Day 200 \ The bike is here....

Right the bike is here, after 200 days of thinking and talking about this challenge looking at bikes blah blah, the blue mobile is in the house. I think it is fair to say it is a step forward from the steed that i have been using up to this point. I watched the bike being put together at the Berma workshop which was really quite enjoyable seeing what i had ordered several weeks ago taking shape.

from this to...

this in only a couple of hours...

So now i have about 118 days get my arse in gear..........

Day 192 \ Entry is in.....and some other numbers....

Right today the entry went in all €16.50 of it. Also i lost a weeks training on the new bike as it's going to arrive at the end of the month. This whole charade is becoming increasingly more real. I have also printed off an entry for the Granfondo Colli Euganei so i fully intend to enter this my local Granfondo at the end of May. I'll aim to do the shorter ride of 104km and 1200m climbing as part of my increase in training volume but also give me experience of what riding amongst a big group will be like and also start working on my nutritional strategy, i will then decide whether or not to do the Granfondo Eddy Merx in Belluno.

this is a data entry clerk apparently, nothing to do with entering a race

What is also making this charade i mean challenge more real are the costs........having just spent money on my entry fee this morning. As such they look like this

Set of bike lights                                          €24

Cheep pair of shorts                                     €22

Tyre Pump                                                     €8

Biomechanical Assesment & Metabolic Tests €200

Bike                                                               €1100

Pedals                                                           €140

Lapinarello Entry Fee                                    €16.50

Accomodation 3nights Treviso                       €150

This is not a cheep challenge. And i haven't looked at some proper shorts and riding gear, shoes, water bottles, spares, crash helmet, if i do Belluno the associated costs for that. This is not a cheep challenge.

Day 182\ BIG STEP FORWARD......

This week saw probably the biggest step forward, in that i did at last order a bike. Yip i did it. I had been told that a friend of a friend could do whatever i wanted for the same price as an off the peg bike. In typical italian fashion this turned out not to be the case. The friends friend is a third generation bike builder, the company was founded by his grandad in 1930 in Padova round the corner from our flat, and is called BERMA.

I was after a hand made steel frame so it fitted perfectly and also its comfort. However it transpires it is more expensive to have a steel frame made than aluminum or carbon fiber because there is little market for it over here. The next thing is to get bits that look exactly how you want is really difficult. i was wanting retro chrome accessories and brown saddle etc but now everything is black or white unless you spend a fortune. Plus the frame isn't made to fit, the bike is, so it's a stock frame with components adjusted to fit. the good side of that is unlike an off the peg bike i won't have to change anything and if i do it's included in the price. But maybe the best bit is the groupset is all Campagnolo Veloce. The reason this is good apparently is that off the peg bikes such as Bianchi and Specialized swap the cogs and chains and other not so visible parts to save money but it also affects efficiency and reliability.

So in summary it's sky blue with with some black wheels and a white saddle.

this is a big foot rather than big step.....

Another cracking week on the training front. First session in the 8's on intensity and even managed to shave of a few minutes on my long run to Teolo however a bit low overall on the intensity as the TRX sessions have been a bit pants but hey ho can re focus on those next week plus the weight loss has been a bit rubbish but now that Fritelle season is over i can concentrate more fully.

Day 176\ All good...

Right all good again last week. I've got into the rythm of doing an hour on the bike mondays plus cylcling to and from training tuesday and thursday with 4 and 6min intervals while at the club then the big ride at the weekend.

Last thursday i dropped the cycling and did a cracking session with the skipping rope, because a, i  enjoy it, b its very good for you and c, you can get some great intensity when you combine it with some bodyweight exercises.

skipping..back in the days of the old school yard

here's basically what i did

1min skipping, mixed steps supersetted with OH squats and core exercises x5

(15s 2 feet flat out (45+ contacts), 10 press ups, 3x ea sgl leg squats, 20 abs) x 8 non stop

that worked out of 29mins of top work and a max heart rate of 176bpm. I'm going to keep this work in the programme and progress it for the next 6 weeks.