Early 80 miler

Jan 192012
 

I took advantage of a family trip and the reported mild weather to get an early season long ride in.

Going from Edinburgh to Ayr gave a good 80 mile ride along some reasonably quiet roads.

The forecast was for 6 degrees and sunny but that didn’t materialise at all.  The sun never broke through at all and it remained closer to zero all day.

Due to the weather at about half way through my attitude had to change, this was no longer a fun ride but had turned into a training ride.

After going through parts of central Scotland I had never seen before and some others where I wouldn’t want to risk going out on my own after dark I arrived in Ayr.

it wasn’t the ride I had been expecting but it was satisfying to get a big mileage in during January.

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Cavendish dope test

Jan 062012
 

I guess CAV is now paying the price for his success.  One missed test and the press are all over him.

I don’t think anyone should get away with doping but this should not even be getting reported.

Once he has missed 3 then go after him until then do nothing.

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Col de Peyresourde…in the garage

Jan 032012
 

Seeing the gale force winds this morning I headed for the turbo again.  With my new Tacx I decided to go for a ride in the Pyranees!

An hour later I had made it to the summit of the Col de Peyresourde.  The good thing about training this way is the mental requirement to make the summit is exactly the same as doing a real mountain climb.

It isn’t easy but the time on the turbo passes faster which has to be a good thing.

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Happy New Year

Jan 012012
 

Cycling and swimming in the Forth was a wake up into 2012.

At midnight it all seemed a great idea so we met at 10.30 to cycle from Edinburgh to Aberdour.  With the smell of whiskey sweat in the air we headed over the Forth bridge and saw the crowds gathered to watch the Loony Dook.

After a great run along the coast into Aberdour it was time to swim.  We met up with family and friends on the beach and ran on in.

The hangover was definitely gone

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My new Tacx upgrade

Dec 292011
 

For Christmas I got given the upgraded head unit to turn my old Tacx Excel into a full computer set up.

I did have some concerns with setting up the software as I had read some horror stories on the web about people struggling to get it to work.  As it was I had no problems.  I did all the upgrades and everything has worked perfectly.

So what is so good about it?

There are various training modes but the most interesting to alleviate the boredom of being on the trainer is Real Live Videos and Real Live Training. 

In the RLV you cycle along a course and the video speeds up and slows down to the speed you are pedalling at.  The computer controls the brake on the trainer as well so the resistance goes harder for uphill and easier for downhill.  The video routes are typically famous cycling routes so as an example you can be in the Alps whilst still in your house.

In the RLT option you can take a route from google earth or one of your own rides if you have the gps route and then ride it again.  The computer then displays your route as you cycle in google earth again matching the speed to your pedalling.

Next up will be to try some multiplayer racing!

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Fixed in the wind

Dec 072011
 

Having been on holiday this week with ambitions of a great training week it all came apart when the wife handed me my ToDo list.

As it is the off season as such it seems prudent to allocate time to the jobs that have been ignored all summer.

By this morning I had to get out and with a masochistic need to make up for lost time decided that riding fixed into the wind should sort me out.

I went and did the 45km linlithgow loop, into the wind out and behind on the way back.

With a crisp 2oC temperature it was a great ride.  I slogged my way out enjoying the simplicity of riding fixed into the wind.  No gears to muck about with so just grind it out and do the work.  It makes it sound miserable but the fixed just puts a smile on your face, forget about the bike and enjoy the ride.

The way back seemed so easy in comparison I could sit in my steady state heart rate and make it an all round great session.

Can’t wait until next time.

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I’m faster than Cavendish!

Nov 282011
 

I went on a base ride down the East Lothian coast route yesterday.  It should have been fairly simple, stay in zone 1 for a few hours and job done.

The weather forecast from the night before said massive storms which would be gone by morning.

As I headed south all seemed good, in fact too good.  I was on my own and going along at well over 40 km/hr.  I could beat Cav on this form!

Unfortunately once I turned around I couldn’t have beaten Cav’s granny.  The wind was unbelievable.  I was into the small ring and being battered.  So much for the weather forecast.

It turned into one of those miserable rides when you start dreaming of Spring already (and it’s not even into winter yet).  It wasn’t really that difficult in a small gear keeping the HR down out was just returnees relentless and noisy.

The mild weather has definitely disappeared

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Etape Entry opens

Nov 172011
 

Well the online entry for the Etape started today and I am not involved which feels very strange.  Looking forward to the Maratonna though

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Cross Training

Oct 312011
 

I have started running again over the last few weeks.  I have always avoided it due to bad knees but have started building up very gently using Adidas MiCoach on my phone.

I ran 6k on Saturday and then did a 45k bike on Sunday.  Normally that would be a simple bike ride but my legs were aching

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David Millar – Racing through the Dark

Oct 212011
 

Being Scottish I always wanted to support David Millar when watching races.  I  tried to but something always nagged at the back of my mind -  he doped and cheated and shouldn’t be here.

I know he has repented and come clean (sic) but in my mind it was still wrong.  We even got to meet him before the start of the Tour last year in Gap when he came out his way to sign autographs, etc for the Brits that were there.  So nice guy but should he be starting this stage?

I have finally got around to reading his book and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in cycling, even if it’s just watching the Tour every year.

He demonstrates how difficult it was being in a team and not getting sucked into the doping culture during the 90′s.  You could argue that some did manage and he didn’t have to do it.  This is true but when your lively hood is at stake and you are on your own with no support (i.e. the team management would prefer you were doped and won, than clean and lost) you can start to see some justification of why.

Most importantly for me though was the way he describes races with EPO and without.  In a “clean” race even the Pro’s can’t handle the pace if a team is on EPO.

If we now trust what he says about his own team and lifestyle, and you would have no reason ont to when you read his story, then we can assume Garmin are clean.  He also talks about HTC and SKY and you can take from his comments they are clean as well.  There is no suggestion that other teams are still doing drugs but if we consider how successful these three teams have been then it would suggest the whole peloton is longer systematically doping.

I am not completely naive and I’m sure there are the odd ones who will try to get away with it but this is probably true in every sport.

So when you are taking part in the Etape or any other large Sportive next year you can be happy in the knowledge the Pro’s will be suffering as much as you are.  When  you watch the Tour the feat of endurance is still something to be amazed at.

I will also happily be giving David Millar my total support next time I see him race.

 

 

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