Playing Catchup

Bit behind this and last week, didn't do too much last week as still recovering from illness and the weather wasn't too fab.

Wed TT ride - Distance 45 miles    Av Sp 19.2mph (hilly)

Just been out ( Wednesday) to try out my TT bike as the weather looked nice. I seemed to think the sun reduced the effect of the wind and boy was I mistaken. 20mph winds with gusts of 30+mph and I climbed up to  2.5 open moors! On a TT bike....daft head?. The start was horrific! The first major climb of the day, the start of Edenfield Rd and it instantly kicks up to 12 % with a set of temp traffic lights half way up. Baasstarrdddss! Stopped, unclipped and managed to get going again with 2 pedals of the right leg, instantly clipping in and flying off again, could have been nasty.  Half a mile up the Rd another set of temp traffic lights! This time on a less steep gradient and then to top it all off another set at the end. HOW ANNOYING.

Once at Rawtenstall I should have been flying along with a tail wind?  Speeds were slight head wind speeds of 18-19mph when I should have been at 22 -23mph. Must have been another cross wind blowing. My favourite climb up Bacup Rd was next and did feel a tail wind, briefly. The descent into Tod was an absolute nightmare. I was struggling to control the bike all day as it was but this cross wind was extreme. The brand new cork style brake pads looked well worn at the bottom. There wasn't much point of bringing TT bike because there was no way I was able to get in the aero position as I felt soo unstable due to the wind.  The last leg was definately a fight against traffic, more lights and more wind. I got so mad I kept starting and stopping the Garmin when stopped as my average was  counting down very quickly from 20mph so I have ridden 45miles not 41 as I forgot to start a couple of times.

Positioning wise I think Im nearly there. Maybe the odd tweak here and there and might even try the much touted 'Landis' position.  Legs are good today, able to stand up and climb effectively and the odd sprint was possible too.

Monday Commute

To Work     Distance 20 miles     Av Spd 19.2mph
To Home     Distance 20miles     Av Spd 19.1mph

Total contrast today. Freezing icy cold in morning, nice in afternnon. Going to work was probably the best I have felt in over a month but limited myself to spread the effort out across the week so that was a very very  easy 19.2mph and hardly got out of breath once. On the way home, bleedin' heck I had nothing! What was wrong? I'd eaten quite a lot that day but my stomach felt empty. This is the worst I had felt on over a month. Very strange. I seemed to get better and better as the ride wore on though and in the end it was a fast ride considering the number of stops and the state of my legs. The wind didn't feel like it was helping but it must have done.

PREVIOUS WEEK

Friday

To Work     Distance 15 miles     Av Sp 17.8mph                                                                        
To Home     Distance 20miles     Av Sp 19.9mph

Strange! on on the way to work had 2 punctures due to massive gash in tyre I was unable to spot. Luckily I was near LBS at time but had to make up time to get to work and still get some miles in. I had to pedal against the very strong wind virtually all the way to work instead of zig zagging across it. Stops all over the show didn't help. So its a bit of a rogue figure that 17.8mph

Thursday

To Work     Distance 20 miles     Av Sp 18.6mph
To Home     Distance 20miles     Av Sp 19.9mph ( slightly hillier than normal- very good ride)


Wednesday

To Work      Distance 20 miles     Av Sp 18.7mph
To Home     Distance 20miles      Av Sp  19.1mph