hold!
How can people get involved?
Go to unltd.org.au/yellowjerseychallenge or if you’re not sure and want to chat to me about it, happy for anyone to call me – my number is on the UnLtd website also.
The Bowral Classic is organised by AdNews owner Yaffa Media, and is part of Bicycling Australia.
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