What happened to the early spring?

A couple of weeks ago riding up in the Chilterns it was a balmy 11c, the sun was shining the snowdrops were out, surely spring was just about here? I had forgotten that this is England and the weather is never predictable and the last week has seen a return of very cold weather. At the weekend it was a toss up between going out for a ride or doing a session on the turbo, the ride won! I'm glad I went out but it was very cold, its my face and feet that suffer even with 2 pairs of socks and some neoprene overshoes on my toes still go numb with the cold. I cut down the time I was out to avoid getting too cold and tried to make my rides shorter but harder - well they were shorter!

What is really pleasing is that with a couple of days to go, my total mileage for February is 486 miles so I will easily achieve over 500 miles in the month. I am starting to feel more confident about the goals that I have set myself.

I have been reading a lot of comments about the London Ride 100 some very negative people out there. Too expensive, got to stay overnight, have to register the day before etc etc. What did people think? It costs a lot to close off 100 miles of road to make it safe and £48 isn't that expensive, the first riders will go at 6am so unless you live within the sound of Bow Bells you will probably have to stay somewhere close the night before and how did people think that 20,000 people were going to be registered before 6am in the morning?  I for one booked a hotel right near the start straight away.

This is a unique opportunity to ride through London on closed roads there are plenty of other 100 mile rides that the moaners could have done. Ah well this is Britain and if moaning was an Olympic event we would surely win gold every time.

On a personal note, I will be one of probably only a handful of people who ran the first ever London Marathon and ridden the first ever Ride London 100 (it is to become an annual event) a unique double perhaps?

To sponsor me for this epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.  

Baby it's cold outside....

I thought yesterday was cold but with the wind today jeez it was chilly! My wife thinks I'm mad going out on days like this, actually apart form cold feet its only the first couple of hundred metres that aren't very pleasant, in fact the worst part is actually getting out the door, once you are out and warmed up a little its not too bad. That said I have sacrificed time out for more quality just to avoid getting cold.

But I have to take it seriously now as I have been bowled over at the amount that I have already been sponsored for(half of my target - I may need to revise that!)  and I haven't really started to push it hard yet. It does help the motivation I can assure you.

I now have the pictures back from my Photoshoot with my good friend Neil, he did a sterling job considering the quality of the model! Here is one of my faves that I am using as a publicity picture for my ride.

I will post some more in the next few days.

Back to the training I'm well on target to have completed 500 miles for February which is my highest monthly total. I'm well pleased.

To sponsor me for this epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.  

Making my debut as a model......

Today I will be modelling the latest range of Lycra Cyclewear.......yes its true! In response to some requests from "friends" that they will only sponsor me if they have proof that I can wear Lycra. So this evening at MWM Studios in Wokingham my good friend Neil will be pointing his camera in my direction to capture my MAMIL look. (Middle Aged Man In Lycra). Look out for the pictures in the next week or so.

This weeks training has been going pretty well, not exactly the schedule I had planned due to changes for some mum related visits. On Monday I managed my longest ride to date, 65 miles. No land speed records but I did manage the distance without feeling that the grim reaper was looking over my shoulder! It was a beautiful morning and I was amazed that up in the Chiltern Hills there was still snow on the ground in the shaded places. I set out to eat a lot more on this ride and it made a huge difference, so I need to work on that aspect. Little and often is the key I think. If you want to see my route it is here.

This week I will be learning to make flapjacks!!

To sponsor me for this epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.  

Oh I love Intervals!

One of the staples of my running training years ago was Interval training. For those who don't know intervals are repeated timed efforts over a set distance. The idea is to make each interval the same time so for example you might do 6x400m in 62 seconds each (I wish now!!) with a set rest in between each.

So applying the same principle to my bike training I have a flat 1.4 mile course in Windsor Park which I did 3 times today at about 20mph each one - right into the wind today as well! It was hard! The first two were ok but I was treading water a bit during the third. Amazing the difference the wind makes my best time a couple of weeks ago was 4m 06s. Today it was 4m 40s. Still I feel good having done it.

Day off tomorrow then a long ride either Sunday or Monday. 65 miles and a few hills........

To sponsor me for this epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.  

Is spring on its way?

Nice to get out for a ride on a lovely morning, 10c warmer than yesterday and so much nicer than spinning on the turbo which I have been doing while the snow and ice was around. I know the far wall of my garage in minute detail now. Thank goodness for some great music to spin to.  According to MapMyRide.com I managed a personal best up Mill Lane and Berry Hill in Taplow this morning which was good it felt easy too, I remember the first time I rode up this hill and thought I was going to expire at the top so I must be getting fitter!

I had some Vistaprint cards made up to advertise my fund raising website and they arrived today, all I need now is some people to hand them out to.....

To sponsor me for this epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then you can sponsor me on my fund raising page.  

The weigh-in and a day of rest.

At todays weigh-in I came in at 13st 2.5lbs - well pleased with that! A long way from the 16st that I started out at. Thats nearly the same weight as my wifes bag when we travelled to India and I know how heavy that was to lug around! Still got some way to go to achieve my target weight of 11st 7lb though.

So glad I decided to have a day off the bike today as the weather is horrible, I learnt when I was running that rest is as important as training - knowledge that I didn't always put into practice it has to be said! I achieved all I wanted to this week. 135 miles in total including a long ride of over 4 hours and a couple of shorter sharper rides. The thought of 100 miles though is still fairly daunting but I know if I continue the progression that it will come. Next week will be a lower intensity week with some cross training on the rowing machine, gym and I may try a swim....

I launched my fund raising website this week and some people have already sponsored me, I know its a long way off but it does provide me with some real motivation.

To sponsor me for this epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then you can sponsor me on my fund raising page.  

I must be mad....

The temperature when I got up today was -1c so any thoughts of an early ride today were quickly changed for waiting until a more balmy 4c was reached! So I'd planned a long ride today of around 55 miles through Henley up towards Stokenchurch and back through Marlow and Maidenhead. For whatever reason it felt hard right from the off today when I used to run competetively it was the same some days you floated other days it was like running through treacle. The funny thing was I always ran my best times on treacle days - work that one out!

All went well until I missed a turn out near Assendon - who's idea was it to call a place Ass End On? I was never more than a mile or so from my desired course but ended up doing about 5 miles extra distance so finished at just over 60 miles. Jeez the last half hour was hard and I was getting a bit cold as well My Gore softshell windproof jacket has been a real godsend (thanks mum!) and by and large I was warm enough apart from my face and toes, the toes are the worst but at least I didn't make the mistake this time of jumping straight into the shower cold toes+hot water=muchos pain.

Anyway 60 miles is my furthest distance to date, a few good hills as well, but another 40? I must be mad.

I found out today that I didn't get into the Ride London 100 by ballot, so just as well that I had the guarantee of a place riding for Prostate Cancer UK.

Right toes are sufficiently warm now I'm off for a well deserved hot shower.

To sponsor me for this epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then have a look at my fund raising page.  

All rides should be like this....

A lovely mild morning ride of  just over 32 miles doing the Old Windsor "3 Peaks" well not exactly peaks but 3 decent hills for these parts Priest Hill, Tite Hill and Crimp Hill. Felt really good today but some mechanical problems with the front derraileur were a bit of a pain and my chain came off twice. More worryingly was that half way up Crimp Hill I couldn't change down so I was especially pleased to make it up quite easily. I remember the first time I went up Crimp and thought my heart was going to burst from my chest. Maybe I am getting fitter.
So this afternoon will be spent sorting out the gears.

To sponsor me for this epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then have a look at my fund raising page. 

Another training week in Feb, despite bad wind!

So despite it being February I managed 4 training rides this week, managed to clean the bike including the chainset and 3 punctures were repaired!! I went 4 months with no puntures at all and then got 3 in a week.

All told 115 miles including a 50 miler with 3 reasonable hills, the biggest problem has been wind.......if I lose a bit more weight surely I will be a smaller windshield? Despite doing 50 miles I still don't feel confident about 100 - the question I ask is could I have done the same course again straight away, the answer would be a resounding "NO!" so more work to do over the coming weeks and months, but at least I got the feeding about right and I'm liking the High5 drinks much better than SIS ones which were too sickly sweet for my liking. No gain without pain eh?

With another cold snap coming I may need to get the Turbo Trainer out again.

Target this week is another 50 miler.

To sponsor me for this epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then have a look at my fund raising page.