I was pretty tired today, in fact so tired that I fell asleep in my chair. So much for power napping – I didn’t wake up for a good 30 minutes! Although I was half tempted to not cycle tonight I decided that for that very reason I should. After all, I wont get the choice come September… I went on a very round about route to Chew Valley lake, then to Blagdon lake with a wrong turn that ended up in another loop in-between. Feeling OK I decided to hang a right down to Rickford, Churchill and Shipham then through to Cheddar and up the gorge. I got heckled a bit by some weird group of older people (pot holers) but the trip up the gorge at night is always a pleasure. Total length was 47 miles, and it was a slowish ride due to a fair amount of elevation and a lot of small country back roads.
For the next two months I’ll be mostly consuming Sci-Mix and Tangfastics!
Lee gave me a tub of Sci-Mix Recovery powder for my birthday (we call it ‘cheating powder’ at the club) which I thought I may as well give a try. I’m not really into these supplement powders but I was finding myself a little knackered the day after training, and amazingly it really helped that problem. If you take it the moment you come back then you definitely feel less knackered the next day, as it supplies your body with the stuff if needs right then, rather than your body taking that from your own tissues.
Anyway.
So I ran out. I figured I would get some more, and since the tub i got last time was only half full I went for twice the weight (assuming they would completely fill it this time). Wrong. It just came in an even bigger tub, and we are talking HUGE. So, I apologise in advance to my wife for when she comes back from work and sees that I have taken over even MORE of the house with my bike bits and pieces.
But yes, my strategy for training rides is simple: Tangfastics half way around and some of the magic powder when you get back. Sorted. By the way, it just dawned on me that readers who dont know better might think I am referring to an illicit substance when I say ‘magic’ powder. Its not that exciting I’m afraid, and boringly available over the counter as its just a mix of protein and carbs and vitamins and stuff.
Blagdon lake and back
New gloves, lycra (!) and saddle! Turns out the saddle is pretty good, although it will take a while for my behind to get used to the change! The gloves are the same – fingerless is good but they need to give a little, which they will over time. The shorts are great, although I feel like an idiot… And here was the short and fast route for today – I decided to go down to the lake this time – the hill from the lake up to Blagdon then up two trees to the top is a proper benchmark hill and it was good to be able to ride it out of the saddle for most of the way – check the elevation plot!
Some new kit
I am, worryingly, transforming more and more into a roadie! The latest purchases have been some road gloves, some Pearl Lzumi elite bib shorts (hmm, lycra) and a new Bontrager Inform saddle. Whether the saddle will be comfortable only time will tell, but I was properly measured for it and it has a comfort guarantee, so if it still cuts off vital nerves then its back to the shop with it. Here is what they all look like:
Beckington, tractors and wind
Another lovely day, so I had to get back out on the road to stretch the legs. With a short 30 ish mile route round and about to Beckington and back I set off. The bike is now pretty much exactly as it will be for the JOGLE – so its great to know that I’m getting some really genuine practise in now. Had a bit of a hairy moment: going fairly quick down a very narrow single lane, taking some water, thinking how stuffed I would be if a wide car came around the corner when BAM there was a massive tractor steaming towards me. Only just had enough time to cage the bottle, and get on the brakes. Damn tractor didn’t slow down and I had to press myself into the bank not to end up under one of his massive wheels. Fun fun.
I took a few more photos than normal – its odd that I have never seen Nunney castle despite it being only a couple of miles off my Southampton commute! Its also amazing how just a tiny amount of wind can really slow you down on the roads. It was definately against me today, and I’m beginning to get a good picture of the overall average I should expect for the JOGLE, wind, small roads and hills included! Here was the route:
A recovery weekend!
I would have liked to have gone for a long training ride this weekend, but it just wasnt to be! I have put this one down to a recovery phase – it is important to have a day or two here and there to allow your body to recover from the training you do. This week I need to write letters to the major hotel chains (i.e. travel lodge etc…) to see if they are interested in supporting the challenge. Fingers crossed!
Weston and back at night: 53 miles in the rain
Despite the rain, I headed out anyway – given that it was a traditional cycling night I figured I would go a bit further than normal and realised that Weston is almost exactly 25 miles from here. So off I went. everything was fine in the rain – the iPhone mount is certainly waterproof enough and the replacement Montane jacket really is excellento! All I can say is there is no substitute to a fistful of tangfastics to keep you going. Spot the wrong turning at one of the roundabouts and subsequent milage down a dual carraigeway to the next roundabout! Overall it really wasn’t much of an effort as I took it slow and it was mostly flat apart from Burrington combe. Here is the route:
Quick loop around the area
Again having only an hour or so for a ride I found myself cycling 20ish miles around the local villages at night. Not a bad ride, although the road surfaces on the small roads are always frustrating. Here is the route:
A quick sprint
I decided to make the most of the hour I had for training tonight and sprint to Blagdon (well, the top of two trees) and back (22 miles). Really didnt think I would able to maintain race-pace all the way there and back but I guess all this training must be paying off as I maintained an average of 19 mph (ignore dodgy EveryTrail average) and hit over 46 mph at one point. Here is the route:
A sprint to Blagdon and back
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Dodgy EveryTrail averages…
I just noticed that the trails as shown on the EveryTrail website calculate the average ignoring any pauses. I was confused, you see, why Thursdays average was 10.5 mph, when my normal average is around 14 – 17, but it turns out this included an hour in the pub 🙂 Hopefully EveryTrail will fix this soon!