Benji: "How did you become a cycling fan?" GF: "I had a concussion" xD Maybe we all should go make a test?? Happy new year Benji, love your vids. Keep it up ;)
Great to have Talya on the Channel! Benji you are such a cool Guy, and I have to say, the difference from the Videos from a few years ago is striking. You look really fit!
I really enjoy your PCM content, but I have to be honest: I'm here to vicariously share in your cycling journey :-) Like others have said, your body really has undergone a massive change. Even if you didn't lose weight recently, your body composition has definitely changed. Keep going! I'll be doing my best too.
Strength training is such a game changer. I don’t necessarily enjoy it, but it does make a difference in my cycling/running and helps with injury prevention. Happy new year, Benji! I hope you smash your goals this year.
Yeah, I don't see a reason for him to wait. I understand that time is limited, but it won't take much of a time investment for him to see benefits. It will help with his weight loss goal, as well.
I really love your content…have accompanied your journey for some years now. Really great stuff and it is really cool that you got into cycling yourself and got much fitter and healthier - that is just amazing!
A great video Benji and congratulations on all of your success, it is certainly well-deserved! I encourage you to free your mind when it comes to what you can accomplish in your cycling. The only limiting factor that you have is the limits that you put on yourself. A favorite quote of mine (from a movie), "Let your go and your body will follow." Finally, thank you for introducing us to your secret weapon, your wonderful wife Talia!
Nice vid, best of luck with your goals in 2025 Benji. I feel you should definitely add some strength and resistance training alongside your cycling, it will help with both power and mobility, and will help you get below 100kg.
According to Strava, you rode 2,6k Km in 2024. 300 w FTP with this low amount of riding is very difficult. According to your profile from 2024, you rode in spurs: 2-3 months on, then many months with almost no riding. Which means you start from zero again. I wouldnt make FTP goals, rather to ride consistently and up your yearly distance to 4-5k Km. Then the FTP gains will come automatically.
Yeah that's his problem. He rides very little, not consistently, and is too focused on numbers. Like trying to get a better 5 minute power isn't helping him, he should just try to ride 6-10 hours a week in zone 2, his FTP would gain so much from doing that. He doesn't even need to do any specific interval blocks, just riding more and consistently will give major results.
Great job video. Great to finally meet the wife. I'm to recommend you watch another of my favorite channles - Knees Over Toes, use that as a starting point for your fitness. I understand wanting drop more weight, but muscle burns fat - you will get leaner, more powerful. But don't go crazy, just some simple stuff. Eddie in Bama.
Hey Benji. Nice video. Your goal of riding 5000km in 2025 is the one you should be focusing on and giving higher priority. Hitting that goal will help unlocking your other goals too! Also, break it down further, and aim at consistently planning and riding 100km per week. Furthermore, 5 x 20km rides per week will yield better results than 1x100km, so plan to ride most days, and don't be afraid to keep it in Z2 most of the time. If you can manage to get to 1000km by the end of March through multiple consistent rides per week, you will see how you awaken the beast inside! Good luck with your goals, with the channel, and with your 2025!
You can try the Alpe d'huez climb when they are doing the Dutch charity challenge Alpe d'Huzes which is climbing up the mountain for charity. The collected money will go to Cancer research. Maybe trying that would be a nice challenge.
Great Benji . Really enjoyed this post / TH-cam. As I get more into pro-cycling.. you got to have respect and admiration for most of the riders and there’s a whole bunch you have an extra like for, but different reasons. The women’s racing has been fantastic. I’ve been successfully using the Join app for prepping for the Cadel Great Ocean Rd People’s Ride .. having some specific event goals or reasons to get on the bike is way to go for me. I too have been using and training mainly on a gravel bike these days, even on roads cuz you can get off the bitumen much more safely if needed or anything sketchy. More Lantern Rouge high quality merch would be good (I’d buy it). Thanks again for your work and helping making following pro cycling a rewarding experience overall.
Best of luck with the goals Benji! Get that volume up, if you can do 6-8 hours consistently per week u'll really start to see improvements and get closer to your ceiling :)
Q: Julian A, Hirschi, Pidcock, etc dropping out of WT? Your take? I like it for riders focused on one-day's. More ploeg depth to that calendar BTW -wife did great!
Fell in love with cycling watching the TDF in the 90's and back then before any of the doping scandals my favourite rider was always Marco Pantani. The way he flew up mountains was a sight to behold.
I am 100% with you on what current pedals are called. Clipless makes NO sense today. It started back in the 80's (maybe 70"s) when the then current pedal actually had clips - toe clips. so calling them clipless at that point made sense. Now the comparison is with FLAT pedals so calling them clipless is stupid. as you said should be called Clip-In pedals. Oh well, it's not going to change..
About the bad driving culture in the UK and the risks involved: I’m from Brazil, and back home (gladly I don’t live there anymore) you risk being killed by drivers and by guys who will kill you to steal your bike. Double trouble. You either go out 5:00 am with a bunch of guys in a peloton, or you cannot ride in Brazil.
Good luck Benji with 2025, I'd love to see you at 10 mile tt as thats what i do, how about the national RB one in april? My stupidies crash was when i got hit by a Badger
@Benji - don't wait, get yourself to France and get them ticked off. If this 50yo bloke can ride them so can you. Take a road trip and do the big three back to back - Tourmalet / Mont Ventoux / ADH - very possible to do in a week driving between them and enjoying them. Epic exerience that you will never forget.
Mate, just go and ride your bike. I lost over 20kgs just by cycling consistently. No workouts, no numbers, just riding. It comes naturally and puts way less pressure on you. Don’t get lost in the numbers yet. Keep it up!
Happy new year to both if you. My question on pro cycling would be if the Giro and the Vuelta should change on the schedule. Do you prefer no cancelled stages over drama?
Benji: "How did you become a cycling fan?"
GF: "I had a concussion" xD
Maybe we all should go make a test??
Happy new year Benji, love your vids. Keep it up ;)
How wonderful to meet Talya! Yes to being excited for women's cycling. Keep listening to her!
Great to have Talya on the Channel! Benji you are such a cool Guy, and I have to say, the difference from the Videos from a few years ago is striking. You look really fit!
I really enjoy your PCM content, but I have to be honest: I'm here to vicariously share in your cycling journey :-) Like others have said, your body really has undergone a massive change. Even if you didn't lose weight recently, your body composition has definitely changed. Keep going! I'll be doing my best too.
Strength training is such a game changer. I don’t necessarily enjoy it, but it does make a difference in my cycling/running and helps with injury prevention.
Happy new year, Benji! I hope you smash your goals this year.
Yeah, I don't see a reason for him to wait. I understand that time is limited, but it won't take much of a time investment for him to see benefits. It will help with his weight loss goal, as well.
No, sticking to riding more is probably a better idea in this case. He will definitely see more fitness gains and burn more calories that way.
I really love your content…have accompanied your journey for some years now. Really great stuff and it is really cool that you got into cycling yourself and got much fitter and healthier - that is just amazing!
A great video Benji and congratulations on all of your success, it is certainly well-deserved!
I encourage you to free your mind when it comes to what you can accomplish in your cycling. The only limiting factor that you have is the limits that you put on yourself. A favorite quote of mine (from a movie), "Let your go and your body will follow."
Finally, thank you for introducing us to your secret weapon, your wonderful wife Talia!
Nice vid, best of luck with your goals in 2025 Benji. I feel you should definitely add some strength and resistance training alongside your cycling, it will help with both power and mobility, and will help you get below 100kg.
According to Strava, you rode 2,6k Km in 2024. 300 w FTP with this low amount of riding is very difficult. According to your profile from 2024, you rode in spurs: 2-3 months on, then many months with almost no riding. Which means you start from zero again. I wouldnt make FTP goals, rather to ride consistently and up your yearly distance to 4-5k Km. Then the FTP gains will come automatically.
Yeah that's his problem. He rides very little, not consistently, and is too focused on numbers. Like trying to get a better 5 minute power isn't helping him, he should just try to ride 6-10 hours a week in zone 2, his FTP would gain so much from doing that. He doesn't even need to do any specific interval blocks, just riding more and consistently will give major results.
Happy New Year and all the best, Benji!
Great job video. Great to finally meet the wife.
I'm to recommend you watch another of my favorite channles - Knees Over Toes, use that as a starting point for your fitness. I understand wanting drop more weight, but muscle burns fat - you will get leaner, more powerful. But don't go crazy, just some simple stuff.
Eddie in Bama.
Hey Benji. Nice video.
Your goal of riding 5000km in 2025 is the one you should be focusing on and giving higher priority. Hitting that goal will help unlocking your other goals too! Also, break it down further, and aim at consistently planning and riding 100km per week. Furthermore, 5 x 20km rides per week will yield better results than 1x100km, so plan to ride most days, and don't be afraid to keep it in Z2 most of the time.
If you can manage to get to 1000km by the end of March through multiple consistent rides per week, you will see how you awaken the beast inside!
Good luck with your goals, with the channel, and with your 2025!
You can try the Alpe d'huez climb when they are doing the Dutch charity challenge Alpe d'Huzes which is climbing up the mountain for charity. The collected money will go to Cancer research. Maybe trying that would be a nice challenge.
That young Almeida from GIRO 2020 was indeed a rider to look up to
Great Benji . Really enjoyed this post / TH-cam. As I get more into pro-cycling.. you got to have respect and admiration for most of the riders and there’s a whole bunch you have an extra like for, but different reasons. The women’s racing has been fantastic. I’ve been successfully using the Join app for prepping for the Cadel Great Ocean Rd People’s Ride .. having some specific event goals or reasons to get on the bike is way to go for me. I too have been using and training mainly on a gravel bike these days, even on roads cuz you can get off the bitumen much more safely if needed or anything sketchy. More Lantern Rouge high quality merch would be good (I’d buy it). Thanks again for your work and helping making following pro cycling a rewarding experience overall.
Happy new year Benji, all the best for you and your family. Hope it's a great year.
Best of luck with the goals Benji! Get that volume up, if you can do 6-8 hours consistently per week u'll really start to see improvements and get closer to your ceiling :)
Thanks for sharing. Have a successful 2025!
Looking forward to your work in 2025.
Great video Benji. I hope you make more like this and I'm pleased I discovered you in 2024. Here's to a huge 2025 for both of you. 🙌
Joao Almeida being your wife's favourite cyclist explains an awful lot of your takes Benji 😄
What do you mean?
Ha ha
Happy New Year! Looking forward to watching to achieve your 2025 goals!! 👊💪
Q: Julian A, Hirschi, Pidcock, etc dropping out of WT? Your take? I like it for riders focused on one-day's. More ploeg depth to that calendar
BTW -wife did great!
Fell in love with cycling watching the TDF in the 90's and back then before any of the doping scandals my favourite rider was always Marco Pantani. The way he flew up mountains was a sight to behold.
great video. happy new year. very cool having your wife pop in.
You increase my watchin time in cycling general. Thank you 👍🏻
Looking forward to part 2
I am 100% with you on what current pedals are called. Clipless makes NO sense today. It started back in the 80's (maybe 70"s) when the then current pedal actually had clips - toe clips. so calling them clipless at that point made sense. Now the comparison is with FLAT pedals so calling them clipless is stupid. as you said should be called Clip-In pedals. Oh well, it's not going to change..
About the bad driving culture in the UK and the risks involved: I’m from Brazil, and back home (gladly I don’t live there anymore) you risk being killed by drivers and by guys who will kill you to steal your bike. Double trouble. You either go out 5:00 am with a bunch of guys in a peloton, or you cannot ride in Brazil.
Wow, that’s terrible
Good luck Benji with 2025, I'd love to see you at 10 mile tt as thats what i do, how about the national RB one in april? My stupidies crash was when i got hit by a Badger
See you at tour down under
@Benji - don't wait, get yourself to France and get them ticked off. If this 50yo bloke can ride them so can you.
Take a road trip and do the big three back to back - Tourmalet / Mont Ventoux / ADH - very possible to do in a week driving between them and enjoying them. Epic exerience that you will never forget.
Question for next video:
Benji, what race are you most excited for in 2025.
Mate, just go and ride your bike. I lost over 20kgs just by cycling consistently. No workouts, no numbers, just riding. It comes naturally and puts way less pressure on you. Don’t get lost in the numbers yet. Keep it up!
9:32 What was she doing under the table, Benji?
You forget to mention the potholes every 300m in the UK 😉
I think the FTP goal will be Hard. Its challenging to get so much more Watts while lose weight
Paris-Roubaix is the correct answer. 👍
Happy new year to both if you. My question on pro cycling would be if the Giro and the Vuelta should change on the schedule. Do you prefer no cancelled stages over drama?
What do you think of the Gleb Syritsa situation
What will be the Wild card distribution for GTs this year in your opinion.
As a fellow Belgian cyclist in the UK, yes drivers actively try to kill you and infrastructure sucks.
hello @Benji Naesen how long is your BENJIWINTER10 valid for ? thanks :)
How did it happen that you became friends with guys of the peloton?
Why unfortunately João Almeida?!
so nive to meet your beautiful wife, thank you
Giro 2020? Lucky your wife isn’t a Kelderman fan. The perpetual non-winning is painful