USING PROCESS GOALS TO ACHIEVE OUR CYCLING OBJECTIVES

It can be so easy to be driven by results when we’re racing bikes, but this can often lead to disappointment. When planning for a bike race, no matter which discipline, it can be very rewarding, sometimes even more than winning, to get some process goals to achieve. It’s something I do before every race and I encourage all my athletes to do the same.

Let’s breakdown what a process goal is and how it’s different from a results or outcome based goal. A process goal is a task that’s within your control to achieve, as opposed to an outcome goal, which is often not in our control at all! A good example of a process goal for cycling is:

  • Pace myself off the start line, don’t be drawn into riding harder than I’m able meaning I’ll suffer later.

So, how does this work in planning how I want my bike race to go? Well, start by writing down how you want your race to go, from the evening before right through to the finish. What do you need to do to achieve your cycling goals? How will you execute a great race (for you)?

It’s easy to set goals like ‘I want to ride quicker up hills’ (more info on that here) but how will you achieve this? Let’s break it down. This is where SMART goals become important. SMART goals are:

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Achievable
  • Relevant
  • Time-bound

That would turn ‘I want to ride quicker up hills on my bike’ into ‘I want to set a personal best on Strava on my local climb by the end of the summer’. And from here we can set our process goals of HOW I’m going to achieve this goal.

If you’d like some help to set some process goals for an upcoming bike race or help to achieve your goals get in touch here or book a call here