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.