Distance 40miles Av Speed 19.0mph
Another day, another ride. Not quite in the league of the guys cycling 30 days of April as I missed a few days at the beginning but now wish I went out for them. Nearly didn't go out today as my body was telling me to rest and the sun had disappeared and it looked like the wind was picking up. After walking around the house for an hour it had brightened up, my legs loosened but the wind still getting worse. Out I went.
Todays mission was to sit in the drops as long as possible! Two sets of temporary traffic lights are still situated in the most inconvenient positions on Edenfield Rd climb. Building those stupid retaining walls. Excuse my ignorance but is this a massive waste or what? My journey came across many more sets of temporary lights but my focus was being concentrated on the Easterly (main), Northerly and Southerly winds gusting around 17mph. The wind helped me put more power down and I was thinking alot more about technique. All the climbs were done 'Pantani' style , not my mate Pete but the real Pantani where he ascends in the drops. Infact around 95% of the trip was done 'aero style' and it was so comfy on Scottie.
Had a puncture at Rawtenstall where I found a massive gash in the Michelin Pro Race 3 tyre. Don't think Ill buy these again. Ive had them for a while but not used them too much. They are supposed to be 23's but are more like 25's, disintegrate quickly as the rubber showed loads of cracking and wear and the red colour looked grey after a couple of rides. I guess they are for racing only with a short shelf life, a seasons/half a seasons worth. The contis on the other hand have lasted me close to a year and half, a Gp4000s which gashed last week and a Conti Attack which is going strong after thousands and thousands of miles of commuting and sunday riding. Actually it was a Bontrager tyre that gashed last week after a few days usage ,the Gp4000s had a gash for a little while longer but never puctured with them. The contis are still in use on my pro lite 88mm clinchers which I have TT'd to work on.
All in all a good ride without going too hard, just glad of the lack of climbing compared to Sunday. Tuesday, tomorrow will only be a around 20 miles but 8miles of them will be a Time Trial. Its lumpier than L101 and it will hurt....alot.
Monday, 18 April 2011
Sunday, 17 April 2011
An early one
Sunday 17th April
Distance 55miles Av Sp 17.3mph Ascent ~4500ft
'Spring into the Dales' was an Audax starting in Hebden Bridge today that I had a slight glimmer of hope of attending as a few Rochdale Tri club guys were attending but the missus scuppered my plans and I had to renegotiate my cycling time. Instead I will be doing the 'Pendle Witches Vintage Velo' on Easter Sunday, weather permitting.
Part of the mediation process enabled an early morning ride just as long as I returned before baby woke up. Alarm set for 5.30am and thankfully everyone stayed asleep. Took me a while to set up my gear as it was scattered everywhere due to my TT yesterday. The sun was barely out and it was still quite cold outside. I tried to ram the left overs of last nights takeaway down my throat, succeeded but the stomach turning and a little worse for wear.
Set off and I could barely move. My heart rate took a while to raise above 100 but once in my stride there was no stopping me. Ok there were two huge mountains in the way, one know as Holmfirth Rd and the other Holme Moss summit. Wind was negligible when I set off but my general speed wasn't there and had to make do with what reserves I had. The first mountain was upon me and I was doing ok. Going easy and not going too slow. A roadie ahead made me put a little more effort in and I overtook by halfway. Not had an overtake for months. Stood up the rest of the way and increased the speed. The descent gave me a nice rest, but it didn't as I saw 2 roadies at a junction before the top and thought they were going the same direction so pedalled all the way downhill. Never looked back and didn't see them but I think they took the other route.
The second climb killed me. 4.5mph near the top was pitiful. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't muster up any more to put down. My previous worst here was about 5.5mph with servere winds. Just needed to hit the top and I was virtually home and dry. I kinda chickened out when the big descent came. There are a couple of big bends but I'd say you could take them at 40mph. Im not keen at going downhill and kept hitting the brakes but I did stay above 30mph. The rest of the ride home was simple enough and didn't take too much out of me.
I used to do those big hills every Sunday last year and I am either out of practice or fatigued. Most likely the latter as my average heart rate was only 139 and getting over 145 was difficult.
Looking back at the Garmin Calendar I have ridden 10 consecutive days at a total of close to 400miles. Woahhhh.
Distance 55miles Av Sp 17.3mph Ascent ~4500ft
'Spring into the Dales' was an Audax starting in Hebden Bridge today that I had a slight glimmer of hope of attending as a few Rochdale Tri club guys were attending but the missus scuppered my plans and I had to renegotiate my cycling time. Instead I will be doing the 'Pendle Witches Vintage Velo' on Easter Sunday, weather permitting.
Part of the mediation process enabled an early morning ride just as long as I returned before baby woke up. Alarm set for 5.30am and thankfully everyone stayed asleep. Took me a while to set up my gear as it was scattered everywhere due to my TT yesterday. The sun was barely out and it was still quite cold outside. I tried to ram the left overs of last nights takeaway down my throat, succeeded but the stomach turning and a little worse for wear.
Set off and I could barely move. My heart rate took a while to raise above 100 but once in my stride there was no stopping me. Ok there were two huge mountains in the way, one know as Holmfirth Rd and the other Holme Moss summit. Wind was negligible when I set off but my general speed wasn't there and had to make do with what reserves I had. The first mountain was upon me and I was doing ok. Going easy and not going too slow. A roadie ahead made me put a little more effort in and I overtook by halfway. Not had an overtake for months. Stood up the rest of the way and increased the speed. The descent gave me a nice rest, but it didn't as I saw 2 roadies at a junction before the top and thought they were going the same direction so pedalled all the way downhill. Never looked back and didn't see them but I think they took the other route.
The second climb killed me. 4.5mph near the top was pitiful. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't muster up any more to put down. My previous worst here was about 5.5mph with servere winds. Just needed to hit the top and I was virtually home and dry. I kinda chickened out when the big descent came. There are a couple of big bends but I'd say you could take them at 40mph. Im not keen at going downhill and kept hitting the brakes but I did stay above 30mph. The rest of the ride home was simple enough and didn't take too much out of me.
I used to do those big hills every Sunday last year and I am either out of practice or fatigued. Most likely the latter as my average heart rate was only 139 and getting over 145 was difficult.
Looking back at the Garmin Calendar I have ridden 10 consecutive days at a total of close to 400miles. Woahhhh.
Saturday, 16 April 2011
First Ever Official 10mile Time Trial
The meeting place was Catterall Village Hall, near Garstang, which is about 10mins cycle from the start point, about an hours drive down the motorway. Some big bloke approached me and introduced himself as the organiser and said that I must be Simon. How on earth he knew I dont know but he then explained that the conversations with my wife painted a spectacular picture hah. Met Nick from the tri club who is a seasoned veteran and has done numerous TT's, quick chat later and Pantani arrived and showed me to a 'secret' meeting point.
Pantani had his bike in the car and rode some of the course with me, which I am so grateful for as it put my mind at ease. Heard so many horror stories of newbies going off course and ruining a good day. The sun was out but the wind was annoying, a swirly left and right cross wind. After doing the course we went back to his car where other TT'ers had parked up and were on their turbos/rollers or on the country lanes warming up. After my warmup I just about managed to get to the start line in time. I was off at 15.14 and arrived at 15.12 after waiting at lights for ages.
One minute to go..... bike held and clipped in, in position, 30 seconds called...all ready and waiting for the off. 10 seconds, 5 4 3 2 1 GO! I was in the right gear but totally forgot to turn the cycling computer on so had no idea what speed I was travelling at. All the sweeties I had before hand must have contributed to a stitch for most of the course but due to positioning it wasn't as bad as it could be. The course was lumpy as hell, I was expecting it to be pan flat as I've heard some good times can be achieved. Went off a little quick but settled nicely. Had to stand up a couple of times to keep up the speed, now where was that roundabout? Negotiated it at around halfway with no problems and still in the aero position, only another 5 miles to go.
Pantani had said that the home leg is harder than the out stretch but I thought it was the other way around. I managed to hold my position quite easily on the ascents but the extra effort required was killing me and had to hold back to get my breath back on the descents. Every breath was painful due to the stitch and tried to ignore it and just pedalled. Hours were passing me by that were actually minutes. Towards the end the man behind me had just about caught me but I hadn't caught anyone. He passed the tractor easily but when it was my turn I had a car infront, a bleeding traffic island and traffic coming in the opposite direction. Took ages to get past but the finish line was only 200metres ahead and sprinted to the end.
Got lost, as I usually do when travelling back to base so had to phone my 'team' who appeared very quickly. Treated myself to a brew and muffins whilst I was awaiting my time to come in.Numbers 1-10 were in and times were around the 21-22-23 mark, was told it wasn't a fast day so my expectations suddenly dropped. The missus came out whilst I was putting the bike away and said I got 27.04. OMG I thought...CRAP and my heart sank but at least I beat my previous time. She then said she was joking.
10 mile Time Trial L101.........23.46 Av Sp 25.25mph
I said before this that I would have been ecstatic with anything under 24mins and anything between 24-25 would have been a good day at the office but although happy something at the back of my mind wanted a 22. I know if I keep doing them with specific training I should improve alot so hopefully I get the time to do some more. Theres a club TT just down the road thats just recommenced, a timed 8 miler every Tuesday night.
More TT practise
Distance 36.6 miles Av Sp 16.7mph
Not ridden with Pantani for months so called him for an easy ride to get used to our TT bikes, the big day TOmorrow! He was zooming off every where especially Edenfield Rd where I went super easy at 6mph. Any sort of gradient and I just span up it. Thought I would feel terrible but seem to recover fine and was really trying my best to hold myself back towards the end. Quite a fast speed since I barely tried and spent most of the ride drafting Pantani. He was going quite well too considering he was still recovering from illness that I had weeks ago.
Not ridden with Pantani for months so called him for an easy ride to get used to our TT bikes, the big day TOmorrow! He was zooming off every where especially Edenfield Rd where I went super easy at 6mph. Any sort of gradient and I just span up it. Thought I would feel terrible but seem to recover fine and was really trying my best to hold myself back towards the end. Quite a fast speed since I barely tried and spent most of the ride drafting Pantani. He was going quite well too considering he was still recovering from illness that I had weeks ago.
Friday, 15 April 2011
Sensory Overload
When I purchased the Garmin 500 I had every intention of using all the bits and pieces in the box to monitor my performances however I just haven't been bothered to install them on the bike or take with me. Not anymore. Stats galore here we come. Okay so I've now got cadence, proper speed ( not gps speed) and heartrate up and running and used my last commute of the week to test them out.
To Work Distance 20 miles Av Sp 19.3mph
The winds psychological effect on me is quite big and I tend not to overdo it as I think that any excess power used is wasted so try to maintain the same tempo/workrate. The wind had changed to a Southerly with blasts from the West so Head/cross all the way in. Heartrate is quite linear just to prove the above and only increased on steep sections sor decreased when stopped. Cadence is around 90-100 when pedalling normally but to be honest I felt I was pedalling slow into the wind and you can tell all the points when Im out of the saddle. I think the first 3.5miles took 20-25mins because of traffic and temporary lights. Average started at 21 for a few miles and went down to 18 in no time.
The climb at the start of Victoria Av is a nice section to analyse. This is at about mile 11 on the graphs. I had thought previously I was only going about 11-12mph but today I was going 14-15mph without feeling I was going faster than any other time this month so the speed sensor must be working better than the GPS. Cadence for the climb is at 80+rpm which surprised me and quite good/high, again it felt slow. Heat rate only topped out at 166 so not exerting myself too much but still putting the effort in.
To Home Distance 20miles Av Sp 19.3mph
Woahhh, I don't think I stopped once all the way but had to slow down a few times. Wind was gentle from the South and East tonight but the cold air 5 degress with real feel of 3 made it difficult or was it the air? Im sure it played a part but looking at heart rate it is quite low throughout the journey, heavily decreasing towards the end. I'm sure thats showing how fatigued I was ( or was it the temperatures effect on my body?) getting as the week wore on. The thing is I thought I was working very very hard, one last big effort before the restdays, before TT day. Average cadence similar to earlier on, at 85, as wind was less but its 'all uphill' so expected it to be like that.
Thursday - Just a quick 25 miles without the computer so that I would go slow.
To Work Distance 20 miles Av Sp 19.3mph
The winds psychological effect on me is quite big and I tend not to overdo it as I think that any excess power used is wasted so try to maintain the same tempo/workrate. The wind had changed to a Southerly with blasts from the West so Head/cross all the way in. Heartrate is quite linear just to prove the above and only increased on steep sections sor decreased when stopped. Cadence is around 90-100 when pedalling normally but to be honest I felt I was pedalling slow into the wind and you can tell all the points when Im out of the saddle. I think the first 3.5miles took 20-25mins because of traffic and temporary lights. Average started at 21 for a few miles and went down to 18 in no time.
The climb at the start of Victoria Av is a nice section to analyse. This is at about mile 11 on the graphs. I had thought previously I was only going about 11-12mph but today I was going 14-15mph without feeling I was going faster than any other time this month so the speed sensor must be working better than the GPS. Cadence for the climb is at 80+rpm which surprised me and quite good/high, again it felt slow. Heat rate only topped out at 166 so not exerting myself too much but still putting the effort in.
To Home Distance 20miles Av Sp 19.3mph
Woahhh, I don't think I stopped once all the way but had to slow down a few times. Wind was gentle from the South and East tonight but the cold air 5 degress with real feel of 3 made it difficult or was it the air? Im sure it played a part but looking at heart rate it is quite low throughout the journey, heavily decreasing towards the end. I'm sure thats showing how fatigued I was ( or was it the temperatures effect on my body?) getting as the week wore on. The thing is I thought I was working very very hard, one last big effort before the restdays, before TT day. Average cadence similar to earlier on, at 85, as wind was less but its 'all uphill' so expected it to be like that.
Thursday - Just a quick 25 miles without the computer so that I would go slow.
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Countdown 'til TT Saturday
Rest. A few weeks ago when I planned to ride Saturdays TT event I had envisaged this week to be a nice, easy, calming and relaxing affair with a couple of 'recovery/maintenance' rides just to keep loose and to keep my legs reminded of how to pedal. Stretching has helped my muscles immensly and try to do 20-30 mins a day, a session at work and one when I get home. My muscles used to get really tight after a hard ride and could take 3-4 days to recover. It's taken about 2 months of stretching to feel the benefits as I was extremely sceptical but stuck with it as a trial.
This week my legs have been aching ( due to numerous sprints up hills on Sun) as I previously said but movement has been unrestricted. Once a quick 5min warmup has been accomplished Im firing on all cyclinders and the aches disappear.
What else I think has helped is the height of seatpost. Theres normally alot of discussion on forums over pictures people send in where other peeps have said saddle too low when I think its about right. The pros seem to have their saddles at an extreme height which us mortals try to emmulate. Having it too high can overstretch the muscles which causes them to do more unnecessary work when you come to contract them and from experience took me longer to recover. I beleive I have read that some pros do extended stretch sessions of 30mins to 1hr just holding one position for that time which is why they are able to have such a high position in comparison to the leg extension. I could be totally wrong though.
I started off by adjusting saddle using the heel to pedal method, which does feel low but has worked for me. Got less tired and recovered quicker with a negligible loss in speed ( Could possibly be due to the excess of food Ive been consuming). I have been able to gradually up the height week by week, milllimetres at a time, without ill effect possibly due to the stretching so that I get more aero. Used to get all sorts of odd tingling sensations as if the circualtion is bad which have gone.
Tuesdays commute saw winds of 25km/h and 'in'accuweather had gusts of 65km/h. Westerly with less fierce Northerly too. Down Victoria Av with the 'tail wind' I reached 24mph, not for long. Pantani said he managed 31mph which, theorectically, should have been easy for me too. Average slightly lower due to a climb I put in at the beginning and the Garmin kept on counting for extended periods once stopped. All the riding had to be done sat down because standing instantly lost a few mph.
Going home at 2am there was a Southerly 7 km/h. A section where I head North I can do 21mph with a head wind with this 'tail wind' I managed 19mph. The air felt like it was gusting at me as fast as earlier on, in reality there was only a slight breeze.... the dreaded cold dense air. My fingers and toes were numb after 10miles ugh. Average only good because the legs were in good condition and was able to get speed up using energy zapping standing efforts, or did that slow me down.
To Work Distance 20miles Av Sp 18.3mph
To Home Distance 20miles Av Sp 19.3mph
This week my legs have been aching ( due to numerous sprints up hills on Sun) as I previously said but movement has been unrestricted. Once a quick 5min warmup has been accomplished Im firing on all cyclinders and the aches disappear.
What else I think has helped is the height of seatpost. Theres normally alot of discussion on forums over pictures people send in where other peeps have said saddle too low when I think its about right. The pros seem to have their saddles at an extreme height which us mortals try to emmulate. Having it too high can overstretch the muscles which causes them to do more unnecessary work when you come to contract them and from experience took me longer to recover. I beleive I have read that some pros do extended stretch sessions of 30mins to 1hr just holding one position for that time which is why they are able to have such a high position in comparison to the leg extension. I could be totally wrong though.
I started off by adjusting saddle using the heel to pedal method, which does feel low but has worked for me. Got less tired and recovered quicker with a negligible loss in speed ( Could possibly be due to the excess of food Ive been consuming). I have been able to gradually up the height week by week, milllimetres at a time, without ill effect possibly due to the stretching so that I get more aero. Used to get all sorts of odd tingling sensations as if the circualtion is bad which have gone.
Tuesdays commute saw winds of 25km/h and 'in'accuweather had gusts of 65km/h. Westerly with less fierce Northerly too. Down Victoria Av with the 'tail wind' I reached 24mph, not for long. Pantani said he managed 31mph which, theorectically, should have been easy for me too. Average slightly lower due to a climb I put in at the beginning and the Garmin kept on counting for extended periods once stopped. All the riding had to be done sat down because standing instantly lost a few mph.
Going home at 2am there was a Southerly 7 km/h. A section where I head North I can do 21mph with a head wind with this 'tail wind' I managed 19mph. The air felt like it was gusting at me as fast as earlier on, in reality there was only a slight breeze.... the dreaded cold dense air. My fingers and toes were numb after 10miles ugh. Average only good because the legs were in good condition and was able to get speed up using energy zapping standing efforts, or did that slow me down.
To Work Distance 20miles Av Sp 18.3mph
To Home Distance 20miles Av Sp 19.3mph
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Effin' Wind
Woke up feeling mega achey, thighs, glutes, hamstring. I do remember doing a super all out sprint near the end of my ride yesterday, up an incline against the wind. Nightmare commutes today. Super super windy. To work I had to stop at mother in laws so I did do more climbing than usual. Legs loosened up very quickly and reached a rhythm within minutes, that was a quick recovery. Massive Westerly wind 18mph with big gusts. Im sure there was a counter wind of a Northerly and maybe a slight Southerly too. Victoria Avenue is a good stretch heading East so the tail wind should be just as humongous. I started climbing at 18mph for a good distance then suddenly a big gust dropped me more or less instantly to 12mph. On the flats I'd get a good speed but could also feel being pushed back or rather getting pushed into something stopping me? gettit?. School had just finished everywhere and I was being obstructed by traffic so just had to be patient.
Back home and due to the direction of wind was extremely hard work. Again Westerly but with large Northerly gusts 25km/h and 42km/h. I probably went normal speed up Oldham Rd, no tail wind felt, then I just hammered the pedals constantly and as fast as I could. No respite, even turning South at the top of my journey didn't reveal a tail wind. Head/Cross all the way. I'd put so much effort into it that my stomach was retching and my head pounding to my heartbeat. 4 degrees with real feel of -2!!!! Oh yes!! Where was my reward for the effort? In the form of a luxury Bakewell tart I saved earlier on and a nice brew.
Ummmm Im supposed to be resting for TT on Sat! Arghghghghg.
To Work Distance 20miles Av Sp 18.6mph ( more climbing)
To Home Distance 20 miles Av Sp 18.2mph
Back home and due to the direction of wind was extremely hard work. Again Westerly but with large Northerly gusts 25km/h and 42km/h. I probably went normal speed up Oldham Rd, no tail wind felt, then I just hammered the pedals constantly and as fast as I could. No respite, even turning South at the top of my journey didn't reveal a tail wind. Head/Cross all the way. I'd put so much effort into it that my stomach was retching and my head pounding to my heartbeat. 4 degrees with real feel of -2!!!! Oh yes!! Where was my reward for the effort? In the form of a luxury Bakewell tart I saved earlier on and a nice brew.
Ummmm Im supposed to be resting for TT on Sat! Arghghghghg.
To Work Distance 20miles Av Sp 18.6mph ( more climbing)
To Home Distance 20 miles Av Sp 18.2mph
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Sat/Sun Sun
Saturday 9th April
So determined to do well at my second ever 10mile TT that im commuting on TT bike again. My arm position looks mega strange but aero, nonetheless. Infact the aero bars are millimetres from touching the front wheel and Ive rapped my knuckles against spinning rubber a few times. That should tell you how short my legs are. Little bit warmer at 3am, about 6 degrees. Little bit weak this morning so thought Id save myself for an all out attack for the way home.
I left work and stop, sprint, stop,, sprint stop, sprint, stop,sprint, stop, sprint, stop and thats the first 2 miles over and done with. Lights grrrrrr! I'd love to know what I could average without all these stops. Again I could feel myself being blown sideways but went hard all the way. Every downhill section my speed was cut short by lights or buses or traffic. Wasn't expecting a good time but was pleasantly surprised.
To Work Distance 20 miles Av Sp 20.4mph
To Home Distance 20miles Av Sp 20.7mph
Sunday 10th April
Was going to use this as a rest day but as soon as I saw the forecast for the rest of the week I just knew I had to go out. I went with Rochdale Tri club and the first 5miles were painfully slow, we were doing about 11mph for flat sections. It took Blackstone Edge to get some power to the pedals and were going the same speed as we were previously....bit of an exaggeration, not far off though. Went through some gorgeous twisty lanes with superb tarmac'd roads, always on the look out for oncoming cars coming in the opposite direction. From mile 15 to 25 average was fast only because there was an almighty tail wind which we pootled through. They stopped at a cafe in Hebden when our average was about 14.9mph and I soloed home, in a head wind. I enjoyed the climb to Crown Point, although in a headwind I barely went under 10mph then the descent to Rawtenstall zapped my strength as I powered through the strong wind. Same story for the rest of the journey. That head wind was hard work but managed to up the average from 14.9 ( 30miles) ish to 16.7( 30miles)mph
More climbing involved than I anticipated too.
Distance 60miles Av Sp 16.8mph
So determined to do well at my second ever 10mile TT that im commuting on TT bike again. My arm position looks mega strange but aero, nonetheless. Infact the aero bars are millimetres from touching the front wheel and Ive rapped my knuckles against spinning rubber a few times. That should tell you how short my legs are. Little bit warmer at 3am, about 6 degrees. Little bit weak this morning so thought Id save myself for an all out attack for the way home.
I left work and stop, sprint, stop,, sprint stop, sprint, stop,sprint, stop, sprint, stop and thats the first 2 miles over and done with. Lights grrrrrr! I'd love to know what I could average without all these stops. Again I could feel myself being blown sideways but went hard all the way. Every downhill section my speed was cut short by lights or buses or traffic. Wasn't expecting a good time but was pleasantly surprised.
To Work Distance 20 miles Av Sp 20.4mph
To Home Distance 20miles Av Sp 20.7mph
Sunday 10th April
Was going to use this as a rest day but as soon as I saw the forecast for the rest of the week I just knew I had to go out. I went with Rochdale Tri club and the first 5miles were painfully slow, we were doing about 11mph for flat sections. It took Blackstone Edge to get some power to the pedals and were going the same speed as we were previously....bit of an exaggeration, not far off though. Went through some gorgeous twisty lanes with superb tarmac'd roads, always on the look out for oncoming cars coming in the opposite direction. From mile 15 to 25 average was fast only because there was an almighty tail wind which we pootled through. They stopped at a cafe in Hebden when our average was about 14.9mph and I soloed home, in a head wind. I enjoyed the climb to Crown Point, although in a headwind I barely went under 10mph then the descent to Rawtenstall zapped my strength as I powered through the strong wind. Same story for the rest of the journey. That head wind was hard work but managed to up the average from 14.9 ( 30miles) ish to 16.7( 30miles)mph
More climbing involved than I anticipated too.
Distance 60miles Av Sp 16.8mph
Friday, 8 April 2011
TT Tweaky
As the weatherman said it wouldn't be raining today so I hopped on TT bike to get some practise in for next weeks 10mileTT. I Have done one previous Time Trial in May 2009 on the PETTS course and scored a reasonable 27.08s or close to which is 22.1mph This was on a road bike with clip ons and the worst possible position ever! My commutes to work at the time were a quick 7 miles and averaging 16mph. How on earth does that work out I do not know. Pantani averages 16mph for his rides yet scored a great 25min 50s which equates to 23.3mph! There is no way he can get over 20mph!??? Why do I struggle getting fast times for a 20miles commute on a TT bike going down hill ( 2am and 4celcius).
I needed to mess with position a few more time as going to work didn't feel right, coming home the position felt miles better just kept sliding forward a bit which can be sorted. Also coming home there was only supposed to be a 6mph wind so why were the flags blowing like mental and why was I getting blown from one side of the road to the other ( not that bad but I couldn't go faster than 26mph down a massive hill where I hit 30mph easily on roadie) Seem to go faster uphill than down too :P I couldn't count the number of stops on way home on fingers and toes there were that many!
Stats for Monday
To Work Distance 20 miles Av Sp 21.4mph (ignore last 0.78 at 45mph)
To Home Distance 20 miles Av Sp 20.5mph
I needed to mess with position a few more time as going to work didn't feel right, coming home the position felt miles better just kept sliding forward a bit which can be sorted. Also coming home there was only supposed to be a 6mph wind so why were the flags blowing like mental and why was I getting blown from one side of the road to the other ( not that bad but I couldn't go faster than 26mph down a massive hill where I hit 30mph easily on roadie) Seem to go faster uphill than down too :P I couldn't count the number of stops on way home on fingers and toes there were that many!
Stats for Monday
To Work Distance 20 miles Av Sp 21.4mph (ignore last 0.78 at 45mph)
To Home Distance 20 miles Av Sp 20.5mph
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
