Training Update Week 7

Hoorah!

Managed 5 days on the bike, despite being very busy faciliating a music / drama activity week over half term, plus still fighting cold / flu symptoms.

The stats:
127 miles covered, that's 693 year to date - not earth-shattering (yet) but a steady and consistent week.
Longest ride just over 27 miles - this was with Simon and was a beautiful sunny, cool but dry day (first for ages!)

Obviously the chain got fixed, and i have registered for the Norwich 100, this is early June so should be a good marker for fitness pre-L2P24. Still on the lookout for other sportives / centuries to take part in. Getting used to my aero bars - may have to shift saddle slightly, but am quite happy rolling along in the prone position.

Fundraising has not moved and a summit meeting is planned for a couple of events to boost awareness and funding - watch this space.

In other news, EBH, Team Sky, comes 2nd in tour of Oman, and he beats Spartacus in a TT! Bertie gets first win in portugal, and Cav has announced his first ride to be in Andalucia.

Here's to more miles and more speed!

pedal pedal pedal...

L2P24 Route announced

Momentum gathers. The route is announced subject to changes / roadworks / french port strikes et al.

It starts in... London and finishes in...Paris going via Dover and Calais! More seriously though, graphical representation below:




On the english side, looks like Hollingbourne Hill in Kent is not en route, but Capel Le Ferne is in. As for the french side we start in the north and travel south and that is about the utmost of my knowledge!

Cycling this week has been non-existant partly due to the aforementioned broken chain, plus shaking off cold and busy at work. Normal service to resume soon...

Training Update Week 5

165 days to go. Fundraising up to £365

Mileage overshadowed by further suffering with a cold, plus to crown the week a broken chain half way to work on Friday.

Total mileage this week: 76 - thats 566 year to date - still keeping nose in front of the last L2P regime.
but still sad to say that longest ride only 20 miles this week.

Things to do - Get bike fixed and serviced. Maybe it is time for either an old bike 2nd hand from somewhere to do up as a fixie or winter bike? Or the best plan would be a brand new bike and relegate old faithful to the winter bike category!

In other news Team Sky took the prologue TTT at ToQ today - brill. EBH takes leaders jersey into stage 1.

Fed up to still have cold so will write more next time...

Milestone, millstone or just another day?

Happy birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday dear Darren
Happy Birthday to me!

So 40 huh? Sad to say a lot has happened in the past 40 years:
I can remember getting a landline fitted at home,
I remember the Queens Silver Jubilee,
I remember the advent of the personal computer,
I remember the great music of the 80's / 90's
and I remember when Liverpool truly were the greatest football team!!!

Just for fun, please find below 40 facts and random thoughts associated with the number 40:


1. Life begins at


2. If I were an Israelite I would now be about to enter the promised land

3. Lubricant – WD__

4. A song by U2

5. Best selling singles / albums

6. weeks = length of a pregnancy

7. f-o-r-t-y :- the only number that is spelt in letters in alphabetical order

8. negative = The point on temperature scales where Celsius and Fahrenheit are the same

9. Length of Noah’s flood experience in days and nights

10. Length of days in Lent

11. No of winks in a quick nap

12. Motorway from London to Birmingham

13. Ali Baba’s Thieves

14. Reggae Band UB__

15. XL in Roman Numerals

16. Score in Tennis

17. Ruby Wedding

18. Hours in a working week

19. % upper tax bracket

20. My chest size

21. equivalent to size 7 in shoes

22. £34.86 equivalent in euros

23. 25miles equivalent to km

24. atomic number of zirconium (periodic table)

25. speed that a human could theoretically run?

26. stopping distance = 36metres at 40mph

27. Ford GT__

28. Roaring Forties – boisterous and prevailing westerly winds

29. Forties Field = North Sea Oil field

30. A symphony by Mozart in G Minor

31. A song by Dave Matthews Band

32. A song by Franz Ferdinand

33. Ronald Reagan 40th President (he also shares my birthday!)

34. Queen Elizabeth II 40th Monarch since William the Conqueror

35. Edison Lighthouse – Love grows (where my Rosemary goes) was no.1, 40 years ago

36. 18 plus 22 years of experience!

37. Fabulous forty

38. 40 – The old age of youth

39. Forty isn’t old – if you’re a tree

40. Days including today till St Patricks Day

Training Update Week 4

172 days to go until L2P24...

Progress so far:
Mileage this week - 159
Mileage year to date - 490 (thats over 100 up on previous L2P attempt)
Most mileage in one ride - 35
Most mileage in one day 48 (not the same day)
most seperate rides in a day - 3

Wii Fit Age - ranged from 28 - 44!
Weight - no change still 6lbs to lose!?
Fundraising is up to £315 - over 1/6th of the way there - Brilliant!

Weather this week has been the full gambit of rain, wind and even snow. As a consequence or maybe thats coincidence i have had a rubbish cold - wonder if Lemsip constitutes a banned substance?

I saw an interesting discussion on a forum this week - Which foot do you put down when stopping whilst cycling?

I always unclip my right foot and place that on the ground, thereby leaving my left securely clipped in ready to go. Does that mean my left foot gets more of a workout? On further thought i also realise that i approach and mount my bike from the left too - I am left footed so does that have a bearing or is it all just nonsense?

In other cycling news, TDF 2011 grand depart announced as Noirmoitier, with the infamous Passage du Gois needing to be crossed, lets hope the tide is kind? Also the TTT is back but no Prologue! Looking forward to the ToQ starting on Sunday - oh to be cycling somewhere warm... ho hum.

Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Been thinkin. - yeah yeah i know two days running - dangerous huh?

So given the choice does one cycle clockwise or anticlockwise? For me there is only one answer - Anticlockwise wherever possible.

Why? I hear the masses cry

Obvious - all left hand turns therefore minimise slowing down / stopping time - keep the bike moving and therefore keep speed up.

Now isn't that just what everyone would do - or is it just me?

Commuting v. Training?

So there I was out on my bike this morning on a training ride, with time to ponder, contemplate and generally put the world at large to rights, when I began to consider the issue of commuting and asked myself the question:

What is the difference between commuting and training?

Now before you rush in with a gut reaction, consider my situation - most days I choose to take a circuitous route into work, I live about 2 miles from my place of work yet end up doing in excess of 25 miles most days on my commute. Now broadly speaking i would consider this to be a commute on the basis that the ride has a clearly defined beginning and end, and the main purpose of the ride is that i end up at work or conversely at home after completing my day's work. However considering the mileage clocked, I would put up an argument that it qualifies as training too (being the sad git that I am I time myself from A to B every time - wherever A and B might be!).

Training for me tends to be a home to home route, usually of 20 miles plus often way more, (again timed) and may take in varying terrain, or have a purpose eg maintaining cadence, hill climbing, tempo riding the list goes on. But whatever the definition of training is easier to nail than commuting.

Can they co-exist as per the first scenario above? Are they distinctly different, and therefore mutually exclusive? Or is there some magic point that is reached either mileage-wise or time-wise etc when one mutates into the other?

Answers on a postcard...

Training Update Week 3

180 days to go until L2P24...

Progress so far:
Mileage this week - 180
Mileage year to date - 331

Most mileage in one ride - 35
Most mileage in one day 55 (not the same day)
most seperate rides in a day - 3

Fundraising is at £180 - 10%  of the target already so thanks to all who have contributed so far

Interestingly for those of you who don't know i have cycled London to Paris before in the more conventional time frame of four days, in 2007 so just for fun and maybe as some kind of incentive or equally a beating stick i thought i mght compare my mileage back to the preparations then, and to date i am 50 miles or so ahead!

2 complaints this week - firstly why a month after the Winter solstice is it still so dark in the mornings? secondly it is also damn wet!

Have booked in to the Norwich 100 and have also got my eye on the Norfolk Huff and Puff both rides ideally positioned at the beginning and end of June respectively - 2 centuries back to back will be good for the training and an assessemnt of progress at that point.

In the TDU, Sky wrote the headlines at the beginning and the end, with Sutton and Henderson providing the places again on th last stage, but Andre Griepel and Columbia HTC stormed away with the title for the 2nd time. Good to see the boys from The Shack on the road too - early days though, way more to come.

Rest day today (the Pro's do it so why not me!?) but back into it again next week.

Enjoy!

Sky's the Limit?

First race = 1st and 2nd - bodes well for the future! Henderson and Sutton (Team Sky) lead home the field on Sunday in the TDU warm up race. TDU itself starts tomorrow.

94 miles completed personally this week, hopefully will increase again this week and gain some kind of momentum too?

L2P24 almost full only 5 team places left as at earlier today - hurry hurry hurry!

Just need to get a training programme together, plus invoke a few centuries / sportives.

New Year, New Challenge...

So following on from the new years resolutions:-
One long distance ride arranged - check. (see above graphic) - which actually lends itself to achieving the others too!

So the challenge teams of 2 cycling in relay from London to Paris in 24 hours! each team member will cycle around 200miles in total, metaphorically passing the baton from team mate to team mate along the route. Full details of challenge here
The ride is fully supported by Action Challenge and is in aid of Scope.

The sweetener is that the Sunday (which we get to spend in Paris) is the last day of Le Tour which we will get to experience - oh yes another one of thos 101 things to do before you die sorted then!

Again I have teamed up with Simon and our awe inspiring team name is the "Roaring Forties", the roaring bit could be down to our bravado or what our muscles will be doing come July, and the forties bit a reflection of our age!

So personal performance wise, the snow kinda tripped me up last week, but still did around 60 miles, although felt sluggish most days, Wii Fit impressed me this morning telling me it realised i was 39 so well done Nintendo - spot on! Weight came in at 75kg / 165lb so am still 4 lbs above target - that'll come. Hopefully the thaw will set in this week and mileage can consolidate / increase?

In other news TDU starts a next week - looking forward to Sky and the Shack et al performing for the first time.

Lots to write about now so keep checking back for updates.