Saddle Sore

The dreary autumnal weather has finally arrived, so with the rain pelting the windows, I attached the bike to the turbo trainer to have a go at Sufferfest's new video - the aptly-named 'It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time'

The story to this training video is that you are attempting to win the most aggressive rider award at the Giro d'Italia on a stage containing 4 mountains and lasts 2 hours.

The riding is mostly tempo climbing and time-trialling, and whilst I prefer interval training on the turbo, this was quite welcome as I don't think I could manage 2 hours of attacks and accelerations. There was still plenty of changes of pace to keep me interested though.

At the end I was suitably drenched in sweat, and my sit-bones were completely numb. Two hours on the bike without being able to stand or really change my position was probably the hardest part of the programme.

It looks like the bad weather is here to stay, so I may have to pack away the Scott and rebuild the Cube as a winter bike (to mudguard or not?)

Cotswolds, Cake and Climbing

Took my bike on a weekend holiday with my mates to the Cotswolds, and despite the copious amounts of alcohol consumed, I managed to get out for a couple of rides on it.

On Saturday I led our slightly hungover peloton on a loop ride from Tetbury.

The main climb on the first half of the ride was a punchy 12% out of the village of Uley, which strung out the group a bit. The descent into Stroud was great fun with some fast, sweeping bends (and the occasional cattle grid). Half-time refuelling came courtesy of the Lockkeeper's Café in Stroud.

 

 

Was able to really attack out of the saddle on Butterrow Hill and maintain a good speed all the way up the climb. After that we rolled across the heathland at the top before hammering along the approach back to Tetbury.

 

 

 

Good ride and lots of fun.

 





Went out for a 23km TT today - good course with a couple of short climbs to get the heartrate going. Averaged 33.3km/h - not bad given the amount of wine, cocktails and rich food consumed the night before.

Put Me Back On My Bike

After 2 weeks in Africa (there are some great cycling roads in Uganda and Rwanda - must take the bike next time!), my attention has turned to starting to get myself back into shape.

I've put on 1.5kg since the Etape, and I also have the Great South Run to train for in October.

I've already entered a couple of sportives for either side of Christmas, and have registered my interest for the Etape Caledonia in May. The centrepiece of my training, however, will be an attempt to join the Club des Cingles in May.

Membership of the club is fairly straightforward. All you have to do is cycle up all three ascents of Mont Ventoux. In one day. There's a reason why cingles translates as 'screwballs'

The 5,000m of climbing mirrors the Marmotte very well, albeit over a shorter distance and a much more relaxed time schedule - lunch at Chalet Reynard anyone?

The Road Most Travelled

Back down to Surrey this morning with Emily to spin the legs and get some climbing in. Did a route which included the climbs up Ranmore, Staples Lane, White Downs and Box.

Heroically managed to stay sur le plaque (on the big ring, for those that don't speak velominati) all the way up Ranmore, nearly brought back my café-stop cake in setting a time of 3:45 up White Downs, and managed a respectable 7:15 up Box Hill.

Top of Ranmore. Still on the big ring. Evidence. Sort of...

100km ridden. Cycling will be tailing off for a time whilst on holiday for the next 2 weeks though.

Pain Revisited

Found this video documenting the ascent of Semnoz during the Etape by someone who climbed at the same speed as me:



My thighs hurt just by watching this. My times for all the climbs on the Etape are included on the certificate below. Interesting that I climbed quicker than 811 riders that eventually finished ahead of me - need to brush up on the descending skills!

The Hour

Preparation wasn't ideal (dehydration from a weekend's camping and drinking) and the conditions weren't perfect with a headwind all the way up to Richmond Gate, but I whizzed off to Richmond Park yesterday evening to try and beat the 60 minute mark for the 3 lap time trial.

The first lap went well with a 19:41, but I encountered a fair bit of traffic on the second lap and recorded a 20:15, leaving me needing a sub-20:04 to beat the magic mark.

Felt dizzy going up the final climb at Kingston Gate, and gunned it as best I could to the finish but the best I could do was a 20:09 for a total time of 1 hr 5 secs.

Real feeling that I was losing time on the short, punchy climbs as riders that I had cruised by on the 'flat' would in turn effortlessly pass me again as soon as the road ramped up. Need to look at increasing my power for attacking climbing.

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Missing 25 Watts

Having only had a minimal amount of rides on my new bike, I took the opportunity to play around with the set up today.

After dropping the stem to a more 'racy' position, I calculated my correct seat-post height, then made a few further minor adjustments to ensure it was comfortable. The upshot of this is that I found out that my saddle was 2cm too low.

A bit of research online suggests that this could have been costing me about 25 watts of power. You have no idea what I would've given for an extra 25 watts on Semnoz...