Rider Chat: Charlie Renshaw Q & A

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Feature question and answer with Charlie Renshaw of Envelopemaster Giant Sheffield

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Rider Chat: Charlie Renshaw Q & A

1. When will you start your road season and what will be the first race?
Charlie: My first race of the 2016 season will be the Severn Bridge Road race on the 6th March.

2. What races will be your targets for 2016 and why?
Charlie: I would like to make National A races my main targets throughout the 2016 race season. National A races are where you find the best British teams as well as some of the best British riders. To target these races and pick up some good results would be ace. I certainly want to gain my best results at Sheffield Grand Prix with it being a very local race and a circuit which would suit me as a rider, also Otley crit.

3. How will you spend the time on the bike between now and your first race in training?
Charlie: Between now and March 6th, time on the bike will be spent at home and abroad. The start of January will consist of training abroad in Calpe and then the rest at home on local roads. February will also be spent on the local roads in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, some also in the Peak District. It would possibly be a good idea to have a week abroad training in mid February, so I might arrange something for that part of the year before racing begins.

January will mainly be about getting some long miles in the legs, building a strong base for the race season along with some efforts on rides. In February I will start doing some top end efforts to make sure I’m in good condition for racing.

4. What was your favourite Xmas present?
Charlie: Favourite Christmas present… this has got to be all the chocolate! But there is one big downside to chocolate being my favourite Christmas present, and that is not being able to eat much of it, as dieting starts now!

5. When it rains, which its doing a lot right now, is it turbo time or wrap up and get wet?
Charlie: If it rains, like it has been doing a lot over these past few weeks, I would do a bit of both, turbo training indoors and wrapping up and getting wet. If it’s a Saturday, and it rains, you can jump on the local Chaingang and keep yourself warm by working through. If not, and it’s an easy day, I would jump on the turbo and listen to some music.
I don’t really think there is any tips to staying dry in the rain. If you’re on a bike and its raining, you’ve just got to face the fact you’re going to get soaked. Always ride hard in the rain, then you’ll stay warm.

6. If you could do any race in the world including the best ones in the world etc, what would it be and why?
Charlie: If I could do any race in the world including any of the best, it would have to be an early season classic, such as Paris-Roubaix. This is simply because of the buzz I get from watching these classic races on the TV. I’ve had to wait all winter for any real racing to come on TV, then the excitement gained from watching riders smash it through the cobbles just makes me want to get out there and do it myself.

 

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7. What piece of food can you not do without where ever you are on the road during the season!
Charlie: Any sort of cake! If I was out on the road training and there was a café stop, a slice of cake always comes in handy. It helps to regain some carbohydrates, as well as satisfying my tastebuds.

8. What is your favourite music track when warming up for a race or on the turbo?
Charlie: My favourite music track to ride to on the turbo has got to be anything by the legendary Arctic Monkeys. Their best tracks come from the ‘whatever people say I am, I am not’ album. The last track I would listen to just before I get off is ‘from the ritz to the rubble’. This song has a good mix of rap and the monkeys indie style which really gets me pumped just before racing.

9. If given the option, would you prefer normal brakes or disc brakes on your road bike?
Charlie: If I was given the option to have normal brakes or disc brakes, I would probably choose the disc brakes. This has got to be because they look futuristic on road bikes and are a very innovative idea to transfer them from mountain bike to road bike.

10. What’s the spec of your race bike for 2016 and your favourite bits on it?
Charlie: The 2016 race bike spec is full Shimano Dura ace Di2. The electronic shifting has got to be the best part of the bike. I’ve always been on mechanical gears and to move on to Shimano’s best specification of gearing, it’s a dream come true.

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