ACU Academy; Train In Spain
Added on Tuesday, March 9th, 2004 by Carole Nash Editor
ACU Academy; Train In Spain
ACU ROAD RACE ACADEMY GOES TESTING….SPANISH STYLE
The ACU Road Race Academy are currently training at Cartegena in Spain with coaches Clive Horton and Nigel Bosworth and alongside some of the top British Superbike teams. Dave Luscombe, ACU Academy Manager, gives us an up-date of how the training is going so far.
Wednesday 3rd March
The young ACU Academy riders met up at East Midlands Airport for their flight to Alicante and the start of their training. After travelling to their apartments the squad were to attend their first training session in the evening with regular Academy coach Clive Horton. Clive discussed basic suspension with the young racers and explained how changes to compression and rebound settings would affect the bike.
Next up was advice on eating and drinking regimes from Lilleshall’s sport physiologist Sam Howells. Sam explained the importance of this when riding in foreign climates – something which was to become an issue the following day.
Thursday 4th March
By 9.15am the boys were walking the track with Nigel Bosworth and Clive while their dads prepared their bikes. The weather was perfect with blue skies and a light breeze. Sam Howells kitted all riders with heart rate monitors which would record their heart rates and highlight any changes throughout the day. The results would be downloaded every night and then analysed. Each rider was also weighed (without their kit) and this would be used to work out hydration levels later.
After each session on track the riders followed it up with a weight check, any weight loss could be put down to hydration levels and the correct amount of fluid to rehydrate the rider could be calculated. Surprisingly the majority of riders gained weight indicating a lack of hydration in the morning – something which we will address tomorrow.
The end of each session also meant a briefing from Clive and Boz - paying particular attention to braking and gearing points. The coaches asked the riders to complete a copy of the track map indicating where they braked and where they changed gear. The final session of the day was spent trying different gear settings and brake markers.
With day one over the Academy squad headed back to their apartments tired but exhilarated. Day Two would be just as tough but all the riders are excited about another day testing in Spain.
