Category Archives: Training

The rain in Spain

But I’m not going to be on the plain, I’m going to be climbing things that make the Mendips look like molehills, and that may even qualify as mountains. So it’s not going to rain, y’hear?

I thought I’d be more nervous than I am, but actually I’m looking forward to it. Even the hills. And it will be mostly hills. Apparently I like them more than I think I do as, bizarrely, when Alan and I broke with tradition on Wednesday and cycled around the Levels instead of climbing the Mendips, I actually missed them. Who’d a thought it? 😉

Cycling time: 2:37
Distance: 42.6 miles
Avg: 16.3 mph
ODO: 8056.6 miles

It looks like I’m pretty much ready to go, though I’ve got the rest of this evening for inevitable faffing and last minute panicking about what I’ve forgotten. Or I could just skip that and paint my nails instead *grin*. Spain here I come. I’ll think of you all while I’m out there riding my bike in the sunshine. Honest 😉

So sue me if I go too fast

I should be packing and faffing and cleaning the bike, and generally panicking. Well, I’m off to my training camp in Andalucia with Wheels in Wheels on Saturday, which seems to have come around awful fast, and I’m so not ready! However I am instead procrastinating wildly whilst at the same time seeing how much stuff I can do without actually getting properly out of bed. Like writing this blog for example 😉

However I have done some preparation. Kinda. Well, there’s all those hills I’ve been riding up. That counts, right? Training for a training camp 😉 And when I went riding yesterday, I tested out my new helmet and sunglasses, to make sure they were all ready for the trip. See? Ain’t they perty?

Yes, I went riding yesterday. In the sun. And almost warmth. I even had to change my layering strategy accordingly, which was novel. As is the concept of wearing short sleeves and shorts next week…how cool is that?! But I digress as usual. It’s about the riding, not the kit, right? 😉 Yes, Chris and I went riding. I left the route up to him and, since I had been bizarrely miffed to have not completed Blagdon Hill (aka Two Trees) last week, he took us on a loop around to do that. Very cool 🙂

And I made it up – properly this time. Unfinished business – finished 🙂 As slowly as ever, of course, and Chris swears that having not ridden for a while, his pace was actually my pace, and he wasn’t just trackstanding his way up behind me, but I’m not sure I’m convinced 😉 Having said that, I was feeling pretty good, so I may just have been doing ok out there. Legs, lungs, head; all pretty much in the right place at the right time. Aren’t shiny pills great? I may even have left him behind once or twice which, like, never happens so maybe he was telling the truth. I’m pretty sure it’ll never happen again though! *grin*. Sadly our well-earnt descent of Cheddar Gorge was blighted by grockles, cars, and the killer wind, which meant pedalling downhill, and which also pushed my wheels sideways a few times , leaving me very pleased not to be on my deeper-rimmed summer wheels! Ah well, I can try for the QOM next time 😉

It was sunny, it was beautiful, it may even have been Spring, and it went well. For no obvious reason. It just turned out to be a really good ride and now my PMA is feeling all perky and happy. Maybe I’ll make it up all those Spanish mountains after all? 🙂

Cycling time: 2:06
Distance: 29.3 miles
Avg: 12.8 mph
ODO: 8014 miles

I didn’t have much time to bask in the warm after-ride glow though. It was down to earth with a (not literal) bump as duty called, and the mob and I had the Civic Service to get to. How’s this for a transformation? There’s still plenty of lycra involved though 😉

Dark angels follow me

Since last Wednesday I have been fighting a losing battle against the slowly returning pain. Which leaves me feeling somewhat like the above picture. After a screamingly painful Sunday, with all the weapons at my command in action, I finally got things down to a manageable background level. Well tolerable anyway. And it’s slowly receding. However it doesn’t particularly like core work, which I felt the need to test out with two workouts, as you do. And historically it doesn’t like cycling either. So I needed to test that out too, right?

Well, it is Wednesday…and though it may be the last one for a while, once again that meant Alan and hills. Fourth hump day, so four hills. Though oddly, our route turns out to have had exactly the same mileage as last week’s three hill route, yet with slightly less climbing. Not sure how that works!

So, which ups were on the menu today? Shipham, Burrington, the A39 climb up to the aerial, and then Old Bristol Hill. Relentless hard hills, but in weird variable weather. I was so hot, and thus over-heating, by the time we got to the top of Burrington Combe I had to stop and take off a layer and squeeze it into the saddle bag. It was practically Spring-like up there. But by the third time we climbed up the Mendips we were climbing into what felt like damp freezing fog! At least I didn’t have to do Old Bristol Hill in the snow again… It did mean I had to be a bit more careful down Cheddar Gorge than usual…boo hiss 😉

Having opted not to take the magic pills this morning, so as to be as with it as possible, I was occasionally painfully reminded that maybe I should have done. Going up decent hills sets it off, and that’s what we were doing. It certainly didn’t make going uphill any easier. But then I’m not sure what would 😉 Apparently the only way to get better at going up hills is to keep going up hills. So we kept going up hills *grin*.

All in all, at the end of the day, <insert annoying phrase of your choice here>, etc., I’m really pleased with how it went. Alan enjoyed discovering yet another hill, and once he’s done West Harptree and the Glider Club hill I think we’ll pretty much have covered the Mendip climbs. Oh, and the last one of those two he can do by himself – I still know my limits 😉 But I performed ok overall, I got up everything, and I got up Old Bristol Hill a couple of minutes faster than I did three weeks ago, so that can’t be bad. And best of all, I’m not feeling worn out now. Mind you, it is time I took some of those pills… Ho hum 🙂

Cycling time: 2:45
Distance: 36.3 miles
Avg: 13.1 mph
ODO: 7984.7 miles

If forever never comes

After a long, late, very enjoyable Friday night at my folks’ place, which involved a serious degree of self-medication as the pain level was rocketing, Saturday morning didn’t really happen. I pretty much slept through it! Which since I had a whole empty weekend to fill, neatly took care of a good few of those hours 😉 And besides which, sleep is good right? It was clearly what my body needed, which is often how it reacts to dealing with the pain anyway. So, no harm done.

However I didn’t want to waste the day entirely, and I was feeling somewhat better (mornings tend to be better than later in the day) so I took myself off walking again once my caffeine levels were topped up. I walked all around Burrington Combe, which I pretty much had to myself, and made it snow. Which was novel *grin*. It was hilly and muddy and cold and damp but none of those things all the time. And I sat on top of the rocks at the highest point and admired the views, rocking the windswept look, and loved it. All of it 🙂

Walking time: 1:19
Distance: 3.5 miles

Ain’t in no hurry

Just a short quick one today. Well, not that quick, but faster than expected 😉 That’ll be because it was flat of course, which seemed somewhat easier than usual. But then usual has been hills of late so it was bound to, by comparison. And the way out to Fairyland was somewhat wind assisted. But then of course the way back wasn’t, so I guess it balanced out. We weren’t in any hurry anyway. It was about shooting that breeze and drinking very good coffee 🙂

Cycling time: 1:46
Distance: 29.2 miles
Avg: 16.5 mph
ODO: 7948.4 miles

Baby I’m amazed

Yesterday the weather was bloomin’ gorgeous. But I had other things to be doing, even if I was mentally thinking a whole heap of “if only“s while doing them. Foremost amongst those was “if only it would be this nice tomorrow when I’m actually going to be riding the bike“. Which seemed unlikely, given my weather track record. However, when I woke up this morning and cautiously drew back the curtains, it looked like just for once my luck was in. Result 🙂

Well, in some respects anyway. I appear to be in the middle of an IBS flare up and, just to add a little icing on the cake of discomfort, I was also in intermittent pain, which had come out of nowhere as it does. But hey, when did that ever stop me? Since Alan was suffering from toothache and he wasn’t bailing, neither would I be. Besides, to not ride on a day like today? Gift horses, mouth, etc. I got up, got kitted up, and as soon as circumstances allowed me to be free, I was off on my newly-serviced bike to meet Alan in the Square.

Yep, it’s hump day again. So, for the third such in a row, Alan and I went and rode up hills. It was all pretty gratuitous really. We rode up the Mendips, then rode down them, just to go back up again. Several times. Three challenging ups, but only one really good down though, which is always a bit of a shame. Boo hiss! And should you be interested, that’s Cheddar Gorge, East Harptree, Blagdon and then Shipham, in that order.

All good hills. If you like hills. Which Alan does. All enjoyed in not quite as chilly as expected sunshine, with a fairly brisk Southerly wind. Pretty pleasant 🙂 The only fly in the ointment was that we took a wrong turn towards the top of the Blagdon climb, which is a tad annoying merely because I would like to have seen how I would have coped with the full climb. The dog leg we accidentally ended up doing meant we did the same amount of climbing, but just more gradually and, as I’d been plodding up things fairly satisfactorily today, I think the steeper option would have gone ok. Ah well, maybe next time 😉

More hills. More miles. The steepest bits did set things off a bit, and I did have the odd grasp at left side moment, as well as those odd hard to describe moments where something twinges in there and the rest of your body suddenly sort of loses focus to think about that. But ignoring that, and ignoring Strava, which is usually wise, I’m pretty pleased with how it went overall. I still felt ok out there. Alan reckons that, having watched me ride my way back after Christmas, I’m riding much stronger now. And I don’t think he was just being nice 😉 It does seem to be getting better. Which is encouraging. It’s just over two weeks until my Wheels in Wheels training camp, and I reckon I’m nearly as ready as I’m ever going to be 🙂

Cycling time: 2:38
Distance: 36.3 miles
Avg: 13.7 mph
ODO: 7919.2 miles

BTW, should you want/need your bike(s) servicing, repairing, building, whatever – give Andy at Sprocket & Spanners a call. My two were collected for their special offer 2-for-one Premium Service on Monday morning and came back that evening serviced, repaired, and clean, complete with advisories for the future, just like an MOT. Awesome 🙂

Where is that PMA?

Somewhat amazingly, even the Foo Fighters know about PMA. Who knew?

So, where is it? Well, still lurking in there somewhere I think.

I went for a ride with the BK Velo lot this morning. Riding with them tends to scare me. They’re fast, if not furious, and usually draw away into the distance with nary a backward glance, before waiting for me at the top of one incline or another. That doesn’t scare me. I’m plenty used to being left behind. But I tend to find such rides less than enjoyable, and feeling like that on my bike kinda scares me. My tentatively resurgent PMA doesn’t need the bashing. Hey, I’m sure none of that makes any sense, but you fight your demons and I’ll fight mine 😉

But I still got out of bed at 7:15am this morning, so I could meet up with Guy at 8:30am to rendezvous with them in Brent Knoll at 9:00am. Just because something scares me rarely means I won’t do it. Mary Mary, quite contrary, remember?

There were, when it came to it, 5 of us. Myself, Guy, Martyn, James and Paul. After some discussion it was decided we were going to Langport for coffee and back. So off we went. And I think it actually went pretty well. Generally being 2 + 2 + 1 meant I was either mid-group or at the back so could wheelsuck to my heart’s content. Whether it was because Guy is on his way back from real flu, or in deference to my presence, or both, or indeed neither, no-one was hurtling off anywhere. I kept up, other than uphill of course, and luckily there wasn’t too much of that. So, all good. Certainly better than feared. But my mental arithmetic en-route eventually made it clear that the route meant I was going to be out for somewhat longer than I really wanted to be.

So when we got to the bottom of a seriously enjoyable descent somewhere near Moorlinch, I decided I would part company with the guys and head for home. Even if that did mean going up Pedwell Hill. Ok, I could have bailed earlier, but I actually wanted to go up a hill. Well I thought I ought to anyway 😉 And just for once I wasn’t bailing because I felt crap or inferior. I just had places I would rather be today. Priorities. It is increasingly not all about the bike.

Thanks to BKVelo for the company and the consideration. It was good to catch up with them, and I enjoyed it. I did, oddly, even quite enjoy Pedwell Hill. I didn’t enjoy slogging the rest of the way back home into the wind so much, but hey, it’s resistance training right? Strava says I was as snail-like as ever, but these days it’s about how I feel out there, and I felt ok. So there 😛 PMA still on its way back…*fingers crossed*.

Cycling time: 2:39
Distance: 39.5 miles
Avg: 14.9 mph
ODO: 7882.9 miles

Live to fight another day

It would appear Wednesday is a hump day in more ways that one. It is turning into the day when Alan and I go and ride up things. Humps. Or lumps. Or more precisely hills. Which today are brought to you by the letter W and the number 3. Westbury, Wrington, Winscombe.

Which I crawled up tortoise stylee while Alan hared off to chase rabbits 😉 Either way we both got to the top more or less eventually. However he waited at the tops, I waited at the bottoms. It’s an equitable life 😉

It didn’t feel quite as “good”, supposing that word ever applied to hills, as last Wednesday. A little less in me somehow? There is, as ever, a distinct possibility I have been a little under-fueled of late. I keep meaning to do something about that…but procrastination is a wonderful thing 😉 Still, I went out, and I went up, and it could have been worse. Enough with the “W”s now? And then I came home and discovered the freezer had shuffled off its evaporator coils. Marvellous. Ah well, maybe if I eat the defrosting contents my next ride will be better *grin*.

Cycling time: 2:38
Distance: 34.6 miles
Avg: 13.1 mph
ODO: 7843.4 miles

I am a river

So. I have been outside again. But not quite as planned.

My last ride was on Friday, with George, a chilly, icy, cautious loop out to the seaside and back. I don’t normally go out when ice is a factor but I’d said I would and I was in a truly foul mood, and getting out seemed like an extremely good idea. Which it was, from a mental health perspective anyway. And neither of us fell off, so that went well too. But it did very clearly demonstrate that I was tired. Very tired. Tired legs, tired body, tired me.

Cycling time: 1:57
Distance: 26.8 miles
Avg: 13.7 mph
ODO: 7808.8 miles

So I didn’t go out with the ACG on Saturday. Even though they were doing a nice easy flat loop, I decided what I really needed was sleep. So instead of getting up at 8:30am to join them, that’s what I did. I slept. A lot. I like sleep 🙂 And I felt much better for it too. The chances are I wouldn’t have had a good ride anyway, which I would then not have enjoyed so, win win, as it were. Rest and recovery.

And yesterday I went walking again. Which was lovely. Yes, I could have gone riding. Lots of people had/were. But I’m quite enjoying doing things a little differently. Going with my flow. Hence the smiley face, presumably 🙂

Walking time: 1:56
Distance: 6.4 miles

Life is good today

I’ve been waiting for the after-effects from Sunday’s sportive to cut in. Monday saw the odd ache in my neck and shoulders, but that was all. Tuesday I was expecting DOMS to cut in. Nothing. So I did a workout to check that out. Still nothing. I guess I’m still waiting. Which meant I had no excuse to not go and cycle up hills with Alan as planned today. B*gger 😉 Although I did tweak the proposed route so as to avoid going up Burrington Combe for the third time in a week and Old Bristol Hill for the second! There are plenty of other hills around here after all, no? Pretty much all of which I know, but Alan doesn’t, so there was some novelty value in introducing him to some of them. I’m a cycling tour guide 😉

Which meant going up Shipham Hill, with Longbottom & the nasty kick up to Tynings Farm. Up the A39 from Chewton Mendip to the Wells aerial. And finally up Deerleap.

Which meant going down to East Harptree. Down through the Horringtons. And of course down Cheddar Gorge, not that my Garmin recognises that *sigh*. (You’ll notice I have no qualms about repeating the same downhill more than once in a week though 😉 )

Which included a coffee stop at the Rock Cake Café where apparently opting for a Cornish pasty instead of a cake wasn’t a wise move, not that you could spot Alan’s lack of sugar rush as he danced up Deerleap 😉

It was all done in beautiful winter sunshine. Just as cold and windy as Sunday, but far prettier. Some of it was hard work. Some of it wasn’t. But I kept on moving 🙂

I do do hills. Sometimes 😉

Cycling time: 2:57
Distance: 40.2 miles
Avg: 13.5 mph
ODO: 7782 miles