Column: Geert Gelaude February 2018.
Everyone having a coffee together... While many of you have recently sought warmer places to make the necessary preparations for body and machine. Others were competing against each other during indoor competitions at home and abroad. One of the toughest Dakar Rallies is now a thing of the past and we, the motocross fans, can speak of a veteran as the victor.
Austrian Matthias Walkner thus gave KTM a double victory. On the one hand, the seventeenth final victory for the orange brigade, and on the other hand, Walkner topped Austria twice. It was a very beautiful and tough, but ancient Dakar with a lot of bad luck and ditto dropouts. But never have there been so many contenders for victory as this edition. Did former MX3 world champion Walkner wrongly credit his name with the victory? Certainly not, he completed the 14 stages, covering approximately 4500 km, in just over 43 hours. This at an average of around 100 km per hour over numerous dunes, gravel, plateaus, rocks, riverbeds, and a small stretch of beach. Last among the motorcyclists, a South African took over 80 hours more than Walkner to cover the same route, finishing 85e with 123 hours to his name. Which also means that about 54 riders dropped out or simply gave up.
Could the secret of victory lie in an ordinary cup of coffee? The coffee-drinking hype among cyclists is about to make its appearance in our sport as well. Because there has been a lot of buzz lately about the effect of caffeine on sports performance. Yes, you read it right: coffee as a stimulant. Do you need a cup of coffee every morning before you go to school or work? Then you belong to the vast majority of lowlanders who drink coffee every day for the taste but also to get more energy.
But does caffeine actually ensure better performance? Numerous studies have shown that drinking coffee or using caffeine pills in a controlled manner has a positive effect on strength and endurance. More strength can be explained by the fact that you can continue training at a higher intensity with less pain or pressure. To improve endurance performance and endurance, it is important that the daily amount of coffee or pre-workout supplements remains within limits. This can negatively affect your sporting performance. If you keep everything within acceptable standards, your body will continue to experience its stimulating effect. A high dose can lead to headache, dizziness and nausea.
But what are the benefits of caffeine, I hear you ask? There is a consensus in the scientific world that caffeine contributes to better sports performance. A lot of research has been done into the effect of caffeine on the body. I am not a scientist and will therefore not tread on thin ice, but anyone who wants to know more about the effect of caffeine on the performance of athletes can scour the world wide web. With or without a touch of milk and/or sugar, you can sit back and let the abundant rain showers take their course.
If you know that an espresso contains about 75 mg of caffeine, and I have already had three while writing this column, then I am certainly in top condition and full of energy to jump into the new season. Let's hope that the first matches are spared from flooding and mud. So can we have a long and beautiful season for the wheels, with the necessary coffee...
Posted: Steven van Kempen/KEMCO
By: Geert Gelaude
Photo: #Unknown
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