Actual Training

There has been something of a break in the blog which I know is not really the idea but it has been for a very good reason. I have actually been riding the bike on a regular basis which is leaving little time for writing, what with family life and work as well.

Here are my weekly mileages for this year:

As you can see, things are beginning to ramp up quite nicely. This has been down to a couple of useful lessons.

1. Just get on the bike! It is all too easy to wimp out and say "I'll do it tomorrow" or "I'm not really in the mood" but once I get going I tend to enjoy the rides so I have to focus on the outcome and not the preparation.
2. Rollers aren't (too) evil. I'm getting used to riding on them now and I can put in an hour session quite easily. This has been after everybody else has gone to bed so it is a little lonely but I have had The Infinite Monkey Cage to keep me company.
3. Don't get too focussed on training, go out for a ride occasionally just because it is lovely out there.
4. The C2C is a very hilly ride and I had better get my backside up some hills or I am toast

In support of number four, I was looking at the stats from the training so far and I realised that I was doing nowhere near enough hills. As I live in a relatively flat part of the world with only the Chilterns to gain altitude this is going to be a continuing struggle. This chart shows my distance and elevation, with the blue line being the target for the C2C. All of my rides have been too flat.

So, I took the chance over the weekend to try out hill repeats. This is the idea of finding a good length hill and going up and down it multiple times to improve your hill climbing ability and recovery. One of the hills near me is Aston Hill which is a great steady hill. If you look at the Strava segment you can see it is quite long but at a good steady 5% so it is spinning instead of stomping. My four loops were completed in around nine minutes each, which is a little bit long for this type of training but I enjoyed the climbs.

Did this session improve my climbing? Well I'll have to keep trying them and see but I can certainly feel the benefit of hitting four sessions a week. I'm keeping the average around 15mph and the distances are creeping up. Yesterday was hard as I was rushing against the sunset but it sure beats being in a gym when you get views like this.

The windmill at Brill, Oxfordshire at the end of  a bright spring day

Time to Get Going

Let us just take a minute to recap what is going on here. Following a day on a hired bike in the Lake District I somehow agreed to cycle the Coast to Coast in a day event in June 2015. Never having been a road cyclist before (I'm a very casual mountain biker) I set myself a budget of £1000, found a road bike and started getting out there.

Here is a summary of all of my recorded riding in 2015:

I'm not starting this year completely from scratch but it has been a very lazy winter, the only exception being a 33 mile ride at the end of January. Having taken some time out for a family holiday It is now time to get on it.

With an eye on the target of doing the 150 miles of the Coast to Coast in 12 hours I am aiming for an average moving speed of 15mph. Looking at this chart showing Elevation vs Distance vs Duration you can see that I have hit this average a few times but not on anything over 40 miles so there is plenty of work to do.

I'm now in week 4 of the plan and I'm already having to be a bit flexible. With all of the wind in the last few days I skipped a couple of rides so instead of resting today I completed a two hour ride. It was really good to get out again and I am setting a decent pace I reckon. I even managed to reel in a very serious looking rider on Aston Hill, though they were probably on a recovery ride.

I've also had a chance to try out my new (second hand) rollers  The rollers were certainly a challenge to start with but once I got the confidence to let go of the wall I quickly got the hang of it. I can see why they scare people but if you try to keep a solid core and don't faff around they seem to be OK. The worst thing is the tedium, so I'm hoping the weather improves and I don't have to rely on them.

Things I have learned this week

It's been quite an educational cycling week, here are some highlights

1. When experts say you usually need to replace a chain and a rear cassette together they aren't joking. I thought I could get away with just the chain but as soon as I put any serious pressure on the pedals the gears started hopping all over the place. 
2. Local Bike Shops are really handy. I took my mountain bike into the LBS for a new rear cassette and bottom bracket to be fitted and came away with both of those, a re-trued rear wheel, some other minor fixes and a promise to look at the fit on my road bike. Props to Two Wheels Thame, I'm sure I'll be back in again.
3. Mudguards are really handy too. They are a monster faff to fit, look a bit rubbish and can be divisive in online communities but after getting caught in rain and hail today I came back looking mostly clean. I'll remove them as soon as the roads dry out but for now they are staying on.
4. Skipping rides is very easy, especially at this time of year, and takes a real effort to avoid. However, getting out there is very rewarding and the benefits of regular riding are worth it in the end. 
5. Malt Loaf is edible... who knew?!

Right, that's your lot. I'm changing now to a weekly format so you don't get fed up with me but hopefully there should be some interesting learnings as the distances and frequency ramp up.