40 Goals

What a fine figure of a man. So this was taken about 5 miuntes ago, today on Monday. Its a mirror reflection, so that is my right leg not my left leg. As you can see things don't look too bad. A lot of bruising on my upper thigh, my ankle is still swollen but a lot of range in movement means I'm off out on my bike when I finish this post. Last Tuesday, the day of the crash, I looked around the internet to try and get some feeling for how serious my injuries were and how long I'd be off the bike. I didn't really find anything useful. Most of the pages were about sports induced injuries rather than from falling off a bike and largely they put the fear of god into me. Talk of 6 weeks here and season ending there made me quite miserable. So, here is a brief breakdown of the last six days and how I've gone from feeling really low and assuming La Marmotte was written off to today, 6 days later, where I'm wondering how hard I should go in the hills this afternoon! The ...

I crashed on Tuesday. I hurt myself quite badly. My rear derrailleur is knackered, the hanger is bent out of shape, my bar tape is ripped and my right brake lever is scuffed. My elbow, upper-hip/thigh and ankle are severely scraped and, now, heavily bruised. So, what the hell happenned? One of the great things about all the gadgetry I have is the ability to review and analyse the data afterwards and I must admit it has been fascinating. As fortune would have it, I descended this point at very high speed on Sunday, in glorious sunshine. So I have data to compare with my crash data. On Sunday I approached this bend at 47km/h and went round, freewheeling (and leaning hard) and as I went round my speed dropped to 39km/h without me applying the brakes. I can tell you now that I was right on it because the guy trying to keep up with me behind was (as I later discovered) a german domestic pro who, in his words, thought I had 'good speed!!' (with a thumbs up gesture). On Tuesday, the d...

Looking forward to testing my legs with some beautiful mountainous climbs, Col de Soller a mini Alpe d'Huez and Col de Calobra known as The Snake but the trip to Cap de Formentor (above) will be more a test of my fear of heights ... gulp.

Me and the missus are signed up for the BHF London 2 Paris ride in September. Should be fun riding with 'er indoors. Its a 3 day thing with a total of 280 miles. Its relatively flat and from what I gather relatively slow too. It should keep me on the straight and narrow post La Marmotte too. Should be a blast!

Building over March from 85 to 95 CTL which came largely from a slight increase in frequency, volume and intensity. still only doing between 8-12 hrs per week. April kicks off with a week in Majorca which should give me a boost - both mentally and physically. Its been a great 8 months with a few issues to deal with but largely a positive experience and have developed a great level of fitness to build upon in the next 3 months leading up to La Marmotte. Now is the time to put the foot on the gas and not get complacent, who knows what can be achieved ...

Over 1,000 miles this season on the Computrainer.   (That's a whole lot of sweating)

It would seem that a CTL >100 is widely viewed as a target for peaking. Given my sustainable ramp rate, the fact that I'm already at 95 CTL, I am planning on an increase in volume through April, May and June AND I'm off to Majorca for 7 days of quality training I think a 120 target for Marmotte is LOW! :-) Heck, I even took an extra rest day today and CTL is still 93.

Is that the first shoot of spring? Is my anaerobic capacity coming out to blossom? :-)

Anaerobic Capacity is a mixed bag this season compared to all time, whilst most of the other zones are all as good as if not better than ever. This seasons training regime is definitely working better than any training I've ever done before.  PS: The dotted line is this season

Tested today at 285w (NP ~290, AP 280). Looking at linear and log trend looks like a stretch of 320w for Marmotte and a possible of 310w. Mad. Mad. Mad. Only time will tell, but my new approach of higher intensity training and no L2 seems to be paying off in terms of FTP. Given I also set a fast time for the ToSH with no long rides suggests that L2 is highly over-rated.

Nuff Said. Did an eyeballs out FTP test on a majorly breezy day. The wind helped to neutralize the terrain and made it hard work in every direction. The only dips in power were unavoidable due to turns, lights or steep descents. FTP Test results of NP 292 and AP 281.

Wow is it that time already? Well a good month with build starting over the last couple of weeks. I've taken a few impromptu rest days for fun and work. Trying to keep a balance and make sure I don't burn out. Indeed, the ride today was going to be a 4 hr stint in the hills, but after 3 hrs I was cold and wanted to go home, so I did. I know that tomorrow I'll be itching to get out for a couple of hours anyway and this way I'll be less fatigued. At least thats the theory! I checked my FTP and its still 275. CTL now at 95 but I suspect I'll maintain it at abut that over the month and not go higher. Funny - a workout of an hour or less feels really short these days and almost not worth getting dressed up for :-)

As a Google Earth (KML) or a Garmin Training Centre (TCX) file can be downloaded here .  Please note:  this is NOT the official route since (a) I start half way round in Cranleigh and do the first half AFTER the second half and (b) I skip the staples lane climb, which is a habit I should break! 

Not religious, except about weight loss. So I'm giving up Chocolate, Sweets, Biscuits and Cake for Lent, which runs from today 'Ash Wednesday' through to Good Friday. That's 40 days and 40 nights of hell! So to keep a tab on it all I'm keeping a food diary right here on this blog entry. Should make for a scintilating read (not!). No comments on how crap my diet is. I know I should eat more fruit and veg. I know caffeine is bad for me. I know that I should vary my diet more. :-) Ash Wednesday 25th February 8am Cup of Filter Coffee, 1 sugar 8am Round of Toast and Butter 8am Bran Flakes, Natural yoghurt, berry compote, skimmed milk 9am Tea, 2 sugars 10am Starbucks Coffee, 2 sweeteners 1pm Sandwich: Bacon, Avacodo and Chicken on Farmhouse Granary 1pm Can of San Pellegrino Fizzy Orange 3pm Cup of tea, 2 sugars 4pm cup of tea, 2 sugars 8pm DISASTER! dropped pesto and pasta on floor - v. small portion consumed 8pm couple of jacob's crackers with a bit of cheese 9pm Wil...

I had some residual fatigue from the double commute I did on Friday but managed pretty well. It was a little windy but in gusts rather than a constant breeze. I nearly came a cropper with side winds, glad I didn't have deep section wheels. The ride was a milestone for me, a route I've ridden extensively in the past and very demanding with plenty of steep climbs from 10% through to 18% and 21%. I was worried I would fatigue since the majority of my riding has been in the 2hr ballpark, but I was absolutely fine. A ride time of 4:15 is up there with some 0f my better times, 4hr being my PB. So I've drawn a line in the sand. And more importantly I'm not scared of the ride anymore and so will be incorporating it into my weekend long ride from now on. Roll on the spring!

Good weekend for some new milestones :- First (windy) Tour of the Surrey Hills of the season 4:15 NP239 AP205 Hit 3064 miles for the season, 887 of which were on the turbo Build Phase has started in my periodosed plans CTL hits 90 (temporarily) as a result of todays hard effort FTP is 275w and looking suspiciously in need of another test :-)

I despair. If its not bad enough that Apple wanted my credit card details within 20 seconds of me installing itunes, that the ipod is not user maintainable, that they believe in closed proprietary and downright monopolistic practices ... my second, replacement for a broken, ipod has now gone fubar within 7 days. Update : see dopisp f or a way of using Windows Media Player with an Ipod and uninstall  itunes forever. Ipods are supposed to be a  portable music player -- why do they break if you don't treat them like a fucking faberge egg? I've come to the conclusion that the typical Apple iWhore only fits one profile and that ain't me, typically they; iMagpie - Cannot see beyond shiny iMage not Substance - aspire to a consumerist ideal or lifestyle Low iQ - have too much disposable income -or- a lower than average intelligence iDoWhatYouLetMe - don't object to having their behaviours controlled by an organisation Lastly, I'd guess a large number of them also are; iClu...

Since getting back on the bike in August I've been tracking my FTP in wko+. Mostly by using a full bore 40k ride as my benchmark, a ride I call the "Billingshurst Loop". When I started in August it took me 1:27, my latest best is 1:15.  I use the NP for this ride because it is a little lumpy (which is unavoidable where I live). The results tend to stack up very, very well with 20min turbo tests as well. Whilst my target for FTP is basically "as high as I can get it" I still like to set targets and track progress towards them. Hence the graph. The linear and curved trend lines are based upon the data collected. I tend to believe that future progress will not be as dramatic as past progress so believe the end FTP of 290 is a reasonable target. However, the linear target of 320 is not impossible. I'd be delighted with anything approaching 300w, and unlike in 2007, this time I know EXACTLY how many watts I do day to day. In 2007 I hit an FTP of 294w for an outdo...

Big time recovery from a nasty dose of flu after christmas and managed to sustain a CTL of about 80. My progress is a bit hampered by a lack of hilly outdoor riding for a variety of reasons, but largely work or weather. Happy with CTL but IF is dropping off as frequency is increasing in workouts. Not at all sure this is a good approach at all. You'll notice the 4 on 1 off went to 3 on 1 off. I like to get plenty of rest! Empty legs make for a junk workout anyway. To be fair, mostly it was enforced by life rather than me slacking :-)

Don't be too fooled by the charts - volume has been increasing over the 6 months so in real terms I am spending more time in AC this month than the chart suggests ... however ... High-intensity work in Jan has been low. This is largely due to spending so much time on the trainer because the weather has been so poor. Itching to hit the hills and stuck inside. Interestingly my weight has dropped after quite a plateau whilst gains in FTP and max power has levelled. To the hills tonto....... away!