Day 564\ Back on the wagon....again

Right it has been a while since i wrote anything and that pretty sums up my volume of cycling between January and the middle of March. Since then i've been back on the bike and up to 2hrs 45min after a couple of weeks. This has been interrupted the last 2 weeks by what can only be described as really pish weather. It has highlighted 2 key flaws in my manly lycra collection. 1 is only suitable for hot weather the other for cold however i shall not yeild and my kit collection shall remain relatively basic.

A wagon upon which i am beleived to be on....

I'm still to heavy but am on a push to get back to my pre winter (carbs) weight of 99.5kg and on the plus side banging out 3x3 @ 97.5kg for the clean, 3x4 @90kg for the bench and 3x4 @102.5 for the front squat. Will be of F-all use in 35degrees wit ha 20 degree incline in front of me.

Have entered Lapinarello, the long course seems a bit friendlier than last year and also entered the Granfondo di Marostica at the start of next month!!! Better get out with a group of people and soon.

Day 475\ It's Been a While....

It is fair to it's been a while since i last posted anything but the cold weather has brought about a substantial reduction in cycling activity particularly given how easy it is to go to the gym. But i'm making it out about once a fortnight. This is been assisted by the fact i dropped €240 on cold weather gear before christmas involving a slightly embarrassing faux pas in the Pinarelllo shop in Treviso. The long and short of it is i seem to have circulatory problems to my broken fingers that no pair of gloves will fix and Castelli do some brilliantly warm and comfortable wear.

it's been a while...but this is actually high speed photography

I also picked up a winter Jacket by Sportful which is excellent. The lady in the looked at me like i was off my head when i told her that it wasn't important that the bib was the same brand as the jacket or the clothes didn't match my Bike!!!! Warm, comfortable and reasonably price don't seem to be criterea that Trevisan cyclists use apparently.......


On the cycling front need to start getting out once a week and doing a few intervals in the gym. Also get on top of the weight situation. I lasted about a week at 99.6kg before the change in seasons resulted in cake coffee carb fest. Hey Ho.

Day 407\ Numbers, numbers, numbers....

From below it's easy to see how far ahead i am from last year. In september i did 1022 minutes on the bike, 2475m of dislivello, 381km, 475mins in the gym and no recovery work. Last September i completed 392minutes on the bike, 86km and 152 minutes in the gym.

some more numbers.......

In october this year 614minutes on the bike, 1650m dislivello, 238km and 430 minutes in the Gym. Last year 575mins, 184km, 220 mins in the gym, 13min recovery, 140 other activity. Again AHEAD OF THE GAME.

Day 401/New stuff is obviously the answer...

Right on the weight front i made it down to 99.6kg. The cold weather and a large volume of cakes and carbohydrates, they are separate food groups, later and i'm back to 101.6kg. So need a couple of weeks of vegaramma.

Work in the gym is cranking along being back to what i would consider no longer totally embarrassing, 3x4 @ 90kg power clean, 3x6 @ 90kg front squat, 3x4 @ 150kg deadlift. So after a couple of months i'm probably only now at a decent starting point. Also my O/H squat has improved alot managing 3x6 @ 45kg so if i keep going i might be able to stick on a couple 20's by the spring.

the answer to my climbing....or just lose some terry

Went out on monday for the first time in a couple of weeks due to bad weather and felt like i'd never cycled before. Part of that was the pause the other the gym work. I had a crack at Pirio a couple of weeks ago and didn't quite manage it but wasn't too far from the break where the climb eases off.

My goal is to do Monte Madonna, Pirio and Rocolon in one cycle of about 3hrs, it's only 60km but it's about 1200m of climbing. I did pirio with one stop then Rocolon up the back road got to Via Monte Madonna and turned round because i could feel my legs were empty. Breakfast and some carbs the day before could of helped but probably not enough.

Also stopped the fat burners and am going to try and get in a couple of threshold runs @ 100rpm, did 2x20mins with 10min break and felt pretty good although 5 min from the head HR was starting to creep up.

Next summers wheels have been chosen the Pro-Lite Bracciano. €300 1482g hopefully they will help me sail up the hills. Would quite like to offload my polar cs200 which is doing my dome in and splash out on a Garmin 500 but we will see. Still best advice is to loose weight and lift more.

Day 387\ Bad weather .....

It's been a pretty constructive month all round and obviously when i compare it to this time last year i'm well ahead of the game.

vineyards in the autumn

will get round to publishing some numbers. But on a nice day it is beautiful out cycling with the vinyards changing colour and the farmers out working the land before the winter hits.

As a total fairweather cyclist it's not looking good for getting out so we'll just have to wait and see, do what i can get done. When i can get out will probably take the opportunity to go long and keep it in my legs.

Day 358\ Back to the numbers...

Here are my totals and averages for the last training year....

Weekly Averages By Month

Monthly Totals

Day 355\ back in the game....and the challenge of via pirio

Haven't written anything for a while but july in essence till about the 22nd of August i did very little kept ticking over on the bike but nothing particularly long or intense. Since the 22 of my main objective has been weight loss. I've been eating loads of salad and cold cuts and almost eliminated all carbs, in general i've managed about 5 days each week like this. The good news is that after about 2 weeks of nothing i'm now on the brink of getting under 100kg for the first time since 1996!!!!

last time i was less than 100kg donovan bailey was the 'cock of town'

This has been assisted by my return to the gym. I really missed the core and back work i had been doing when i wasn't able to get to the gym. I now have better access to facilities and will not only be able to do  the pre-hab and core work i want but also just work at getting strong again.

Goals

Current Weight 100.2kg Goal 97kg

Gym Goals
Front Squat 120kg
Deadlift      180kg
Pull Ups       20
Chins            12
DB Bench      55 ea


All things being equal strength is the difference plus if you consider last year i was 103.5kg when i did Lapinarello if i can get to 97 or a bit less plus maybe change the wheels on the bike that'll make a massive difference. I'm already miles ahead of where i was this time last year.

THE CHALLENGE OF VIA PIRIO
When i did Lapinarello i did feel a touch disappointed that i didn't do the long course because i felt so good. However this was dispelled when i had to get off my bike and take a break during a climb up Via Pirio. This is a climb of about 250 and about 20% climbing much shorter and less than the Salta Di Capra. Goal is to do it on my longer run before the bad weather sets in.

Training at the moment, is 2 sessions in the gym of about 40mins, 2 fat burners of about 1hr 20mins and a longer cycle of about 2hrs with some hills.