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.