I found Sigma Sports online as a multi-brand retailer who had all the major bikes, bike clothing brands and two physical stores in the UK, as opposed to online chat bots answering my questions. I jumped in the car and took a little road trip from Devon to Kingston-upon-Thames.

Coming from powerlifting and CrossFit, one thing is very apparent when it comes to tight-fitting cycle gear – my shape is not the norm. My worry was big legs, large back and chest but being 5ft 8in would throw me between so many sizes that I’d end up looking a clown.

Luckily, with the explosion of triathlon and cycling the clothing brands have been adjusting to this and after trying on a few options with the staff pointing me in the direction of tight, too tight and too loose, I was firmly a medium. For my first cycle outfits, I went with a brand called ASSOS – simple designs and an insanely comfy pair of bib shorts to help with the upcoming hours of sitting on the seat.

The one major investment you need to make is in the bib shorts and if you can get them with straps so that you have great support keeping the padding in the position that even better. A great line from one of the team at Sigma was “as soon as you want to get off the bike your ride is over” If you’re on a budget i would really say spend a good bit of it on padded shorts and the best you can afford.

After spending some time in the store, I realised the other customers were a mix of everyday people, not the Tour de France pros I imagined would be staring at the gym guy. Next up was shoe. I’m fully committed, so clip-in pedals were on the menu and also learning to get them a little size up as most people’s feet begin to swell after an hour or so.

Now came the moment of pure excitement – the bike fitting. Bikes can range from £500 all the way up to £15,000. For me I picked a carbon bike with electronic gears as my extravagance, so not the lower end but certainly not the supercar bikes. But regardless of the price, everyone at Sigma gets the exact same fitting. I followed the bike mechanics to the bike fitting lab and felt like a cycle super star.

They started with measuring my inside leg and arms and then began testing and making adjustments whilst on a stationary bike. Within three changes I was in a perfect position, my wrists and arms felt great, the trick of your fully extended leg on the pedal was locked in my mind and the bike built exactly for my comfort.

The other great point from Matt the mechanic was the time investment in visiting a shop and getting a fitting may seem excessive but having the clothing and bike tested and made correct for ultimate comfort saves hundred of pounds and hundreds of hours if you’re not in the correct position and it negatively hitting your training and experience.

It’s just like that first time you step into a gym or new fitness class – having an expert spend some time looking at your movement and making adjustments is setting you up for ultimate success. Once the bike was adjusted it was time to get packed away and the team showed me all the major little elements of cleaning, taking the wheels off to travel and off we went home for the first ride as a proper cyclist.

With so much cycling and bike work needed to get me through 112 miles of cycling post a 2 mile ocean swim and before a marathon run, I’ve been working hard on power output in the legs, accessory lifts around the lower back, glutes and quads and spending a lot of time on heart rate zones.

With all of these in mind I’ve made the perfect taster workout that an everyman taking on an ironman or not can try to get a little taste of the preparation needed for the cycle part of prepping for an ironman.

Two options on this one, we have the 10km version and the 30km version depending on your fitness level right now and experience in lifting and cycle workouts. But the base of the workout is exactly the same.

The Workout

Perform this workout using a Concept 2 bike or an air bike. But, if possible, try and find a c2 bike for the best conversion of watt power.

Your score on the workout is time taken to complete all the work

2km bike increasing power every 500m.

After each 500m, jump off the bike and complete:

1 round of:

10 Back rack lunges (ideal weight is 50% of your bodyweight)

10 DB farmer carry front walking lunges

10 DB box step ups

Aim to increase the watts output by 20 every 500m