LOCKDOWN! Q&A with Adam Lewis (BEAT Cycling Club)

Lockdown chat with Adam Lewis who rides for BEAT Cycling Club, a Dutch UCI continental team and Adam is usually based in Belgium until this virus poked its nose in where its not wanted.

LOCKDOWN! Q&A with Adam Lewis (BEAT Cycling Club)

Lockdown chat with Adam Lewis who rides for BEAT Cycling Club, a Dutch UCI continental team. A innovative team which uses a club model to involve members and fans so they can experience the professional setup like the riders do. For the most part of the season, Adam is based in a small town called Veerle in Belgium and stays at Café Surplace.

Your last race was?
Adam: Dorpenomloop Rucphen UCI 1.2 in Holland. A classic style Dutch race rode in wet and windy conditions. Not really my cup of tea but the plan was to use it for some race kilometres for the goals I had in this period now. Oh how things have changed!

With racing cancelled, what’s a typical week training wise for you?
Adam: As everything is up in the air right now and nobody knows when we will resume racing, last week, I took an easy week. Just to refresh the mind after some stressful travel days home. I got out on the gravel bike just for something different and a bit of fun.

I am coached by Jody from Neo Pro Cycle Coaching and he has really drilled into me that we can capitalise on this period with some good training. This week I have started back into a training routine so I will most likely be doing 18-24hrs on the bike in the upcoming weeks

Above: Mixing with the big guns in Europe

Enjoying the turbo or avoiding it like the virus?
Adam: So long as we can still train outside, I will be avoiding the turbo. Seeing riders in countries such as Spain and France who have no choice but to be on the trainer really makes you appreciate the great outdoors. So, I’ll be making the most of it whilst I can.

If on the turbo, what’s your favourite distraction – Zwift or some other entertainment?
Adam: I have to say I am a big Zwift fan. I got into it a few years back when I was injured. With Zwift and some good music or podcasts, I can usually hack away up to 4hrs if needs be. We are also lucky enough to be supported by Wahoo on the team so I have use of the Kickr which really makes a big difference.

What’s the hardest thing for you about the Lock Down
Adam: Obviously, to begin with it was the frustration of the races getting cancelled. It felt like the Winter’s hard work would be going to waste. Now with the realisation of how serious this virus is, that all gets put to the side, people’s health must be the priority.

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Besides cycling, what’s your biggest distraction as lock down continues?
Adam: I like to keep myself occupied during the day as I always want to feel productive. I try to get a Dutch lesson in daily to keep working on that. I’m always thinking of what I can do when I stop riding so have been doing a coaching course just to give me some options in the future. I enjoy delving into that side of the sport, looking at the numbers and understanding where I can improve so am always reading up on different things I can try.

What’s the bike that gets the most use by you and why what is the best thing about it?
Adam: Being a rider for BEAT Cycling Club we all ride the Koga Kimera road bike. So that’s the one that gets used year-round. I really love the disc brakes element to it, a real game changer along with the custom team paint job. It really helps it to stand out!

What’s the weirdest thing you have seen since this crisis began?
Adam: Maybe not so weird but the strangest was walking into the airport on my way home and it being so quiet. I have never seen an airport with so few people, the atmosphere inside was really tense and eerie. Very much like a ghost town.

Finally, where you do you enjoy racing the most in this country or abroad?
Adam: Having always ridden on foreign teams, I will have to say racing abroad is my favourite place to race. The accessibility of races and the way they are ridden are so much different to here in the UK.

Having said that however, I would love to race the Tour of Yorkshire and Britain in the next couple of years, two races which I think would really suit my style of riding. Training wise, nothing beats home roads though! I never usually have the chance to ride at home during the season so at the moment it’s a nice change to be back!

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