Another Race Report from the Maratona

Hopefully you've all read Simon's race report by now, here is my view of events and there will be more to come from the rest of the team once some subtle reminders have been sent.
First off - thanks to everyone who generously donated money to our charity, we have surpassed the original target and the money is still coming in which is fantastic. Second off - thanks to those people who supported us - Epic Cycles (esp. Chris Lines) for the water bottles, servicing and advice, Skate Hut (esp. Ross) for our race tyres and helmet cam, Jaguar Land Rover for the vehicles, Dave Lee for recommending the accommodation (http://www.paracia.it/ for fantastic views and value for money) and transporting two of our bikes, Dr. Garry Palmer at Sportstest (http://www.sportstest.co.uk/) for his invaluable training advice, and last but definitely not least a personal thank you to my wife for supporting my training.
The journey from Warwick to the Dolomites will be the subject of a later post which will detail the misadventures and revelations of a group of men on an overseas expedition....
Back to my race - the final training ride took place on the Friday we arrived in La Villa (the start village), as Simon mentioned I was at the front of the group during our ride up the first (and fifth) climb of the Maratona, the Passo Campolongo, which started in the finish town of Corvara. It was steep at the bottom but that soon gave way to a steadier gradient, I was riding recovery but I slowed up after half way as I realised some of the rest of the team were beasting themselves to keep up. We were chatting with some Dutch cyclists after that point who had ridden the Maratona previously, they passed on some hints for the race and we spoke about how inappropriate our respective home countries were for preparing to ride in this kind of terrain!
What goes up must come down, panting faces were turned into insane grins as the descent back down the Campolongo was jolly good fun.
Saturday consisted of real rest, the World's Best Cappuccino in the morning to wash down a slab of Sacher chocolate cake, a sporty drive to collect Manuel from Brixen train station, a huge smorgasbord of delicious cold meats, bread and salad, followed by another coffee in the afternoon (just to confirm the earlier findings), then calzone for dinner then sleep. The sleep was tricky - not nerves, just the heat and Mark pratting about stretching and showering and flapping!
Alarm went off at 04:30 so we could get to the start line for 05:30, to aid the slower members of the team I came up with a competition - there was a prize for the last one to be ready, they would be carrying the apartment key. I was first out followed by Alan, Chris and Simon leaving the usual suspects to battle it out for the prize. Gav tried to claim that he was keeping Mark company but he still managed to get down about two minutes before Mark.
The start area was already quite full by the time we had ridden the short distance to get there. Garry and Manuel had arrived there earlier so were placed further to the front then we were. The start wasn't until 06:30 so there was plenty of time to implement some weight loss procedures. The TV helicopters were buzzing around overhead which added to the building anticipation of a great day's riding. Dramatic music was being broadcast from loud speakers in the run up to the start which culminated in a brief respite as the start of the lead pen was announced. Our pen started to inch forward and soon we were on our way, although the number of riders made it impossible to ride your own pace, this continued up the Camplongo which helped me to not use my usual starting style - 'the arse on fire approach'. The rider traffic started to ease a little half way to the top so I was able to start weaving my way through to try and get some space for the impending descent to Arabba.
The traffic was still a little heavy for my liking on the way down but I managed to make decent progress past the less confident descenders in time for the immediate ascent of the Passo Pordoi, it was starting to get warm at this point (still only 07:15!). My legs took a minute or two to get back into climbing mode and I soon found a comfortable rhythm which had me moving quicker than the riders around me. Halfway up I spotted a Lowroaders top in the distance I thought 'bloody hell Al's going well!' but as I got closer it turned out to be Manuel (our newest recruit) who looked to be enjoying himself, I gave a brief hello on the way past to leave him to continuing tapping away at his own pace. A few minutes later I passed Dave Lee, who also looked to be enjoying himself, then a bit further on a disembodied voice shouted 'keep going Steve, you're looking good', I waved randomly in the general direction of the voice which I assumed belonged to Garry.
The climbing soon turned to flat-out descending which was thoroughly enjoyable on closed roads with the other riders not providing too much of an obstacle. This descent then turned immediately into a climb up the Passo Sella. I looked up to see magnificent rock formations towering over the road which further made the ride an true epic adventure. The first feed station come up and was passed straight by as I had a full water bottle still. The road was then bordered by a band of crazed Tyrollian musicians that were beating the hell out of an assortment of gigantic cow bells and Stone Age Glockenspiels to create a 'unique cacophony' which brought a smile to my face. The Sella climb steepened nearer to the top but it was soon over and more descending then turned into the climb up the Passo Gardena. This was my first stop to fill both water bottles and I was soon on my way again over the Gardena and down a fantastic descent back into Corvara to complete the first loop known as the Sella Ronda. This was where the short course riders would finish their travails for the day, the rest of us were funnelled past to tackle the Campolongo for the second time which was a lot less busy than the first time up. I was feeling fresh at this point and a little concerned that I had gone off too slow but I reminded myself that the Giau was yet to come. The descent off the Campolongo was more enjoyable the second time around (less traffic) and I got got myself into a decent sized group for the short flat blast across to the foothills of the Giau. I couldn't just sit in the group not doing my bit so I moved up to the front, had a couple of turns before the road started going up again and looked round to find the group had shrunk from twenty five to four. The four then parted company as we hit the Belvedere, a short climb before the Giau, where I decided to risk not stopping at the feed station there and instead use my remaining two thirds of a bottle to get me to the top of the Giau (location of the next feed station). It was a gamble but I figured that the weight of a full bladder and 500ml of water would weigh less than an empty bladder and 1500ml of water.
I hit the foot of Giau at 10:20 and it was hot at that point, after the first 300m of climbing I felt a pang of guilt as I knew that the rest of the guys would suffer on this gradient and in the steadily increasing heat. Those thoughts were quickly replaced with the business of climbing the Giau, I felt every percent gradient of that climb, I was riding in whatever shade was available, although the longest shade was provided by a cruel stretch in an arrow straight tunnel that pointed disgustingly up to the sky. The climb opened out into the glare of the sun at the top and I was counting down the metres to the top and the feed station. The gamble with the water bottles paid off and I managed to get to the feed station at the top as I drained the last drop. Two full water bottles, half a banana and a 'convenience stop' later I was ready to descend off the Giau, or so I thought.
The second bend came up a little quicker than expected as I was still in climbing mode after an hour of tapping it out, the view of the descent using the straightest method possible snapped my brain back into descending mode before I left the road. This descent was more technical than it's predecessors but I was soon fluidly carving my way down the mountain, this was nearly interrupted by a rider crashing on a bend just behind me but I managed to get clear to look back to see he was still in one piece, although perhaps a little lighter than he was before the bend.
The Giau soon turned into the final climb of the day, the Passo Falzarego that turned into the Passo Valparola near the top (the significance of this was soon to be revealed). The climb started off sedately enough, the figures stated a 11.5km climb at average of 5.8%, and after 3km there was a flat section. I was soon up to my normal riding speed and enjoying the change from constant climbing and descending. Something caught my attention behind me and I looked around to find that I'd won a fan club of about fifteen riders who were all enjoying my draft, none of them offered to help ride at the front so I didn't feel bad when I dropped them when the Falzarego started to head upwards again. The climb started to drag and at 3.5km to go to the top the mountain had only achieved 1900m in altitude which meant there was still 300m of height to be gained equating to ~9% average gradient yet to come which truly manifested itself as I crested the Falzarego to then spot the final cruel piece of road to the top of the Passo Valparola. This didn't dampen my spirits that much as I knew that the final descent was in sight. The final descent was smooth and fast into La Villa leaving a shallow ascent back to Corvara. There were distance markers counting us down to the finish, at 200 meters to go an Italian in bright green cycling kit got a bit carried away with the cheering crowds and extravagantly sprinted past me after enjoying my draft for a bit. I let him get away as I could see the sharp left hander coming up that marked 100 meters to go, I took the corner wide then stamped on the pedals a bit to overtake the aforementioned Italian sprinter 10 metres before the line, childish I know but I couldn't resist it.
After crossing the line in 6 hours and 25 minutes (6 hours 20 ride time) I was presented with an unusual choice - a disgusting cap or 10 euros in cash. After a brief moment to check I wasn't suffering from heat induced hallucinations I accepted the money and went to get my finisher medal and much needed drink.
Gav arrived shortly after and we then gathered the team together over the next couple of hours to ensure that everyone was fed, watered and surgically separated from their machine.
I think I paced the race correctly as I managed to gain places all the way through the ride and only experienced some fleeting cramp towards the end of the last climb. Regardless of that the ride was thoroughly enjoyable and worth all the effort. My placings throughout the race are below -

split times
place            day time       race time           place overall
Gardena       9:04.20,0      2:24.24,6174.    1060.
Corvara        9:16.07,8     2:36.12,4168.     1017.
Campolongo 9:39.20,2     2:59.24,8167.     969.
Selva Cadore10:25.26,5   3:45.31,1142.     804.
Passo Giau    11:23.43,6   4:43.48,2140.     755.
Falzarego       12:27.15,6  5:47.20,2135.      757.

Maratona D'les Dolomites 2012

Well here we are once again in the blog zone......




Our 2 discovery 4 vehicles (kindly lent to us from JLR) were loaded up with the team kit/bikes etc & we 
regrouped at Warwick services. After many attempts by Mark - AKA David Bellamy to get a pre Italy team photo it was upto one of the other team to get his mobile out & take a quick snap instead. Mark did manage to get his camera working (eventually) for later on in the journey to take some great shots.

  Anyway we set off & with only a few satnav errors from both vehicle which split us up but travelling through France, Belgium, Germany, Austria & Italy gave us some breathe taking scenery which was just simply stunning, but at long last & many hours driving, sleeping getting lost etc we ended up in our destination after a grueling long haul drive.

    

We got there with just another time to take in the first trial run of one of the climbs we were to experience on Sunday, but first we collected our Maratona packs had a bite to eat too. I must admit after the small ride to go & collect our race packs i wasn't feeling great, the heat was getting to me a little to start with & I think the lack of proper food made me feel rather crap. The short ride into town was hard for me as my body was just not playing along & short climbs along the way hurt as my heart rate was 170bpm which made me think have I done the right thing here! Anyway we collected our packs & dropped them off at the apartment then set out to do the first climb the Campolongo.

We started to climb & as Steve was pacing the front we set out rather quicker than I could handle, my heart rate was getting worse until Steve said did we want to slow it down a little, which I was very happy to do. The team then pushed on which soon turned into an enjoyable climb & by the top my body was adjusting to the change in temperature & conditions. What goes up must come down & once at the top we then started the descent which was what I was very looking forward to, all I can say was it was an amazing experience to feel the speed while throwing the bike around bend after bend & even though it wasn't a closed road we all made mince meat of any traffic that got in our way. Nowhere before have I experienced such a thrill & being able to go faster on the road than a motor vehicle.

At the bottom we regrouped all with massive smiles on each & every face, I then thought to myself perhaps I have made the right decision.

We all went back & showered to go out & experience some real Italian food & meet up with some friends that were already out here. We briefly met up with Dave Lee & agreed to do dinner with his team the following day. Dave had suggested a place to eat that evening so we set off & got a table, the food was fantastic the pasta & pizza slipped down like we hadn't been fed for a week. 

The next day we continued to carbo load & what better way to do it than coffee & cake, lots of cake. Then it was time to get our Lowroaders tops on & meet up with the Cycling Weekly crew for a general get together plus photo/video shoot. We all introduced ourselves to Ian Parr who was organising the cycling weekly event. After the general shoots were done we did our raffle to see who would win the signed Team Sky jersey (kindly donated & signed by Team Sky after stage 17 of Giro D'Italia via JLR) 

                              

We did a short video of this event & the winner was Malcome Guy. When we announced the winner sadly he had to go but one of his team members was there to collect the shirt on his behalf. After a brief discussion with Malcome Guy's team member it had a rather fitting story behind his large donation which was great to see that the jersey was going to someone that would appreciate it, it turned out that another one of his team was unable to make it to the Maratona due to the fact he had put himself on the organ donation list & was giving away one of his kidneys. Malcome had said that if he won it that he would have it framed so that they could give it to him as he was unable to do the Maratona, the whole Lowroaders tam thought this was a very fitting story for where the shirt was to end up.

More carbo loading that night with Dave Lee & his group continued to a little later than we would of hoped but then that did take the nerves off the main event a little, well for me anyway. I was starting to doubt myself whether I could actually do what I set out to do. The team were great to one another & we all told each other that the training had been done & that the Maratona would be conquered by one & all. It was discussed a long time ago that the team would ride at our own pace, this way each member could concentrate on their own goal of finishing without pushing too hard just to stay in a group.

That evening in the apartment the tension was showing a little without anyone wanting to show it, you could just tell that everyone was showing signs of nervousness which was perfectly normal. The lights eventually went out but no-one really got a great night sleep, it was very humid that evening & was difficult to settle. The alarm went off nice & early & as we had all prepped our gear the night before we had breakfast & made our way to the start gate. Here we gathered for a little while before we were able to set off.

             

There were all sorts going on people on stilts, music playing people everywhere just anticipating the start. There were helicopters everywhere with film crews on as it was to be televised on Italian TV.

Then it was time, we started to move & slowly we started to pedal, within minutes I had lost all of the team as there were just so many riders, but I thought this is it, this is my race of not just physical but mental too.

The Campolongo was the first on the hit list & as there everyone was still very tightly packed it was to be slow going, mainly because there was just no room anywhere. There were people beside me very heavily breathing & I just kept looking at my gamin thinking this is ok I'm in my zone, breathing was normal & i'm feeling good. My nerves had more or less now dispersed & I was concentrating on the rest of the event.

There was one rider who lost his footing & hit the deck straight on his shoulder, I thought that's got to hurt. I managed to stay far enough away that I wasn't caught up in everyone around him needing to put their feet down.

The next few hills were ok & I was feeling good, I kept my HR down & thought I can do this, the hill climbing was hard & I new the worst was still to come. As the day went on the heat started to get hotter & hotter, but after each hill I new there was to be an awesome reward, the descent I was picking people off in the field like they were standing still, the other riders just didn't seem to want to take the correct lines so I was under/over cutting riders everywhere. I never actually seen any accidents on my descents but there were ambulances loading rider after rider into the back, plus on the descent of the Sella ( I think) there was a rider who was seriously hurt after he had wiped out as an air ambulance was just landing to load him into the back. Marshall's were waiving yellow flags & blowing whistles to warm me to slow for the corners but I could see the line of sight & new what speed I was capable of doing so carried on at my own pace.

The end of the short course came & went & I there was a slight thought in my head shall I stop, then I thought to myself briefly & thought that I can't let the team down so pushed on & more upward.......

The same went through my head for the medium route too but I made the cut to be able to carry on & tackle the dreaded Giau 9.9km long & average 9.3% gradient.

There were a few small sharpish hills prior to the Giau, I had stopped at the feed stations prior & took on-board my caffeine gels & electrolyte drinks then I hit it, I must admit I started climbing & thought I can do this in one without stopping, but I was wrong, the heat got to me & I started to feel a little light headed & really sick. I ended up stopping around 8 times the sweat was poring off of me, but I was determined not to walk any part of the any hill. I may have stopped but I did not take one single step as that would off just done it in for me psychologically. I'd reached the top of the Giau & started to feel a little emotional, the one thing that kept me going around all the hills was a mental picture of my fiance Emma plus when I found it really hard I remembered what she had told me prior to leaving. Emma had said to me remember it doesn't matter how hard it gets & how much pain your in, that to remember why your doing this event & that is for the children of Birmingham Children's Hospital & that they will be suffering a lot more & a lot longer than the few hours that I will be, plus that I was also doing the event to remember a friend & bother of one of the other riders 'Nick Rawlinson'. This thought really helped out & inspired me to finish no matter how bad I felt.

The final climb & I new at the top that this was it that I had reached the worst of what the Dolimites could throw at me, there was a feed station there & I looked down & thought no need to stop so pushed on. In minutes I looked up & didn't remember that there was another kick up till the end which was a killer, but I did it even though my legs had almost given up. The last section which felt like forever was slowly done & when I could see the 1000m banner the euphoria that I felt was so intense as I new I had done what I doubted that I could do, I crossed the line at an official time of 9hrs 6mins 58 secs (garmin time 8hrs 35mins 6secs which included the ride to the start).

I would like to thank all of the team for their support of the past months with training & all the emotional times that I had to endure, plus Garry Palmer from sportstest for the training programme that got me prepared for this. Also I could not of done any of this without the support of my family especially my fiance Emma, her words of wisdom, encouragement & just all the love she gave to me to help me with this incredible journey. 

One last note before I blog off & thats to the rest of  Team Lowroaders - WELL DONE ALL

  

Dragon's Sting

Well I'm back again with another blog to update my up's & down's that was the Dragon Ride. Early start meant getting up around 04.30am & try to get some breakfast down my neck, with the nerves running high as always this was not going to be pretty so a small bowl of cereal it was. Alan arrived at 05.00am followed a few minutes later by Gavin & Steve in vehicle 2. Mark had left prior so we thought we would meet up later on in the morning.

We arrived roughly on time but with the traffic queuing into the event itself we ended up starting slightly later than planned. We had lost Steve & Gavin as we entered the event car park due to Steve needing to water the plants as we queued. We parked up got our kit on my nerves was running high & the legs were just not feeling their best. Some days you just know you’re going to have a good ride & others you know it’s going to be tough & this was one of those days for me, I felt my legs were tight & new it was going to be a hard day, the weather had held fairly well considering the days leading up to the event. We got ourselves & bikes ready & made our way to the event village & down to the start area, upon brief discussion with Alan we decided to carry on just the two of us as we were unsure if the others had already set off or were still getting ready. 

As myself & Alan had decided to take the medium route out of the three that were on offer, this was made on a couple of reasons the first was that I didn't like the look at one of the hills on the longer section & with never doing a sportive of this calibre before thought it wise to do the shorter loop & finish than to stretch myself too much only three weeks prior to the main event. The other factor was I knew I could do the distance of the medium route as I had previous done this distance, whereas the longer I was just unsure that my legs would hold out for that time, plus with all the climbs added in as well.

Anyway as we were in the stands waiting to set off I noticed a few Kenilworth Wheelers around us & within a few minutes we were all aloud to be on our way. There were some slow riders which we soon took care of, then got onto a bunch which also seems to be going slower than we would of liked so we passed them & decided to sit on the back of the group which was going a little quicker (this was our first mistake). Well Alan seemed to be flying & in good form, me on the other hand was up into threshold territory & starting to feel it, this is where I should of just eased off & done my own ride (second mistake which I would pay for later).

It wasn't too long before the Dragon started to breath down our necks & throws a few little but sharp climbs in the mix, these were dusted off pretty well overtaking a few riders as we went. We then hit a slightly sharper climb 'Cimla' which had a much bigger gradient of around 17% which had us out the saddle attacking the hill a little too hard. We then had a decent into Neath which I managed to get stuck behind a car going too slow. We continued on up another climb before stopping into the first feed station. I refilled my bottle & decided to eat a energy bar but could only stomach half as it was just too dry. As we got back on the bikes my legs felt really bad, tight & uncooperative but as time passed they eased up. 

The route soon split from the longer Gran Fondo where we met the 'Coelbren' & for some unknown reason this was one of the few parts my legs felt ok, I hadn't realised that Alan had dropped back until I reached the top. Alan soon regrouped & we were on our way together once again. The routes soon rejoined & we hit the 'Glenneath Bank' this is where my troubles started, I felt my inner thighs start to cramp up & thought if I stopped I could stretch out the cramp. This was not to be & so climbed back on & road through the pain, I had to just grit my teeth & power through it & after which seemed a lifetime (more like 5-7mins) they passed or so I thought. The cramps soon returned alternating between the left & right leg.

The main climbs still lingered in the distance the 'Rhigos' & 'Bwlch' both of which I just got into a rhythm as with my legs cramping up meant that Alan had left me behind. The climbs just seemed to be never ending but soon they were out the way & then the fun of the descent started. I looked behind me & in front but there were no other riders to be seen, so I went for it with hands on the drops & was pedalling hard until I couldn't pedal any more. I tucked in my arms & tried to get as low as possible to get that extra mile an hour, the experience of descending down such a long way was just awesome. The one thing that did go through my mind near the bottom though was that as I hadn't seen any riders or signage had I made a wrong turn, I started to doubt myself & thought I would have to climb the descent I'd just come down, but then I say a yellow sign with an arrow pointing the way..... the relief was such a good feeling.

With around 12 miles to go Just after the main descent of the Bwlch I managed to meet up with another rider who upon discussion decided to ride together to try help each other out by slip streaming (I think I ended up tucking in behind him the most) but the general chit chat took our minds off of things & we soon reached our goal & the finish line.

I collected the goody bag & medal but felt a little disappointed in myself as I felt I could have done better if I hadn't got cramps in my legs. My overall place was 275 out of 1368 riders & official time was 05:28:57.

Even though I wasn't overall pleased with my effort after chatting with the team & looking at the overall results I have changed my opinion that I did pretty well, even though my legs cramped up I still finished with the top 20%.

The whole team did really well & I think Alan has done a fantastic turnaround from 9-10 months ago to how he is now as he was on fire throughout the Dragon.

After chatting with Dr Garry Palmer from Sportstest he gave me a recommendation where I could get a sports massage, which showed up that my quads & other leg muscles were extremely tight. 

I have learnt that going out too hard & having tight muscles in my legs were probably the main cause of the cramping, Hopefully with a follow up session & taking it easier when I start I shouldn't have the same problems in the main event in just over a week’s time.

Keep your eyes open for a final blog installment after the Maratona soon by the team.

  

Kneeling before the Dragon

Its about time I updated the blog again with the training leading up to the last Sportive ride.

After the positive impetuous of the second Sports test the training continued with renewed vigour with only a month to the Dragon Ride and prime reason behind all the training......The Maratona des Dolomites.

The Endurance fat burning sessions which had helped me loose all the weight until now were reduced in duration in  favour of more Threshold sessions to help build prolonged power and simulate hill climbs.
For the uninitiated, threshold sessions are also known as Fartlek or interval training, designed to encourage your body to become more accustomed to performing at a higher anaerobic level for increasingly longer periods.
To obtain threshold meant increasing my physical effort to achieve a 154 to 164bpm heart rate. Although during the sessions I found I could easily reach 168bpm without negative effects from lactic acid build-up.
The threshold interval was then maintained for 5 minutes initially with 1 minute recovery between intervals. This would be repeated 5 times increasing to 8.
Longer intervals were then introduced from 8 to 12 minutes with 2 and 3 minutes recovery respectively.

Overall I tried hard to maintain the level of training required, but it was difficult with the poor weather conditions in May and the beginning of June. Threshold training in the wet conditions is always tricky with a higher risk of a fall on fresh mud and gravel washed onto the roads.

Even though Threshold training can simulate hills, I'd previously discovered there was no substitute for the real thing and steeper hill climbing utilises different parts of the leg muscles not always exercised during interval training.
In theory my training should of been enough but I didn't feel confident in my own hill climbing ability before the Dragon Ride, so to avert some of my nervousness I arranged a few longer rides with more climbing around Edgehill.
Without doing too much distance the best I could achieve was just over 1000 meters (3280ft) of lower intensity climbing covering 60 miles. This was well short of the expected 3300 meters and 200km of the Dragon Ride Grando Fondo route, even the Medio route was more than this, but it gave me more confidence.


It was now a few days before the Welsh Dragon Ride and a major test of whether I was physically and mentally strong enough. I admit I was nervous, it had been 2 years since I'd ridden such a tough sportive.
Only time would tell................I decide to tackle the Grand Fondo.

A race in the sun. A race in the rain. In Memory of Nick

This blog post is overdue somewhat but I wanted to group these activities together so I didn't swamp the team blog.
Back in April Chris Rawlinson arranged a ride to carry his brother's ashes to the top of Sunrising Hill on the Edge Hill escarpment. We meet in Leamington by Nick's flat and set out as group of 10-12 riders, all the Lowroaders were present along with Manuel Buck and Nick's close friends. We tackled some Strava segments on the way in true Nick Rawlinson style (giving it the berries) and give the Sunrising segment a good go. Chris was riding hard and was quick, especially considering he was was carrying Nick's ashes! The ride served as a reminder that Nick may be gone but he won't be forgotten.
On the 13th of May I raced in the Halesowen Road Race (2/3/4) held on the Astley circuit near Stourport on Severn, I had entered this with Nick to introduce him to tough road racing. I raced this last year and the rolling course made for some hard racing, Nick had been a bit worried about the distance but was looking forward to getting his teeth stuck into competition.
When I received the start sheet at the beginning of May I contacted David Viner, the race organiser, of Nick's sudden departure. David arranged for a minutes silence in memory of Nick at the pre-race briefing which allowed for quiet reflection on a lost friend and a reminder that we have to make the best use of the time we have on this planet.  The race itself was tough and the 2nd Cat riders were making it hard going for everyone, the course was 5 laps totalling 113km, the average speed was 40kph! Unfortunately for me I got caught up behind a cramping rider at the end of lap 3 and lost contact with the bunch, despite my best efforts I couldn't regain contact.
The Banbury Star Road Race was to be this year's target race for Nick and I. Neither of us had raced this one before but we knew that it incorporated three climbs of Edge Hill (our personal favourite) and we were brashly confident that we could cause some chaos come the 3rd of June. I contacted Dave Anson, who the race organiser for the Banbury Star, to let him know the sad news. Dave arranged for a minute silence, allowed me to ride with Nick's race number as well as my own, and then allowed me to lead out the race in Nick's honour. I had given Dave a link to Nick's blog posts for Team Lowroad so he could get a feel for what Nick was like as a racer and a person. The race Commissaire said some nice words and also asked me to say a few, keeping in line with Nick's sense of humour I pointed out to the other riders that Edge Hill (also know as Knowle Hill) would have been even more unpleasant if Nick had been riding that day. I then lead the race out of the HQ and onto the course, this was a poignant moment for me so I did as Nick would have done and 'gave it the berries' for the first 25 minutes on the front of the bunch. There was heavy rain and a strong NE wind which only added to the intensity of the race. The climbs up Edge Hill were spectacular as riders that were unfamiliar with the hill blew up and dropped off the back. By the last lap the field was whittled down from 80 to 25, on the last climb I just lost contact with the main bunch of 20 (that contested the final sprint), I missed the back of that bunch by 10 metres and ended up a minute behind but overall felt pleased with my performance in a tough race. I will be targetting this race next year in an attempt to win it (so will taper and train accordingly) and Dave Anson has said that I can ride as #26 (Nick's number from this year).

Dragon Breath

That's the last big training ride before the Maratona done. Having raced the Banbury Star Road Race the weekend before I didn't feel that excited about riding the Dragon given the route last year (which included two climbs of the same side of the Bwlch) but I soon got into the party mood. A fast group was forming soon after the start so I helped tow it along with one other rider (who has recently finished 27th on the Fred Whitton Challenge). I have received a telling-off from Dr. Palmer in the past about doing this but I was still in race mode and the legs were willing. After 2 hours we hit the Black Mountain and the legs still felt good but the climb to Roman Camp was starting to tell me that I had started too hard and I needed to back off at which point I let the group go to concentrate on riding at my own pace. Due to admin problems I had to stop longer than expected at the second feed stop. Underway again I was still feeling flat but the gradients of the Devil's Elbow didn't seem to be as extreme as the signs suggested (for me at least) and my legs started to recover once the Gran Fondo route rejoined the Medio route for the final three climbs of the day - Glynneath, Rhigos and the Bwlch (from Treochy).
The Rhigos and the Bwlch were the main reasons behind my suggestion that we make this the final warm-up for the Maratona so that the guys could experience the type of gradient and length of climbing that we will be seeing in the Dolomites so that they feel more confident their climbing abilities. This nearly backfired as some of the team were disappointed in their performance but this has to be put in context - for us the Dragon Ride was a training ride, for the majority of the other riders the Dragon was their season's goal for which they had tapered for and arrived fresh, our goal is the Maratona and to have ridden the Dragon on fatigued legs is impressive achievement.
The goal now is to recover whilst maintaining fitness which done by reducing training volume but maintaining (or increasing!) training intensity. This is also the time to sort out any remaining bike fit or clothing issues (I've ordered new shorts as the previous pair seems to have a personal vendetta against my posterior).
On a personal note I would like to say that I have been impressed with the determination shown, and progress that has been made, by every team member since last last September and I'm proud to be associated with Team Lowroaders knowing that everyone will give their best on the 1st of July - Nick wouldn't expect anything less.

Exciting Times!

Two weeks from now the team will be in Italy on the eve of the main event!  All of the training is finished having completed the Dragon ride so the bikes will see a little less use during the final run in.

The nerves feel fairly settled now, but it was a different story after the first major climb on the Dragon ride.  I think I went at it a bit too hard on the Black Mountain and there was a stint during the middle of the ride when I was questioning how well prepared I was for the Maratona.  Stomach cramps and heavy legs were getting me down, but it's funny how things work out, because I was able to get back into a good rhythm and make a strong finish.  I posted a silver standard time which did not align with how I was feeling during the ride and I was quite shocked by the result to be honest!  In my view it reinforces the training methods and advice that Dr. Garry Palmer at Sportstest has been guiding the team with.  Thank you Garry!

I still have one or two things to iron out over the next couple of weeks.  The main one being the return of my Trek (or a Trek!).  Unfortunately my TCT5000 was letting the seat post slip - something I noticed a few weeks back.  Having been returned to Trek for inspection it was determined that a crack had developed in the frame :-(    Trek stood by the lifetime warranty they provide for frames and sent out a Madone 4.7 as a replacement.  I was hoping it would be ready for the Dragon, but it wasn't to be.  I picked up the rebuilt bike last Thursday and am looking forward to getting a few miles done before we head out to the mountains!

The second one is 'seating'.  Either my shorts or saddle (or both) are not quite up to scratch for the several hours required on the bike and this became pretty clear about two thirds of the way around the Dragon route.  My saddle is nothing special, so I have invested in a Specialized Romin Comp and will see how this goes with my current shorts over the next few rides before I try anything else.  I know it is a bit close to the event to be meddling with 'contact' points, but I figured the way things were on the Dragon, I have nothing to lose by trying something else.  I'll let you know how it goes later this week and post some pics of the 'born again' Trek too.

Taming The Dragon.

When I first signed up for the Wiggle Dragon Ride last year it seemed a long way off and now it's been and gone. Five of us (Myself, Steve, Simon, Gavin and Mark) all made it round in good time (I'll let the others regale you with their experiences of the ride) and I was very pleased with my showing and learnt a few things on the way.

For those of you not familiar with the Dragon Ride, it's a major cyclosportive event in the Breacon Beacons. This year there were three routes, the short course was 37km, the medium route was 125km and the Gran Fondo route was 206km. All three routes started and finished at Margam Country Park near Port Talbot.

Along with Simon, I opted to tackle the medium route for a couple of reasons, the first is that the Maratona Gran Fondo course is slightly shorter than 125km and the second was that I hadn't done any serious climbing as part of my training and didn't want to get demoralised doing the Gran Fondo route (better to do the medium route and finish well than struggle round the longer route and not enjoy it).

On Sunday morning we set off from Warwick just after 5 O'clock aiming to get to the start at around 7 O'clock, so that we could start at 7:30. In the end due to roadworks, navigation issues and queueing traffic at the venue we didn't get started till almost 8 O'clock and we got split up, so our plan to start together was a no go. Simon And I set off in a relatively small group of about 30 riders and it very soon became clear that sticking in a big group wasn't going to work for me. I was struggling to get warmed up and keep my heart rate high enough due to the low pace the group had settled at. Luckily a small bunch (from Kenilworth Wheelers) was going at a better pace and I tagged on the back. This allowed me to make good time and still ride at endurance, however, when we started to hit the first few climbs I lost the back of the bunch (mainly due to me getting boxed in behind some slower riders we had caught up with). In hindsight at this point I had two choices, the first was to ride at my own pace and keep my heart rate down, the second was to put in a proper effort and catch up to the back of the group again. What I ended up doing was riding at a faster pace than I should have, but, not fast enough to catch the group. This was my first mistake of the day and would come back to bite me later.

The next few miles were relatively uneventful, there were a few rain showers and the view was generally pretty good. I spent most of this time riding at my own pace, I never seemed to be able to get a group that was going at a pace I could settle with.

It was just as I was getting comfortable that the Dragon bared it's claws for the first time. At around 20km, as we turned at a set of traffic lights in Maesteg we hit the first climb. I hadn't made a route card, so this one came as a bit of surprise to me (I don't think I was the only one) and there was the general noise of other riders scrabbling to recleat and find a suitable gear as we rode away from the lights. The climb turned out to be a lot less difficult than I had anticipated and (while I wasn't the fastest up the climb) I was passing other riders. The climb did hurt a bit, but, clearly my training was paying off. The climb was an average gradient of 7% for 2km with a maximum of 12%. The reward for this was a cracking descent in to Bryn.

From this point on the rest of the ride had some pretty serious climbs. The next climb (Cimla) was only short (1km) but had sections of 17%. This is where I made my second mistake, I stood up and attacked the bottom of the climb, which pushed my heart rate over threshold. After this there was a descent into Neath before another climb to the first feed station. I stopped briefly to refill my water bottle and grabbed an energy bar, then we were off. This brief stop was enough to make my legs tighten up a bit, but, they soon loosened up after a couple of miles with a decent pace.

It wasn't long after this that the Medio route split from the Gran Fondo and I peeled off from the majority of the other riders. There was only one significant climb on this part of the route and I decided it was probably a good place to try and rest up for the final three climbs, so, I tried to climb this hill (Coelbren) in my endurance zone. Unfortunately, this meant I lost touch with Simon and so spent the next couple of kilometres riding harder than I would have liked to catch him back up.

After this short section the two routes rejoined for the climb up Glynneath Bank, which was 3km at an average gradient of 5% with a maximum of 15% (although it never felt like that). On this climb I lost Simon and the other riders who had been around me and so rode to the foot of the Rhigos, the first of the two really serious climbs, on my own.

This was the point at which I started to feel the 70 kms I'd already ridden and my mistake on the second climb and as I started to climb my legs started to object. I stuck to my plan, which had been to just settle into a pace where my heart rate would stay within threshold and to stay seated. As I was approaching half way up the climb I was willing the road to level out, so that I could get a short rest. Thankfully, not long after, just prior to a hairpin bend it did just that and it was just enough to let me regroup to tackle the rest of the ascent, which was now into a headwind. The sense of achievement on reaching the top was immense.

Just after the summit of the Rhigos was the second feed station where I stopped again to fill my water bottle, answer the call of nature and wait for Simon. My mind now turned to the Bwlch, the final and longest climb of the day. At 6km with an average of 6% and peaks of 10% this was going to be harder than the Rhigos.

After Simon and I regrouped we descended to Treorchy where the route turned to take on the Bwlch. The descent was fast and we made good time, partly due to having to pedal to get the legs woken up again. It didn't seem very long before we started up the Bwlch and I had to remind myself to take it easy and not attack the shallower section at the bottom of the climb. It was here that I lost Simon again due to his legs cramping up. I spent most of the climb on my own trying to enjoy the view and ignore the protestations of my legs. I had watched the recce video for the climb and so I thought I knew that the summit was, shortly after the T-junction at the top. As it turned out I obviously hadn't watched the video all the way to the end as the climb continued on for another 2km after the junction. However, I made it to the summit and at that point I knew I was going to make it back. The rest of the route was mostly down hill with the odd blip.

It was here I made my second mistake. I forgot to eat. I knew it was about another 25km to the finish and I knew it was downhill, so I assumed I'd be finished in about half an hour and there was no point in eating. Big mistake! What I had failed to realise was that the last 5kms were uphill and into a head wind and I was now riding on my own. As I turned made the turn onto the last stretch I was caught by another rider at the traffic lights. This was my opportunity to get a bit of a free tow to the finish. As the lights changed we set off, but, I missed clipping into my pedal on the first attempt and the other rider was gone. I didn't have enough left to dig in and try to catch him, so I was left on my own to face the wind.

These last few kilometres seemed to go on forever, made worse by the fact that some of it was on the road we had queued on to get into the car park, so it felt like you were nearly there only to discover that the finish line was beyond the turn off to the car park. As I made the final turns into the finish area I had a massive sense of relief, but, it also felt odd, since I finished on my own and there was no-one else in the finishing area.

It was an amazing day and, for me, a massive achievement for only eight months of training. According to the official results I finished 266th out of 1368 riders who tackled the medium route. My time was 5:27:40 and was just inside the cut off for a bronze medal. Simon was only a minute behind and also got a bronze medal.

I have to say a big thank you to the rest of the team for there support through out my training and also to Dr. Garry Palmer of Sportstest.co.uk for the training plan that got me to where I am today. Just two and a half weeks to the Maratona, so hoping for a similar success.

Pre Dragon Blog.....

Well it’s been a while since my last update on here but the training has been going well after my little set back off being knocked off. I did think that I was never going to recover fully in time to do the Maratona, but all the team were behind me with plenty of encouragement. At first my training felt like I was back at day one, hills just seemed to sap all my energy & my heart rate was going through the roof, but as the weeks went on I could feel myself returning back to the form that I once had. I had had a few niggles with my right knee but that also seemed to pass with in a 2 week period & all is good once more, the only drawback seems to be I have put a couple of kilos back on.

One way I did cheer myself up with when I started to get back into the training was with buying myself a new bike, there was a deal I couldn't resist for a Cannondale CAAD 10 which is a superb bike even with the odd creak that seems to appear now & again (I think Nick seems to be getting his own back from all the times we took the p#@s when his bike made funny noises).

Anyway back on track & the team did a special fundraising day at work (which went really well as you may have read in the blogs made by the other team members) by cycling on the test track, the weather was fantastic apart from a hefty head wind in one direction & as it was a circuit you knew you were going to hit it time & time again. I had also noticed lately just prior to this event that my backside was getting a little sore, I still managed almost 45miles that day before stopping due to the bottom bracket making some rather funny noises on my new bike & also feeling quite sore where the sun doesn't shine. I road home thinking god my backside is tender & the other team members also commented that their sit bone area felt a little uncomfortable too, so I rested for a while but then noticed I had gained a lump on my left side & thought I needed to get it checked over. After a visit to the doctors a few days later & mentioning that I had some long haul rides impending soon & didn't want the amount of pain I had experienced lately. I was pleased to know that I had a cyst which is quite common apparently & was possibly caused by blocked pores. I was prescribed a course of antibiotics to reduce the swelling which has work pretty well so far. I also decided to get measured for a new saddle too, this is done by measuring the width of the sit bone area, to which I found out I needed one a little wider what I was currently using.

Now as the Dragon Ride is ever closer (as in a couple of days) my anxiety is getting a little higher, I'm the sort of person that always gets nervous doing things that I’m not used to doing or that I have never done before, but I’m sure this is just a natural feeling most people get. I felt the same when I did the Mad March Hare & I'm sure once I set off I will feel great as I did the last time. Even with the Dragon Ride being only days away, that in itself means that the main event is only weeks away. Now the nerves are flying all over the place with this event but I must admit I am definitely looking forward to it as well.

Let’s hope the weather improves for Sunday for our outing in Wales on the Dragon Ride as at the moment with the rain & the wind it’s not looking great, but I’m sure even if just the wind dies down & there is showers rather than a down poor it will be a great day.

We had a special delivery of the team jerseys which we’ll all be wearing hopefully for the Dragon Ride (weather permitting).

That’s it’s from me for now so keep an eye out for the next instalment from one of the Lowroaders team very soon......

All the gear...

...but do I have any idea of what's in store?  Hopefully a little bit as I have certainly been putting the miles in.

As you can see the team shirts have arrived and I have to say I am very impressed with how they have turned out.  The team colours will get the first showing on Sunday for the Dragon ride through Brecon Beacons in Wales this coming Sunday.  The Dragon ride is the final event that I will be riding prior to the main event in Italy.  There are several decent climbs on this event and while not so severe as those on the Maratona, the overall distance is greater at 120 miles, so it will give me a good idea of how I'm going to fair come July 1st.

Last week I met up with Dr. Garry Palmer from Sportstest for my follow assessment to see the hard facts and figures behind all of my training effort.  The results were positive, if somewhat surprising.  While I have seen significant power increase (some 40 watts!), high load efficiency improvements, increased max heart rate as well as weight loss, I have only made minor improvements to my low load efficiency levels.  While on balance this reads very well, with many significant improvements, it is surprising because the main focus of may training has been to improve low load efficiency as this is the area of riding that is so important on endurance events.  It is not clear why this has happened, but it is a shame that I did not have the follow up session with Garry sooner as this could have been picked up and my schedule adjusted to suit.  Garry is not greatly concerned as I have exceeded the golden 4 watts per kg ratio, so with a careful feeding pattern I should be good for the Maratona,  I have my fingers crossed and will be using the Dragon ride to practise the feed schedule.

The forecast for Sunday is wet and windy, but I'm still looking forward to the event.  Check back next week to see how we do!

Performance Improvements

It's all getting a bit close now. There is only four weeks to go to the Maratona and only one week to the Dragon Ride. I'm feeling a bit less anxious about it all now and I'm actually starting to look forward to the challenge of the big event. The reasons for this change are two fold.

Firstly, we had great support from colleagues at work who turned up to support the team and raise money for BCH. I was taken aback by the level of support from several of the participants that had collected money locally and brought it along on the day. I was particularly impressed by a colleague who had travelled all the way from the Halewood plant in Merseyside to support us.

Secondly, I've managed to get some solid training out on the road as the nights are now lighter and I'm able to see the last 8 months training paying off. This has shown up in one particular segment on Strava where I have seen a 33% reduction in my time when riding at threshold. On Thursday night I went out for an endurance ride and averaged 30 kph, which I couldn't get anywhere near when I started.

My climbing speed has also improved and I can now climb hills without going into my threshold zone. I'm also able to ride at 25kph in the recovery zone (my top speed when I started was only about 24kph).

So, the next big milestone is the longer climbs on the Dragon ride on Sunday, stay tuned for an update.

Sportstest#3 (for me)

It was testing time as Dr Palmer was in to provide Gavin with his second Sportstest, I'll leave the details of Gav's test for him to blog upon. I was making up the numbers today but it did prove useful For me to be tested. My results show that I'm down 10W on my peak power, my weight is up slightly, my aerobic efficiency at threshold has significantly degraded and my aerobic threshold heart rate has dropped. Doesn't sound good does it? Fortunately all it means is that I'm on verge of fatigue from the volume and intensity of my training, the results did show that the weight increase is all lean muscle mass which theoretically means I would have produced more power if tested fresh but more importantly it has helped to avoid severe fatigue that would have potentially derailled my Maratona preparations and also my race this weekend. I want to be able to give a good showing on Sunday in the Banbury Star Road Race, Nick and I entered this race back in November and we had been training on Edge Hill in preparation for this race. I now need to carefully train and rest to ensure that I can perform at my best when it counts and today's test provided the warning I needed.

Team Lowroad Maratona Training: Track Day

Team Lowroad Maratona Training: Track Day:
Really enjoyed this day. My 1 hour and 50 minutes seemed to pass so quickly.
A big thanks to all those who gave up there time and a well done to Simon and Gav especially for the amount of sponsorship effort. My own woeful efforts so far have a lot to live up to.
I managed 17 laps (or 27.2 miles) in that time, the only down side I thought was a numb backside. Unfortunately the continuous seating position had a nasty side effect which only became apparent when I came to be escorted off the track.
I suddenly found myself unable to sit down again and rode the mile out of the saddle back to the car. I then found myself in agony to even sit in the car let alone drive the car and pick my daughter (Olivia) up from school. After eventually getting home I tried stretching it out, thinking I'd damaged my ITB's........but in both legs???
Stretches only helped slightly and I conceded to trying the Pro's tried and tested method of muscle pain relief - the cold bath. It took more courage than the Mad March Hare to get in that icy bath. 20 minutes later and a few more stretches the pain relief was almost complete.
I could still feel tightness and twinges during the weekend so decided to keep off the bike for a few days as damage limitation. Back on the bike soon I hope.

Mark's Training

I could start by apologising for my lack of Blog but there is little to excuse it.

Instead I'll update anyone interested enough to read my ramblings in as short a time as possible, if possible.

Like all my fellow riders I willingly agreed to have a go at the Maratona perhaps without realising the true extent of the challenge ahead and the training involved.

It's true I'd been off the bike for a year (except the odd ride to work) for nearly a year and was overweight by my standard. In fact I'd never been 12stone 4lbs in my whole life and was beginning to feel the effects of carrying the excess on my rather diminutive 5ft 7in stature.

In previous years my fighting weight (in cycle terms) had been 11st 2-4lbs (71-72kg) so it was going to take some effort to get back in shape.

My first hurdle was that of motivation. You could say the event and the charity side should be motivation enough, but in my case it was more mental.

Not only had I fallen out of love with cycling, but I was also busy with a house extension and the pressures (probably of my own making) of getting a new kitchen and heating system installed.

After a handful of training rides came the first bike test with Garry Palmer which came to prove I was in worse condition than I thought. In some ways this made me feel worse about myself as I knew how good I was before and that was without a proper training schedule.

First Test Results;

Weight 76.8kg

Body Fat 20.6%

Power to Weight Ratio 3.53 Watts/kg

In summary I didn't even finish the first part of the test as I'd already gone anaerobic early on and my recovery heart rate was also poor. It showed my lack of overall fitness.

The only light at the end of the tunnel was my peak power at 271 Watts and my usual stubbornness to keep going.

Garry set me on a path of endurance training that I really struggled with and as winter came I also struggled to get out on the bike with the additional burden of getting the new underfloor heating going.

Come Christmas I'd managed to get the bulk of the new kitchen complete and the heating up and running well. The downside was I'd not lost any weight and it was getting me down. Even SJ was beginning to despair about my lack of progress. In the end it was probably his persistence (which I'm thankful for), positive slant on my untapped ability and the Mad March Hare sportive that got me going again.

The Mad March Hare;
Out of all the sportives I've done I was probably the most unprepared. The endurance training was starting to go better, but I'd done very little hill work, or distance. I'd also put some pressure on myself to get round, after all I was a veteran sportive rider.
In the end I'd surprised myself. Due to the weather conditions it quickly became a test of mental and physical endurance that I shared with Simon Dane. Even the added challenges of Simon's broken chain, an extra 5miles with an additional 12% climb, and pushing Simon for the last mile after his chain finally gave up didn't stop us.
I admit I struggled with some of the climbs, but none defeated me and neither did the weather. For that I was happy and gave me the spur I needed.


Second Test Results (27th April 2012);
My main goal for the test was, "could I make 4Watts/Kg".
This was the target by which Garry Palmer gauged that we would be capable of completing the Sportive rides comfortably, anything would be a bonus.
I wasn't feeling great, I'd had toothache all week with an abscess and I was on antibiotics. This did show a little in my stiff legs, the turbo fitness test traces and my recovery not being as good as it could, but the overall result were encouraging;

Weight 73.5kg (Approx 11st 7.5lbs)

Body Fat 17%

Power to Weight Ratio 4.01 Watts/kg

Max Power 295 Watts.

Have to say I was a little gutted a fell short of 300Watts, but I was please to hit target even though I was on the ragged edge to get there.

The results showed although I'd gained 0.1kg of muscle I'd rid myself of 3.2Kg of fat in the 4 months since Christmas. Looking at it in another way that's 800grams or 4/5ths of a bag of sugar every month.

Just need to loose another 4lbs to be back at my old fighting weight, although this may be difficult to achieve in the time we have left.

Piling on the miles

So now I know what the guys at Kilotogo have to go through to organise a sportive!  Well not exactly, the test track cycle ride wasn't quite on the same scale, but took some organising none the less.  As a result I have a new found respect for anyone involved in the organisation of cycling events for us all to enjoy.

Waiting to get started

We had a beautiful day for it and a good turn out too, but we were all suprsised to raise over £400 for Birmingham Children's Hospital!  That pushes our grand total up to £1,472 - well over half way to our target of £2,000.

Four of the team in action (L-R: Steve, Al, Gav & Simon)

I managed 64 miles during the three and a half hours I was cycling for and need to tally up the grand total mileage in order to figure out who has won the prize for guessing the grand total.  I will update you on that later this week along with a link to the photos from Fridays track ride.  Here are a couple of preview pic in the mean time.

Track Day

One of the advantages of working for JLR is that we have a magnificent test track at Gaydon unfortunately it's magnificence is lessened somewhat when you've around a flat 2.6km circuit 45 times. This particular stage of training doubled as a charity fund raiser that Gav and Al had organised to really get the fundraising ball rolling at work. People could donate money to ride around the test track, 'a once in a life time experience', and/or guess how many laps would be covered in total. I automatically assumed that this meant I should ride for as long and as fast as possible, 3 hour and 45 minutes later I can confirm that I have a saddle shaped bruise on my backside due to the artificial, unchanging nature of the test track. Coupled with the heat I did managed to experience some unusual side effects, I glanced down at the time at 14:30, I looked again 5 minutes later (or so I thought) and the time was 16:09. Mark Stansfield, Simon Dane, Alan Gordon, and Gavin Oag were riding and looking strong, especially into the 16mph headwind that was hitting us down the back straight.

A ride in the sun

Four of the team (Al, Gav, Simon and myself) managed to venture out for an early Sunday morning ride in the sun (6th of May). It was good to get out with the team and to see the changes that their training had wrought, an early demonstration was provided by Simon who went streaking past Gav and myself on a power climb like we were standing still. The route we took was flat with some rolling sections and Al's impressive endurance came to the fore, the 2.5 hour route was covered at 17mph is a world away from Al's starting point last September.

7 weeks to go

We're all down to seven weeks to go to the Maratona and we are well into our threshold training blocks. I lost a week of training due to a lower back injury, but, I'm fully back into the swing of training again. Threshold training is mentally much easier than endurance, but, physically it's on a different level.

Kate, Kirsten and I spent a weekend at Center Parcs, which was a great getaway. However, the training was definitely interesting. Trying to do threshold training with so many people walking and cycling in random directions doesn't make for the easiest of sessions. There were several interesting moments where I caught up with other cyclists only to have them drift across the path in front of me. The most interesting point was when I caught up with a Hen Party walking six abreast across the road. Two moved to the left, three moved to the right and the sixth woman frozen in the middle of the road. Assuming that she was going to move, I chose to aim straight for her. She finally moved out the way just before I'd have needed to brake, which was handy as I was travelling well over the site speed limit of 10 mph at the time.

The next big milestone for the team is on Friday 25th May when we are organising a sponsored cycle event on the Jaguar Land Rover test track at Gaydon. This will hopefully raise the profile of the main event as well as raising some more money from the keen cyclists at work.

After this we are all focused on the Wiggle Dragon Ride on 10th June which is our final warm up event prior to the main event. This ride is 206km and climbs 3350m. I'm getting a bit nervous about this one now as it will be the farthest I've ridden and there is a lot more climbing than I have ever done before, but, I've done the training, so (as I keep being told) I should be fine - fingers crossed, eh!

A ride in the rain

We (Gav and I) knew what we would be in for, the forecast for Sunday the 29th of April was heavy rain with a 25mph NE wind, but that didn't stop us making the journey to Great Witley in Worcestershire for the Little Mountain Time Trial. This was intended to be a good excuse to practise riding at threshold for a longer period (longer than any single climb on the Maratona assuming all is going well).
The weather forecast didn't dissappoint, the weather was that bad I decided to forego a decent warm-up in favour of starting dry and warmer! Needless to say I was soaked through in minutes, I decided to opt to ride my race bike for additional speed but doesn't have mudguards so I soaked from above and below but I wasn't cold as I was riding hard enough to generate plenty of internal heat. Overall the ride took just over 2 hours to cover 39 miles in blustery conditions with some fairly tasty climbs (Ankerdine Hill has sections of 17%). I was please with my heart rate trace as I manged to stay at threshold for the majority of the ride, the only time it dipped was for road junctions etc.
Once I had stopped the cold set in, my hands were so cold I had to kneel down and slurp my cup of tea whilst it was sat on the table. Gav arrived back soon after having also 'enjoyed' his ride. Out of the 120 riders on the start list only 63 opted to start, Gav and I rode in the road bike category and were pleased with a placing overall against guys on TT bikes. A link to the race report is below.
http://www.velouk.net/2012/04/30/report-jack-clements-memorial-little-mountain-time-trial/

Now I can cycle to work!

Finally I have found time to log onto the blog and make a post!  I promise not to leave such a long gap to the next one!  I could make 100 excuses for not posting, the best being that I have been busy preparing for an epic cycle ride in July (aka the Maratona!) oh and I've been moving house too.

Anyway, enough of that, I need to bring you up to speed on my progress.  I will start with the photo on the right, this is a rare occasion where the Lowroader riders are in the same place at the same time.  This was our attempt at making 'happy faces' after the grueling ride that was the Mad March Hare.  It was certainly MAD as you have probably read in previous blogs, with relentless rain and even snow along the 70 odd mile route.  We were all riding with our late friend Nick in mind.  The loss of Nick came as a huge shock.  I only got to know Nick through the Lowroader Team, but he had a striking personality that left an impression.  I am glad that I got to meet Nick, experience his sense of humour and infectious enthusiasm.  He left too soon and is sadly missed.

I mentioned that I had moved house and I am now within cycling distance of work.  This is great and means that I can combine my commute with my training - win win!!  In order to preserve the Trek TCT (AKA Derek) I have bought a new bike.  Epic Cycles hooked me up with a Genesis Aether (AKA Phil Collins) which is happily munching miles to and from work.  I bought this via cycle-to-work which left a little budget for some upgrades to the Trek in the form of some lighter wheels and a lighter, compact crankset.  I also have some trick Schwalbe tyres courtesy of SkateHut and I'm looking forward to trying out the new bits to see if I notice the reduced weight.

While the Mad March Hare ride was wet wet wet, my next ride at the Kilotogo Cheshire Cat sportive could not have been more different.  Glorious sunshine for every one of the 102 miles.  The ride went really well, I posted a silver standard finish time and was in great shape for the entire ride.  I was waiting for the energy to run out during the final miles of the ride, but the legs stayed strong to the line.  I think it's a testament to the training schedule and advice that I have been following from Dr. Garry Palmer at SportsTest.  I was hoping to get a measure of the improvements last Friday when Garry came to Land Rover for testing.  Unfortunately there was only time for three test slots so my comparison will have to wait.  Mark went through a retest, so I will let him post an update on his progress.  There was time to check some of my basic information and it looks like following Garry's advice has made a dramatic improvement to my body fat percentage with an improvement of 3.5%!

The next ride I have planned is the Little Mountain Time Trial in Worcester, followed by a mileathon to raise some funds for Birmingham Children's Hospital.  The finishing touches are being made to our team jerseys and with less than 90 days to the big ride anticipation is mounting - bring it on!!

Preview of Second Sportstest for Gavin and Mark

Gavin and Mark are being Sportstested by Dr. Garry Palmer tomorrow, this being their second test to assess their progress from the initial testing session back in October 2011. Gavin has been looking impressive out on the road (especially on the hills) and has been following the training programme conscientiously. Mark is returning back to the form that saw him conquer the likes of the Circuit of the Cotswolds 100 miler, Cheshire Cat 100 miler and the Phil and Friends ride in the High Peak, although it would be fair to say that his training approach has improved dramatically since the Mad March Hare which provided the spark he needed to get back on the bike with gusto.
Good luck for tomorrow! 4W/kg is the target.

Priorities

A recent bout of sinusitis has given me time to reflect on bike related things, I find myself with a number of conflicting activities -

• Racing - Tapering for the Saturday's criterium races at Victoria Park.
• Training - Concentrating on a successful second half to my threshold training.
• Strava #1 - Classic Climbing Challenge (climbing 105,000ft in 47 days).
• Strava #2 - Segments.
• Maratona - Preparation for the event (including the Dragon Ride).

Therefore need to prioritise - 

• The Strava segments come last, it's a bit of big boys fun but there be plenty of time for that shenanigans when the Maratona is done.
• The Strava Climbing Challenge, is distracting me from training.
• Racing - these early season races aren't my goal, so a short taper to minimise disruption to training will have to suffice.
• Maratona - Preparation is mostly in hand, a small change is required to avoid a double booking for the Dragon Ride.
• Training - the Maratona involves a lot of climbing which makes the threshold training phase the most relevant, the training has been a bit haphazard during the last 10 days due to illness and holidays so it's important that I get a solid three week block in before the end of this training phase.

Snotiness aside I did manage to get a decent ride in last week, cycling with my brother-in-law (Alec) from Bath to North Devon, covering 103 miles and 2,200m of climbing with some very steep climbing out of Lynmouth.

The team will be joining a ride this Sunday to ride up Edge Hill to commemorate Nick, this was one of his favourite local climbs.

Time to get back into the groove!

Well hello people, yes it’s been quite a while since my last blog & to be honest I've been in better places.

I've now decided it’s time to get on with the future rather than dwelling on the past, after the sad passing of our friend & team mate Nick (which hit us all very hard) I decided to get back into the groove as did we all, so we all carried on & did the MMH (Mad March Hare) sportive.

Now this for some of us was something new as we had never done before & for the others should have been a walk in the park that. We had our arm bands for the ready in remembrance of our fallen rider & were determined that this was going to be a good event.

We had all been looking at the weather closely over the coming days leading up to the event, as it was looking to be fairly bleak. I awoke in the early hours & it was already cold & wet & to be honest a dismal looking day. I picked Mark up from his house & made our way to the event start where we met up & got ready to start together.

We were all at the starting grid together for the off at a lovely 3deg C. We initially decided to ride as a group for this event as previously discussed, but this was to change for a number of reasons! We gave our numbers in & off we went & within first few miles I realised I hadn’t started my garmin, thinking to myself what a prat (well something along those lines & I’m sure Nick would of put a different eloquent spin on it as he always did). The Temperature had now started to plummet further & according to some ride data was around 1deg C, plus the rain had not relented at all.

Now a little way in & Steve started to pull ahead thinking that we were still on his rear wheel, but as the Temperature dropped he had to pull away to stay warm. We were all feeling the cold & around the half way mark we had all but pretty much split up. Mark & I were the only two who had stayed together & for what was to happen next was the best thing that could have happened for me. We were chatting as we road to take our minds off the appalling weather conditions & just as we started to climb the main climb it started to snow, but not only that my chain gave way & snapped in two (Now I remember saying to the guys at the start…. I’ll be ok as long as I don’t break my chain, should have kept my mouth shut!) Mark turned around & asked if I was ok & luckily for me he had a spare link. It took both of us around 30mins to fix it in the cold conditions; Alan passed us & there was little point in stopping to help not in this weather anyway. We were freezing & without Mark stopping behind a dread to think what would have happened to me. Anyway we carried on & made the climb without stopping, passing many people walking with more expensive bikes than ours in which we did giggle about between us. The weather was now very bad as we stopped at the feed station, there was absolutely no feeling left in our hands at all & it was now -1deg C. Mark & I stayed together for the remainder of the ride in which some of us did manage to take a wrong turn along the way adding to some extra miles & extra hills where upon I broke my chain for a second time. I also had massive cramp in both legs causing me to stop for a few minutes until it had passed, at least it was it was very near the end & Mark once again came to the help & pushed me the last mile or so back to the finish.

I think I may have had slight hypothermia setting in! my hands & body were shaking uncontrollably & my vision had become hazy around the edges, but I remember thinking to myself that we had done it & looked at my armband & thought Nick this was for you buddy. This was by far the worst weather conditions we could of ever asked for, but mentally (yes I hear you all say! You are mental) we never cracked & we all finished. Out of 500 riders only 250 turned up & around 177 finished. I’m sure someone else will post the finishing places as I haven’t got them to hand.

Over the next few days I took it easy to recover the 80 odd miles in severe cold conditions. My training had paid of I was feeling better but on the 19^th March I decided rather than have a rest day as the sun was shining I would go out for a recovery ride. That day was to be the day I should of stayed off the bike as I was 1.5miles into the ride (new wheels fitted & my summer white shoes on) when going around a roundabout a car driver struck me & knocked me off. I was happily going on the ride thinking these wheels are ace, when suddenly I thought f@#k he hasn’t stopped & pulled up slightly which prevented him from hitting me straight in the legs & hit the side of his car until I fell onto my side in the middle of the road. It hurt like hell but after we exchanged pleasantries I went home only to find the bike wasn’t as in good condition as I thought. I was taken to A&E where I had some x-rays & thankfully they were clear, but my ribs hurt like hell & still do a little. Luckily I’m still here to tell the tail as it could have been worse & there is nothing worse than hearing someone say sorry I didn’t see you as the sun was in my eyes…!!!

Well the bike is now back in a descent condition so that I can continue riding, I did manage a few rides on my older bike which is geared differently which caused quite a bit of pain so I have now been off the bike for around a week now.

Thinking that I’m a little down I decided to make myself feel a little happier to get myself back on track, so I collected my bike from Epic Cycles plus ordered myself a new bike. I have ordered myself a Cannondale CAAD10 in white (to which has already been stated will match my shoes) which is being delivered this coming week. I put this down to an early birthday present to myself.

So to finish up & stop boring the hell out of all the readers, I’m getting better & training is to resume shortly so I’ll be back in the groove in no time at all.

One last note, I would like to thank my fellow riders for their support but most of all I like to say a huge thank you to my finance Emma for putting up with me while I was so grumpy from being off the bike & in pain. Emma has put up with a lot & is my rock in life who has pushed me when I didn't feel like training, but most of all supported me while I was in pain & for that I love her loads.