40 Goals

When you ascend the Col du Telegraph there's still another 25 kilometers before the top of the Col du Galibier ... 25 kilos to go Well they're building a flamme-rouge outside Alpe D'Huez I've got 25 kilos to go And the whole town's waitin' just to hear me yell I've got 24 kilos to go Well they gave me some beans for my last meal I've got 23 kilos to go But nobody asked me how I feel I've got 22 kilos to go Well I went past a duffer and his whole dern bunch with 21 kilos to go And I sent for the mayor but he's out to lunch I've got 20 more kilos to go Then the sheriff said boy I gonna watch you die got 19 kilos to go So I laughed in his face and I spit in his eye got 18 kilos to go Now hear comes the preacher for to save my soul with 13 kilos to go And he's talking bout' bonkin' but I'm so cold I've 12 more kilos to go Now they're detecting' the chip and it chills my spine 11 more kilos to go And my gears and my cha...

I never cease to be amazed at how really simple questions can become almost impossible to answer when it comes to exercise physiology. I'm just an IT spod who has a passion for training and riding my bike. But, having bonked really badly on Etape 07 (or possibly underestimated the effect of altitude) I am determined to get it right for La Marmotte this year. The chart above is intended to show the percentage of fuel that is derived from muscle glycogen versus fatty acids (etc) at differing exercise intensities. Basically, at higher intensities the energy derived from glycogen becomes greater and will need to be replaced on the go. By contrast, the energy derived from fatty acids will not. Tipping Points and Sailing Close to the wind Based upon the assumption that (a) I will carbo load before La Marmotte and will have approximately 1000 cals worth of glycogen sitting in my legs and (b) I will take on 400cals of glycogen per hour then the following table tells me how many hours I can...

I've managed to stabilise at a CTL and ATL of 95. Feeling strong. Had a taper for the fred Whitton which gave me a dip and them pretty much rode every day. Instead of taking a full rest day I rode noodly rides with my wife Sam. Very civilised and legs feel better for it.

OK, so I'm still 81kg and probably in the 20% bodyfat range and shredding is something bodybuilders will do before a big event to get down to 2% but I'm calling it shredding :-) No more refined sugar products or 'treats' till I start La Marmotte. Ideally I'd like to be at 75kg for the event but lets face it anywhere around 77kg would be fantastic. If only I didn't like biscuits and chocolate quite so much ....................... its just for 6 weeks.... its just for 6 weeks .... its just for 6 weeks ....... if I tell myself that enough maybe it'll help me get past those cravings. Saturday 23rd May - 81.9 kg Well during the week I watched 10 things you need to know about losing weight . And I put some of it into practice; I didn't have anything between meals (ok, I had a fruesli bar on Friday afternoon because I was really hungry), I had more protein than usual for breakfast (couple of poached eggs and toast), but having soup for lunch was the clincher. I...

So, right now it is raining. hard. But the weather forecast says sunny intervals. Mmmm. If I fire up google earth and hone in onto Cranleigh then select radar and cloud I am greeted with the image above. The HIRAD radar data gets refreshed every twenty minutes or so. Now the wind is coming at 22mph from the SSW according to metcheck and the bbc weather sites. So that band of rain from east anglia to hayling island is moving fast to the northeast. From that, my dear Watson I can conclude that we have one more heavy shower to endure and then we should have a rain free afternoon. LETS SEE IF I'M RIGHT SHALL WE? edit: Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. The radar is only over land masses. Once the first lot of heavy cloud cover had passed another one appeared and then another. Kind of makes the radar useless if you are near the coast.

I've been riding on the road seriously for a few years now. When I got my first road bike in 2003 I wasn't very clued up. I rode it and enjoyed it, but didn't really know too much about bikes, cycling history and culture and training. I realised recently that I've been through quite a rite of passage from newbie to well, experienced cyclist. Ok, so I can't tell you much about campagnolo bottom brackets but I can (and have) maintained or repaired or replaced every part of my dura ace equipped bike. There are a few behaviours I have picked up along the way that are widely viewed as roadie-neurosies. Not because I knew about them and wanted to fit it, more that they developed independently over time, here are a few; No saddle bag . I carry everything in my middle back pocket that would be in  my saddle bag. This is to keep my bike light and manoueverable, especially when out the saddle. Mega-Clean drivechain . My chain, chainrings and casette are indeed cleaner than my...

The chart above is what I call my poppy field. The yellow bars (or stalks) represent the average and normalised powers for each workout whilst the red and gray dots represent the average heart rate and intensity factors for each workout. As you can see my intensity factor has tailed off slightly along with my heart rate, that really reflects the gradual increase in volume. I'm still not convinced that daily workouts are the best way forward. I have a feeling that increased intensity and more frequent rest days are a much better way to organise your training. But then I keep thinking about TITS and would rather not risk 'innovating'. BTW, TITS means time in the saddle :-) The distributution chart below shows, in absolute terms, the amount of time I have spent this season in each zone. I'm quite pleased with the mix, especially the AC and VM. This really reflects the fact that I live in a hilly area more than anything else. I have not included time spent freewheeling for ...

Well, aside from the Crash in the middle of the month its been a good month. Plenty of hard efforts and the Majorca trip was great. I did an FTP test a couple of weeks after the crash and wasn't back to full fitness but still held an FTP of 285w. I reckon I'm higher now and will do a test after the Fred Whitton Challenge which is next weekend. My all-time best 5,20 and 60 minute powers in 2007 came a week after the FWC. Only 9 weeks to La Marmotte, gulp.

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 :-)