It's getting colder....

Another week has gone by and the temperatures dropping with today hitting a cool 4 degrees. I'm still in the building stage and slow riding which, with the wet roads and leaves suits me fine. I have had a read about the reasons for going slower and the plan is to teach my body to burn fat. To do this a solid block of slow and steady training is essential for me to improve my times. I used to think that going fast was the only way to improve my riding but actually not slowing down over a long ride can be a limiting factor. I'm trying to teach my body to do something that doesn't feel natural and it doesn't want to do. If I carry on riding hard my body will apparently continue to burn sugar as a fuel rather than developing my bodies ability to burn fat.
This is when an eight to twelve week block of training at low intensity is essential. It is taking a huge effort particularly when I spot targets ahead but the people I'm riding with are happy to stick to my plan with me. So, I'm hoping to see the results of riding faster and producing more power in low heart rate zones. So far one thing I have noticed is the lack of gels during rides. I used to suck down one or two a ride when going faster. Since starting this training I haven't used any even on four hour plus rides. So there appears to be anecdotal evidence it is working when combine with a 5lb weight loss.

Training wise, plans have been a little different this week. It's half term so I don't have all day every day free through the week. After the polocini ride on the Sunday Monday's ride was two hours in zone 1 spinning out the stiffness from the hills. the cadence and sticking to zones is improving. Tuesday was my rest day this week to help with child care while Wednesday ended up the longest ride of the week at four and a half hours round Beeston castle, Chester and lots of other very muddy lanes. It is getting tricky out there and Dave, the guy I was riding with came off his bike after hitting a patch of mud while going through some gates. Luckily I didn't have to leave him to stick to my plan as he was straight up with no real damage.

Thursday was a one hour ride in zone one. For the fun of it I took the TT bike out to get some practise in riding the bars, getting used to the trickier cornering and anticipating braking. It wasn't the best idea. I'm not used to TT bikes and this left it trickier to maintain zones and heart rates particularly with the harder gears. I described it as being similar to whipping a race horse to a trot. It just didn't want to go slowly. So I'm waiting for comments from the coach on that one.

Friday was just over two hours of riding in warm weather and sunshine. Great fun, while Saturday was just over an hour on the tacx late in the evening. This led to a later start on Sunday to make sure I recovered. The difference between today and Friday was palpable. It was cold, wet and very windy. I had a four hour ride in the planner but hoped to do five. Between the late start, a puncture early on, the wind cold and rain, not to mention the clock's going back I fell five minutes short of the four hours. I only had a rear light on and made it home five minutes after lighting up time. I actually noticed the Garmin screen darkens at lighting up time. So despite the cold I still managed to hit the higher speed for the rides target zones.

The week's mileage was up 17 on last week at 220miles keeping up the increase that has been happening since I started. The only other news is I have been researching time trial helmets this week and have ordered one  though I'm not sure if I will wear it yet. More on that next week. This week I'm going to look at the research on wheels. Finally it's only about six weeks until the slice arrives.....which means only eight weeks to Christmas, time to pick your cycling kit for gifts from friends and family etc.

Polocini do it again...

Anyone who has ever completed a Polocini sportive will know they are famous for (at least) four things. High levels of organisation, the best food in the business (today's chef was a master chef finalist), fair prices, and guaranteed bad weather.

As you can see from the picture something went wrong (I'm in the middle at the top). I set off at seven in the morning in thick fog and 4oC. As I turned into Rivington I noticed a convoy of cars behind with bikes and the sun appearing in front. Breakfast was coffee and porridge with fruit and 40 minutes catching up with friends.

I chose to take my winter bike assuming the weather would be awful but to be fair there is little difference between the bikes and I wanted to test this one...

 

 

 



I stripped down at the start to a long sleeve base layer and short sleeve top and was just right for the entire ride. I had elected to ride the 44 mile route to fit with my training though at the split I was tempted to ride on and do the 75. This was a hard ride 3602 feet of climbing over 44 miles with 6% climbs feeling like a downhill sprint after the 17 to 20% climbs. The route went from Rivington around the Blackburn to Bolton area. At one point I could see Jubilee Tower slightly above me. For those that don't know this is named as one of the hardest climbs in the UK. It was a stunning ride with open spaces, idyllic villages and lanes that had changed little in hundreds of years. A slight problem was the slippy roads and the amount of leaves making the downhill sections tricky not to mention the steep sections seeing me reach for the leavers with three fingers instead of the usual two.  I still managed to hit 42mph down one stretch. Also while freewheeling downhill alongside three others the foil shot ahead leaving the others in my wake. The foil is supposed to be the most aero bike out there so this led to a debate for several miles on 'was it the bikes engineering or my weight that gave the extra speed'. the other strange thing about the ride...history lesson coming...is it went through the birth place of Lord Leverhulme. He had one of the countries first safari parks at the top of a hill and a large home until a suffragette burnt it down. Many of the roads and buildings have the same or similar names to those in Port Sunlight and Thornton Hough, both on my local routes.

The one stop at twenty one miles was indulged in if only for a piece of cake. In reality I wasn't feeling all that well and was glad of a ten minute stop. Within 200metres of leaving the cake stop it was another long steep climb that nearly saw the return of the cake. The ride continued to mostly climb draining the legs and playing with the mind. Then cresting a hill in the moors a very long descent opened up before me. The last four miles were a well deserved downhill to the finish for a hot meal, coffee and coke .... It was over and despite not feeling 100% it was a superb and at the same time bastard of a  ride....

It's worth mentioning this was all run for a children's charity with polcini giving every penny (except fuel for volunteers) to the fund. Not all charities do this. they are an exceptional bunch, organising a number of sportives, tours around Europe and are soon to open a cycling cafe not to mention being best mates with Phillipe Gilbert. They are worth a google. And having thought about it, their reputation is intact, this was a charity ride, their own are yet to have a perfect day like today...
All that's left is to post some images I snapped of the route.... See you there next year?

 

 

Chalk another week up

No I wasn't involved in this er mistake, i just love the picture and would like to demonstrate, time trialling ain't for wimps. That aside it's been, overall another great week. I'm enjoying the cycling and I'm still having no problem getting out on the bike. the training has increased slightly though Monday remains a rest day. Tuesday increased by thirty minutes, typically it was heavy rain and blowing force 5-6. I managed 75 minutes of sheer terror before, after heading towards the coast, discretion got the better of me and I headed home finishing off with 45 minutes on the tacx trainer.

Wednesday was the same three hour zone 1 &2 ride while Thursday was my first trip out on the new Scott foil for a one hour gentle spin. It ended up a bit longer but the foil felt fantastic. Solid when cornering, no give when climbing and very easy into the wind.

Friday provided an Indian summer and my two hour ride ended up as three and a half, going into Wales, Chester and enjoying a coffee stop at Eureka. I rode with three others spending the majority of time up front to control my heart rate but still enjoyed the social side of the ride.

Saturday was a session on the turbo and I think I had problems at the start and over cooked the session. Sunday was a 42 mile very hilly polocini ride (more on the next blog). This was the first time I struggled. I promised the coach I would stay in the required zones but the first hills made a liar of me and overall I spent 43 minutes in zone 1 and 2 while zones 3-5 took 2 hours 42. Not looking forward to the feedback. That said my view is this time of year is about steady miles and some fun and the ride gave me that.

Just because you are on your own...

Doesn't mean it's easy

They don’t call time trialing, “The Race of Truth” for nothing,it is just you on your own out there (unless you do a team time trial). Lots of things can go wrong, poor preparation, setting out too fast, cornering too fast or equipment failures can lead to disaster.....

Time trialing, like climbing and sprinting is one of those things that riders assume you are either good or bad at. Either you’ve put in the training to succeed or you don’t have a chance in hell though you can still elect to cruise around and enjoy it. While aerodynamic TT-specific equipment will substantially improve your performance (proper equipment I'm told, can save you up to 5 minutes over the course of a 40km race, or at least the 58 s LeMond gained back on Fignon in 1989[good news for me]), it still often comes down to the strongest rider taking the day.

The tips below won’t guarantee a win, but when mere seconds might separate you from a personal best, you’ll want to make sure you do everything right to get the best result possible. In the tips listed below I’ve attempted to compile every piece of time trialing advice I’ve picked up trawling around the WWW, speaking to others or from what I remember from my attempts years ago.

1) Practise your starts. Have someone hold you and practise doing held starts at least a dozen times before race day. They should stand behind you and hold underneath your saddle. When done properly, the holder will not push you off. They just let go.

2) Riders are generally held by a starter and go off in either 30 or 60 intervals. Check and quadruple-check your start time! Believe it or not some high profile riders have been disqualified for missing the start time.

3) For time trials with turnarounds, break at the ABSOLUTE LAST SECOND. Instead of taking the shortest line through the turn, ride straight up the right side of the road, hit the breaks, turn sharply to the left. Circle around the turnaround and get back up to speed as fast as possible.

4) Practise turnarounds during a hard interval effort to most closely approximate race conditions. Practise it somewhere safe so if you overestimate your speed, you won’t go down. it will also get you used to the trickier bike if you have a time trial bike and its limited turning capability.

5) Pre-ride the course if possible. Do it at the same time of day as your race to get a gauge on the  wind strength , temperature and any other potential factors but don't over do it.

6) Tune your bike up before the race. Clean and lube the chain and check the shifting to make sure it is smooth.it seems to me that TT bikes are more unreliable than normal road bikes. Make sure to check your race wheels as well, especially for any cuts to the tire. When you actually put the race wheel on the bike, make sure the rear wheel is secure and not going to shift and go against your chainstays.

7) Unless it is a very mountainous time trial, ride a straight block on your time trial wheel for the biggest possible gear selections.

8) Keep a bottle of energy/hydration mix with you from the moment you wake up through to the start. Hydration is essential to peak performance.

9) Eat your last big meal about 3 hrs before your event. This will vary from rider to rider so experiment with this in practise. The longer the event, the closer to the start you will be able to eat. If you are hungry after this pick at high energy foods or fruit

10) NEVER ride new equipment, wear new clothes or try out a new drink or food on race day.

11) The smoother the road, the higher the tire pressure you can run. Tubulars can be inflated to 180 lbs, but on a rough road, that means your tires will be bouncing around a lot. When your rear tire is not on the ground, you can’t propel the bike. 120 is a safe call for most tires and roads.

12) Caffeine is legal and performance enhancing. However, if you drink it every day, the effects will be minimised. Some people (not me) stop drinking coffee until just before a race.

13) When you get to the race, check the official race clock and synchronise your watch with it. Check to see if they are on schedule. Best thing of all is to have a countdown timer on your watch that you synchronise with the official race clock. Set it for the time gap between the start of the clock and your start time.

14) Get a really good warm up. The shorter the event, the longer the warm up. More on this soon...

15) Give yourself a full hour on the bike to warm up. This does not include bathroom breaks (of which there should be several if you are properly hydrated), snack breaks and time to pump up tires and put on your race wheels. This should be done early and before the warm up to avoid nerves

16) Wear knee warmers or Skins during warm up unless it is extremely hot. This provides compression causing increased blood flow and gets your muscles warmer faster.

17) Stationary trainers are best for warm ups. Don’t use your expensive tubular tire on the trainer. Bring a spare wheel.

20) Have someone at the start line to take your jacket and knee warmers or park very close to the line.

21) Generally you should start with your chain in the big ring and an easy cog in the back. However, in practise, make sure the chain angle is not too severe.

22) Start your timer exactly 1 minute before you start to avoid last minute fussing.

23) Start with your hands in the drops or on the ends of your cow horn bars and your front leg in the 10:00 position.

24) With 1 second to go before your start, squeeze the brakes and come out of the saddle. Remember to breathe.

25) Get up to speed very quickly but do not go above your time trial pace. Aim for negative splits meaning you speed up very slightly, rather than slow down over the course of the race. In a perfectly paced ride, you will be completely spent when you cross the line.

26) Unless you have a power meter, pace yourself on perceived exertion. Heart rate can take up to 10 minutes to adjust to your effort. Keep in mind that due to the adrenaline of race day, you will be able to ride at a higher heart rate than in training.

27) Keep in mind that due to the adrenaline of race day, you will be able to ride at a higher power level than in training.

28) On rollers, you may recover a bit on the down hills and work a little harder on the up hills. It is most efficient to keep your speed consistent. Before a short hill, shift into a harder gear and power over the climb out of the saddle. The bigger gear and the low cadence will prevent your heart rate from rising too much. Shift as you come over the crest to keep your cadence from increasing on the flat or downhill, which would cause your heart rate to go up.

29) Optimum cadence for a time trial is generally 90 to 105, but you must practise this. Leg speed is the key to cycling and it is easy to train. If you can pedal smoothly at 120 rpm in training, you will be extremely efficient at 105 rpm in the race. To train this, do one interval a week building from 10 minutes to an hour with very little resistance at 115 to 130 rpm.

30) Keep your head up! Not only is it safer, but it is actually more aerodynamic. There’s no “point” in having the rear of your aero helmet sticking up high in the air!

31) Take the shortest line possible. On a closed course, don’t stick to the right side of the road when it curves to the left. Cut through the inside and save precious seconds.

32) You generally won’t need water in an event shorter than an hour, but carry a water bottle anyway. It’s more aerodynamic.

33) Count your pedal strokes or breaths to distract from the pain. If you notice you are breathing only on the right pedal stroke, alternate it to the left from time to time.

35) Drafting is not allowed. If you catch up to a competitor, the overtaken rider is required to fall back to a specified distance (usually about 50 meters) behind the other or maintain wide horizontal separation so that he receives no aerodynamic shelter or help from the other. When passing a rider, make sure you do it authoritatively and don’t get caught for drafting yourself.

36) Start your recovery the moment you cross the line. Replace your race wheels and then hop back onto the trainer for a specific cooldown to enhance the recovery process.

end of week two.....

Well, that was the end of week two. A similar week to week one including some rainy days, some very windy days, and one or two sunny but cold ones. I still did a 200 mile week finishing today with a ride just short of 70 miles. So how is it going? Well I moped around on Monday, my rest day, it was then a mix of 90 minute ride, 3 hour ride, 90 minute ride, one hour ride, turbo session and today's 41/2 hour ride.
So what was different, on Wednesday I went for a ride with someone else for the three hour session. It was good to spin around with someone else but I needed to concentrate on my zones to avoid slipping into the wrong effort. I still had no problems motivating myself to go out in the wind and rain to complete the days session. Friday was a great run to the Eureka cafe and the tacx trainer is repaired and kept me in Saturdays required zones.
Sunday's long ride was a bit different, I rode out to Eureka with Ade and his daughter at a nice easy pace, cycling as it was originally intended enjoying the company and the Cheshire Lanes. At Eureka I bumped into Chris White and his team sporting their new bioracer kit. it looks terrific and its well worth a google to see what he is up to. I had a few offers of company next week which I will take up before heading off on my own. I remained disciplined all the way to Queensferry when I spotted Liverpool Century chain ganging down the road ahead of me. Rather stupidly I decided to chase them down and pushed my HR up to 175 before i caught them and rode back to Eureka for a couple of miles. I can feel it in my legs tonight and if it wasn't a rest day tomorrow i could of ruined the training for a few days so not clever.

Other than that, the frame up top is a replacement for my winter bike a scott CR1 I bought for its easier sportive geometry, As someone who always rides race specs it hasn't been that comfortable so Cheshire Oaks cycles have done a great job providing me (not free but great price) with a scott foil HMX 2013 frame and are in the process of stripping the gear of the old one. More next week.

So that is it for now, perhaps some kit thoughts in the week ....

I'm still doing it.....

I haven't stopped the training or got bored with it. The fact is at this time the training is quite repetitive. This week is almost identical to last week. Zone one and two, medium rides followed by a short, and easy spin then the next day a long one. I am still recovering well and looking forward to the rides. One thing I have noticed is that riding so much and swapping according to the weather between my orbea and my scott CR1 is not ideal. I am noticing niggling muscle pains and numbness. I bought the CR1 as its geometry is more relaxed with the intention of easing my position through the winter. A good plan but it doesn't work. I have always ridden race geometries and my body expects it so..... Cheshire oaks have very kindly helped me source a Scott Foil 10 frame and will be transferring the gear from the CR1 onto this new machine. More on that next week when it arrives.  So anyway  my plan is to write about the week at the end of each week. Suffice to say I have been out every day, sun, rain and wind, on days I would of retreated into the house again in the past. So at the end of each week I will publish the data and in between articles on the equipment, training methodology and so on.

Every Penny Counts......

In many sports spending money can bring comfort but not necessarily competitive advantage. In cycling spending money can result in high-speed for less effort. How much money though? The Kask helmet above, as used by the sky team, is available in very limited supply and sizes now and hopefully more readily in early 2013 at about £300. 

So is it worth it? A big part of the thrill of cycling is speed, either flying down a winding hill, challenging yourself on a hill. All we want to do is go faster, when taking part in a sportive, out on a club run or riding with mates. The next stage is, of course the time trial, in my opinion the new British national sport. We do hold more events than anyone else as a consequence of road races being banned many years ago the Brits metaphorically stuck a finger up to the establishment and created covert time trialling. 

So the question is with huge advances in high-technology in recent years how much time can various accessories really save you? What are the key pieces of equipment that will make you go faster and how much time will they save you? 

Helmets

Not necessarily the one above, teardrop shaped aero helmets may look a bit daft but they do make you go faster than a normal one, despite usually being heavier. The key is optimising the airflow around your head and back making it as smooth as possible. The closer you look to an aeroplane wing the better.

Cost £100 to £400

Saving 0.5-1 second per mile

Skin Suits

Clothing is underrated as far as improving your speed is concerned. If you are serious about wanting to go faster then investing in a good quality well fitting one-piece skin suit should be top priority. Your body surface area and shape is the biggest thing slowing down after all.

Cost £90-£300

Saving 0.5-1 second per mile. 

Bars

Time trial handlebars come with extensions that enable you to move your forearms so they're in a much narrower position than  they are on the drops. What this does is effectively reduce your frontal area (As it heads into the wind) as well as improving the airflow around your upper body.

Cost £100-£600

Savings 2-3 seconds per mile

Tyres

Fast tyres are fast mostly because they have low rolling resistance which is one of the forces that slows you down on a bike. The best time trial tyres are also lightweight and narrow, as you would expect, although some modern TT wheels have been designed to work with wider tyres? Don't forget the faster tyres often wear out much quicker than cheaper tyres.

Cost £30 -£75 each

Saving 1-2 seconds per mile

Wheels

 

Aero wheels are characterised by low spoke counts and deep, tapering rim profiles, which are a better shape than rectangles for reducing drag. v-shaped rims are the most common-and the cheapest, but they are not as aero and don't handle as well as a more rounded shape.

Cost "£800 - £3000

Saving 0.5-1 second per mile.

 

So as you have read there is a possibility of saving significant time by upgrading your equipment and I still haven't mentioned gloves and overshoes.

Of course the most important saving is the bike itself (apart from your own fitness, profile and weight), I think that deserves a post on its own though. I will be going over all of the equipment as my training progresses and I try out the different equipment for myself....

End of Week One

To be clear, the picture isn't me, not even close but its pretty cool. There was no blog yesterday as time failed me and cleaning a dirty bike ready for the next ride felt a bit more important. yesterday was a four hour ride, the longest so far in this regime. Again it was 15 mins zone 1, 3 1/2 hrs in zone 2 and a 15 min zone 1 cool down. I was allowed into zone three for the hills if I had to. Despite the amount of climbing I chose to ride through Willaston, Ellesmere Port, Chester and through to Dellamere Forrest, coming back through Christleton, Chester, Wrexham a quick  halt at Eureka and home. Overall I did reasonably well. I hit 160bpm a couple of times on the 12% climbs but would defy anyone not to. My HR stayed in Z1 for an hour not thirty minutes but that may be down to tailwinds, long descents and a spell along a dirt track courtesy of the garmin. And, I must confess the odd play at speed particularly after a 12% decent. I also got my times wrong. I hit Eureka with 20 mins of the ride to go and 40 mins to go home. As it was supposed to be a team ride and ended up a solo one I felt I deserved some coffee. Rather than spend the full 40 mins in zone 1 I continued at a higher rate until 15 mins then dropped the speed down a bit though it was difficult going mostly uphill. Overall I managed about 68 miles at 15.9mph average. I also felt very good after the ride and the next day. In fact I haven't felt sore tired, or wanted to avoid the bike all week.

Today, due to child care arrangements I was due to hit the turbo, annoying on a sunny day but with the best excuse possible. The plan was a 15 minute warm up, then 3 lots of 2mins z2 and 2mins z1 finishing with a 15min z1 cool down. It should of been OK but having fitted a new tyre I had problems with the tacx, the speed was between 0 and 6mph for a cadence of 90-120 and a HR in excess of 130. so I need to sort out the technical difficulties for next time.

Overall a good week without any pain and interestingly some of the best sleep for a long time. Not sure I will blog every day next week I may go for a summary, depends how I feel.....

Zone 1 torment

Today's ride was supposed to be an easy one hour zone 1 ride. In other words keeping my heart rate below 118bpm. I decided to ride out to eureka for a coffee and (obviously) back which in the end took an hour and 10 minutes. With it being another blustery day the hardest part,again, was keeping my HR down especially on the short steep hills. In the end 14 minutes were spent in zone 2&3 but to be honest I think it's more or less impossible to do otherwise on a day like this. 

The plan was to keep the legs moving ready for a four hour ride tomorrow and sitting here 9 hours later it appears to of worked. I feel fresh and ready to go. I also did a set of stretches for the first time which appear to of loosened up a painful right hip. So overall just over a 20 mile ride at about 16mph with an average HR of 115 which was inside the zone. Lets see what tomorrow brings. ..... 

never start with an apology

In this case though I think I have to...my last blog included my ramblings about the Garmin 800 failing yesterday. I have to say Garmin have quickly got me up and running again. I thought that the device was like a normal car Garmin and detected movement and calculated your speed... which it does. That is until you add a speed/cadence sensor. Once again [I thought] the sensor kicked in if you lost a signal. Apparently not, if the device detects a sensor the speed runs off it regardless. My problem, I had knocked the sensor while cleaning the bike, it still picked up cadence but not speed so just assumed I wasn't moving, as did I while riding in zone one. So a quick adjustment and I am recording again.

So today's ride was the same as Tuesday's. 15 minutes warm up in zone 1, 90 minutes zone 2, and 15 mins cool down zone 1. I opted for the same route, the weather, dry and a bit warmer, rather than the rain of Tuesday but the wind was similar. So at about the half way point I realised was ahead of the last ride and opted to add a loop out towards Cheshire Oaks and back through the lanes towards Eureka, coming back through Burton I was still ahead so dropped back to the marshes the same as last time and climbed the steep hill with my heart ignoring the zone two target. The timer went off about 300 meters from home so only about a 20 second ride (I had a tail wind). I'm still finding it painfully slow in zone one especially on  the cool down, but managed to keep up at the top end of zone two throughout the ride.
End result I rode an extra two miles over the same time on Tuesday....well I'm impressed.

Only other activity today, some research on which wheels to put on the TT bike when it arrives, possibly Mavic Carbone SR's but will keep looking. It's a very easy ride planned for tomorrow. One hour in zone one.... Perhaps Eureka and back with coffee in the middle.

Technically tricky

So today was a three hour ride in zones one and two. Amazingly it was a dry sunny day with the roads only wet in the shade, of course Mother Nature always has something held in reserve. A force four to five wind blowing across the Wirral led to some difficult moments both staying on the bike and in the zones.

Not for the first time my Garmin 800 let me down. I set up the program again -15 minutes zone one, two and a half hours zone two, finishing up with 15 minutes cool down in zone one. As soon as I left the house my Garmin stopped recording speed and distance. Not good on an expensive bit of kit four months old. I tried to fix it with a soft reset but no use. It still worked through the program though using time and heart rate so I pushed on. 

I went out through Neston, willaston, into Chester and Wales before cutting across to the Wirral again. The early part was difficult with a force five tail wind I found it difficult to get out of zone one,   It was a glorious day and one to enjoy on the bike. Once I started heading back in to the Wirral the reverse happened and into the headwind it was spinning gears and very low speeds to stay within the prescribed heart rate. 

I stopped at eureka for coffee and found it packed, the atmosphere was great with a lot of laughter and conversation as people enjoyed the unexpected good weather.

Once again, using small loops and dropping down through Parkgate I managed to get the time exactly at three hours.

Final thought, although it feels strange riding slowly, it feels great, I see a lot more and feel as though I am really enjoying the bike, I'm out when normally I may of stayed in and the miles are coming along. Still early days but good so far......

First go of the training

So first day of the training and its hammering down outside, blowing up-to force four and the roads are very slippy. Two weeks ago I would of come up with an excuse and stayed home or at best hit the turbo. Today I was out there. The plan was for just a gentle ride in zones one and two. Quick explanation, heart rates help training, riding in zone one for a warm up and cool down helps recovery and zone two builds the engine and helps rest up after a years riding hard. It works on a percentage based on resting pulse and maximum heart rate. The resting pulse should be taken first thing before you get out of bed. A 10% increase can indicate over training or an approaching illness. Mine sits between 48/50 bpm. The maximum heart rate is a bit different. You may of heard of 220 minus your age as a maximum HR. that would put me at 171 but I regularly hit 180 and can hold 170 for a while so using that theory could blow my training. You can look back over your training and see what you have hit in the past year or take a ramp test amongst other methods. I haven't done it yet so more on that when I do. So my HR works between 50 and 180 with zone one being 108 to 117 bpm and zone 2 117 to 135. Being someone who averages a HR in the high 140's when trainingI was warned this will feel slow to me but to stick with it, keep the cadence high and drop the gears going up hill. The ride was a 15 minute warm up in zone 1, an hour in zone two pushing to the top end towards the end of it then a 15 minute cool down in zone one. 

I used my Garmin training mode to set the ride the day before, it beeps when your HR is too low or high and changes zones after the prescribed time - so off I went. And yes it felt very slow.... I averaged 15.4 mph which, considering I normally ride close to 19 has me wondering what is going on. I guess I will find out by the end of the week. I finished the ride in 90 minutes and six seconds, I don't know how I managed to get it so right but on the downside punctured within sight of home which didn't even upset me, go figure. Tomorrow is a three hour ride in the same zones so it will be out around Chester. One last point, the bike was stripped, cleaned, new inner tube and oiled straight after the ride, again not like me ready for tomorrow. 

Overall I'm impressed, so far, how using a coach motivates and intrigued on how it will all come together... Early days yet 

Day one

Today, the new training regime begins with a bit of a whimper rather than a bang. Mondays will be my rest days so today will be spent servicing the trinity TT bike, cleaning the winter hack after yesterday's wet ride and giving the giant defy a once over before putting it back on the tacx so still a little bit to do. 

I still don't know exactly what the week holds but should get that later on today..

I finished the old regime with a mostly downhill tacx turbo session on Saturday for fifty minutes averaging 238w and three 700 plus watt sprints looking like this

 

 

Sunday was a toss up between the bike show or a wet ride around the Wirral. Amazingly I opted for the latter. My garmin decided to stop working though and I forgot how to do a reset so the data is limited to Ade's device. It ended up an easy 28 miles at 17.2 mph stopping at eureka half way. While we were there we met a small group about to ride around Holland and Belgium for a charity ride. Impressive for the time of year though I hated to tell them it may not be as flat as they hoped  

Anyway the weekly mileage has been 187 and 9hrs 57m in the saddle. 

So on to the new regime.......