The Coach - Richard Simmonds

After a 14 year absence, I returned to racing in 2006 and enjoyed a successful first season back, winning 4 road races and moving from 4th Category rider to 1st in just 16 weeks. In 2007 I rode for the Surrey League team that completed the FBD Insurance Ras in Ireland – an 8 day pro-am stage race covering 1,100km.

I then decided to concentrate on time trialling, lowering my PBs for 10, 25 and 50 miles to 20.43, 53.01 and 1.48.46 respectively. In October I changed tack a little and competed in the world age group Long Course Duathlon Championships in Richmond, Virginia, finishing 2nd overall in the race and winning a silver medal in my age group.

I spent three years as a personal trainer, qualifying in anatomy and physiology up to the highest level with the Register of Exercise Professionals. I am currently qualified as an Assistant Coach with the Association of British Cycle Coaches, and am able to combine all that knowledge with my experience in competition to help others achieve their goals in cycling and multisport events.

How I work with you

Coaching is about more than simply writing training plans though, no matter how accurate and detailed they may be. Coaching is about developing relationships with people and finding out what really makes each one tick. Only then can the cycle coach adopt the most effective motivational approach. Further to this, I believe the coach should educate the athlete and explain what is happening on a physiological level so that every single training session actually means something.

Finally, coaching is all about understanding that every single cyclist is completely individual. Even if two people train using similar plans, their interpretation and execution of those plans will be completely different. We, as coach and client, will work together according to what works best for you. Whether you like to talk face to face, over the phone or via email, whether you want to get on with your own sessions or you want me to watch you do them – in short whatever works for you is how we will work together.