8 to 10 August 2026: Three days. Heavy miles. Zero excuses. This National Day, the PCFS team exemplifies what it means to be #TogetherAsOneTeamPCFS. Our athletes celebrated Singapore’s birthday in cycling style, uniting community, pre-development, and high performance as they ventured onto the open roads together. This camp featured a masterclass in sports science, endurance challenges, and high-speed cornering.
Day 1: Coach Athena’s Classroom & Open Road Baseline
Day 1 kicked off with a 2-hour morning ride where our community riders – Avni, Lucas and Alina completed a crucial route familiarisation session to build confidence and learn the nuances of road cycling. Our pre-development cyclists tackled a baseline ride to benchmark their current cycling abilities.
A major highlight was the theoretical knowledge sessions with Coach Athena where athletes plunged into the sciences behind training principles, cycling terms and finding the sweet spots while cornering.
Lesson 1: Finding The Apex / Cornering Sweet Spot
Step 1: Finish all braking BEFORE approaching the turn [Point A]
Step 2: Find the Apex [Point B] and make sure speed is enough to coast through / not pedal until past the apex of a turn
Step 3: Accelerate speed when exiting the turn [Point C]
Tip: If speed is too slow, drop a gear or 2 before entering the turn to improve acceleration when coming out of the turn
Lesson 2: Training Principles
| Principles of Training | Description | Example |
| Specificity | Train for a specific goal | Focus on the specific movement pattern (e.g., upper-body pulling for handcycling) |
| Overloading | Pushing your body slightly harder than normal so it adapts | Gradually increase cycling duration |
| Progression | Increase training load over a period of time rather than all at once | Increase 5% training intensity over a month |
| Recovery | The body requires rest to adapt & repair itself from training stress | Deloading weeks – planned reduction in training load Able to prioritise non-sporting activities (ie family time) |
| Individuality | Training plan should be unique to each athlete | Factors to consider: athlete health, age and impairment needs |
| Reversibility | You don’t use it, you lose it | Taking a break from training reduces endurance |
Day 2: Nutrition Fuelling with Coach Samuel & Endurance Challenge
Camp day 2 shifts the focus towards a favourite Singapore pastime – Food! Coach Samuel strips away the guesswork of endurance cycling with 2 targeted stages – targeted carbohydrate intake & proper breathing techniques designed to sustain power and delay fatigue.
Check out a snapshot of Coach Samuel’s Tips Below:
- Pre-Ride (Before You Start): Ensure to conusme meals 3 to 4 Hours before a training/cycling session. Good options include Oatmeal with Bananas
- During Ride: 30 to 60g of carbohydrates per hour. Good options include Electrolyte drinks
The on-bike session reinforces day 1 technique of hitting the sharpest, innermost point of a turn while introducing a new technical challenge where coaches simulated feeding stations, and all athletes had a masterclass in catching water bottles on the fly!
The ultimate test of the day is a 4-hour endurance cycling block where athletes push their limits by completing as many laps as possible while aiming to maintain a Zone 2 heart rate [aka a heart rate where cyclists can still talk while riding].
This turns Coach Samuel’s breathing techniques into a real-time survival kit as everyone stretches their endurance ceiling. Want to feel the ride? Click here.
Day 3: Recovery Rides & Reboots
Day 3 is all about dialling back the intensity, letting the body absorb the massive workload from the first two days. The squad locked in on a slowdown recovery ride, putting Coach Athena’s training principles – the importance of recovery into action!
Special Thanks & Mentions
A massive shout-out to everyone who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make this 3-day training camp a huge and unforgettable experience:
Coaching Team: Huge thanks to coach Athena & Samuel for leading the classroom session and to coach Mike, Yvette & Manaf for your invaluable on-the-road guidance & motivation.
On-Road Safety & Escort: Deepest gratitude to our dedicated safety cyclists, including caregivers Arun and Albert, alongside volunteer Yi Jun and his fantastic cycling crew from Virtual Cycling Singapore [@virtualcyclingsg , @vsg.academy], for keeping our riders secure and managing traffic perfectly.
Welfare & Nutrition: A special thank you to Jing Yi for keeping the entire squad well-fed and perfectly hydrated across all three days.
Mechanic: Many thanks to Mr Ayub for making sure each bicycle ran smoothly
Support Systems: Thank you to all caregivers who showed up, cheered, and supported our athletes through every single mile.
Cyclist Spotlight: Kudos to our community riders Avni, Lucas, and Alina for stepping up to the challenge & conquering their first training camp!
Ride with us: Join Our Community Training
Want to start your cycling journey? We run regular community training sessions for adaptive and able-bodied athletes. Click Here to register for our next community session.