Raced at Crystal Palace on tuesday night, had a good hard race, well was until I punctured my rear Tub going up the hill just as we had made the break with 10 laps to go, walked across grass with bike and put some sealant in tire so I could get home, did have a spare tub in my bag but it is only 2 miles to my home, wasn't interested in rejoining the race as I had been going pretty hard, so hard that the Garmin recorded my heartrate at an average of 178 bpm which feel is not quite right, considering it thinks I had a maximum of 248 bpm, feel I would need a check at the Hospital if that was the case. So besides that glitch I took the rest of the week as easy as I could while still doing some short rides about London, actually felt weak on thursday, but nothing some percy pigs from Marks & Spencers didn't put right.
Glued a new tub on during lunch break thursday, getting pretty good at this, but don't want to make it a habit. checked and cleaned bike for this sundays race. Took saturday off so took my wife to the beach, very hot and extremelly windy so headed back inland for a nice pub lunch, good day out.
Sunday I took part in the Cycle Kingdom road race starting in Liphook and taking in Milland Hill which is 25% which we went up 4 times. Missed the break, well saw it go on the first 2 miles but thought it would come back, eventually there were 13 riders up the road, at one point the gap was 3.50 minutes back to the bunch, on the 3rd ascent of Milland I got a gap, well the bunch let me get a gap, so on the dual carrage way I was joined by 4 riders and about 5 minutes later by 2 more, from this point on we were heads down going for it, started taking little chunks out of the lead group but not fast enough and as we went up each climb our chase group got smaller and smaller until we got to the finish circuit with 4 laps left it was 5, a lap later it was 3. At this point we were going even harder and faster as we still had 2 minutes to make up, starting the last lap we had the time gap at 1.15min. We had nothing to loose so rolling massive gears into head wind and over the rolling terrian, on the last straight before turning left Rob Hurd punctured from our group and we could see the lights of the lead car start the climb, gave it everything which was a little to much as I hit the climb maxed out, had my eyes on a dropped rider from the break but I had gone over the edge so was struggling to catch him and was also in danger of being re caught by my guy after leaving him at the start of the climb, not sure on the times but if it had been a lap longer we may have caught but more likly I would have gone pop, legs were close to cramping as it was.
Feel good though to have finished a road race and so strongly, so all looks good for the Etape next weekend.
Had another Ice bath, these really work when legs are knackered and a nice plate of Pasta cooked by my Lovely wife who enjoyed her day out in the country watching the racing as well. All while listening to Niel Diamond live from Glastonburry on TV. Takes me back, way back.
This week I was planning on doing nothing but am know thinking about racing on tuesday, but also need to be aware that we are driving through France on Thursday to get to the Pyrenees for the Etape start as we at Cyclefit will be setting up at the Start Expo for the Friday and be available all day Saturday talking shop etc.
Sunday, 29 June 2008
Monday, 23 June 2008
The need for Ice
On sunday I went and rode the same ride as the previous sunday with Steve at the same time, slightly warmer and a hell of a lot windier. For what ever reason I cranked the pace into the head wind at 18-19 mp/h as I felt good and need a hard ride as I am racing this sunday coming up.
Had a slight easing off before approaching Shere, but once back climbing seemed to ease into an all out fast tempo till the top of climb which maxed me out, legs and heartrate, made my legs really sore and this two and a half hours into a sub six hour ride, kept the pace at normal pace but know a real effort on my part, strange it was the flat that was making me hurt. On the steep climbs of Leith hill from the south, Ranmore and Box hill I was fine, actually cruised up Box hill wondering if I should up the pace or not, in the end I settled on a steady pace, had a moment break at the top of Boxhill, plenty of cyclist out and about. The ride back into London via Hampton Court was OK, legs started feeling better.
By the time I got home and checked my New Garmin Edge 705 I had done 101.4 miles at 17.3 mp/h and 4988 ft of climbing in 5.49 hours.
Thought I was all OK, had a quick shower as I was trying to catch the F1 Grand prix on TV, had lunch and did some stretches while finishing the last of my Born recovery drink. About an hour later I was so sleepy and my legs were pinging, could see the muscles contracting all over my legs, also very hot legs, went to have a nap but to much heat from my legs so decided to fill the bath with cold water and chucked in some ice cubes for good measure, tentatively lowered myself in to just cover my legs, quite a shock but by taking my time and not making any sudden movements I was comfortable immersed in cold icy water, sat there for ten minutes, well until my feet got cold, legs had stopped feeling so over active and had cooled down which is what I wanted.
By about 6pm I was back to normal so washed the car, anyway today my legs feel great after such pain yesterday so the Ice bath works. not sure how often I would do this as I cannot allow my core to get cold as it will take forever to warm up again, luckily it was a hot day yesterday.
Other notes, max heartrate was 181 , managed 192 last tuesday while racing, average for the ride was 141 bpm.
Today I averaged 102 bpm and a max of 132 That's enough geekeness, will be racing at Crystal Palace tomorrow night all going well.
Had a slight easing off before approaching Shere, but once back climbing seemed to ease into an all out fast tempo till the top of climb which maxed me out, legs and heartrate, made my legs really sore and this two and a half hours into a sub six hour ride, kept the pace at normal pace but know a real effort on my part, strange it was the flat that was making me hurt. On the steep climbs of Leith hill from the south, Ranmore and Box hill I was fine, actually cruised up Box hill wondering if I should up the pace or not, in the end I settled on a steady pace, had a moment break at the top of Boxhill, plenty of cyclist out and about. The ride back into London via Hampton Court was OK, legs started feeling better.
By the time I got home and checked my New Garmin Edge 705 I had done 101.4 miles at 17.3 mp/h and 4988 ft of climbing in 5.49 hours.
Thought I was all OK, had a quick shower as I was trying to catch the F1 Grand prix on TV, had lunch and did some stretches while finishing the last of my Born recovery drink. About an hour later I was so sleepy and my legs were pinging, could see the muscles contracting all over my legs, also very hot legs, went to have a nap but to much heat from my legs so decided to fill the bath with cold water and chucked in some ice cubes for good measure, tentatively lowered myself in to just cover my legs, quite a shock but by taking my time and not making any sudden movements I was comfortable immersed in cold icy water, sat there for ten minutes, well until my feet got cold, legs had stopped feeling so over active and had cooled down which is what I wanted.
By about 6pm I was back to normal so washed the car, anyway today my legs feel great after such pain yesterday so the Ice bath works. not sure how often I would do this as I cannot allow my core to get cold as it will take forever to warm up again, luckily it was a hot day yesterday.
Other notes, max heartrate was 181 , managed 192 last tuesday while racing, average for the ride was 141 bpm.
Today I averaged 102 bpm and a max of 132 That's enough geekeness, will be racing at Crystal Palace tomorrow night all going well.
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
2008 Serotta race bike
Here are some pics of my race bike for this year, Spec is as follows.
Serotta HSG full carbon frame and fork, size 56cm
Campag Record groupset with red top levers, 53/39 x 11-21 cassette
KMC Ti Nitride gold chain
Zero Gravity limited edition N.E.R.D brakes in red with Swiss stop Yellow King brake blocks
Chris King headset in red
PMP carbon tubular wheelset with Ti PMP skewers
Continental Competion 22 Tubulars
Speedplay Zero Ti pedals in grey
PMP carbon seatpin 27.2
Prologo Nago saddle in white
Stella Azzurra Garda carbon handlebars
Stella Azzurra GPA carbon stem
Stella Techna Spugna bar tape in white
Elite carbon bottle cages
Total weight as is. 15lbs/ 6.8kg
Saddle and brake blocks have been changed since photos were taken.
Finding my racing legs
Been a while since last blog, had a few interruptions to my year but all in the best interest in helping others, mainly family as my father passed away on the 5th of May in New Zealand. The night before I flew back home I raced at Crystal Palace with the aim of winning for my father, which I managed, in a two up sprint after a race long break away. At that point I was just getting some racing form, but the trip to New Zealand cycling took a back seat to the extent I didn't take my bike with me at all. Spent the time with my family walking, talking and just being together and enjoying the NZ autumn weather, bright sunshine, fresh air and 17 degrees each day. Did manage to borrow a Mountain Bike from Village Cycles to get out for an hour at a time wearing jeans and a t-shirt with trainers on flat pedals.
After 12 days it was time to come back to the UK and start riding once again, which I started by going to work the day after landing at Heathrow, still tired but at least getting my legs turning. Lucky for me that weekend was a long weekend so able to get out for two 2 hour rides which was my limit, during the week I was riding an hour or more after work and hoping to race at Crystal Palace but rained off. That weekend I managed a 4 hour ride in the North Downs area, again felt OK but found it hard going. Tried doing some efforts during the week but struggled to push myself and get going, come the weekend and it was all to little to late as it was the Smithfield Nocturne that I had enjoyed so much the year before but hurt so much this year. Found the pace very fast but still able to work my way up to the front and even had a couple of attempts to bridge to the break away but I was out of top end go, wheezing out of my arse and only had short bursts of power so just wasted alot of energy, and once it started drizzling and got the surface wet I lost my confidence with cornering, just felt out of place the whole race and not comfortable so drifted of the back of the bunch but held there pace until 5 laps to go when I got lapped by the leaders so took it as my cue to pull from the race, legs had just cracked at that point as well.
My hole body was very sore after and glutes, wow haven't had so much pain so must have been using them alot, even got cramp with the muscle up the front of my right shin while driving the 6 miles home, falling apart. 1am was when I went to bed still coughing up bits of lung and contemplating not racing the following day at Brentwood.
Woke to a power cut and the outside alarm ringing very loudly, so that solved that question, will race just to get out and away from our dead house, so arrived at Brentwood by 12 noon, had lunch and then got ready for the Crit at 2.30pm. Still sore legs from the night before and just tired but with hardly any warm up as I couldn't be bothered we started another race, sat in as much as I could, pace very high once again but this time I felt good on the bike so avoided the split in the field to get into the lead group and struggled to hang on. Could corner fine but just lack the punch out of the corners so ended getting dropped and in no mans land between lead group and the bunch, eventually 3 other riders caught me and together we worked hard and caught the lead group again just at the point when Dean Downing attacked for the race winning move, the only person to react was Rob Hayles as the rest of us where knackered.
So that left us chasing the two lone riders and in the end it was a sprint for third that I had nothing for so came in 9th, it's a result in an Elite National race at least but really don't like doing races when under done, but I guess that's racing, you have to deal with what you have got at the time of the race, so we use this weekend as a build up to something bigger and better.
So made it through the week following those two races by doing as little riding as possable except for a two and a half hour spin on thursday which just high lighted how much deep tissue damage I had done, legs very tight, especially quads. As I had the weekend off work I planned on getting some miles in and that's what I did. Took Steve from work out over the North Downs for 4 hours on the Saturday, riding out through Edinbridge, Heaver, Idle hill along Pilgrims Way and up Sundridge Lane and back through Cudlam, Downe and up Corkscrew Hill. Total mileage over 70 miles at 17.4 mp/h.
On Sunday once again met up with Steve at 8am at Roehampton gate Richmond Park and headed for the Surrey Hills on another ideal riding day with the sun up and mild temputure to allow for bare arms to get a tan, added an extra loop to normal ride by heading down Horesham way before coming back to climb Leith Hill, Ranmore Common and Box Hill before heading back towards Hampton Court and home, felt stronger as the ride progressed, was expecting to suffer at some point but had no problems so 102 miles in 5.45 hours at 17.4 mp/h average again.
So the racing legs are there some where so on Tuesday night I took them to Crystal Palace to see if I could unlock them. No is the short answer as I guess all the riding over the weekend has taken the edge away but still we had a race long battle which doesn't happen to often at Palace. Lots of attacking ,chasing and tactics going on, in the end it came down to a 9 man sprint for the line, I got myself boxed in as I followed the wheel in front to close so had to follow as riders came in from the sides so was on the gass then off as we were all aiming for the same piece of ground, closest finish I have been in for a while, either 3rd or 4th, not to worried, just liked the hard racing and all good prep for bigger races which brings me round to the need to enter some soon.
Main training at the moment for me is the Etape du Tour on the 6th of July, but I will be also racing the 25th edition of the Guildford town centre race on the 9th of July, so either flying or dead, find out on the night, hope to see some of you there.
After 12 days it was time to come back to the UK and start riding once again, which I started by going to work the day after landing at Heathrow, still tired but at least getting my legs turning. Lucky for me that weekend was a long weekend so able to get out for two 2 hour rides which was my limit, during the week I was riding an hour or more after work and hoping to race at Crystal Palace but rained off. That weekend I managed a 4 hour ride in the North Downs area, again felt OK but found it hard going. Tried doing some efforts during the week but struggled to push myself and get going, come the weekend and it was all to little to late as it was the Smithfield Nocturne that I had enjoyed so much the year before but hurt so much this year. Found the pace very fast but still able to work my way up to the front and even had a couple of attempts to bridge to the break away but I was out of top end go, wheezing out of my arse and only had short bursts of power so just wasted alot of energy, and once it started drizzling and got the surface wet I lost my confidence with cornering, just felt out of place the whole race and not comfortable so drifted of the back of the bunch but held there pace until 5 laps to go when I got lapped by the leaders so took it as my cue to pull from the race, legs had just cracked at that point as well.
My hole body was very sore after and glutes, wow haven't had so much pain so must have been using them alot, even got cramp with the muscle up the front of my right shin while driving the 6 miles home, falling apart. 1am was when I went to bed still coughing up bits of lung and contemplating not racing the following day at Brentwood.
Woke to a power cut and the outside alarm ringing very loudly, so that solved that question, will race just to get out and away from our dead house, so arrived at Brentwood by 12 noon, had lunch and then got ready for the Crit at 2.30pm. Still sore legs from the night before and just tired but with hardly any warm up as I couldn't be bothered we started another race, sat in as much as I could, pace very high once again but this time I felt good on the bike so avoided the split in the field to get into the lead group and struggled to hang on. Could corner fine but just lack the punch out of the corners so ended getting dropped and in no mans land between lead group and the bunch, eventually 3 other riders caught me and together we worked hard and caught the lead group again just at the point when Dean Downing attacked for the race winning move, the only person to react was Rob Hayles as the rest of us where knackered.
So that left us chasing the two lone riders and in the end it was a sprint for third that I had nothing for so came in 9th, it's a result in an Elite National race at least but really don't like doing races when under done, but I guess that's racing, you have to deal with what you have got at the time of the race, so we use this weekend as a build up to something bigger and better.
So made it through the week following those two races by doing as little riding as possable except for a two and a half hour spin on thursday which just high lighted how much deep tissue damage I had done, legs very tight, especially quads. As I had the weekend off work I planned on getting some miles in and that's what I did. Took Steve from work out over the North Downs for 4 hours on the Saturday, riding out through Edinbridge, Heaver, Idle hill along Pilgrims Way and up Sundridge Lane and back through Cudlam, Downe and up Corkscrew Hill. Total mileage over 70 miles at 17.4 mp/h.
On Sunday once again met up with Steve at 8am at Roehampton gate Richmond Park and headed for the Surrey Hills on another ideal riding day with the sun up and mild temputure to allow for bare arms to get a tan, added an extra loop to normal ride by heading down Horesham way before coming back to climb Leith Hill, Ranmore Common and Box Hill before heading back towards Hampton Court and home, felt stronger as the ride progressed, was expecting to suffer at some point but had no problems so 102 miles in 5.45 hours at 17.4 mp/h average again.
So the racing legs are there some where so on Tuesday night I took them to Crystal Palace to see if I could unlock them. No is the short answer as I guess all the riding over the weekend has taken the edge away but still we had a race long battle which doesn't happen to often at Palace. Lots of attacking ,chasing and tactics going on, in the end it came down to a 9 man sprint for the line, I got myself boxed in as I followed the wheel in front to close so had to follow as riders came in from the sides so was on the gass then off as we were all aiming for the same piece of ground, closest finish I have been in for a while, either 3rd or 4th, not to worried, just liked the hard racing and all good prep for bigger races which brings me round to the need to enter some soon.
Main training at the moment for me is the Etape du Tour on the 6th of July, but I will be also racing the 25th edition of the Guildford town centre race on the 9th of July, so either flying or dead, find out on the night, hope to see some of you there.
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