I’m a curious person. I raced my bike quite successfully after my two kids went to kindergarten and I no longer had to hire a sitter just so I could sneak out and train. Women in the peloton are always amazed to find out that I have a white-collar high stress day job, two special needs boys, and still manage to get by as a Cat. 2. But I know I’m hardly alone.

On the podium of a mountain bike race a couple years ago the woman in third place tried to say something smug to my friend and I who were first and second. “Well I have to go home now to my husband, job, and 3 kids.” We laughed. As if! My friend is a school principal with a husband and two kids.

“Get in line, sister,” we teased back.

I wanted to know how other women do it. I utilized women’s racing promoter Gerri Moriarty’s huge women’s cycling e-mail list to ask a few questions about pregnancy, recovery after a baby and racing.

Almost instantly, my inbox became flooded with responses from curious racers who were contemplating pregnancy. I also heard inspiring maternity stories from spinning and training enthusiasts, brevet riders, and former racers across the globe.

Some decided to downshift and take cycling less seriously once they became pregnant and had their babies. But the stories that stunned me were those of a group who big-ringed it. I call them the über-mommies of cycling.

These are pros, 1’s and 2’s that pushed the envelope of fitness before and during pregnancy. These women resumed racing almost immediately post-partum. Their race results were as good as or even better than before the baby.

The secrets of the über-mommies
I was a forever Cat. 3 before I had my kids, but something changed in me after. Veiny six-pack abs sprouted where there should have been stretch marks. Long races didn’t seem so bad. I was psychologically supercharged. The secrets of the cycling über-mommies will now be revealed.

Before I reveal their secrets, let me add the following disclaimer. Every woman must decide for herself what is right for her before, during and after pregnancy. If you’re not in top form before you get pregnant, now is not the time to suddenly embark on 10-hour aerobic base training weeks and weight training. I just want to share what is possible.

One notion we have to get rid of is that motherhood somehow signals the death knell of fitness and achievement in cycling. Indeed, the contrary is true if you so choose. Don’t tell your partner, though, because you don’t want to be held to this standard unfairly. Some of us have a life and we don’t all want to be über-mommies.

First, all the über-mommies I am discussing here were quite fit before they got pregnant. But you must also have a body fat percentage at least high enough to have regular periods in order to get pregnant. For a woman hoping to get pregnant body fat in the 10 to 15 percent range may not be high enough. So let that concern go. If you have an eating disorder you must take a leave of absence from your neuroses. Worries about body image must also go. I was 10 pounds over race weight when I became pregnant. I now look like I’m trying to shoplift a beach ball; like a tick about to pop. Remind yourself that this is natural and beautiful. Train your partner to tell you that you look radiant when you are having a body image crisis. As a physician I do not recommend racing at all once you become pregnant. The late Miji Reoch – may she rest in peace – was a groundbreaker in the 1980s. She reportedly won criteriums in her first trimester. For a lot of reasons, I can not endorse this.

Legend has it she also rode her bike in labor to the hospital. As the story goes, on her way to the hospital, Reoch even critiqued some guy’s saddle height and then motored off ahead to the maternity ward. That you just gotta admire. Don’t do it, but go ahead and admire it.

To enjoy a healthy pregnancy, you have to cut out all interval training and anything that even brings you close to your aerobic threshold during your pregnancy. Your baby needs a continuous oxygen supply; so for the duration the rule has to be that anaerobic is bad.

The universal complaint I heard from elite and non-elite women is that their OB-GYN or midwife had no clue about a heart rate ceiling. Most OB-GYN’s recommended a cap of 110-140. This is great pregnancy advice for average gym rats and recreational spinners. One elite cyclist complained that she hits her OB’s recommended cap of 130 going up the stairs. Elite or not, most women who responded to the survey improvised as a result of this advice. Their heart rate caps ranged from 140-165, depending on one’s pre-pregnancy lactate threshold, heart rate max or sometimes guesstimate.

For most of the women questioned, 75- to 85-percent of their usual maximum heart rate seems to be the magic number. Most women lowered the heart rate cap as their pregnancy progressed and they drifted into beached whale mode.

I’m 41 and because I’m older I was capped at 150 in the first trimester. I’m now capped at 130 at six months pregnant because I’m huge, slow and didn’t maintain cycling fitness during this cruelest winter in recent New England history.

Eat, eat, eat… it’s good for you!
You must also bring more food and water on rides than you would normally have to. Bonking and severe morning sickness can put you into a fat burning physiological state called “ketoacidosis,” which is like lactic acidosis and both are physiologically bad for the baby.

Keep your training rides closer to home in case you fade, and remember where you can find those all-important public restrooms. Snack on your energy bars and drinks like crazy during rides. Recovery protein shakes are a great idea; though do try to skip the sometimes sketchy supplements out there on the market. Set your own schedule; keep your own pace
Don’t feel you have to compete with the über-mommies here. Some women chose to or were forced to quit cycling altogether while pregnant for a variety of reasons. Some switched to the trainer or spin bike because of cold weather, road safety concerns, and insecurity about balance or bladder control problems.

Some went into jogging mode and others hit the pool. I like the pool a lot because it’s the one place I don’t feel like King Kong. I also had to hang up my road bike and rig my mountain bike with a new dorky upright tourist stem to make room for my belly. I also have to pee in the woods every five miles.

One elite cyclist who wrote in said that she now regrets stopping her weight training at three months because she thinks she would have recovered faster had she continued the weight room. How far into the pregnancy can you continue cycling?

As Reoch showed us, some did road rides until D-day. Others took or taught spinning classes right up to their due dates, so it can be done. Fitness from cycling will help you in the labor room. My partner jokes that his only role after conception in the whole process is to provide Powerbar handups in the labor room.

Think of contractions as hill repeats; only you aren’t doing just ten of them this time. Visualize the disciplined mental focus you’ve developed hanging in the field over lactate threshold on long climbs. You never hit LT in the labor room but it’s still way harder than a bike race. You’re more mentally and physically prepared than anybody. All über-mommies can attest to this.

The surgical stuff
Obviously, if you have to deliver via Caesarian section it will take longer for you to get back on your bike. Sometimes you have a complication and have no choice. However, C-sections are over-utilized in this country and often medically unnecessary, but they are lifesavers when they are necessary.

Do those annoying Kegel exercises to make delivery faster and easier. This is supposed to reduce your likelihood of an episiotomy. Episiotomies are also over-utilized but they, too, are often necessary. Women in my survey with episiotomies took a little longer to get back on their bikes. Pray that your skinny short cyclist partner will bless you with a skinny small baby.

Realistically, however, your nutrition and prenatal fitness and care will be so much better than the norm that you’ll deliver a Michelin baby who gives you a tear. Almost all elite and non-elite cyclists had at least a small tear or an episiotomy during delivery. The C-section rate among female cyclists was almost non-existent; the average real world rate is about 25 percent. Even so, the data suggests that cycling mommies babies were bigger than average.

After D-Day
Some über-mommies were on their bikes right away post-partum. Some couldn’t get their battered, stitched pereniums on a saddle for a few weeks. One admits to hovering over her saddle on the trainer at two weeks post-partum. You will have lochia, or post-partum bleeding for up to a few weeks. You can’t use a tampon so you have to put a pad in your shorts.

Speed at resuming racing among über-mommies stunned me. Eight to 10 weeks post-partum is common. One World Cup top 10 rider did a training race 9 days post-partum. It seems that all über-mommies who wrote in breastfed, and most did it for several months.

This is a bonus because not only is it great for your baby, it will help peel off the post-pregnancy pounds. One über-mommy reminded me that you must push the fluids on and off the bike to have the extra fluids to make enough milk. Weight reduction after pregnancy was also impressive. One über-mommy was at race weight just two weeks post partum.

She would nurse and jump on the trainer while the baby napped. Another über-mommy used her standard three-month maternity leave to get superfit. Some took a few months to a year, and some never quite made it to race weight. (The latter admit to liking chocolate too much, so they probably blew my entire statistical model).

The baby toss
My survey shows that many cycling über-mommies procreate with cycling über-daddies. This, of course, has to result in some challenges, too. Many said they engage in a co-parenting ritual in training and racing known as the “baby toss.”

On race day, mom warms up and races while dad baby-sits. Dad’s teammate has a non-racing girlfriend who baby-sits while dad warms up. After mom’s race she takes the baby and breastfeeds. I plan to modify this further.

My partner is a cyclo-cross specialist. I prefer to peak for spring and early summer road races. (I usually quit for the year when it’s warm enough to surf). School also gets out then so I can no longer train for free. So I get first dibs on fast winter group rides and he baby-sits. He gets the nod in the summer. I will get maternity leave in the late summer, and then he gets paternity leave at the height of ‘cross season. We will then watch our savings evaporate. It’s all in the planning, folks.

Finally, I full intend take on the stereotype of superhuman strength and improved performance after pregnancy. I suspect that much of that is psychological.

It probably has a lot in common with the change in Lance Armstrong after he survived cancer treatment. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. All über-mommies think they have a higher pain threshold after the baby.

Additionally, after a baby they no longer have the free time for “garbage miles.”

“Every workout counts” said one respondent. You learn things about yourself in the labor room and afterwards that you didn’t know before.

Another said that she is “more relaxed about the importance of racing, and I feel freer.”

I can relate to that. I have two words taped to the stem of my racing bike. “Relax. Focus.” I learned those two words in the labor room. The urge to panic when something is going wrong in a race is less likely, and you don’t give up on yourself when you are attacked. You cheerlead chase groups and get back in the break. If you miss the first surge of a field sprint, you don’t freak out, knowing you can wait for the finish line bike throw.

What would have happened to you in the labor room if you had lost your composure? Nothing can ever happen in a bike race that’s worse than that. Even my chubby hippy doctor friend Bruce does the labor breathing he saw his wife do when I’m dropping him on loose dusty off-road climbs. It’s pretty amusing but it works.

Cycling’s über-mommies set a startling and impressive standard most of us have no hope or desire to achieve. All of us can take their example as encouragement that choosing to have a baby can enrich our lives in every way including cycling.

---

Dawn Richardson is a board certified emergency medicine physician in practice at Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts. She is frequent contributor to SG: surf snow skate girl magazine, and is interested in health-related issues for cyclists, and women’s health. She welcomes medical questions pertaining to cycling, bearing in mind that if it ain’t emergency medicine she may have to do some work to figure out an answer. Please send your questions or issues to "Ask the Doctor" in care of WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Important Notice:
The information provided in the ASK THE DOCTOR column does notconstitute formal medical advice. The information provided on this public web site is provided solely for general interest of the visitors to the site. The information contained in this column applies to general medicalpractice and may not reflect current medical developments or be interpretedas medical advice. Understand that reading the information contained inthis column does not mean that you have established a doctor-patient relationship with Dr. Dawn Richardson. Readers of this column should not act upon any information contained in the web site without first seeking medical advice from their personal physician.