Ivan Sibirtsev: why he would not give the child to cycling and how the "Amateur Club" lives
Title of the issue: "Do not give the child to a cycling school until you watch this podcast"
The rider of the St. Petersburg "Amateur Club" Ivan Sibirtsev explains why he would not wish his children professional cycling, and compares the Russian training of juniors with the European one. The second half of the conversation is practical: how many people it takes for an amateur team to live, how the club agrees on tactics, why the track is the best winter outlet and how many hours of racing an amateur can withstand.
Guest
St. Petersburg amateur road racer, member of the Amateur Club team, races on the track in winter.
Useful from the issue
- The team needs at least ten people
Less than half of the train consistently reaches the start. In order to have at least four people at the race, there should be about ten participants in the amateur team.
- More than twenty — you can't keep it without money
A non-profit team of about 18-20 people becomes unmanageable. A large composition is based on contributions or a sponsor.
- First, go to the races together
It's too early for a new team to build complex tactics. The first goal is to regularly go to the start together: the experience comes only in a racing environment.
- Decide on tactics closer to the start
It is pointless to discuss the plan for weeks: it is not known who is in what form. Ivan's club does it a day or two before the race.
- Volumes can be ridden as meditation
Calm long workouts without tension and with breathing through the nose help Ivan not to burn out over the years of amateur sports.
- Power grows where you train
Ivan purposefully worked on short efforts, and his hourly power did not increase. Choose which side of the form to develop.
- Track in winter — every weekend
From November to February, amateur track competitions are held in St. Petersburg and Moscow almost without interruptions — a good alternative to the machine.
- Progress is years
Even with serious training, there will be no noticeable growth in one season: systematic work takes three to five years.
Why not cycling for kids
The career of an athlete, according to Ivan, is a thankless story: a huge investment of time for a short period, almost without money. The Russian system, as he sees it, is based on the principle of "five out of a thousand will survive": children are driven as hard as possible, and it is impossible to guess that your child will be among the units. The rest often come out with psychological problems and without education, with which you can find yourself in life.
The second argument is injuries. Cycling is traumatic, children are fearless, and knees, elbows and collarbones remind of themselves with age. There is also little money in sports: top racers get million-dollar contracts, but an ordinary top-division racer earns an order of magnitude less than many football players.
Russia and Europe: where the difference comes from
Ivan connects distortions with financing: the coach is evaluated and rewarded according to the results of the children, so they are forced to win at any cost. Russian juniors are strong, and then they are blown away by overtraining and burnout. In Europe, in his opinion, the load is given more balanced at an early age, the juniors are weaker there, but then the athletes are mentally stronger, and they get physics in two or three years on a good basis.
Another gap is psychology and knowledge: athletes often drink what the coach gives and do not understand even basic issues like residual traces of banned substances. Many Europeans combine sports with higher education. Ivan believes that the state should change its approach — stop motivating coaches with money for children's results.
Ten years as an amateur without burnout
Ivan himself bought the first adult bike, MTB Jamis, around 2014-2015 to ride with colleagues around the city, and the highway appeared a couple of years later. He doesn't get bored with the bike, because the load is small — usually less than ten hours a week, and he spends extensive workouts like meditation: calmly, breathing through his nose.
His FTP is kept at about the same 280-290 watts as a couple of years ago: in recent seasons he has been consciously training power for short periods in order to attack and finish, but does not develop hourly power — therefore it does not grow.
How the "Amateur Club" works
The club will be ten years old in the spring. There is no rigid hierarchy: common tables with a calendar and a form order are kept in turn, and tactics are discussed online a day or two before the start, when it is clear who is in what form. Before one of the races, we gathered in a cafe and drew options on the map. Now there are about 14 people in the club, 12-13 of them are active, four of them came recently.
Ivan honestly admits that almost all the victories of the participants are individual: the riders would have won alone. In a team race with a separate start, the strong first give power, and at the end the leader brings the rest "on the snot" — the team's arrival takes time, which the amateurs do not have. Ivan says one thing about the strongest racer of the club: a strict diet, huge volumes and years of discipline, there are no freebies.
How to assemble an amateur team
A novice team, according to Ivan, should not bother with tactics. The first task is to learn how to go to the start together: only racing stress and the actions of rivals give experience that cannot be obtained in training. Four out of ten people consistently come to the start — someone is sick, someone is busy — so you need to focus on at least ten participants.
The upper limit for a non—profit team is about 18-20 people: then disputes and ambitions begin, which in paid Moscow clubs are extinguished by the fact that people paid for a place. If you need a media result, like strong teams, you can't do without a sponsor or contributions.
Track, gravel, and long distances
Ivan calls the track his winter outlet: it's warm, no rain, and you don't even need to lubricate the bike. If three years ago normal amateur competitions were only in Moscow, now there are two organizers in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and from November to February you can race almost every weekend. Ilya congratulates Ivan on his victory in the points race at the Moscow track in this episode.
He sees the future behind gravel: the highway without overlaps is becoming more and more dangerous, and it's calmer on gravel and it's not so scary to fall. At the same time, 250 km on the Tsar Grader is not interesting to Ivan: a race longer than about four hours for an amateur turns into a log with a finish, 180 km is already on the verge. Finally, he reminds: we are not athletes, progress takes three to five years, so you should not compare yourself with the strongest, but you need to have fun.
Timestamps
- 0:00Tuning in
- 0:33FATRACING form
- 1:01Cycling is not for children
- 6:17Training of athletes in Russia and Europe
- 10:23How Ivan came to cycling
- 11:27Are you tired of riding as an amateur
- 12:34Team races
- 21:00Team routine
- 27:22Where does the club name come from
- 28:47Will there be a gravel pit
- 31:37Tsar Grader for 250 km
- 33:18What is the power
- 34:22Track and competitions
- 39:34How to ride with a club
- 42:31Guys, we are not athletes
Mentioned in this episode
Amateur Club · Tsar Grader · Tour de Selishchi · Jamis · Iron Man