Olya Chudakova: co-rides, a bike track and a strong lover without intervals

Guest

Useful from the issue

1. A good bike changes the fun

   Olya considers the beginning of her hobby to be the purchase of a road bike: she didn't enjoy riding a city bike and rode little. Even budget carbon made a sharp jump in both speed and the desire to ride.

2. Skating without a plan does not increase power

   According to her, up to 70% of cycling hours are "empty": they give endurance and skills, but not power. To catch up with those who train according to the program, you need structured work or a coach.

3. Bike track teaches you to ride in a group

   A beginner on the track learns to keep the wheel, steady speed and pass shifts. In winter, it also helps to get involved in the road season faster.

4. Don't react to every attack

   In the women's group with the elite, Olya looks at the strongest: if they don't leave, she stays too. It is better to go around the crush with elbows, and not sit on her wheel.

5. Coferide for beginners — these are the rules

   The route is about 30 km, conversational pace, two presenters, traffic rules and an agreement with a coffee shop about a place for bicycles. So a beginner can safely come, get acquainted and learn how to ride in a group.

6. Long stages cut off participants

   The Pskov — Novgorod tour has two days of 180 km each, and Olya believes that it was because of them that there were few participants. For the tour, you either need to take trained people, or look for a route with short stages and overnight stays.

7. On the descent, the trajectory is important

   The main thing on the descent, according to Olya's experience, is not hairpins, but smooth turns: choose a trajectory, slightly shift the center of gravity and go through them without unnecessary braking.

From the sofa to the Canyon

Olya started riding consciously in 2014 on a city bike, but there was no pleasure — less than 500 km was gained during the season. The turning point happened when, before traveling to the Alps, she ordered the most budget carbon Canyon: she received it in August, right before the trip, and immediately realized why everyone was driving faster.

She had almost no sports base: she didn't go to athletics for long as a child, and when she joined the alpine club in 2015, she couldn't run a mile and a half without stopping. Since then, the rolls have grown to five thousand per season, and in 2023 — to fourteen thousand kilometers, its most active season.

In parallel, Olya is engaged in mountaineering: she has the first sports category, hiking in the Caucasus and the 5A category route. But in recent years, the bicycle has been displacing the mountains in the summer, and now she goes to the rocks more for fun.

A co-rider among strong amateurs

Olya assesses the 2023 season like this: she didn't add power, but improved her skills because she rode a lot with top amateur riders in St. Petersburg. She doesn't do intervals and doesn't train on an indoor trainer, but she almost always stays on the wheel even when the group is doing interval work. One time on such a stretch, the average speed was about 50 km/h — she only found out about it at home, on Strava.

Olga sees the gap with those who train systematically honestly: it is those who work according to the program who go around her at the races. She does not expect to catch up with the master of sports Daria Pravilova in a year or two, but with the rest of the amateurs, she believes, experience decides a lot - to understand where to cheat and who to hold on to. The plans are to finally start working with a trainer and change the bike to something more serious.

Sputnik's coffee shops

Olya divides coffee rides into three types: urban, "healthy person" — with an average of 30, but without plowing, and sports, where there are intervals on each ascent. Most of all, she likes sports, but the Sputnik coffee rides that she did with Tanya were conceived as an entrance for beginners: to come, get acquainted, learn how to ride in a group.

The format is simple: a route of about 30 km around the city, conversational pace in pairs, two leaders keep the group together, everything according to traffic rules. We made deals with coffee shops for discounts and to allow people with bikes inside. The season ended early: there were too many people, the coffee shop could no longer accommodate everyone with bikes, and sitting on the veranda in the cold was unappealing. Previously, similar rides in the city were closed due to unruly crowds, but now, according to Olya, road cyclists have developed a taste and culture.

Tour from Pskov to Veliky Novgorod

After traveling along the Volga, Olya and her friend rode the route Pskov—Pechory—Izborsk—Pushkin Hills—Porhov—Veliky Novgorod. She was surprised by the asphalt: she was afraid of 'lunar craters' like in the Yaroslavl region, but found good and empty roads, sometimes better than Primorsky Highway.

The idea was turned into a tour together with Sputnik: an escort car, a photographer, the end of August. The announcement came out in three weeks, and there were five participants. The main conclusion of Oli is that stages 70, 120 and twice 180 km each require trained people, and it is impossible to break up long days, because there is nowhere to spend the night on the road.

Gravel, "Reverse" and mountains

For 'Reverse' in 2021, Olya trained on someone else's barely functioning cyclocross bike and racked up several hundred kilometers on dirt. She started quickly, got into the lead, but on the climbs, the large 28 chainring didn't help, she was caught up, and ultimately came in fourth — a good result for the first time against girls with more gravel experience.

Her gravel bike didn't take off: a gravel route eats up half a day, while on the road, the classic 70 km take two hours. But descents come easily: in Sochi, she made it into the top ten in downhill, and her friends are surprised by how fearless she is. There's no fear, Olya says — it's important to choose the right trajectory and go through everything without brakes, unless it's a tight turn.

Bike track and fall on the Gran fondo

Olya came to the track to gain skills for road cycling: she learned to tuck into an aerodynamic position better. Three sessions a week, in her experience, don't add power, and falling on the track even on a gentle slope leaves burns. But the track helped her get into shape for the season faster: in April, she could immediately handle 140 km in a fast group, although previously even 70 km were hard. For beginners, the track is especially useful — they learn to follow the wheel, maintain a steady speed, and change positions; there are one-time sessions and subscriptions available.

At the grand fondo on the ZSD, Olya got into a blockage and broke a fork. She considers it a disadvantage that amateurs are put in the same group as the elite: inexperienced girls do not understand tactical games, react to every attack and ride in a crush. Her rule is to know who to hold on to, and not to react to an attack if the strongest remain in place.

Women's pokatushki

The first women's weaving, where Olya got into in 2019, was disappointing: the column was led by a man, the group was barely crawling, many had no tools. In the lockdown, she was inspired by posts about the shortage of female cycling communities and, together with a friend, began organizing women's rides. Now she participates in Cycle Girls, where everyone comes and the group needs to be watched especially carefully.

Ilya adds that as an organizer he sees an acute shortage of girls in amateur races, and promises that the next few issues of the podcast will be with guests. Olya explains why such projects are important: through dating it is easier to find out even how to get on the same bike track — there is almost no information in the public domain.

Timestamps

1. 00:12How it all started
2. 03:40Sports background and mountaineering
3. 07:02How was the 2023 season
4. 09:55The pros are still far away
5. 12:11Coferides
6. 16:05Tour from Pskov to Novgorod
7. 21:13Non-road adventures: "Reverse"
8. 26:32Descents in the mountains
9. 29:14Amateur clubs
10. 34:45Bike Track
11. 40:05Gran Fondo and the Fall
12. 43:46Lockdown and women's rides
13. 49:21The podcast is calling the girls

Mentioned in this episode

Sputnik · Cycle Girls · Canyon · Reverse · Gran Fondo · Sochi-Torpedo · Strava · Time trial · Tour de Selishchi