"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......................................