40 Goals

Had it coming. Driven. Exceptional. Steely. One in a million. But also, cheat, liar, bully, fraud, doper and dealer. Still have fantastic memories watching him race in the Tour, but they all sour when you find out what kind of a man he is and how much of it all was a lie. Cycling has moved on, bye-bye LA.

So I thought I would wait a few days before posting my reflections. In that time I have returned to eating carbs, but in moderation. No longer drink caffeine and don't take sugar.  I have regained nearly ALL the weight I "lost". I assume this is a mixture of fat fain, but is largely glycogen and water since the weight gain is so unbelievably rapid (literally in 2 days or so). I've had a couple of blowouts for my birthday; afternoon tea at the Savoy and a Haagen Daas ice cream yesterday for my birthday. I have been good otherwise. I won't be doing Atkins again, but here is an attempt to give a balanced review: Postives Negatives Breaking my caffeine and sugar addiction was akin to giving up smoking I supercharged my weight loss losing 4kg in 3 weeks. 88.7 to 84.7kg. More alert, slept better and needed less, more positive outlook and self esteem No hunger pangs, cravings for food largely disappeared Eating

I am going to spend a month (or perhaps longer, or shorter) on the Atkins diet whilst continuing to ride my bike as an experiment to a) shift some stubborn fat and b) measure the impact of a low carb diet on cycling performance. I will be keeping a diary here of my diet, exercise, performance and of course, my weight and any thoughts or reflections on the experience. A few declarations; - I am not training for anything so my riding is purely for fun, and at an intensity 'I feel like doing' - I will be doing circuits and weights during this period, I am not doing cycling alone - My fitness levels are low compared to my best, so I would expect it to improve over time - I have been getting back into shape for 2 months proper. - I gave up smoking (this time for the rest of my life) in January, so may see performance increases through better lung health over time I no longer own a working HR strap, I gave up on HR, grudgingly, last year and have never missed it. You use p

Back to earth with a bump Since the beginning of April I have been trying to get back into shape. I started with some unfocused riding, just riding for 40k "easy" tended to hurt. I am terribly out of shape. More importantly being yet another fat middle aged man on a fancy carbon bike with a power meter is frankly embarrassing. I am quietly ashamed at what I have become. I don't want to ride for fear of my old riding partners seeing this big, fat wobbly 93kg 6ft tall man struggling to maintain 190w on the flat. Worse, towards the end of every ride I experience all manner of aches and pains in my upper and lower back, my triceps and even my calves. It is depressing. Back in 2007 I weighed 73kg and could  ride the 110km Tour of the Surrey Hills in under 4.5 hrs. Now I couldn't face the first climb. But I comfort myself with the fact that I am actually doing something about it. Buying new clothes with a larger waistline is not an option. In fact, Andrea Morelli w

"That is why no amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party that inflicted those bitter experiences on me. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin. They condemned millions of first-class people to semi-starvation. Now the Tories are pouring out money in propaganda of all sorts and are hoping by this organised sustained mass suggestion to eradicate from our minds all memory of what we went through. But, I warn you young men and women, do not listen to what they are saying now. Do not listen to the seductions of  Lord Woolton . He is a very good salesman. If you are selling shoddy stuff you have to be a good salesman. But I warn you they have not changed, or if they have they are slightly worse than they were." Speech on 3 July 1948 at the Bellevue Hotel, on eve of the entry into force of the National Health Service