"Hello Blog..."

Okay folks, here we go. My first blog entry.

I am afraid that the blog and I have some catching up to do so this could take up a few minutes of your time. Stick with it if you can.

First off, I need to get something off my chest; "My name is Nick (aka. Fab) and I have white shoes".
With the admission of white shoe ownership out of the way I can continue with a clearer conscience.

I started cycling after getting diagnosed with epilepsy and having my driving license kindly prised out of my grasp for at least 12 months. A sad day, but also a secret blessing in disguise. I am now officially a cycling addict, and as a result, I have cycled to work without fail for the past twelve months (excluding 3 days of snow).

After a few months of cycling purely for the commute I happened upon Steve after a colleague pointed me in his direction. I then began cycling the return home route with Steve and speeds gradually increased. Mr Jefferies is now partially to blame for my incurable cycling addicition! Before I knew it I had gleefully signed up for the aforementioned Maratona dles Dolomites. More recently I have further confounded my addiction by deciding to race with the Epic Cycles team this coming season. "To Cat 3, and beyond....."

As mentioned by fellow 'bloggers', we were then subjected to the pleasure of a Sports Test courtesy of Dr Garry Palmer. A relatively painless experience if you ignore the ramp test at the end. The intention was to benchmark our current performance and provide us with a training regime for the coming winter months. Overall I was pleased with my results; I'm not too fat, pretty efficient, can put out some power but was lacking in my endurance zone performance (more of this later). The results provided us with some interesting numbers to compare (peak power!) and a training schedule to improve the weaker parts of our cycling repertoire.

My training centres around (apparently) improving my performance when pedalling in my 'endurance' heart-rate zone (136 to 146 bpm). Those familiar with heart rates will probably think this a little low; you won't hear any argument from me on that subject.

As a dedicated follower of heart rates I have, for the most part, stuck to my training targets. The occasional spike in heart rate could mostly be attributed to idiots piloting their metal boxes in an impressively incompetent manor. (Motorist moan over....moaning not finished).

So, now time for some controversy, this good old heart rate stuff:

Prior to my Sports Test I rode with a "give it all you've got" mentality. I would ride hard into work and then ride even harder on the way home. "No pain no gain".... "Shut up legs".... etc. Unsurprisingly I am reliably informed that this is not the way proper training is done.

Post Sports Test, three quarters of my riding is now spent in the endurance heart rate zone that I mentioned earlier. Riding at this heart rate provides no real challenge effort-wise. This I do not like. Part of my enjoyment of cycling comes from the cruel pain/performance/pleasure combination. It hurts to ride hard but conversely this pain is good!

After approximately 5 weeks of riding as-per instructed I have felt no benefit in my cycling performance. My Garmin will happily back me up on this one with objective numbers cataloguing this stagnation. This is the first time I have felt that my cycling has halted progress and as you may have guessed, I'm not enjoying this. Poor Steve (aka. Doppelgänger) is often on the wrong end of my rantings as we cycle the 25 miles home in that pleasurable training zone known as endurance "shut up legs, I know you're bored!"

I am going to have a quick chat with Garry to garner professional opinion and see if there is anything that can save me.

Thankfully there is a brief respite from this monotonous endurance piffle; namely "threshold" and "unstructured" rides. Here, well technically in the unstructured riding, I can finally ride as god intended i.e. as fast as I like/can.

Ok, if you have made it this far, which you must have done because you are reading this, may I commend you. My rantings are over and off into the yonder one shall ride, to the distant echoes of "on yer bike son"...............

Fab.
...........................................With power will come glory......................................

Training Update

Well its been a few weeks now following a structured training schedule & it definitely seems to be paying off.

I'm starting to see a small change in my overall performance & I've managed to increase my distance on the longer rides & also on a plus side with that I don't seem to be getting any back ache or very little, but I do need to set up my core exercise program to help with that side of things .

I still need to keep my focus though, as some days when i'm tired I really have to push myself to find the motivation to train, but I must admit as soon as I start I can feel myself feeling better almost instantaneously & when I have finished I feel great, the tiredness just seems to disappear completely.

I now need to do some more threshold training & increase my distance a little more but i'm also going to try to add some tougher climbs into the mix.

17/10/11 Sportstest Visit the Lowroaders

The Sportstest setup...


Steve goes first, Simon & Alan see what's in store and Dr. G watches over the dials...


Simon was up next and Nick came along to ask some questions...

Gav Oag's 1st blog

So I'm 4 weeks into my preparation for the Maratona and I have finally found some time to post my first blog – better late then never! It's been going really well since I saw physiologist Dr. Garry Palmer in October, which was a huge eye opener. Despite my best efforts to prepare for sportive's and rides of distance in the past, it would appear that my training has been pretty inefficient and a lot of the time I have spent on the bike has been wasted. Well that's all changed now and I am currently working through the 'base endurance' section of my training. I'm learning to love the turbo trainer – almost as much as wiggle are learning to love me again. They sent me a bag of sweets last week J

Passo Campolongo at sunrise.

Why?

Why have I volunteered to do this challenge? The obvious answer is that I'm having a mid-life crisis (running at 7 years duration and counting). I love riding my bike and always jump at the opportunity to ride somewhere exciting but on this occasion I'm also riding to raise money for an important charity and show my gratitude that my family has been lucky enough (so far) not to need the excellent service that Birmingham Children's Hospital provides to it's patients.
You may also ask if this race provides a significant challenge to a category 3 road racer, it's a valid question and the answer is yes, I know many good 'road racers' that just stick to racing flat races and would avoid climbing mountains like the plague. I happen to enjoy riding in the mountains and will be riding the Maratona to finish as quickly as I possibly can, the mountains will hurt just the same it will for the other team members - as 5 time Tour winner Bernard Hinault once said 'it doesn't get easier, you just go faster'.

Unstructured Ride

Great ride today, being unstructured meant I didn't have to keep to a specific heart rate zone & could just go out & have fun on the bike.

This started out great until one exception which happened to be 'The Dreaded Car Driver' don't get me wrong most are very obliging to us cyclists but you do get the exception to the rule. On this one occasion I was turning right, I'd looked behind, signalled & was moving over to the centre of the road still checking behind me at random times.... OK so far so good, but just as I was going to turn the event happened, a vehicle came roaring up behind & was not going to wait so decided to overtake me (getting very very close) the vehicle had to go over the double white lines to manoeuvre around me, which was also on top of a hill on a blind bend, now that did send a chill up my spine, but I just composed myself & carried on (with maybe the odd hand gesture & a few verbal pleasantries added for self-satisfaction). The rest of the ride was very nice indeed even though the sun wasn’t shinning it was quite a nice day, slightly wet on the ground on occasions but was very peaceful out in the open country side.

Passo Gardena

Second Week of Turbo Training

I'm well into my endurance training now. I've completed two weeks on the turbo trainer. I managed to squeeze in two hours fifty minutes last week. I 'm currently building up the time on the bike during each session. My ultimate goal is to be able to do ninety minutes on a Friday and an hour on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I could also do with getting back out on the road for a change of scenery, staring at the inside of the garage door is only interesting for so long.

Threshold training...

Just done another threshold training session..... Legs felt like they were on fire towards the end & had to dig deep, but completed the set so pleased with myself.

First Post

For those not in the know the Maratona dles Dolomites is one of the blue riband cyclosportive events covering 138km and ascending 4200m over seven mountain passes. These mountain roads regularly feature in the Giro d'Italia and will provide our team a significant physical and psychological challenge, an excellent excuse for a mid-life crisis. I've done a similar event before in 2010, the Etape du Tour, so out of the team I'm the one who has the best idea of what we will be riding next July so I've been impressed with the attitude and commitment of the guys so far. Completing  Sportstest is no mean feat, I've done four now and I still get some nerves. I think the signs are there that the team is bonding nicely, there was plenty of camaraderie during the Sportstest and there has been plenty of mutual encouragement and mickey-taking over the results and subsequent training programmes.
I was pleased the results of my Sportstest, after completing my first full season as a club road racer I'm not in bad shape, my main targets in preparation for next July are to improve my endurance further and work on my pedalling efficiency (some trips to the gym required). The bulk of my winter training block now involves riding between 152-162bpm to get a solid endurance base in before the next block of training in February.

Simon's Training

This was my first longer ride out going solo, weather was great until just over half way round when it decided to absolutely chuck it down.

Garmin Data

Training Update

Training has been going well, mainly on the turbo trainer so far with a couple of exceptions where I managed to get out on the open road. The threshold training seems to take a little out of me but I do feel better for it afterwards & feel a sense of accomplishment. I must get used to doing the stretches straight afterwards & really need to start on my core exercises to strengthen my back.