The National 25

There was a young man from Surrey,

Who cycled about in a hurry,

He went to the race but was minutes off the pace,

So he treated himself to a curry!

Shamelessly robbed off Cycling Weekly's website.

I had an absolute mare on Sunday and was weak like baby. It was disappointing and I couldn't work out what went wrong for a long time - until today. I woke up bleary eyed and with a sore throat, so at least I can stop racking my brains. Priority one is getting well again and from there I've got to plan where my season is going to go.

With every setback I learn more about my body, and how fragile I seem to be. I'm looking to the future now,  the bigger picture and not putting pressure on myself for the time being. I'll probably steer clear of the knee-high socks for a while! Peace out for now troops.

FTW - 'Functional' Threshold Work

I'm teetering on the edge of full blown cycling geekery. I just got back from a ride with Sammoth and realised that I spent a fair bit of time 'talking numbers'. What's happened to me??! I can only blame training for three weeks straight on a time trial bike and a weak mental state.

Couldn't find any relevant pictures so here's one of me on a time trial bike from the start of the year.

Last week's bout of training is best described using the word 'functional'. It was a period of back-to-the-grindstone-esque  work mid season and worked as a suitably shocking experience to get me back on track legs-wise. Ploughing up and down a dual carriageway for two hours in the aero tuck position, like a tractor with a broken sat-nav is hardly inspiring work. Still, it's sowing the seeds for future form (sorry world, I went there). Awful similes aside it's got to be done sometimes. 

Phwoar! Look at the lanes on that.

Getting back onto the road bike felt like sitting down in my old favourite armchair and was a treat for my undercarriage as well as my mind. Let me tell you, time trial bikes are not meant to be ridden for five hours. I did a Thruxton circuit race last night and came in second which was alright. I got in a break with two teammates from PedalHeaven, identified the sprinter of the two and then waited for the sprint, where he beat me. Pretty much foolproof tactical nous shown by yours truly there. Still, it was a laugh and after doing my training in the morning it was better than getting on the turbo in my shed for another session!

This Sunday is the National 25 mile time trial so I'll stick another post up after that, hopefully rife with more witty banter and good news. I hope everyone's enjoying the summer. Cheers for reading!

See you later England

I’ve been a long time absent from the blogosphere, mainly because I’ve been willingly absent from the racing scene for the last month or so. I’ve been doing my best to pretend I’m not a cyclist; and succeeding far too well! It's been the best part of 5 weeks since I left the motherland of two wheels (Belgium obvz!).

I did the National 25 mile time trial a few weeks back and was disappointed to finished 8^th  with a 50:36. Not to sound like an egomaniac but I know I’m capable of going a lot faster (mainly because I did go a lot faster the week before at a local 25. I did a 49:07 on a training wheel which would have bagged me 4^th place but never mind. It’s done and dusted now and I’m certain I won’t be driving 5hrs each way again for a time trial any time soon!

Feeling rather lethargic and sorry for myself at the National 25.

I started the National Road on Sunday and bowed out gracefully after realising I couldn’t hack the pace 3hrs in. Having only done a Castle Combe circuit race as preparation (2^nd by the way, thanks for asking) I had it coming to be honest. I’m certainly well rested now after feeling rather deflated from the amount of racing last month: the problem is I’ve now gone the other way and I’m under raced!

Looking like a whopper chopper at the National RR. I have put my saddle up since!

I returned to Belgium on Monday and did my first race today. It was a UCI 1.2 so nothing like a christening of fire, and it had the finishing circuit from hell which had over 3km of cobbles every 15km. I bottled it again and got dropped at about 3hrs and was determined to finish in my little group but they pulled us out with one lap to go. I’m going with a new psychological method to stop myself getting teary eyed when I do crap in races which is me saying to myself “Yeah, let’s build on this form legs. You're doing really well. Loads of other people pack races too. It’s the taking part that counts”. It’s like having Mr Motivator in my head.