Rider Fitness

Get up to speed with the inside track on what go on behind the scenes in the Northpoint Ekerold Honda team. From rider fitness to bike technology to a mechanics perspective of race weekends, you can find it all here.

But be sure to check back as we regularly update this section.

It's easy to think that because Supersport races only last about 25-30 minutes rider fitness is something that develops by being on the bike and can be taken for granted. However the level of competition in the British Supersport championship is such that the riders have to prepare themselves physically and mentally in every way possible to extract the best result from each race meeting.

The physical element of this preparation takes place 6 times a year at the renowned sports fitness centre at Loughborough University , where even Olympic athletes visit to assess fitness levels. With the results of Cal and Leon's assessments, personalised programmes are developed that include aspects of fitness from strength and stamina, to flexibility and reaction time.

Strength and stamina are obviously critical. While the bikes are not as powerful as the larger Superbikes, the Honda CBR 600RR's producing around 140bhp are still very physical machines that require a lot of effort to hustle around the track. When the first two rows of the grid are decided by a few tenths of a second, the strength to force the bike to do what the rider wants rather than the other way around makes the difference between leading into the first corner and fighting among the pack. Similarly over the course of a 20 or 30 lap race, the stamina to repeat that performance lap after lap, as competitors are perhaps fading can mean picking up crucial and potentially championship winning points. Every last fraction of a second counts and every opportunity for competitive advantage is seized.

Cal in particular works on a rigorous gym routine with up to 9 sessions a week including high repetition weights, running ,cycling and a cross trainer to build up both strength and stamina. As well as training Leon also follows the example of multiple Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and prepares before and during race weekends with the rights foods. Cyclists and marathon runners have shown that eating slow energy release foods such as pasta together with a high protein intake helps maintain energy levels during the race. As you would expect both riders also drink copious amounts of water to ensure their bodies are fully hydrated. This not only helps performance on the bike but also ensures a rapid recovery from the rigours of the weekend.