More Litespeed Pictures and Training Targets

Not a great deal more completed but I put the wheels on and took it outside for (hopefully) a couple of better pics. The saddle is now fitted properly and I have ordered some titanium bolts specifically for the carbon bottle cages (wider and lower profile bolt head). In the daylight it looks really good; the graphics are very simple yet effective.

I got on the turbo this morning as well, nothing specific just an attempt to burn some calories and get the legs moving. I did though, do 20 minutes at my planned 2010 IM relay pace of 38kmh. This threw up some interesting (or maybe not!) stats. 38kmh equated to 94rpm in a 53/16 gear at 265 (Tacx) watts. This means I need an FTP of 340 watts in 2010 which represents an increase of 20 watts or 6.25% over my Sep 2009 figure; an entirely achievable target I would say and something I can focus on quite specifically in the weeks and months ahead.

Enjoy the rest of 2009, have a Happy New Year and train smart.

Litespeed Pictures

At last, and they're not very good quality pics either and if I had thought about it a bit more I would have found a plain background to take the pictures against. Never mind. I continued rebuilding my Litespeed this morning; why is it that nothing ever seems to go smoothly? I had a few problems getting the rear mech hangar on and getting the rear brake bolt seated correctly, both due to the extra paint from the respray. It doesn't help that I was being extra careful as I didn't want to damage the paintwork before I ride it in anger. As you can see there is still a bit to do; primarily to get the seatpost in properly, add chain and then cable it up. I'm quite impressed with how well the dark grey of the Ultegra SL groupset goes with the white paintwork, and the Planet X carbon fibre bottle cages are the icing on the cake.

Hope you all had a good Christmas and are looking forward to 2010.

2010 A Races

I have now entered my 2 A races for 2010. The first is The Outlaw IM-distance triathlon on 8 August and the second is Quelle Challenge Barcelona on 4 October; both are as the cyclist in relay teams. The Outlaw hasn't released details of the bike course so predicting a time is difficult at this stage but I'll be aiming for 5 hours or so. Barcelona is a known quantity for me and so I am setting my target at 4:50. This would represent a 27 minute improvement on 2009 but I reckon if I pace myself properly and feed as planned then this is achievable (plus our swimmer is targetting sub 50 minutes so I need to get my act together!).

I can now relax over Christmas and New Year and train for no other purpose than weight management, before getting ack in to the programme on 2 Jan 10.

My Litespeed ...

A bike barely alive.

We can rebuild it.

We have the technology.

Yes, its started, the Litespeed is a smaller pile of bits than it was a couple of nights ago and is more of a whole. I will get pictures this weekend - honest.

Sometimes kids make you feel really good

Kids can create plenty of stress and problems, but there are occasions when they make you feel all warm and proud to be a parent.

This week we attended our daughter's school for a violin and cello concert. Our daughter has only been playing the violin for one school term but she was enthusiastic about taking part. After the group songs 2 children did solos, including our daughter. The first child was very competent but played a song I had never heard of (and I suspect neither had many parents). Our daughter, on the other hand, played 'Twinkle, twinkle little star', recognised by all including a young lad sitting next to us. She was fabulous (father's rose tinted spectacles maybe!!!). I do know, though, that at 8 years old I would never have stood up in front of 150 people to play a musical solo!

Anyway, enough of that. As we approach the end of 2009 I would like to wish all my blog followers a very Merry Christmas, and may 2010 bring everything you wish (and train hard) for!

Easing back into it gently

I'm back on my bike, albeit that it's on the turbo in the garage and just working through easy spinning with very short reps at a slightly higher intensity. The aim is simply to get the legs used to cycling again. The weather has been truly horrible of late and I'm not sure I can remember such a consistently long period of very wet weather (or is it that my memory is just fading?), but I am planning to get out on the road on Sunday even if it is just for an hour or so. From little acorns ...

I've had a couple of parcels arrive wih goodies for my Litespeed; carbon bottle cages from Planet X and a USE Carbon Alien Cyclops seatpost. Both are gorgeous and super light. I will start piecing the Litespeed back together this weekend but have to wait for Christmas for all the bits. I really am quite excited about riding this bike again; it will be interesing to see what difference a 1.5 pound weight reduction makes to the ride, or will I not notice? We shall see.

Train smart folks.

Eek! Where has the time gone?

Hard to believe it's almost 3 weeks since I blogged, but there's a very good reason. I have been doing hardly any training. On the plus side, my Litespeed frameset is back from Bob Jackson Cycles in Leeds after its respray. It looks fab (there are a couple of blemishes that would have failed my quality control but overall I am very happy). and I can't wait to buld it up over the Christmas break. I do have pictures of the frameset and will post them as soon as I can be bothered to download from my phone.

I am on leave this week so why am I not training? To be honest, I have been earning domestic brownie points and clearing out some clutter and feel really good about it. The house is looking much better and I can actually find things!

Hopefully I will get back in to a proper routine (including some decent cycling) next week. I'll ket you know.