Wednesday 2 February 2011

Bits and bobs

The start of the post is going to be a brief section as to what I have done the month before Christmas and the month after as my posts ended and started, coincidentally, on 24th Nov 10 and 24th Jan 11.

My Targets for 2010 were:-


10mile TT 24mins
25mile TT 1hr 5mins ( not a single time trial done FAILED!)
5km run 23 mins       ( I did a good 22mins, very hilly at Rossendale Tri)
Hilly Sprint Triathlon 1hr 18 mins. ( Rossendale Tri 1hr 09mins)
Do a road race hopefully lots.    ( Does Ashton Crit count?)
Get accreditation at the Velodrome.   ( WOOHOOO Done this one!)

I will post 2011 targets at a later date.


 As we all know the terrible weather had put most peoples riding into hibernation for a lot longer than anticipated and I was no exception. The first few weeks of bad weather saw numerous trips to Manchester's Velodrome and some well needed fitness and sprint training. Mince Pies and the thought of the weather improving saw my cycling and fitness dwindle away very quickly and couldn't face any pounding of the wooden boards. The turbo trainer has been firmly locked away with my time trial bike, both sights such a rare occurrence.  Each cold, miserable and wet day passed and my enthusiasm was only being kept alive by impulse purchases in the pre and post Christmas sales and also the promise of 'nicer' weather.

Jamis has had a 'New Year' make over with the replacement of  saddle ( fi'zi:k arione cx) , bars ( White Cinelli palm) wheels ( borrowed pantani's 40mm white wheels as per profile picture) Red Sti grips and some new lights too!
TT bike has a new saddle ( fi'zi:k arione Tri 2)
Scottie has new White cables, chain.
Track bike has new wheels ( Pro lite Vicenza 90mm with 2 in 1 hub)

Also bought the Garmin 500 and a BBB Everest helmet to look a bit cooler and match Jamis. In the pipeline are more wheels! Pantani, after having his bike stolen within arms reach, has been on a buying splurge too. 3 sets of ebay special carbon wheels including a set of tri spokers! Hopefully that will give him the kick up the arse to enter some TT's. All in fairly good nick too, just the odd bearing needing changing really.

The commutes started again around mid January and I have no record of them. I remember struggling to average 16mph and my muscles burning. Oh yes before that, another reason for not riding was the dreaded flu that everyone seemed to get just before Christmas, got it afterwards too. The symptoms were really bad for a couple of days then I was just coughing for 2 weeks. Same again just before I started cycling again in January.

ON my recent commutes I have been paying close attention to my heart rate. When Im getting changed and it goes over 100 I know Im going to have a bad cycle! For example last night when changing , heart rate was 85 ish and I had a good ride home ( 18.5mph 21 miles, 1000ft) and the wind was very bad.
Some rides my heart rate refuses to budge over 140,others 150. My better rides it holds a constant 160-165 and won't go higher no matter how hard I go but recovery after a hard effort is super quick and some rides Im constantly max'd out at over 170. I'm not sure how to interpret the findings but I would love to know why my body feels the need to put a ceiling on how fast my heart will beat.

Another example, Monday morning I rode nearly 60 miles fairly hard ( heart rate about 155 max 175) but felt slow. 2hrs later I cycled to work 16miles ( heart rate about 160 max 180) felt super fast and would have averaged over 20mph ( sprint up to 26mph - red light STOP! , repeat 10 times) . Cycled home 20 miles, mostly uphill ( heart rate 155 max 165) felt absolutely like superman and mega fast and I could feel the power I was putting down ( av 19mph) but heart rate very low compared to my perceived effort.

My knee has been giving me a few problems for the first time in ages, probably because I ran last week. A few days off should do the trick but I find I can lose a lot of my cycling legs in that short time. Any chance of some nice weather this year?

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