And the purpose of this session is?

Having had my day interrupted by a number of things, not least the weather, my grand plan of getting out for a few hours around the lanes fell by the wayside (no pun intended). Having currently got the "training bit between my teeth" I decided to get on to the time-trial bike on the (yet to be improved upon) Roller-Turbo in the garage and blast along to The Vaccines (I like to think of them as a posh incarnation of The Ramones).

Shelford Designs' rather portable Roller-Turbo (and a bike with mudguards on it - why?)

So, the bike's set up, the turbo looks steady, the HR Monitor is on, 3,2,1....GO!

Hang on, what exactly am I trying to achieve apart from lose lots of fluid and make the garage reek of stinky cyclist?

As it happens, I had got on to the bike with some form of plan in mind. Gradually building up the resistance by going up one gear on the sprocket and alternating between the inner and outer chain-raing and then going up another gear (repeat until delirium sets in) to build up some leg strength and also work on my cadence.

I used to do this using strict 1 minute intervals of inner-ring, outer-ring etc but was a bit less disciplined this time. I get mind numbingly bored after 40 minutes, so I usually don't go on for much longer than this as I find it a bit counter-productive. If you get to hate something, it's less likely to be an activity you'll come back to. I have however done specific sessions (years ago) when I had a set goal in mind, e.g. keeping my pulse at 175bpm for an hour ahead of a 25 mile time trial but this isn't really the time of year for me to be contemplating that.

As close to the Green Jersey banner as many of us will get

On Saturday last (19th) a group of six of us hit the roads around Preston, Whitwell, Kimpton and Tea Green. As the ride was at a reasonable average pace, i.e somewhere between 17-19 mph any "sprints for the 30 sign", or recreations of scaling Alpe D'Huez in Pantani-like fashion seemed to get the pulse and legs going.

It's been a while since I've been able to ride in a bunch like that and have a bit of a sparring session. Having lost a bit of base fitness I did struggle to mark the excellent James Gomm (riding a fixed) in the first half hour or so. I did manage to surprise myself later on in a nutty sprint to the top of some incline near Luton, so it cannot be all bad.

This kind of ad hoc, snappy, tempo riding has been described as "Speedplay" or "Fartlek" (the Swedish for speedplay), training. I used to call it "mucking about". So it is good to know that I have actually been contributing to the scientific canon all this time. The essence of speedplay training is to go with the moment but within a framework which has some goals aligned to it. There is a web-based resource at http://www.turbotraining.co.uk/  which has a series of set templates and user submitted turbo plans, so if you do need to get your laptop to bark at you to keep to time/ effort you can do. This is certainly something which was in its infancy when I last donned the lycra competitively.

Ultimately, think of the purpose of the session and if you are get bored easily then a) turn the music up, b) grit your teeth and get on with it and/ or c) try and get out with a mate or training buddy instead. There's just that certain something about riding in a group that can help keep you sharp over the winter. No one else can turn your pedals but is interesting how a bit of "nip and tuck" (or "science") can focus the attention.

TW3

So that was the week that was. I've managed to get out and do three, two-hour session this week. One on fixed and two on gears. The latter two on a route going out towards Ayot St Lawrence (home of George Bernard Shaw) and working back home through Kimpton and the northern tip of Wheathampstead. One of these ventures was far wetter thant the other.

So, having set up my recently acquired CatEye HR monitor from Paul's shop which has an integral speed and cadence sensor.

What have I learnt?

Well my average HR increased over the span of the three rides, so I may be seeing an improvement in terms of how hard I can push myself "on average", i.e. maybe I'm getting fitter(?) - there are however other variables (weather, route, bike) coming in to play though, so it's bad science to blithely assume that that is the case.

What else?

Funnily enough, the steeper something is, the lower my cadence: the lower my speed: and the higher my pulse.


What else?

That when it's tipping it down with rain I couldn't read some of the smaller numbers on the watch. Which was a tad annoying.

It's just numbers...

I suspect I may not be pushing the boundaries of science any time soon but t is good though to get a feel for my pedalling style "in numbers" as I probably need to improve my cadence having been off the bike (competitively at least) for a few years.

The monitor is pretty easy to set up although I'm not convinced I've measured the tyre circumference too precisely, which I think is giving a slightly "low" speedo reading. I'm sure I was going faster...

The pulse meter and the cadence sensor can't really lie though. Having had a "proper" lab-conditions VO2 max test and lactate analysis done many years ago, I can attest that the HR readings on the sensor tally within a few percentage points of "actuality", i.e. anything over 172 bpm for me is generally in my red zone. That was always my experience in TTs where I tended to level off at around 172-174 bpm when going "under" the hour or in sustained efforts on the club's evening 10 sporting course.

As my mate Webby says, "It's just numbers" but I'm a data and numbers person so it amuses me and you never know, I may even work something out from the data, i.e. riding more makes you fitter.

Fixed gear Sunday

I dragged myself out to the local Club run this morning - it seemed like the Hammer Horror production team were in charge of the weather as there was a lot of fog on the roads and as the ride developed the mist across the fields near Steeple Morden and Ashwell added a very Grimpen Mire feel to proceedings. It's the first time I've ridden with the club en masse for ages. It was good to see so many new faces as well as trade banter with old buddies Mike Webb and Nigel Tooke.

Today's run saw a lot of the Hitchin Nomads riders turn out on the fixed gear and single-speed machines, which could have led to catastrophic wheel touching in the "bunch", but didn't. I had put an 80" gear on my old Ribble track bike, which was probably a touch too big for the route today but did illustrate that a biggish gear (as opposed to say 65-75") can prove to be useful on the inclines as was the case in an ad hoc and rather jaunty sprint for the 30 mph sign near Bygrave.

Two hours riding fixed is like a month of going to the gym in terms of leg work out. Good for the soul and the wallet too although I may have disagreed as I rode out of Ashwell with my mate Ian Miles up a pretty steep climb.

Having tested out a new CatEye Heart Rate monitor for the first time, I could also see what state the old ticker was in. As it happens, it seems to be pumping alright maxxing at 178, which is not far off my max of 183. Need to work on the quads over the winter...

Flip your lid

A recent article in the Hitchin Nomads newsletter provided a bit of personal insight on the ups and downs of wearing a cycling helmet. The inspiration from the article was drawn from the author's recent destruction of their own hat due to rider-influenced, gravity assisted destruction, i.e. riding in to an inanimate object.

A good mate of mine (you know who you are) managed to not only ride in to a parked car but also, some weeks later, performed a tete-a-tete with a Wheelie bin. He got a ban for the former by the RTTC and I had to help him bend his tribars back in to shape to avoid a second strike. I'm pretty sure his lid got trashed in incident #1. He won't be the first nor last to have a tumble, my own riding history features a catastrophic smash, in which I got "totalled" by a driver (his fault, proven in court) who decided that the Give Way signs and the paint on the rode were indeed aesthetically pleasing but not something which gave rise to the use of eyes, brain or his brake pedal.

After I had skidded along for 10 metres and made a perfect connection with the kerb and regained consciousness I began to realise how lucky I was to be in one piece (more or less). I had the wit to keep my helmet on in case I had fractured the noggin or worse, but when Johnny Paramedic arrived on the scene and had gotten me to lie flat and remove my helmet I saw how much impact had been taken by Met's marvellous contraption and not my skull. I had a sore head for a few days but at least the "important bits inside" were in no worse state than when I set off (debatable I know for those who know me).

Insert head.

So the hat/ no hat debate is a clear one for me. What little brain I have, I'd like to keep thanks. Maybe there can be more of a focus on issuing Dunce's Caps to morons who have no MOT, Insurance or Driving Licence instead?



Ironically, I was wearing an accident insurer's jersey.

Black jersey

A very poor show indeed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15673321

Tyred out

The beautiful autumnal colours of the leaves and fields are a sight to behold as the mist lifts and the roads open up.

The pheasants flit from field to field and the idyllic landscape is blighted only by the site of two lycra-clad fools attempting to repair a puncture which was caused by the catastrophic failure of a "Halfords special" tyre.

Rule 1 - don't buy cheap gear
Rule 2 - don't put the tube you've taken out back in to said tyre (as it won't inflate if there's still a big hole in it)
Rule 3 - see Rule 2 prior to using up a CO2 cartridge for no apparent gain
Rule 4 - always have a crafty look at your mate's bike to avoid Rule 1 coming in to play

The advantage of a truncated ride is more tea and biscuit scoffing at the end.

Not much biking, but plenty of coding and web development in my spare time for my mate Paul. Hopefully this will go down a treat.

http://www.paulsbikes.net

Are you ready?

And in to the inbox comes a note from Lord Seb of Coe that the rehearsals for the big Summer Fete are up and coming in the new year. Now it's November there's not much of 2011 left, so possibly the possibility for Mr C**k-up's visit to town is now under great(er) scrutiny.

The velodrome in London (yes it is hard to believe how few there actually are in the UK per capita/ per cyclist) is playing host to a UCI event in February and tickets seem to be at a reasonably priced level.

Having not received an Olympics ticket in the ballet I am still deciding whether to metaphorically "cut off my nose to spite my face" and not take an interest...

...what is really hacking me off is the number of corporates, such as Lloyds Bank and EDF Energy etc who are sweetening deals or their product offerings with the chance to win Olympic tickets. Shows where the balance of power lies, i.e. with the corporate hospitality money men and shiny suits. But hey, it's the Olympics, did you expect equality.

The cycling event in February is at least good chance to see the venue and some of the prospective "hopefuls" and also still smell the paint while it's drying.

Track Cycling – 16–19 February 2012The final round of the 2011-12 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics will bring the best track riders from around the world to the brand new Velodrome on the Olympic Park, purpose built for the London 2012 Games.
Ticket prices range from £10 to £40