Training Block

The last few days have been pretty good. I took Thursday, Friday and Monday as leave to get some good rides in.

Thursday - up and out - the plan was to do minimum 70 miles in a couple of loops. the ride went well until a mile or so from home at the end of the first loop when I had a miscommunication with P and turned across him at low speed as we took to a cycle path. my mistake. but it was P who suffered. falling and rolling after clipping me. His front wheel seemed to be slightly off true, so we rode home, grabbed lunch and then rode round to Cyclezone. A cuppa, a chat and 20 mins later, the wheel was sorted and we hit the road again.. until climbing out of Wokingham, where as P pulled on his bars the left hand bar snapped... obviously the carbon had failed after the earlier drop.. back to the bike shop slowly, then home to collect my new Garmin Edge. bars replaced. carbon in the bin ... 57 miles all in...

Friday was better.. not quite so hot.. 2 loops .... 70 miles... I was feeling a niggle in the back of my knee towards the end so we didn't go for 80.. instead returning home, via Fleet Hill (just to make up for the "lost" mileage) and the bike shop (again) ... upshot... P is looking at replacing his S-Works Roubaix... Fleet Hill isn't easy..but it was good to ride up it better than the last time we came that way , especially with 65 miles already done that day (and 120 back to back)

Saturday and Sunday were "days of rest"... which mostly meant watching the Olympic road races and going to visit P's parents..I also used the Saturday morning to fit and set up the Garmin.

Monday - up and out again... a different route taking in a 40 mile loop including the sharp climb of Wiggins Copse (seriously, it's actually called that, near Bramshill). Using the Garmin and recording cadence properly for the first time (P has been using a cadence comp for a while and really works well by it) I modified my rhythm and speed to LEJOG pace .. the interesting thing being that when we hit "Wiggins" I stayed in the saddle, used all the gears and kept spinning at 90 rpm, this is not my normal style (think "Grinding Big Gears Like an 80s Russian Pursuiter") and rode the whole climb, including the steep ramp right at the end, in the saddle...I was impressed...

The loop then took us out via Hook to Beacon Hill just outside Farnham. we've ridden it twice before, once each way, and this was approaching from the steeper side. it's nearly 2 miles long, and has a long stretch over 7% in the middle (peaking over 10%).. I span the gears... running out when we hit the 8% stretch... and had to just sit in and grind it out...but I did just that..and recovered fairly quickly over the top and dropping down into Aldershot (as the rain arrived, to make the descent...interesting)..and up the second climb to get into Aldershot proper..Still no where near a mountain goat, but I did get over this steep climb intact..and had something in the legs for a climb straight after...this is good....

The rest of the ride was steady, again, keeping the pace right, the gears low and the cadence higher than I ever used to ride..leaving me feeling pretty fresh at the end.

in total ---- 170 miles (including the 56/70 back to back)
results
1: Neither of us seemed to suffer with the mileage
2: I am looking at fitting a 12-30 on the rear to replace the current 12-28
3: P is getting a new bike in time for the ride ...and very nice (and handbuilt) it will be too :)

Back to work today and a rest night (both of us taught at my Sword School on both the Thursday and Monday nights as well as the ride work.... P also did a sparring session on the Saturday whilst I fitted the Garmin and watched the RR..so we're not slacking THAT much )

C

P.S with Gift Aid, so far we have raised £1730 for Project Mobility - I'd love to get this over £2000 by the time we ride in 2.5 weeks time...

P.P.S
Just a another reminder that we have amazing support from SPONSER for our sports nutrition supply,They've been really supportive and helpful, with Shannon being a mine of information. and remember,

If you order anything from them HERE and use the code "ReSkill Ride" you get a 10% discount AND 5% of everything spent will be donated straight back to Project Mobility.