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 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 293\ Lapinarello done....not quite

Right well yesterday i did 'Lapinarello' after 292 days of thinking about it.....well not quite. I did the medium course of 132km and 1350m of climbing, missing the mighty 'Monte Grappa' and another 72km. Therefore the challenge is still on 364 days to go till 'Lapinarello'....

Waiting in the streets of Treviso with 3208 other punters, il sogno di stefan, i was doing it for the kids, and the feeding station in Valdobiaddene.

As a challenge i have to say it was teh first i really enjoyed. The weather was perfect and i felt good. I'd learnt my lessons from the granfondo colli euganei and eat better in the days leading up to the race. Rather than trying to 'Carbo Load' i just basically had a cake at breakfast and a small bowl of pasta with lunch from about 4 days out so i wasn't altering to greatly my normal eating. Added to this i eat more moderately the morning of and the night before. My eating and drinking during was much better also. Consciously drinking every 15-20mins and eating from about 20mins in. The Bikefood bars really were worth the trouble.

The 2 week taper also went well. My last big cycle was 14 days before and 6 cycles all flat, minimal climbing. And the day before did 2x30mins flat with cake and coffee in the middle. I would change it only by including some hills on the 1st taper week and some short intense sprints in the second week, just to open the lungs up.

The trip did give a taste of what it's like to be in the peleton for about 30mins at least, with lots of support vehicles and graffiti on the road. On the down side it didn't have that, 'look inside an see what your made of' factor. Which is why i need to do the Monte Grappa next year.....

Day 267\ Couple of good Granfondo articles.....

Riding a granfondo

http://www.biciveneto.it/ridingagranfondo.html

and more specifically the 'Salto della Capra'

Monte Grappa

http://italiancyclingjournal.blogspot.com/2010/03/climbing-jump-of-goat.html

Day 262\ My 1st Granfondo

Right sunday i did it, my first Granfondo, well almost. I had decided to make a call on whether to do the medium course or the long course depending how i felt. I was pretty determined to do the full 144km and 1800m climbing. However the day provided a far greater service than just rattling up km's as it was fairly disastrous but a good learning experience.

What 800 cyclists look like...

Arrived late therefore no warmup. Ate too much and when combined with some anxiety the call of nature was more frequent than anticipated. Heart rate was elevate before the start and then went straight into a 4km climb and never settled for the duration.

Would of happily gone home at 20km just felt terrible and i'm pretty sure part of this was nutritional. Need to be more precise in timing and volume of carbs in the 3 days leading into the event and then during consuming fluids and food in particular more regularly. I reeached the first feeding station and my sides were aching like when i used to go out and do 2hrs without any food. However some bananas and a load of water later i did pick up. Filling my water bottle up with sugary peach tea also helped.

In summary lots to work on. Need to factor in trying to do a long run with race prep prior to Lapinarello.

Day 212\ Fitness testing......and alot more numbers....

Right at last yesterday i did my fitness test, or test metaboloci as they are called here. It was what is know as a Conconi or 'Ramp Test'. Cononi interestingly used to live down the road in Ferrara and was a key protaginist in the use of performance enhancing substances in sport, nice work......

spinning the pedals at 200W

The results were as follows:

max hr: 171 bpm; max power 484W; VO2max 40.7 ml/min/kg

aerobic/anaerobic threshold 143bpm, pwer at threshold 283W

peak VO2max 41.8 ml/min/kg; max power 525W

2min recovery 123bpm

specific max power 4.79W/kg

specific aerobic threshold 2.8W/kg

Training Status Index

An Threshold/Max Hr 83.6% expected 92-94.5%

Max HR/Theoretical Max 94% expected 95-100%

An threshold VO2/VO2max 87.8% expected 86.5-88%

And all this will be discussed later

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.

Day 114\ A new start and some top advice.....

A new year and a 'New Start'. My last post i wrote about really getting bugger all done and that theme has continued over Christmas and new year. I managed one running session and one TRX session however, flight cancellations a further bought of illness or two, a diagnosis of mild Bird Flu later and i'm back home raring to go. Yesterday i got back on the bike and in glorious sunshine did 21km in an hour and felt great afterwards. However it did serve to reinforce a number of key points,

1. The need for appropriate kit
2. The need for a bike that fits and doesn't crush any important nerves!!!! 

Pop 'New Start' into google images and this is the result

While in London i managed to go and see my friend Scherrit aka 'The Bike Whisper' so he could have a look at me on a bike, as we are similar sizes it was his bike. I don't want to knock 'the steed' but this thing was like sitting in a bubble bath by comparison. The long and short of it was as follows'

• Sportive Bike (more comfy than out and out racer)
• Baby front cog (a sportive bike should have but compulsory for a bigger rider)
• Effective top top length of 575mm

Based on my desire to be comfortable on this ride and during the training hand built in steel could well be the winning specification. Also on the kit front were speedplay pedals. These are generally rated as the best around and are as you'd expect more expensive but i think they are worth it and i'll explain why.

From previous sporting experience injuries have occurred from contact, accidents or fatigue. Injuries in cycling also occur from fatigue but more as a result of repetitive strain type injury. Think about it, you aren't performing large, multidirectional open chain movements but a small closed chain movement. But you are performing it hundreds of thousands if not millions of times, so if you have a series of small errors in your setup or restriction on how your body wants to move naturally then you likely won't be able to feel it but after several months and a couple hundred thousand cycles it could potentially spoil your training and competitions, cycling really is all about 'the aggregation of marginal gains'. So for my money hand made frame with speedplays.

Other Tips

• Top quality shorts (makes sense really)
• Splodge of cream between the legs before longer cycles
• Longer cycles to be performed at 80rpm (including hills) and below aerobic threshold approx = 180-age +5
• Come out of sadle for 20-30 seconds every 12 to 15 mins to give your bits a rest
• Don't let your knees drop out to the side at the top of each stroke