The Daddy Club

Those of you that have raced in Surrey and Hillingdon over the last few years probably know my good mate Phil 'The Animal' Sheehan from Finchely RT. As you can see Phil's has become a father. His beautiful daughter was born exactly a week today to his wife Vicky. I just wanna say congratulations and wish them all the best... I think people have already suggested to Phil that his racing days are numbered or indeed over. I can't see it myself he's far too competitive. Plus he still has one particular goal he'd like to achieve - right Phil? ;-) Some good planning he'll be back out there trying to initiate breakaways and win sprints. Grrr!!

I've got this niggly knee problem which I can't seem to shake off so more cleat fiddling is required me thinks. I may not I ride today. Have a good weekend people. Be safe if ya riding :-)

My Best Turbo Workout Ever?

Snots or no snots the show must go on. This evening I started my warm up in 53/21 and then spent a couple of minutes each in 19, 18 and 17 until I eventually settled down in 53/15. The physical effects of these transitions became noticeable very quickly so my happy-gum-chewing syncopated breathing in 53/21 was replaced ten minutes later by a gulping goldfish on a bike? I'm not sure how long those popular fairground giveaways can survive without water. I don't think they can hang on for twenty minutes. I did - just about!

My five minute recovery period was over far too quickly and I had just enough time to drink a large glass of hot water laced with lemsip. Once again Kylie was cranked back into action and Snoop Dog suggested that "I drop it like its hard". 2 x 20's, Hip Hop music and common colds all have one thing in common. They can eventually lead to sensory overload. I couldn't shake off my cold and the 2 x 20's had to be completed so the the rap tunes had to go. For the last ten minutes, having dropped down to a gear to 53/17 and still holding a 90 rpm cadence, I rode with just the whirring of Kylie's motor in my ear. The kitched stayed cool, and I continued to get hot and very very bothered. Can someone bring me another tissue please.

Now without tunes in my ears I closed my eyes and my brain did a google style search for motivating cycling images. I briefly caught a glimpse of John Heaton Armstrong heroic bridging effort during the 2/3 Beachy Head Classic RR this year before it was usurped by his more famous namesake racing up Alpe Duez. A bit more pedal grinding and teeth grinding and the total forty minutes was up. Phew! Thats one threshold workout I'd like to forget :-(

Only my third proper one in 2008

Arsenal- Potters Bar-Arsenal

Just in case you didn't ride on Saturday (22/11). Er...let me tell you about it in two words. Bloody Cold! If you're gonna ride in such cold weather its nice to do it in company so for the first time in a few weeks my girlfriend Stephanie joined me for the long ride. We got going at 9 am and but stopped at 9.05am; we then entered the local Tesco's and bought some nutrigrain bars and tissues (no snot rockets).

I persuaded Steph to wear a Bennie hat under her cycling helmet which she begrudgingly agreed to. By the time we hit Golders Green 20 minutes later she had taken it off. On the back streets of Barnet 40 minutes later the hat was back on again. The Irish comedian Patrick Kielty does a great sketch about how much women' change their minds and it was tempting to bring this up. However at this point Steph didn't look too happy and seemed to be suffering a little on the draggy bits. Clearly not a good time for anecdotes that stereotype women

After hitting some quiet lanes just outside of Barnet we finally arrived at Potters Bar. The Panini and Latte from Costa Coffee has never tasted so good :-) Well fuelled up, our return journey was carried out at a much livelier pace via The Great North Road. Steph looked a lot happier sat on my wheel and we cruised back averaging 20mph on all the flat stretches.

Zebra, Giraffe and tempo riding

In an attempt to make this post appear vaguely interesting I've found out some facts about Zebra's and Giraffes for you. They can both run up to 35 miles per hour. The Giraffes tongue is 18 inches long and black, some Zebra's have brown stripes and best of all...a giraffe sleeps for between 1-12 mins.

That means for each of my 7-8 minute laps around Regents Park this afternoon one or all of the three Giraffes I saw could have slept.Mmm I also saw three Zebra's but non of them appeared to be sleeping. By the end of my sixty minute ride they had all returned to their respective pens. Conditions were rather blustery on the outer-loop today nonetheless wind assisted blasts in 53/17 are always welcome. Today the legs responded well and I felt surprisingly fresh. Roll on the weekend. Its Friday night so its gotta be Thai food and beer for me - can't wait :-)

Arsenal-Northwood-Arsenal

Ordinarily a thirty mile round commuting trip shouldn't have posed too much bother but there was a distinct 'we-ain't-happy-about-this' vibe coming from my legs. I must admit nearly nine hours of riding this week has been a little tough. Also a slight niggle on the right side of my knee has developed so I chose to spin low gears for most of the outward journey to work. On the way I met this old fella out for a morning spin. We got chatting and he gave me one of the strangest reasons why he didn't want to do too many rides this winter. " Coz I don't want to loose too much weight", he said. Huh? says me, 'why don't you do what we all do and eat more to compensate for the weightloss. "I don't have a big appetite came the terse reply" mmm A bit of a tailwind on the return journey made things a little bit easier. All though drafting a lorry for half a mile on the A41 with a huge pregnant Rucksack and sore legs is not really to be recommended. Ok lets call that session 2 hours of social riding

Back in the Herts

Er my ability to remember a really cool and interesting cycling route is as I've mentioned before rubbish. So the inevitable happened today. I made an effort to follow the route myself JC and the 2 Chris's had done at the weekend but missed a few turns and found myself stuck on the Essenden Road for much longer than was needed. Oh well 3 hours plus at a tempoish effort and a semi bonk after 90 mins. Day off tomorrow. Happy training Peeps!

Quality Time with Kylie

I felt quite juiced up (not literally!) after Sunday's training session in Herts so on Monday evening I decided to spend some more time with Kylie (my beloved Kurt Kinetic Trainer). For gearing I decided to push 53/15 rather than my standard 53/17. For those of you wondering why I ain't hooked up a cycle computer to measure the effort or use the Kinetic' Power meter computer. Wonder no more! I can't be arsed. I'm simply going for the minimalist approach to training. Its all based on my trusty 'how d'ya feelometer' See my turbo training zones below

Level 1 - breathing fairly easy and I could hold the pace for more than an hour if I had to. I could eat cakes, talk on my mobile phone etc etc I'll be honest there won't be many level 1 rides.

Level 2 - breathing is manageable, but I have to keep my mouth open at all times. I could say a few words but not have a sustained conversation. And anymore than an hour and it would definitely a struggle to maintain the effort unless I was very very fresh.

Level 3 would be similar to Level 2 but one gear down hence leg fatigue much more noticeable but despite identical cadence (calculated using Kitchen clock) of 90ish rpm. I can just manage a level 3 type effort for about 20 minutes but can't do them on back to back days

So on to the workout the first two twenty blocks were a Level 3 effort - very tough! The last twenty minutes were completed in 53/17. I'd like to thank Biggy, Public Enemy, De la Soul, Cypress Hill, Busta Rhymes, Rakim, Dr Dre, Jay Z, Naz and Big Daddy Kane for all their encouragement :-)

Base Building in Herts!

Jean-Claude and I were joined by the two Chris's for our morning ride which skims the edges of North London/Herts border. JC was in a feisty mood and hit most of the little climbs with gusto. I was able to match most of his accelerations except the one I call the 'pro climb' which jinks, twist, turns and inevitably breaks ya legs. No worries I'm managing to stay closer to the Ex Pro's wheel so I should be there or there abouts next time we hit his favourite power climb

I tried to instigate sprinting for the town sign competition while we were out in the wild streets of Hertfordshire but no one was really up for it so I played it by myself. I think the rest of the guys found my Chris Hoy efforts mildly amusing. Oh well if you gonna make a fool of yourself you may as well do it in Lycra. On our return journey I normally like to hit time trial mode just outside of Barnet; everyone jumped on to my wheel and I morphed in to Bradley Wiggins for a few miles. Once again the trip was completed with Caffeine and Cakes at the Italian Restaurant in East Finchley. Another good 60+ mile ride has been ticked off my winter training schedule.

Highbury-Romford-Highbury

Well... can you see me? Nah I didn't think so. Highbury-Romford-Highbury is not a trip that I do very often. I'm pretty rubbish at finding traffic free commuting routes and the A12 (above) isn't too inviting even at the quietest time of the day. Anyways I decided I'd give it a bash so I set off to see client A in Romford and arrived in a respectable 70 minutes. I always try and ride at around 90% on my 'how-dya-feelometer' especially on long longish commutes but this afternoon things were less than comfortable :-( Usually I manage to keep it in 53/19&18 the whole way but today the legs weren't happy so 53/21 was the gear of choice especially on tarmac that wasn't baby smooth and accompanied with a tail wind.

My legs felt even worse on the return journey. Some dude jumped on my wheel for 2/3 miles before the A12 approach so I raised the tempo and my own temparature in a school boyish attempt to find out if he was a true roadie. He hung on cool as you like. Just as a good Roadie should. I died after that and couldn't go anywhere near the middle block again even on fast stretches. Despite it being dark and with sore legs I actually felt quite safe. I got back in hour 15 mins. Day off tomorrow. Oh and exciting news Peeps! Stephanie (girlfriend) has offered to make me a huge apple pie this weekend. Cool!!!Happy training peeps :-)

Guess Who's Back!

No Highbury-Luton-Highbury ride for me in today torrential downpour. No way Man! Instead...people can I introduce to you Kylie - my Kurt Kinetic Trainer. She has remained a lifeless inanimate soul for the last six months. This evening she finally took centre stage on the kitchen floor. Argos Fan. Check. Talksport Radio Check. Bottle of water check. Kitchen paper towels. Check. Towel to cover bike. Check. New Sony MP3 Walkman. Check.

One hour later a 2 x 25 threshold work out was perfectly executed in 53/17. Question? Did the late great Biggy Smalls really write "The Ten Commandments to Selling Crack" - Yikes!!! be careful what you download dudes

Winter training for season 2009 begins!!

"I can ride a bike with no handle bars[too]";-) but having spent September and October doing 'when-and-however-ya-wanna' rides its clearly time to step things up a bit more and get serious about training. For those of you unaware I made 2nd cat on my final race at Rusper (grabbed 2nd spot, in the 3rd cat Road Race) So next season I get to ride with the big boys again. I've been there before but this time I'm determined to be a decent second cat rather than just the pretender I was two years ago.

At 9am this morning I met up with Ex Pro Jean Claude and we set out in search of some quiet Hertfordshire roads. I haven't ridden for a week and quickly realised how restricted my breathing became each time the road headed skywards and more watts were required to stay on JC's wheel. After 3&1/2 hours having negotiated a few road closures, two memorial Sunday Parades, some treacherous wet leafed lanes , one puncture, two groups of forlorn looking Finsbury CC cyclists and some nutter in a white van we finally arrived back in North London. We stopped off for some Italian coffee in East Finchley and then I thanked JC for the ride before returning back to Highbury . The pace was possibly a tad too fast but hey its good to get things started with a bang.. A Highbury-Luton-Highbury commuting ride is on the cards for tomorrow. That's eight hours of riding in two days. Once again its on!!!