Testing, Testing, 1,2,3...

Trying to keep up with the blogs is harder work than I thought, thinking of something to put down on (virtual) paper while being at the very least interesting and if I can summon something funny to add is no mean feat.

With that in mind here we go again...  Last week I was back at York Cycleworks to see Coach Rob (New official name), after a poor test in December we were keen to get another one in to see if it was a one off, or if indeed I had gone backwards from the first.  

There is a funny thing about fitness / power testing, and that is that no matter how strong you are it is still horrendous, it starts easy enough but with every 2 mins comes 20watts more resistance and soon the legs are full of lactic and you are trying to suck in air through every orifice, that said there is a love / hate relationship it gives you quite a buzz.

This time though the results were more positive the loading work that I had been doing late in 2015 seems to have worked, overall power is up, although we have lost some efficiency and fitness, which was expected.

So what has caused this to change so much since last time, well one big factor is weight, I was nearly 89kgs at the last test, this time I was closer 84kgs, I had over indulged in December, I am thinking of starting a blog "things coaches shouldn't say to me", as being told not to worry about your weight and ensure you have the energy resources to do the sessions is translated by my brain as eat everything in sight and use carb loading as an excuse!! 

Still back on the trail of a strong start to 2016, we have 4 weeks until the first race, I am hoping by then to be at about 83kgs which will give me a watts per kg of 4.64, assuming my power stays the same, which is about where I ended the 2015 season.

One of my sessions was also my first outing on the TT bike, after riding the winter bike the position is a bit of a shock, from relaxed relatively upright to bent over double and looking out of the top of my head, it is an awkward position but one I soon got used to.  The biggest issue was my gears, I set off assuming all would be well but after the first 5mins I was just about ready to throw the thing in a field, the gears were not working, the rear mech was simply not moving, I am assuming due to lack of use, but its frustrating none the less.  I stopped, gave it a firm "wiggling" and managed to get it to a point where I had the use of some gears, so set off again.  This is why its crucial to ride all your bikes before you race then, you just cannot be sure what has happened in the garage over a long winter hanging about. 

The session was a 60min TT effort, which after a tough day in the hills was a hard session, trying to maintain FTP for 60mins is brutal and it takes time to remember the hurt, needless to say I didn't manage it, something I am blaming on my bike, obviously!

I managed to average 24mph, and my HR was around zone 3 for the ride, so that does mean that on fresher legs I should be in reasonable shape, I also decided that I need to see the speed I am going as that is a real motivator for me, and I tend to target a specific speed which makes me work harder, so next time I will be looking at speed alongside power.

I have also ordered a thing 20mm rear tyre, my TT bike wont take a wider one for some reason, so I had to run my disc for the above ride and you do feel a bit of a div on a training ride with that on, at least I refrained from wearing the skinsuit.... one to save for racing only!!

Looking to the future, consistent training may become more difficult, my daughter is due to start nursery in May and my wife to go back to work, she is also training again so I can foresee a time where there are some early starts on the turbo to make sure I can do the nursery run, and the rides to work which have been working for me so far may have to be dropped off for a while.

I certainly don't begrudge it, but I am mindful of what it might mean and I am giving some thought to how best to manage that transition.  

Its the small things that make it...

This past weekend was one where I enjoyed the little things, spending time with the little one, my wife and making the most of some time out on the bike.

This Sunday was a really cold morning, I had 2 hours to do and was out before sunrise, it made for a cold ride with an average temp of -4 degrees, this meant that drinking from my water bottle became increasingly challenging...

 That said I saw some fantastic sights, including an Owl, a deer some Hares, rabbits and a beautifull sunrise...

  

For me it was a reminder that small moments are what make it worthwhile and that its the small things that keep us going,

Random ponderings

For a little while I have been trying to think of something insightful and ideally interesting to write, but needless to say I have been struggling a bit.  The CX season for me is over, I am wondering whether to sell my CX bike and more recently its been all about training.

One marginally interesting thing is that I am now only 7 weeks or so away from by first 10mile TT of the year, this is on the V910, its not a flat course but you could hardly call it hilly either, this is a good benchmark race for me as last year when I had only just started coaching i did a 23:24 for 6th overall, a result that I was relatively pleased with at the time.  

Its a good early season race, not too serious that it attracts the really big guns but big enough to get a benchmark and one I would advise people to have a go at, although its always cold and windy so leg and arm warmers are probably needed - If anyone wants to ask anything about it let me know!

I am hopeful that I will better that this year, although I have some reservations, I am currently 7kgs heavier than I was this time last year, I expect that I can drop some of this off in the run up but getting down to 80kgs will be unlikely but on the flip side I am carrying form from last season so it should be an interesting test if nothing else.

Also I have been getting the miles in when I can, now into "base" its about getting some endurance in the legs and focusing on that fat burn and at the moment I am getting about 150miles in a week, with a 5 month old at home that feels pretty good given the fact I have to work full time as well!

I also have another test with Rob at York Cycleworks coming up, my last didn't really show the results we were hoping for, but there are so many factors that can influence it that its hard to say why, but one is definitely  my weight, I was at one point up at 89kgs, even losing just 2kgs I can feel the difference and my efforts on the bike are better and I can breath more easily, so with a bot more off th next test in just over a week should be better.

On a different point I was out with a group of guys that also like to race at different amateur levels, and we got on to talking about coaching and how they didn't see how it would work for them as they like to "do their own thing", "can't commit to the hours" and "train with mates", and I must admit its not the first time that I have been in one of these conversations and its an interesting discussion.

Mt come back is always the same, "each to their own" but don't disregard it without first having a discussion with a couple of coaches, I found a couple of interesting things when I first starting a coaching plan, 

1 - I trained less that I did before
2 - A good coach will be able to build in things that you want to do around the goals.

What this meant in real terms is that I had more spare time to spend with my wife (and now child) and I was still able to get out on group rides and enjoy the banter.

The point about committing to the sets / hours is more about a mindset, I know that some are going to be horrible, I will be in pain for the most of it, but most importantly, that at the end there will be benefits, and that is why I like the structure, it tells me what to do and when all I need to do is commit a few hours a week to delivery and for me thats perfect.

Also for me there is a guilt factor that helps motivate me, I am paying for a service, so by not doing the plans I am not getting best value for money, this might not work for everyone but it helps keep me on track, that said I still miss the odd session, sometimes more important things just come up. 

So, have a chat with a coach about coaching if you want to improve or have a specific goal in mind, most will be able set up a plan around your life that will work and it could be less time than you think.

If anyone has anything to ask I could do a Q&A for my next one based on my experience over the last 4-5 years of pedaling bikes.

Cheers
Rich

Cyclocross, Eating too Well and a trip to A&E...

Well, it’s been a while, a few things to update you all on not least 2 races, a trip to hospital (not for me) and the effect of over eating.

So going back a few weeks there was round 6 of the Yorkshire Cyclocross Points series, this was at Sheffield, a good technical course on a hill… which on the face of it sounds good but add in some rain, wind and mud and it makes for a painful day out.

I knew as I warmed up this would be a tough day, 2/3 of the course was okay for me, the other 1/3 involved running, now most will know that I parted company with triathlon due to my dislike (inability) to run so I knew this was going to be a painful day out.

The claxon went and the sprint to the first corner set off, sitting in the top 20 I was pleased with my start for a change, this was short lived.  I soon went backwards and after the first run up a hill I was rapidly going backwards.  Still this is good training and it is always good fun, although the tackiness of the mud and leaves was adding to the challenge.

It was a day for 2 bikes, my front brake became so clogged up that it was actively braking which meant that going down hill was scary as the brake would just lock up from time to time, needless to say I have to stop more than once to clear the brakes, combined with the running I was happy to see the end of the race, finishing in the top 50 (just)!!

Training has been mixed, being away with work and rubbish weather has meant that I have been unable to get the miles in, which is frustrating but in some ways not a bad thing as I have taken the opportunity to recover.

I have also been back for testing at York Cycleworks with my coach Rob, similar to last time we did a ramp test and lactate crossover test, frustratingly this id not yield the results we were hoping for, I am fairly pragmatic with it really as there are so many variables when you test 12 weeks apart and the differences were not massive, still we are looking to spend some time recovering and retesting in Jan to see if it was due to fatigue.

Needless to say I have been enjoying the build up to Christmas and have been eating a little more than I should and that, combined with intermittent training, has led to my weight creeping up, this came as a bit of a shock when I stood on the scales on Sunday (20^th Dec) morning to see 88.8kgs, that’s up 9kgs since the start of last season, this is now on the plan as something to address as soon as possible ahead of the new season.

I have also raced in round 7 of the Yorkshire Cyclocross series, a race that was organised by York Cycleworks and York Sport village, it was a great day out and the weather was kind (although it was breezy), I was feeling the effect of my extra timber, both mentally and physically but it was good fun to be racing and the crowd was very supportive, unfortunately I didn’t finish as my rear mech decided to self destruct 2 laps from the finish.

There was plenty of York Cycleworks riders racing and once the results come out I will do some name checks.

I have also managed to end up in hospital, not for me which makes a change, but because of my little girl, I was left to fend for myself while Fiona went out with some friends for a Christmas meal, I had no concerns as  I am confident looking after my daughter however that confidence has been tested, in short she got herself very worked up, I am not sure why, to the point that she held her breath and basically passed out, people tell me this is common, however it was terrifying not knowing what was going on and basically seeing your daughter change from being fine one minute to being limp and a bit lifeless the next.

I had rung 999 and the first responder was there quickly, although it felt like an age, he took Erin off me and reassured me, he went away, and did some tests and was able to tell me that nothing was wrong, although whenever a child under 2 has an “episode” it is recommended that you go to hospital, so off we went in an ambulance, typically Erin was fine in the ambulance and smiling and laughing which makes you feel a mug, but I can tell you I have never been more scared and I hope it never happens again.

So where are we now, well I am looking forward to Christmas and some time off with the family.  I have decided to stop racing cross for the time being and focus on training and diet up until the start of the TT season in late Feb, although you can expect updates along the way.

Not the most interesting of updates and I promise the next one will be more timely and in better humour.

Thanks for reading and have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mud, Glorious Mud, Broken Mechs and Brakes (Yorkshire Points Rd 5A Barnsley)

Its been a tough couple of weeks, training has not been as consistent as I had hoped, but the reason is simple, when I get home from work I want to spend as much time with my wife and daughter as I can, I am conscious that I wont get this time back and I don't want to look back at it and regret being on the turbo and missing out, this is all fine when i can cycle to work but at the moment there is a lot on in work and I am required to work out of offices in Sheffield quite a lot, this means that when I get home I am not able / willing to jump on the turbo, so I have lacked some consistency.

That said I had been looking forward to racing at Barnsley and with the recent bad weather it was looking like a mud bath, and it was not going to disappoint.

Getting there about an hour before the race it gave me plenty of time to get sorted out and look at the course, it was a tough one last year with peaty, claggy mud getting everywhere in the end making it very difficult to clip in let alone pedal, this year it was better, it was so wet that pickup was less of a problem generally but there is always a risk that you might lose a rear mech.

I started on row 3, gridding can be a bit odd sometimes I get called sometimes I dont, no idea why but I am generally pretty close to the front.  Claxon went and we were off, I was on the outside on the uphill drag to the first corner, I held my position well and as we joined the course proper I made up a handful of places and must have been comfortably in the top 20.

The first pass through some of the slippy stuff and the rider in front fell, I had no where to go and rode in / over his bike, although I managed to stay up it cost be a lot of time, frustrating after the start I had made but as I would say more than once, "thats racing".

Back on it and I started to pick off riders, given the easy week of training I was feeling pretty fresh, managing my effort on the climbs and powering down on the flats, as well as making use of by mountain bike skills on the descents to pick my way through.

A couple of laps in and I was starting to get into my stride, then, typically, on an off camber descent I ran out of grip (talent) and before I knew it I was rolling round in the mud... pretty much standard but i was uninjured and aside from a wonky left hood the bike was intact, I jumped up got back on and pressed forward again.

Two laps later I was approaching the same point, I was in a bit of a battle with another couple of riders and one of them decided to make a banzai move up the inside just before a small, slippy technical climb, he stopped I couldnt and it pulled my front brake apart, also the chap behind ran into the adjuster on my rear mech braking it off, so with limited gear and no front brake I decided to call it a day.... there is always next time. 

Another good turnout from York Cycleworks with Andy Johnson putting in a solid top 20 result, Matt Eastwood riding well until a rear mech failure and myself contesting the senior race and Wayne Nicholson smashing out a great 2nd place, Simon Wright and Mark McKie getting suitably dirty in the vets race.

 Wayne (Photo by Clare Crabtree)

 Mark (Photo by Clare Crabtree)

 Simon (Photo by Clare Crabtree)

Matt "Amatuer" Eastwood (Photo by Clare Crabtree) 

Andy (Photo by Clare Crabtree)

So I got my stuff together, and headed off home to spend the afternoon with the family.  

Next weekend is Rd6 in Sheffield, just need to get the bike fixed for then!

This week again, I am in Sheffield working most of the week, Rob has booked in some short 30min turbo sets which I will endeavor to do, but it's always going to be a challenge when I cannot do the work on the commute, still the TT season is a long way off and there is still time to improve before we get there.

Chronic Fatigue, Whiplash (not the good kind), Sausage Roll Power and Cyclocross (YP5 - Huddersfield)

So, I am back… Much like the Terminator, although less Austrian and marginally less "Hollywood"....

In the last couple of weeks or so since my last blog I have finished a strength block, had an “easy” week and started on my speed block (that’s leg speed not the drug), so what does all this mean?  The end of the strength block came as some what of a relief, my legs were in tatters, every time I rode the bike they felt empty, my HR was not able to get higher than about 160BPM and my power was suppressed, I’m not going to lie it was quite de-motivating. 

One thing I have though in Rob and York Cycleworks is a coach who is almost always available to consult, he has acknowledged that the efforts are likely to have this effect and that essentially I have build chronic fatigue into the muscles, which was in essence, exactly what we wanted to do, breaking down the muscles to allow growth and strength / power to be built.

Its good to have that on tap, it means that I can ask the questions about why I feel a certain way and what it is that I need to do to feel better, which in most cases was an adjustment to the plan, or a moved session here and there.

After a 2 weeks of easier sessions (thanks in part to the plan and work commitments), racing at the 5^th round of the cyclocross Yorkshire Points Series went better than I had hoped, but more on that in a little bit.

I have now moved on to taking the strength and building that into leg speed, this will help to ensure that the transfer of power is as efficient as possible and that at higher cadences of a race situation I am able to maintain the power output for as long as possible.  Its another type of effort that I have never really had in a plan, but it basically consists of high cadence efforts at a given power output.

Soon enough I expect that a number of these sessions will need to be turbo based as we head in the depths of winter although I remain hopeful that we will have a nice mild winter that allows me to ride through most of it, as I found that trying to fit the turbo sessions on around the little one is not easy, once I get home all I want to do is chill out and be dad, not getting on the bike in the garage for an hour to slowly sweat myself to death, it remains to be seen how this works out if we have a severe winter.

One unexpected thing was caused by starting to ride a motorbike to work again, the first day I seemed to get whiplash type injury, I imagine from the buffeting and the fact that my neck is not sued to it, that made me feel quite sick for a few days and I skipped a training session as the thought of getting on the turbo didn't appeal when my neck was that sore, still it eased day by day and I was comfortable enough to race.

Back to Cyclocross, the 5^th round was in Huddersfield, which was a very unseasonable 18+degrees, this winter cyclocross is not as bad as people make out in terms of the mud, cold and rain…  There is still time though.

After a couple of easy weeks there was a chance that I could go well, although with the concerns about where I was in terms of fitness I had no expectations, and was just there to enjoy the effort and use it as training.

For the first time I was gridded, this was my goal for the cyclocross season so I am pleased with that, basically what it means is that I, along with a number of others, get to start towards the front of the back, this is to avoid new riders getting involved at the start and also to make sure that those that are competing in the overall series are given a fair starting point.

Photo By Clare Crabtree

I was filled with Sausage Roll and ready to (any sausage roll manufactures fancy sponsoring me I am open to offers), the whistle went and we were off, it was a relatively short gallop to the first corner, and for the first time I actually made up places, going into the first corner somewhere around the top 15 which I was pleased with, this gave me a chance of a reasonable result.

There was some “interesting” things going on in the first lap, which is one reason why I am always very carful at the start, firstly some numpty on a mountain bike barrelling up the inside of 3 riders into a right hander shouting “on your right” as if they could get out of the way, needless to say 4 into one was never going to work and they all ended up in a heap, cue much cursing and probably broken bikes, but it have me 4 places so I was not complaining.

I got caught up in a few spots and lost some places, and going into a major bottle neck behind some bushes it was all ahead stop, with everyone forming a gentleman’s agreement to hold position until it opened up again… well, I say everyone…. There was one lad from Otley Cycling Club that insisted on trying to barge past everyone, needless to say there was insufficient space and some shouting but he ended up colliding with fellow York Cycleworks rider Craig Gath, not the first time the two would come together.

Its one of the things that clubs and riders need to be mindful of, I now have a view of Otley cycling club that is less than positive, “Rob” or “Robin” did not seem like the sort of person that you would want representing your team or club,  yes its competitive but there are times when you just have to sit back and accept that you are going to be held up a bit, he was not willing to do that and when challenged was mouthing off and being generally unpleasant, its not a pleasant attribute, but thankfully one that is not seem very often in the sport.

Tony Mills - Photo by Clare Crabtree

We continued with the race and I yo-yoed with a few of the guys around me, I felt better than I expected and on the fast power sections was easily able to pull past and make a gap only to be caught on the up hill bits, or where you had to get off and run (I really hate running!).

The majority of the race continued like this until a lap or some from the end when a small mistake meant that I ended up with my wheels in a rut and me rolling off my bike, this cost me about 5-6 places as I also dropped my chain and had to put it back on, the bike was okay so I ploughed on.

It was about this time in the race that going through a section of switch backs I heard the horrible noise of bikes coming together, I looked back to see what was going on and I saw Craig Gath and the lad from Otley CC had collided bringing them both down, without even seeing the accident my instant reaction was the Otley rider was in the wrong based on how he had been riding earlier, had he not been so aggressive earlier I would not have made such an assumption, and that’s why it often pays to be a bit conservative, this is not the world champs!!

Craig finished after getting some medical attention, although I was not able to find him after to see how he was, so I am hoping that he is okay and any injuries recover quickly.

Also in the race was Tony Mills and Andy Johnson, until I decided to have a lie down I kept Tony in sight, and was hoping that I could make some inroads into his advantage over me, although it seemed pretty static for the whole race and he seemed in a good tussle with about 5 riders, finally finishing 25th Overall and 10th in his age group .  Andy had a mixed day, setting off too quickly and suffering the consequences meant that later in the race he was de-hydrated, after coming off and making a number of basic errors he decided to withdraw, something that is never an easy decision to make, but sometimes it pays to be safe, as another fall could mean a significant injury or worse… a damaged bike!!  So for all of us its on to the next race!

So, I finished around 11th in my age group and top 30 overall which I am pleased with.

I always neglect to mention the other York Cycleworks riders that take part in the “old boys” race, with Wayne “The Silver Fox” Nicholson, Mark McKie and Simon Wright all taking to the grass, a great turn out from the York Cycleworks riders and some great results with Wayne picking up 6th overall and 2nd in his age group.

What next, well its 2 weeks until the next Yorkshire Points race which is in Sheffield, so its back to the training sessions and commutes.

Riding wet, riding cold but still riding....

So as I mentioned no racing for me until November now, with that in mind I have the end of my strength sets before we turn that into leg speed, as with anything commitment is needed to stick to a plan and last week in some ways summed up what you have to go through to try and achieve your goals.

It was a relatively simple week, only 2 days riding the 18 miles to work and back and then some hills and endurance rides with some strength thrown in for good measure, until you look at the weather forecast.... Tuesday brought the back end of a tropical storm, which meant heavy rain, which coincided with a ride to work day.  I don't mind riding in the rain, as long as you dress appropriately you only get wet once, so I consider it character building.

That said the worst thing is that where I work there are no drying rooms for the 200+ cyclists the ride in everyday, so when you come to go home your kit is still soaking wet, this is one of those "lovely" things about commuting in the rain, the joys of wet kit, it takes me back to the days of swimming and using not quite dry speedo's...oh the memories!

Friday was a seemingly more familiar foggy and cold morning, again the right kit means that this is not really a problem, and having the really good lights I am pretty comfortable that people can see me. My light setup below,

Friday afternoon commute was made more interesting by a very full rucksack, packed with presents for the little one and for me, luckily it was a simple endurance ride home so nothing too stressful, but the rucksack performed well and was still comfortable (see other posts for a review).

The present for me is something that I have been coveting for a while now, and thanks to York Cycleworks I now have the ability to ride to power, with Garmin Vector 2 Pedals.  I will be doing a full review on them in the next couple of weeks but I have been impressed so far with the easy of installation and setup, and the fact that I can swap them between bikes really easily which is one of the main reasons I bought them.

Riding to power means that the variables that HR can give are removed a watt is a watt, regardless of conditions.

Also really enjoying spending time with my little daughter, she is, however, growing really fast and you forget how small she was when we brought her home just 9 weeks ago, however she is really starting to engage and its clear that the smiles are proper smiles and not just wind which just melts the heart.

I am going to leave it there for now, not much to update on really, just plugging away at the training and being a dad.