Q & A Feature – Adam Topham

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Winner of his fourth successive BBAR, Adam Topham takes the VeloUK quickfire question and answer

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Q & A Feature – Adam Topham

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1. What were your highlights in 2015?
Adam: The ECCA 12 hour. Simply my best ever performance on a bike winning by almost 5 miles and course record by around 15 miles – I think Kevin Dawson had the record before but under 300 miles. PB by over 7 miles and I went very, very deep. If any one event won me the BBAR this year, it was that one.

Others were the Charlotteville 50 win in a short 1:42 not far off Hutch’s National Champs course record and excellent power. The Hounslow 100, best 100 power at the time and beating my own course record by almost 4 minutes and YCF 50. Best ever 50 ride, win, course record and good power!

2. What is your favourite event and why?
Adam: I don’t really have a favourite event if you are talking about distance. I get the biggest kick out of the strongest competition, and that can happen in any event. I do love the epic and intrepid nature of the 12 hour but I sometimes also really enjoy smashing up a club 10 on a fun course like the CC Weymouth P451.

3. Which discipline, RR or TT motivates you the most?
Adam: Ha! I don’t road race. The time trial is the race of truth. It’s all about me. I’m not a team player when it comes to sport and I want as far as I can to TRULY get out what I put in. Furthermore, the time trial exploits my strengths, especially mental strengths, to a greater degree, and to excel, I need to spend as much time as I can on a TT bike i.e. ALL of my cycling time.

4. What’s the secret to doing the really long time trials and maintaining your focus on going quick?
Adam: I don’t think there is a secret. Some people reckon they’d get bored in a 12 hour. It is anything but boring. It is too painful to be boring and if you are focussed, then you are thinking about the ride and where you are against your plan and about your fuelling and hydration, and about when you will next see your friendly faces at the side of the road. Pacing and nutrition are everything. Beyond that, you need to be a little bit insane!

5. What is the key element to going fast for you and are you still learning ways of going quicker still?
Adam: Beyond getting the kit and the aerodynamics right, you get out what you put in. The key element is that I train my backside off!

6. How will you spend December on the bike – at home or abroad, long miles only or a mixture of intervals and miles and bike only or gym/cross training too?
Adam: All of my training is on a turbo trainer. I have an incredibly crammed life with family and with a demanding job with lots of travel. The turbo is about 30-40% more time-efficient, plus when I am travelling, I am not generally in locations that lend themselves to road training. So bike and turbo come with.

7. Xmas – if you could have any cycling related xmas present – what would it be!
Adam: Hmmm… a sub 19:30 in the Xmas Farnborough and Camberley CC 10!

Read more about Adam here:

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