On this edition of the Ask Coach Parry Cycling podcast a mother questions the best option for her 14-year old son to start with in developing his interest in cycling.  Should he start out with a mountain bike or a road bike and what is the benefit he will gain from using them.  He is currently an active youngster which puts him at an advantage with his fitness levels.  Devlin Eyden gives some constructive advice on this issue.

Transcript

Brad Brown:         Welcome back to this edition of the Ask Coach Parry Cycling podcast, I’ve got our cycling coach, Devlin Eyden with us once again.

I’m Brad Brown, Devlin, a question in from Christine today and she’s saying, my already active 14 year old son would like to take up cycling, what distances are safe for him to be doing and is there a difference in the workout he’ll get on a road bike as compared to a mountain bike?

His passion will determine his direction

I think it’s a fantastic question and good for him and good for her as a mom to have a teenage boy who is quite active and wants to get out there.

Devlin Eyden:      It’s a great question and I suppose something that we’re seeing a lot more of, the youngsters taking up cycling now.

I think the first thing with regards to, let’s talk the bike first. Are we looking at mountain biking or road cycling for your son? You’re always going to get more benefit on a mountain bike, you’re having to put out a lot more effort, the bike is usually heavier, he generally will build a lot more strength on the mountain bike side of things, even if you are riding it out on the road.

Again, if your son is a road cyclist or that’s where his passion will lie, it is important to be riding on the bike he will be racing on.

In terms of the distances for his age group, look, there’s a couple of things, we look a little bit more from a scientific point of view. To determine firstly, as a 14 year old, what is his chronological age versus his biological age and what I mean by that is, how much has your 14 year old son developed from a training point of view.

You do get athletes that are young, but they are very well developed and can handle a lot more load than certain other 14 year olds for instance.

Establish a balance between cycling, rest and other activities

Typically in the cycling world and athletes of that age, I would say 30-40, maybe even 50km, depending on the kind of riding that he is doing and the intensity of the riding, is relatively safe.

It is important though that they are getting enough rest firstly, so not always necessarily doing 50km every day of the week. Making sure that’s important and then at the same time, for him being young and I like the fact that you have mentioned that he is already active, but it is important to also keep other sports in there.

Whether it’s a little bit of swimming or running and playing ball sports as well. That’s always going to be important to develop his motor skills further as well as his physical development going forward.

BB:         Absolutely, Christine, thank you very much for that question, Devlin, thanks for that answer as well.

I love hearing about youngsters getting into cycling, it’s an amazing sport and let’s hope he keeps at it. It is a wonderful time to start, I wish I had started at that age.

Until next time, from myself, Brad Brown and our cycling coach, Devlin Eyden, it’s cheers.