Riding In A Winter Wonderland

The snow has started falling this week, so 75.5km on the turbo.

Good quality work, but need time on the road

Glory's not gonna come looking for you

Only 27kms at high intensity on the turbo trainer during the week meant I seriously needed to up my game at the weekend. Unfortunately I couldn't pass up the opportunity to travel to Cardiff on Saturday to watch Wales pummel England in the 6 Nations, so it was all about Sunday.

Woke up to cold, blustery and wet conditions, meaning another turbo session beckoned. But knowing that what I need is time 'on the rivet', not more fitness work, I manned up and went to Richmond Park.

By the 2nd lap my feet were soaked and frozen, and I was ready to call it a day but I decided to do just one more circuit. As I turned into the wind at Cancellara Corner on that 3rd lap though, I found myself recalling this recent story about Taylor Phinney

If Taylor can grind it out up and down mountains in s**t weather on his own, I'm sure I can do one more lap, so that's what I did. I don't reckon that's the last time this story will inspire me to push just a little harder.

In the end I did 2 1/2 hours and 63.5km at an average speed of 25km/h. Nice to do some climbs too, albeit short ones. Noticed how good my new wheels are too, as I was back to my standard winter wheels for this ride.

Also noticed a distinct lack of deer in the park, maybe the cull was too effective...

Summer's over

Snow is falling again, so that and a stinking cold means it's back on the turbo trainer for now.

A couple of sessions in the company of Sufferfest videos resulted in some good quality interval training, with the HR bouncing all over the place:

The Sufferfest videos are a must for me. They don't just make a turbo session bearable, they actually make me want to get on the turbo. No matter how I'm feeling, or how tired I am, the red mist always descends when Contador / Shleck / Evans attacks.

Reflections

Having had a few days to recover, I've been able to gather some thoughts about Sunday's ride:

• My right hamstring continues to be an issue. Felt it twinge after about 30km on Sunday, and had to stretch it regularly during the ride. Still stiff today. Not sure if it's to do with bike set-up, or my technique, but it's noticeable that there's more wear on the right side of my saddle than the left.
• Going up Cobb Lane, I didn't feel the fatigue as much in my legs as in my arms. When out of the saddle, you support the majority of your weight with your arms, and they really began to ache then. Need to work on core strength with the Semnoz up last on the Etape.
• Due to the weakness in my arms my triple chainring was a godsend, allowing me to climb even at 20% whilst in the saddle. They may be uncool, but I'm sure there were a few jealous walkers on Cobb Lane as I trundled past.
• The triple also lets me have a better ratio for downhilling (52 x 11)
• Definitely felt the benefit of my new wheels, and despite the black braking surface rubbing off already, I'm really happy with them
• Never, ever make major changes to your bike in the couple of days before an event. I hadn't indexed my gears and adjusted my rear deraillieur correctly for the new cassette, which resulted in the chain jumping off twice

Let's race

My first sportive today - the Burgess Hill Springtime Classic. 115km through Sussex and a bit of Kent, with some really steep hills.

First up was Pillow Mounds Hill which ramps up very quickly and gets the heart-rate going nicely.

Next up was Kidds Hill, which although fairly steep was consistent so allowed for rhythmic climbing.

At the far end of the course (50km in) was Groombridge Hill, where the bottom chainring of the triple made its first appearance of the day (30x25)

After a few more lumps and bumps, it was time for the big one - Cobb Lane:

That 20% sign is no lie

There's a lovely downhill leading up to the climb to allow you to carry some momentum. Unfortunately my chain decided this would be the ideal time to jump off the deraillieur, leaving me to free it at the side of the road, and then start the climb from a standing start. Nevertheless, I managed to ratchet my way up to the top, passing quite a few walkers, some of whom were pushing more than a couples of grand's worth of bike. Someone once said "it's not about the bike"... can't remember who though.

From there it was 30km and a few more stinging climbs back to the finish, and the chance of a silver medal time spurred me to really rev up the engine.

Stats were as follows:

Distance: 116.9km

Time: 4hrs 47mins (4hrs 38mins actual riding)

Total climbing: 1,852m

Average speed: 25.2km/h

Maximum speed: 65km/h (could've gone a bit quicker, but road integrity wasn't great)

Pimp my ride

Spent yesterday evening adding a few upgrades to my bike. Firstly, the white handlebar tape had to go - it looks good for the first ride only.

Next I finally got my new handbuilt wheels with Continental GP4000s tyres onto the frame - the anodised black rims look particularly 'stealth'. Some new Swissstop yellow brake blocks should protect them from too much damage (nb. if you take apart a brake calliper, they are very spring loaded and thus difficult to put back together.

To finish off, I attached a new saddle, which my sit-bones insisted on being gel-padded.

All-in-all, my bike looks a bit more racy now:

Proper test ride will be this Sunday's Burgess Hill Springtime Classic sportif