Getting Ready

This evening I sat down and prepared my training diary for the season ahead. I have my own Excel spreadsheet that needs a bit of work at the beginning of each year but gives me plenty of information and compiles any number of stats. I have also broken it down into Base and Speed phases, included recovery weeks and a taper period leading up to The Outlaw. I haven't worked out the details of each phase just yet but there is plenty of time for that detail; I'm going to try something different this year and see how it goes. Of course, the biggest change from the last 2 years is that I have to incorporate swimming and running into the programme again so don't expect to average anything like the 212kms per week I averaged on the bike in 2010. That said, I still hope to get a minimum of 7 hours a week on the bike so may not be that far off 200kms most weeks.

I'm feeling enthusiastic and excited about the year ahead; I would like to have done the Alpe D'Huez race with Coach Roy and Reg but I really can't this year. Will I ever do it? Who knows.

Happy New Year to you all.

Bikes

I thoroughly enjoyed today. I've been avoiding my bikes for no particular reason and with my back injury there seemed little point in doing anything with them. But today the back felt a little better (not better as in it's now OK but better as in not very painful, just painful) and I had some time to work on the bikes.

First things first, print off the results from the Retul bike fit and gather together an assortment of tools on the dining room. Yes, too cold to work in the garage and working in the dining room meant I could listen to the Radio. I am a Radio 2 fan and this afternoon I enjoyed Patrick Kielty followed by Jarvis Cocker and then an interview with Keith Richards. In between the amusing chat was some excellent music. Very enjoyable.

First into the dining room was my Litespeed. Off with the old tyres and inner tubes and on with brand new Continental inner tubes and GP4000s tyres onto the Hed Ardennes rims. It was then time for the tape measure and to set the bike up exactly to the Retul fit. A quick change of stem and I was happy. This is a very sweet looking bike and with the Hed wheels I reckon is hovering around the 17 pound mark and I am quite confident that wherever I go I won't see another like it.

Next in to the dining room was the Planet X that is now running Shimano 10-speed. First task was to fit the new Cateye lights. The new rear light was added to the old one and the effect was, to say the least, bright! The new light also shows red lights to the side that is an excellent safety addition. The new front light also went on and with the mudguards already fitted this bike is now ready for riding in January and February. It was then the turn for the Planet X to be subjected to the tape measure, and another stem change was required but after a few minutes of fettling the PX was, give or take a mm here or there, set up exactly the same as the Litespeed and ready for riding.

Next (yes, I was really enjoying myself) was my old Scott bike. I fitted the old inner tubes and tyres I had just taken off the Litespeed and then got the tape measure out. I needed a shorter stem so a quick trip into the garage and ... horror of horrors ... I didn't have the right size! The Scott still needs a bit of work/money spent on it; it needs a chain, cables, bar wrap and brake blocks (and a stem of course!) before it is complete but I don't need it until the mornings/evenings get lighter and I can start commuting to/from work.

After that I tidied up the dining room and went out to the garage to get to work on the turbo bike. After many years of having this bike set up in tt spec I have reverted it to road bike spec. I had already removed the FastForward seat post and swapped the tt handlebars for drop bars and this evening was about getting the tape measure out and setting it up. I soon dscovered that the seatpost needed to be changed as there wasn't enough layback on the one fitted. I swapped it for a USE carbon one but this still didn't have enough layback, so a new seatpost is required. Having sorted that I then discovered I need a new stem for this bike as well! By this time I was tired and it was late so I stopped where I was and took the dog for a walk.

Overall, though, a fun day messing about with bikes. And I'm really looking forward to riding them all again in the New Year.

All the best.

Christmas Presents

My ribs/back/side is still very sore so no training to report. So I thought I would focus on something positive and record the bike associated Christmas gifts I received.

1. A pair of Continental GP4000S tyres. Excellent; new tyres are always welcome.

2. A set of Cateye lights. An excellent addition for the Planet X training bike and will guarantee I can see and be seen.

3. A pair of Sealskinz gloves. Windproof and waterproof and made with merino wool so should be warm as well; I'm actually looking forward to testing these out on the road.

I also received some other very useful stuff like Toblerone (the chosen sweet of the Gods!) and a Pure Highway DAB radio for the car; this will be brilliant for the return journeys to Leeds that I do on a fairly regular basis.

I plan to measure and adjust the turbo bike today so at least I should be able to get on the turbo for some easy cycling until the ribs are ready for the harder stuff (hopefully by the time the training plan starts on 3 Jan 11).

Happy New Year!

Ho Ho Bloody Ho!

Christmas Positive. I've had a lovely break spending time with my kids. They are 3 very different individuals and so they require different sorts of attention. But I enjoy it all. We had a lovely Christmas day with an excellent dinner prepared by Mrs TM and a very chilled out and relaxed day. A few games but no stress. The late evening flatulence has been a bit of an issue though; I blame the sprouts (food of the Devil!).

Christmas Negative. I fell over on Friday evening. It was a comedy event but the repurcussions seem to be quite serious. I went to the bathroom and stepped on a bottle of shower gel left on the floor. The natural reaction when you step on something unexpected is to lift your foot and place it on something solid; unfortunately my readjustment placed my foot on another bottle. The upshot of this comedy calamity was that I fell over, scattering shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and bubble bath bottles to the 4 corners of the bathroom. The downside was that I landed heavily on the bath with my mid-back and side taking the impact. It was immediately very painful but I thought it would pass within a day or so. 2 days later and it is still really painful, and coughing or laughing is a very uncomfortable experience. I'm hoping that I will wake up in the morning feeling better. But I doubt it somehow. Fingers crossed.

The Winter Bike

Is ready! 10-speed, mudguards and lights. Excellent! Shame it's waaaaaaaaaay tooooo foooooooookin' cold to be out cycling! :-) But the turbo bike is ready, so I am ready. But it's Christmas ... so I'm resting. So I'm getting fat. :-)

Love you all. See you in the New Year.

PS I'm seriously tempted to turn up at the IS duathlon - that should give you all a laugh! Haven't done the duathlon since the Number 69 Porn Pants debacle - Jackie Wren still laughs about that!

How do you make sportives better?

In case you can't make out the highlighted text, it reads:

"After listening to rider's feedback, we're glad to announce that there will be beer tents at our 2011 events selling Ringwood Ale!"

Cheers!

The Turbo Bike Lives Again!

With yet more mild weather I was back in the garage tonight and uncovered the turbo bike. I fitted the tribars and re-attached the Tacx kit and plugged it in. I'm glad to say it all worked fine although I may need to tweak the position in the weeks ahead. But at least I have a viable alternative should the snow come again over the Christmas break.

And I've entered my first sportive for 2011 - very local: http://www.meonvalleyriser.co.uk/

That's the parties over with!

Phew! What a week that was. It started last Saturday with the HMS Sultan Christmas Ball and what a Ball it was; a thoroughly enjoyable night and I got far more than my 6-monthly quota of 'Dad Dancing' in. G&Ts too! :-) And then last night was the work Christmas Party and - Wow! - another fantastic night. Well afternoon and evening actually as we started at lunchtime and I was home by 9! Another whole bunch of 'Dad Dancing' under my belt and rather than G&T I thought I would go the medicinal route and top up my iron levels by hitting the Guiness. :-)

And I've managed all this while suffering a severe case of man-flu that has prevented any training. On the positive side a couple of massive hangovers would probably have prevented training anyway but blaming man-flu is just, well, more manly! Hopefully I will shake it off in the next day or so and can get back into some sort of training next week. At least that's all the parties and heavy drinking over with for another year, just the food frenzy over Christmas itself to go. And before anyone says 'But you don't have to eat/drink too much', I know. But I enjoy it.

Enjoy the Festive Season folks, however you wish to interpret it.

The Outlaw Triathlon 24 July 2011

Entries have now opened and I am in. It's now a reality. I will enjoy the rest of December ticking over with my alternative unstructured training regime and undisciplined diet. But it will get serious (or at least as serious as I can be!) on 1 January.

It's a Snow Day! :-)

Not for me I hasten to add; I managed to get in to work. But the school is closed and Mary decided not to go in to work; not because she couldn't get in to work but because the forecast of more snow may have prevented her getting home. And coming to work means I can at least get to the gym at lunchtime.

Training has been really enjoyable of late, doing something different and mixing it up is very refreshing. Nothing too hard at this time of year although I did manage some "10 second sprints 50 seconds easy" on the gym bike that was much harder than I anticipated. I'm also getting about 90 minutes a day of walking that is very pleasant, especially on days like today walking through the virgin snow with the lights from the Isle of Wight reflecting on The Solent.

I'm still eating and drinking too much of the wrong things, but I do enjoy it and it's making me feel good. It is beginning to show on the scales but what the heck, I'm going to continue enjoying myself through December and then take a more disciplined approach come January, when the buildup to The Outlaw will begin properly.

Take care out there folks, it's very slippery.

Chilean Red Wine

It's been a bit of a quiet week on the training front. The cold weather has restricted me to just going to the gym at lunchtimes; I'm not even sufficiently motivated to go out to the garage and sort my bikes out. Never mind.

Last night I felt the need for a glass of wine so popped out to the village off-licence and picked up a couple of bottles of Andes Peak Chilean red, one Merlot and one Carmenere. I duly gave both bottles a good testing and can thoroughly recommend them. Felt a bit shabby this morning though!

No training planned for the weekend; Christmas shopping on Saturday and then sorting the bikes on Sunday.

Rest well folks.

House Purchase is 'Go!'

Mrs Turbo Man always says that things happen for the best, and so it seems with our house purchase. Our previous choice fell through as the survey revealed far too many issues for me, or indeed the mortgage company, to be bothered with. However, last weekend we made another trip north to view another 10 properties but knowing that if we didn't find anything suitable we would stop looking until the New Year. We saw some real dogs of properties, some that needed a great deal of work, and one or two really, really nice ones. After discussing what we had seen, this morning we made an offer that was accepted this afternoon. So we are now back into the house purchase spiral of watching money disappear from our account faster than donuts at a fat kids birthday party! But the house is lovely, it is located at the end of a no-through road right on the green belt so we will go out of the garden straight into the fields; ideal for the dog. It is very tastefully decorated (although one bedroom has been decorated for their young daughter that will need a lick of paint) and the kitchen has, at some point in the past, been extended and updated and includes one of those very nice range style ovens (with 8 hobs!) that they are leaving for us. It also has a large conservatory that almost doubles the size of the lounge and has a good sized garden overlooking the fields. It is only 2 bedrooms but with our boys now aged 17 and 15 we won't need more for very much longer and so we will make do; other than the bedrooms it ticked every one of our 'want/need' boxes.

Changing the subject completely, I spoke to my colleague who was knocked off his bike last week. He is absolutely fine; it seems the frame took the full force of the impact and he described his contact with the ground as 'like sitting down on the sofa'. And as Andy said in his reply to my previous post, the individual has been identified and is being dealt with by the police. My colleague is going to get a new bike out of it so it seems like it's a happy ending, if getting knocked off your bike could ever be described as a 'happy' occasion.

I'm still enjoying too much cake and not enough training, although my jog/walk training is now up to 5 mins jog/2 mins walk that equates to a 4:25 marathon if I could sustain it.

Stay safe folks.

Be careful out there

We sometimes forget how vulnerable we are as cyclists, until something happens that makes you realise that we, cyclists, are at the mercy of drivers and whether they are paying attention to the road or their phone etc etc.

Yesterday, a colleague from work was out for his regular lunchtime ride. At a nearby set of traffic lights a car went through a red light and hit him. The impact was severe enough to break the frame completely in half! The car then hit another car before driving off. That's right, the piece of **** driving didn't even stop. I've not spoken to my colleague yet but by all accounts he is OK. No doubt a little shaken but probably just grateul to be alive.

So during these dark mornings and evenings, be sensible. Be safe and be seen. Or ride the turbo!

Take care folks.

A very enjoyable week

This week has been a bit of a mixed bag, which seems to be a common theme for me over the past few weeks. I've managed some excellent training sessions with a good mix of swimming, gym bike, core, strength and treadmill work, but missed 2 sessions. The first was missed for a work related reason and the second was the fault of the Royal Navy. Or, more specifically, the Fleet Air Arm. Yes, I went to HMS Sultan's Taranto Night dinner in the Mess, sorry, Wardroom and Friday was spent facing up to the consequences of a very late night and too much excellent food and gin, white wine, red wine, port and more gin. It was a very enjoyable evening.

This weekend I hope to get my bikes sorted so I will be ready to start riding out on the road next weekend, although if the weather continues like it has been this past week I doub I will be getting muc riding outside at all; it has been truly horrible down here.

House purchase falls through, but training is going well!

Unfortunately the house we were planning to buy (17th century cottage, stone walls, oak beams etc) has fallen through, there were simply too many 'issues' that made it a too risky proposition and the mortgage company decided they would not lend us the money for that property. The good news is that there are plenty of other very appealing properties in the area that would suit us, so hopefully we can find another before too long.

I'm really enjoying training at the moment. My programme is a pleasant mix of swimming, cycling (gym bike, weather is too grim to be outside at the moment and the turbo bike hasn't been set up properly yet), running (or at least my sort of 'running'), weights and core work. I'm not keeping a training diary at the moment so am not chasing hours or mileage,and it's all very pleasant. My diet has improved but I'm still having the occasional drink and cake so there is still room for improvement on that front. But not just yet!

I hope you folks are all taking it easy. It will soon be Christmas!

I can't believe that swimming made me happy!

But I swam 1km today in 19:01. This made me very happy.

1 Nov 10. Another Fresh Start

The end of season gluttony is over and today I started my journey to becoming an Outlaw; 24 July 2011 is a long time away so it will be lots of small steps. As regular blog readers will know I have already started swimming and running (my version of running) and I won't start keeping a training diary until the New Year; for now it is all about getting back into the training routine and eating healthily.

Swim Progress. After a couple of weeks checking I could still swim I decided I needed to try a couple of longer reps and see what sort of times I was doing. So today I started with a 400m rep and after a few shorter reps concluded my session with another 400m rep. The good news was that I completed the first rep in 7:25 and the second in 7:35; I also swam over 1500m without too much drama (admittedly with some long rests between reps!). I am delighted with how the swimming is going.

I'm feeling very positive about things at the moment. Long may it continue.

I'm Enjoying the Off-Season

After 2 years of cycling I'm really enjoying doing something different, although for you triathletes swimming and running doesn't really constitute something different! I've also introduced some weights into my weekly routine, a low weight higher rep session and and higher weight low rep session. I must say that my muscles are noticing the change in emphasis as well, and I do ache in a whole bunch of different places!

I've done 2 swim sets this week, Monday was 5 x 200m + 8 x 33m lengths of drills and technique. Wednesday was a MASSIVE 6 x 200m session on 4:30 with swim times as:

3:32

3:34

3:39 (fatigue setting in already)

3:47 (easy)

3:34 (increased effort level)

3:57 (very easy)

Considering my swim history over the last 2 years I am absolutely delighted with these times. Distance in increasing slowly; absolutely no need to rush.

Bike prep is continuing. I would recommend anyone who needs some Shimano 10-speed STIs to pop over to Parker-International's website; they have brand new 2008 Ultegra STI's for an absolute bargain price. I can now upgrade my Planet X bike to 10-speed and complete my old Scott re-build that will be left at the new house in Leeds.

Eating and drinking is continuing apace; in fact, even better than the bike prep! I got on the scales yesterday and it wasn't pretty. Never mind; I'll start eating sensibly again next week.

All the best fellow Bloggers.

More Work on the Bikes

With rest taking priority over traning I managed to spend some more time working on my bikes this afternoon. After a small amount of fettling I took the Litespeed around the block to make sure everything was working OK and I'm glad to report that all is good; the gear changes could be a little snappier so maybe need to increase the cable tension a tad, but not much. Sorry about the poor quality photos, I will use a decent camera next time rather than my phone.

I then set about putting the RoadRacer Mk 2 mudguards onto the Planet X, and apart from the compact dimension causing some problems resulting in me having to fit the old Mk 1 rear mudguard, I now have mudguards fitted. Hopefully this means I will ride a lot more through the Winter but I'm terrible when it comes to riding in the cold and wet so may be it won't!

With that job out the way I then set about turning the turbo bike from a tt set up back to a road bike. This was a fairly straightforward job as this bike has downtube shifters so there are no gear cables on the handlebars to change over. I then had to remove the Profile Fast Forward seat post, replace it with a road one and swap the saddle over. Easy peasy. Need to measure and set up correctly but the parts are all moved across now.

I've also been putting my old Scott bike back together. I was going to sell this but it will now be built up and left at our new house in Leeds. I just need some STIs and cables to complete this, but as we all know STIs are not cheap so this may have to wait a few weeks as funds are needed elsewhere just now.

Looking ahead, I should get to the pool a couple of times this week to continue my swimming renaissance, complete 2 weight training, 2 easy turbo and 1 x 1 hour jog/walk sessions. If the weather is OK and all is good I may even get out for a road ride next Saturday; it won't be hard and it won't be far but it would be nice to get out.

Small Steps, One at a Time

Today I decided to put my jog/walk strategy to its first proper test. Could I do it? Could I sustain it? The test would be 10.55 km (one quarter of a marathon) done as 3.5 mins at 10.5kmh, 3.5 mins at 7kmh, then repeat until I reached 10.55km, done on a treadmill. The good news is that I reached 10.55km in 1:11:22; assuming I could continue with the strategy and maintain the speeds that would equate to a marathon in 4:45:28 and, if I could do that on race day, I would be over the moon. Afterwards I felt good and some 8 hours on I have no stiffness in my muscles and no fatigue. All good signs.

Bike blinging continues. Check this out:

Yes, a gold chain. Ultimate bling? Or chav-tastic? Personally, I can't wait for it to arrive; I think it will look ace.

Bike Blinging

Not having to train in the evening is quite pleasant. Today I finally finished unpacking my TT bike from the Barcelona trip and stripped it of it's useful parts. The brakes went onto my Scott in preparation for bike duties at the new house. The FSA ceramic bearing bottom bracket was removed and fitted to my Litespeed. The rear mech was removed to also go onto the Scott, but not before I took the FSA ceramic bearing jockey wheels off and replaced them with 'normal' Ultegra ones. The ceramic ones were fitted to the Ultegra SL rear mech on the Litespeed. Do ceramic bearings make a difference? I don't know if it can be measured on a power meter but it certainly feels easier to turn the cranks by hand (finger!) and certainly feels much, much smoother.

The Litespeed (my Outlaw race bike) is now almost ready for 2011; it just needs new clip on tri-bars (and new tyres before next season starts, of course). It needs a clean and a polish and then I will post some pictures. It's quite under-stated and, to me at least, is all the better for it.

Hopefully we are all enjoying rest and cake; or does anyone have any races left this year?

All the best.

Winter Training

What do you do in Winter?

I guess the first things to do are to critically analyse your season's performance and then consider what needs to be worked on to generate the greatest improvements for next year. For me, in very simple terms, it is quite straightforward. Based on my season review I need to work on better cycle endurance, ie be able to sustain a higher speed for longer. For next year though, I also need to add swimming and 'running' goals. With The Outlaw on 24 July 2011 being my A race next year, my 2011 targets are as follows:

1. Be able swim at a minimum of 2:00 mins per 100m for 3800m.

2. Be able to cycle at a minimum of 34kmh for 180km.

3. Be able to jog/walk at a minimum of 8.5kmh for 42.2kmh.

Easy to write down, but the hard work still has to be done.

Swimming. The next few weeks will be spent getting used to swimming again and I'm happy that I'm already swimming at sub 2:00 per 100m so just need to work on maintaining the speed as the distance increases. I'm under no illusion that swimming 3800m is my biggest challenge for next year. I also need to ensure that I don't overdo the swimming as getting fed up with going to the pool is possibly the biggest threat to my 2011 goal.

Cycling. Cycling will take a back seat until the New Year while I concentrate on developing my swimming and 'running' skills and general conditioning work. Weekly cycling in this period will include: one easy (as in sub 140 bpm) turbo session, starting at 30 mins but increasing to an hour over the next couple of weeks; one max sprint interval session done as 30 seconds max 4 mins L2 recovery; one LSD road ride (max 140 bpm), starting at 2 hours duration.

'Running'. The running is in ' ' because I don't plan on running, so whenever I say running from now on I mean my jog/walk strategy. Again, I can already achieve the speeds I have set and so I will be working on doing this for longer. You never know, as the weeks go by I may find that I can extend the jog intervals and reduce the walking, this could significantly affect my marathon finishing time. We shall see.

Conditioning. General strength work as well as core stability and flexibility exercises, something that is increasingly important as we get older and something that I am certainly guilty of not doing enough of throughout the season.

So there's my plan for between now and the New Year. I'm feeling very positive about 2011 at the moment and don't want to lose the enthusiasm.

Rest well folks.

Dunsfold Sportive

My last event of the year, based at the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold aerodrome. The weather was cold, very cold. My car thermometer was showing -1 as I approached the venue, much colder than I had anticipated but fortunately I had packed a light base layer, arm and leg warmers, and a gilet. Unfortunately I had overlooked winter gloves.

I met up with my ride buddies for the day, Ed and Darren, and we headed off towards the end of the long route queue. We were soon passing people and I was feeling good. I was working hard though, and HR was bouncing around above 160bpm for a large proportion of the time. After about 70km I mentioned to Darren that it felt like I was riding through treacle (not a very pleasant experience!) and I was clearly holding Ed and Darren back. At the last feed stop, with 40km to go, I decided to change to the mid-route and let them ride the final 18km loop without an anchor. I reached the finished, packed the car and enjoyed a nice hot cup of tea.

I had about 40 minutes before Darren and Ed appeared at the finish line that gave me time to take stock of my season. If I'm honest, I reckon I peaked at the New Forest Rattler towards the end of August; this was certainly my best ride. After that it was a struggle to maintain motivation with domestic matters taking a priority and some cumulative fatigue from training for an A race in October. C'est la vie.

Looking ahead, we will hopefully be in our own house by Christmas that will bring plenty of opportunity for practising riding hills. I plan to ride the bike less between now and Christmas and focus on swimming, jog/walking, and SCSF (strength, core, stretch and flex). It will be interesting to see how 2011 pans out.

Rest well folks.

Wheels for Sale

Planet X disk wheel (Shimano). Good condition with minimal wear on the brake surface. For sale with Vittoria Corsa Evo CX tub that has plenty of life left in it. No skewer or cassette though. £300.

Planet X 82mm front wheel. Very good condition with minimal wear on brake surface. For sale with Vittoria Corsa Evo CX tub that has plenty of life left in it. No skewer though. £120.

Or £400 for the pair.

Also for sale are a pair of Zipp 440s. Yes, Zipp 440s, not 404s! The 440s were the predecessor to the 404 so they are a number of years old. They are 700c carbon rims for tubulars. I am at least the 3rd owner but have done no mileage at all on them in the last 2 years. The previous owner changed the hub so the rear wheel will accept Shimano 9 or 10 speed cassettes. Since owning them the front has been overhauled at Phil Corley Cyles in Milton Keynes who replaced a few spokes. These are not new and are for sale without tyres, skewers or cassette. And can be yours for £150.

Contact me on 93844 2077 or leave a message here.

Happy Birthday to me!

:-) :-) :-)

The first steps ...

After my successful trip to the pool yesterday I decided I should maintain my enthusiasm by getting on the treadmill again. The point of this exercise was to set my jog and walk speeds to meet my sub 5 hour marathon target. After some trial and error I have settled (at least for the time being) on a jog speed of 10.5kmh and a walk speed of 7kmh (according to the treadmill - will evaluate on a couple of other treadmills and then take it outside!), alternating each for 3.5 minutes at a time. By my calculations this should have me completing the marathon a few seconds under 4 hours and 50 minutes. Even better news was that it was so easy to do.

So that's it, the race strategy is now sorted and up to Christmas I will focus on getting lean again, building strength and doing plenty of core, stretch and flex activities. There will be 2 x 30 min swim sessions per week and 1 hour practising the jog/walk strategy on the treadmill and a long ride (2 - 3 hours) at the weekend. I reckon this will see me into the New Year in the best shape I will have ever been in. The New Year will see formal training resumed, focussing on developing swim endurance at race pace, bike endurance at race pace, and extending the time practising the jog/walk plan. I will also do longer walks (not runs) to get used to being on my feet for a long time; ideally this will happen after my long ride at the weekend to get the benefit of walking with tired(ish) legs.

Welcome Back Turbo Man The Triathlete!

Yes, in 2011 I will be returning to Long Distance Triathlon by entering The Outlaw on 24 July. Not exactly sure why I've decided to return to tri but the time just seemed right to give it another go. Sorry for appearing to build up the suspense but I had to get in the pool and try swimming again before making any announcement. So today I headed to the pool at lunchtime to see whether those feelings that made me stop so suddenly 2 years ago would re-emerge, and if not, whether I could still swim. The initial feelings were positive, I was actually looking forward to getting to the pool, and even climbing in and experiencing that horrible feeling as the cold water hits your stomach didn't put me off. I adjusted my goggles, took a deep breath, and pushed off. I kicked under the water surfaced, breathed out and my arms just seemed to know what to do, and did their stuff (well as much as they ever could!). Bilateral breathing just seemed to happen and I didn't suck in great lungfuls of water. Touch turn at the far end (I never learned tumble turns) and then steadily back. It's a 33m pool so took a bit longer than I remembered but I reached the end and stood up.

" Well that went as well as could be expected" as Wallace would have said!

The goggles leaked a bit so I faffed about adjusting them, just like old times. I did a few more reps of 2 lengths and then decided to time a few to set some sort of benchmark; I thought that if I could swim at 2:20/100m pace it would get me through 3800m in just under 90 minutes which would be a good start to my Outlaw on race day. The times were very consistent at 70 seconds for 66m so about 1:45 per 100m pace, very very happy with that. I reckon 2:00/100m over 3800m is a more realistic pace for me to aim for in July 2011.

With the decision now made the next step is to set some benchmarks for my jog/walk strategy. I want to average 8.5kmh for the marathon that will get me home just under 5 hours; not fast but my marathon PB (set at IM Frankfurt in 2006) is 5:11 so a sub-5 time would still qualify as a PB! I will do some tests on the treadmill and outside to see what sort of pace I can jog at and walk at and then determine how many minutes of jogging I need to do compared to walking. I'm setting out with the intention of jog/walk, and it will all be worked out in advance to deliver a pre-determined marathon time. It won't be fast but I'm hoping it will be fast enough. And I want to enjoy it so there will be no runs of 3 hours + in training.

So there you have it. Turbo Man the Triathlete is back. Wish me luck as I expect there will be some doubts on the way.

All the best.

So what does 2011 hold for me?

I was chatting to a colleague in the changing room today - yes, I went to the gym for 20 minutes easy on the bike and a 25 minutes introduction to weights - and we were talking about 2011 and, specifically, what were my plans?

I know that I will be on a course at Shrivenham from mid-August to mid-October so my season effectively ends in early August. So I need something to aim for, probably in July. I actually have an idea, I just don't want to share it just yet. If it happens, then it will probably surprise a few of you and maybe shock 1 or 2 others. But I think it might be fun. There are a couple of things I need to do before I'm sure and, from what I've read of late, I'm still not sure the event will actually be happening. So no point getting too excited just yet.

I'm still working on the details, but between now and Christmas I plan to focus on increasing my strength, by working with weights and core, stretch and flex sessions. I will still cycle, both in the gym and on the road, but just not as much. Come the new year this focus will switch around, so that cycling takes priority over strength. How long this phase will last will depend on what events I decide to complete. The Magnificat 200km sportive will definitely be one of my events as I under-performed there this year.

I'm still resting well, eating rubbish and enjoying it.

What does a resting athlete eat?

Full English breakfast (2 eggs, 2 rashers of bacon, sausage, big mushroom, baked beans and toast).
Lashings of hot coffee.
Fresh cream apple turnover.
More coffee.
Fresh cream cherry scone.
Surf and Turf (fillet steak with fresh king prawns, green salad, peppers, onions, carrots with balsamic vinegar).
A Crunchie (and it wasn't even a Friday!).
3 small Dairy Milk bars.
More coffee.
Red wine.

Thought I should add a few more words about my race, so here goes:

As for my race (the bike in a relay team), it never really got going. We received a yellow flag in T1 because I wasn't wearing a number, despite the relay teams being briefed that there was no need for the rider to wear a number on their back during the bike leg. This had made me somewhat grumpy and set the tone for my day. Matt was the 4th relay swimmer out of the water in 49 mins and handed over to me and I worked hard through the twisty part of the town with a plan of letting things settle down once on to the main part of the bike course. Unfortunately, despite feeling very good, my breathing was under control and it felt like I was barely putting any effort on to the pedals, my HR was sky high and refused to come down. I reached the 1st turn in about an hour and took the opportunity to use the tailwind to try and get my HR down. I backed off to about 34/35kmh but still my HR would not come down (at the 3 hour point my average HR was 163). And just to make matters worse, from about the 2.5 hour point my stomach decided it did not want to receive any more of the nutrition I was attempting to put into it. If you've never been tucked on your tribars at 40kmh and puked I would certainly not recommend it! And this became the norm for the next hour. Take nutrition and a few minutes later I would receive a mouthful of vomit back from my stomach. Hardly a fair exchange I would say. At one point I tried to say thank you to a marshal and it came out as 'BARF!' It took me an hour of this for my befuddled brain to tell me to switch to water. This seemed to do the trick although by this time I was dehydrated and way behind my nutrition plan and my sub 5 hour ride was now nothing but a dream. I therefore chose to sit up and enjoy the view and spin my way home. I was surpised that even doing this I was riding comfortably at 33/34kmh. And my HR, at last, dropped in to the 140s.

So that's Challenge Barcelona done and dusted. I have the Dunsfold Sportive to look forward to on 17 Oct and then I will get into my winter plan (lots of gym work, weights and only a small amount of cycling).

Eat well folks!

Challenge Barcelona - My 'Man in the Arena moment'

I really like the 'Man in the Arena' speech made by Theodore Roosevelt in 1910 (see the famous summary above). For me it epitomises why many of us compete (in whatever sport). We put ourselves out there but by it's very nature the result cannot always be positive. But we keep trying. And the fact that we keep trying is more commendable than those who prefer to comment on our failures.

For me, Challenge Barcelona 2010 was my 'Man in the Arena' moment. I came up short. I wasn't covered in dust, sweat and blood, but by dust, sweat and vomit. It was hot, very hot, and humid and I failed to take action to reduce my sky high HR early enough. I could get the nutrition in, but it refused to stay in. I am hugely disappointed as I thought I had prepared very well; I was below 70kg and my bike power was slightly up on 2009. And yet it still went horribly wrong. There is very little more to say about my performance.

Matt Molloy was my room mate in Spain and swam for the team in a very impressive 49 minutes (although what was more impressive was that he didn't barge into the bathroom and take a photo of me shaving my legs - take note Monsieur Briggs!). He then went on to cycle for another relay team in an almost as impressive 4 hours 50 minutes. Matt has entered IM Austria in 2011 and hopes to qualify for Kona; he's also hoping to break the Irish IM record that currently stands at 9.01 (I think!). I'm confident he can achieve both; he's a really nice guy and I wish him every success in 2011.

As you are probably aware, Cavegirl Kelda ran for us. For 18km. Kelda has had a great year of cycling but a bad year of running and a marathon in the heat was a big ask and, as it proved, several steps too far. So be it. Another 'Man in the Arena' moment perhaps?

It's now time for my winter break and, to be quite honest, I am ready for it. I want to eat cake, drink wine and not keep a training diary. I have an idea of what I want to do between now and Christmas but my 2011 plans are completely up in the air at the moment. Let's wait and see shall we?

Rest well folks.

Challenge Barcelona - I'm on my way ...

The bike is packed, just got to put my race kit and some spare underwear in a bag and then I'm ready. The alarm is set for 0400 tomorrow; ye gods!

I'm not sure what race tracking is available but the relays are going last and have a scheduled start time of 0840. Our race number is 2344 and our team name is Tres Vinos Finos ('3 Fine Wines'), because we're getting better as we get older!

Hopefully I will have another PB to report on when I get back. All the best.

House Purchase

People have said that buying a house is one of the most stressful things you can do. Well at this moment in time I will disagree. We saw a house we really liked, we put an offer in, the offer has been accepted, and now the legal stuff is going on. To be honest, when we made the decision to buy a house we honestly thought it would take some time to find the right place and get things moving. Whether it's the fact that neither the seller nor ourselves are in a chain but things seem to be galloping along, and we are delighted by this progress. I suspect things will slow down a tad now but that's fine by us. I am confident the house will be ours by Christmas.

The plus side of buying a house is that we get to furnish it. Kitchen, living room, bedrooms blah, blah, blah. What I'm really interested in is the turbo dungeon. The house has a cellar and this will become Turbo Man's domain. I will store a bike there and will set up a turbo trainer complete with sound system, TV and DVD player. I'm seriously considering getting a virtual reality trainer as well; may as well do the job properly!

All that, of course, is in the future. More immediately I have Challenge Barcelona just 5 days away. I had my last hard session today, a really tough interval session that saw me get within 2 beats of my max HR on one occasion and above 95% of MHR on 5 of the 6 intervals! Tomorrow is an easier day and then I will be up at the crack of dawn on Thursday to head for Gatwick airport. I'm hoping that any fallout from the General Strike that is taking place in Spain on Wednesday will have sorted itself out by the time I fly around lunchtime.

All the best.

When do you become 'responsible'?

Mrs TM and I are just back from a thoroughly enjoyable weekend seeing the kids. We stayed in The Marriott Hotel by Manchester Airport (courtesy of Tesco vouchers!) and very nice it was too. I even ventured into the swimming pool and managed about 100m of front crawl in between playing around on the floats, boiling in the sauna and chilling out in the jacuzzi. It was great to see the kids; they are all looking well and the youngest 2 seem to have grown noticeably in the 3 weeks since they started back at school. Keeping up with teenagers, though, is very hard. Our second son didn't stay with us on Friday night because he had to be up early to go and play rugby in Hull on Saturday (they won 41-0). We picked him up as we dropped our eldest son off; he was off to a social evening with his friends on Saturday although we did all meet up again on Sunday morning.

Getting back to the title of this post, when do we become responsible? Is it when we leave home? Get a job? Get married? Have kids? Well I've done all of those things so I suppose I must be responsible, but is owning a house the ultimate expression of being responsible? We decided, almost on the spur of the moment, that now was the right time for us to get on the property ladder. We made a list of things we wanted in a property and started browsing the internet and drew up a shortlist of properties we wanted to view. To cut a long story short we have seen a property that fits almost all of our requirements. In fact it far exceeds what we were expecting to buy and it will stretch us financially in the short term. But it is a lovely place; the building itself is some 250 years old and so benefits from oak beams and 16 inch stone walls. It also has a cellar that Mrs TM has already agreed would become a proper turbo dungeon! However, I'm getting ahead of myself. We need to ensure the finances are in place and go through the legal motions to make it all happen. Fingers crossed!

What this house purchase business will mean is that any 2011 cycling plans I may have had have gone out of the window. The revised plan will include a bunch of sportives as and when I can get them in and hopefully The Outlaw triathlon as parto f a relay team. And that will be about it. New bling and overseas trips will be sacrificed on the property altar, but hopefully 2012 will be better in this respect. We will just have to wait and see.

Looking ahead in the shorter term, I fly out to Barcelona on Thursday for the Challenge Barcelona triathlon. If I'm honest with myself I could have really done with this race 2 weeks ago as I felt lean and sharp then. The last 2 weeks have seen my training programme become sporadic and nutritionally I have not been as disciplined as I perhaps should have been. I will, though, enjoy the event and hopefully the fitness I have gained throughout the year will not have deserted me in the last 2 weeks and I can record another 112 mile PB (as I have on each of the last 3 occasions I have tackled this distance). Whatever happens, it promises to be a very enjoyable weekend.

All the best

New Event Added - Dunsfold Sportive 17 Oct 10

It seems that Barca won't be my last event of the year, as I've entered the Dunsfold Sportive. Maybe it's because it starts and finishes at the Top Gear test track and the chance (no matter how slim) of meeting The Stig ...

Or maybe I am The Stig?

Challenge Henley is GO!!!

A long course (ie Ironman-distance) triathlon on 18 Sep 11 with a swim in the Thames follwed by a lumpy bike course and a scenic run around on the tow path. Sounds ideal for all your mad IM-dstance athletes! I would love to do this (as part of a relay team of course) but I have other commitments already planned for Sep 11. Never mind, maybe 2012.

For further info see here: http://www.challengehenley.com/

The leg is getting better. Fortunately it doesn't appear to be stopping me from cycling although walking and stairs are a challenge. Fingers remain crossed that I will be fully recovered by 3 Oct.

Why now?

This morning I was up reasonably early to take our dog, Bandit, for his morning walk before heading out for a planned 3-hour ride. I met a fellow dog walker who was out walking his 2 dogs, one a lovely 10-week old whippet. I've met these a few times and my dog, a lurcher, enjoys playing with the whippet, which is unusual as he normally ignores puppies. But he seems to really enjoy playing with this one, and this was my undoing! Whilst running along Bandit had to take avoiding action so he did not trample on the whippet, and in doing so crashed into me; his shoulder hitting my calf. The pain was immediate and intense. Although I managed to stay upright walking was extremely painful. I managed to get home and after laying down for a bit I had a soak in the bath; the bike ride long forgotten. I went for another walk this afternoon that eased the muscle a bit but once home it soon stiffened up again. I'm hoping that I will wake tomorrow and all will be well.

2 weeks to Barcelona; I really don't need this. :-(

Southern Sportive - Me and my ride buddies

The Shutt VR Team. Darren (Diesel) Hague at the front, having recovered sufficiently enough to smile after fixing a puncture some 32km from the finish line and then TTing all the way home. Me, the cyclist. For all my tri buddies yes, I am that skinny now - no more muffin top! To the right of the picture is the leg of Squadra Donne team member Sarah Maidment. Not quite sure why the photographer focussed on Darren and I whilst Sarah was around but hey ho! no accounting for taste!

Shutt VR ride report is here: http://www.shuttvr.com/blog/2010/09/southern-sportive-2010-with-team-shutt/

Southern Sportive (Petersfield)

Slept in. Late. Windy. Sunny. Met ride buddies old and new. Hills. Lost contact lens on fast descent. Found contact lens inside sunglasses at first feed station. More hills. Big, steep hills. Flapjack, the food of Gods. Over 70kmh down Goodwood Hill. Ride buddy punctures on fast descent. Sorry mate, can't stop! Manic last few kms. Finish line. 5 hours 34 minutes. Gold. Very happy.

So, my last big ride before Challenge Barcelona has been completed and I feel I'm in better shape than last year. 3 weeks of maintenance and taper now before the big day. I'm really looking forward to it.

A low ebb

After dropping the kids off at school yesterday I had a final day of leave today to recover from the journey. 10.5 hours from leaving home to getting back takes it out of me although the journeys themselves were pretty good, with no real hold ups.

Today, though, we are feeling somewhat empty and a bit emotional. Mrs TM and I are waiting for a phone call from our daughter to find out how her first day was, but I've no doubt she is being kept busy and has plenty of other things to occupy her. This is a good thing, but is not helping our emotional state.

Chin up, stiff uper lip etc etc

Ceramic Bearings ... mmmmmmmmm

Before I start, I hope those fellow bloggers racing at The Vitruvian this morning had great races; no doubt I shall hear about it all in due course.

My BBB Ceramic Rollerboy rear jockey wheels arrived yesterday and I fitted them to the Shimano 105 9-speed rear mech on my Planet X bike that afternoon. After experiencing some creaking from the bottom bracket area during my ride that morning I also took the opportunity to remove the chainset and external bearings, clean it all out and re-grease it before carefully reassembling it all. I really like the external bottom brackets, as they are so easy to work on. It took me just 17 minutes to remove the chainset and bearings, clean it all, regrease it and put it back together. And the results were well worth it. This morning I had an almost totally silent bike when pedalling, and only the Mavic freehub clicking away when freewheeling. Fantastic. It feels really smooth as well.

I've had a so-so week of training. This week's priority has been to get the kids ready to go back to school so I have trained whenever possible. I have managed to get some 220km on the bike and will try and squeeze in an hour on the turbo tomorrow (Sunday) morning so not too shabby. Later that day I have to do a return trip to Leeds to take the kids to school which means up to 10 hours in the car, depending on traffic. I don't know if it's an age thing but I find this really tiring. Our eldest is starting his A levels, our second son is starting his GCSEs and our daughter is starting boarding school for the first time so its a big change Chez Turbo Man. It's going to be strange with no kids in the house for the first time in almost 17 years.

Drive carefully folks.

A Hotch Potch of Stuff

Joviality returns. Not quite as good as the Batman version but hey ho!

A lot of things going through my head today so this may be a bit random.

Other cyclists. This morning I was out on my ride and, as is my want, I gave a cheery 'Good Morning' to all cyclists I pass; it doesn't matter what bike they ride - road, MTB, sit-up-and-beg - I greet them all equally. Many respond in kind but others just give me a stiff ignoring. Not even eye contact. What's up with these people? Look up and smile. You never know it just might make you feel better.

Jockey wheels. Yes, the humble jockey wheel. Usually overlooked but over the past couple of rides I've had a feeling that my drivetrain wasn't as slick as it should be (I even got off the bike at one point to check the rear brake wasn't rubbing). I decided it was a bottom bracket issue so took out the chainset and gave the bottom bracket a good clean and put it back together. Still not as it should be. The wheel freehub was next and after spinning the wheel a few times I concluded this, too, was fine. The chain was clean and had been properly oiled which just left the jockey wheels. I took them out and removed the 'bearing'; they were indeed filthy, although I would be very surprised if this was sufficient to create enough drag to be noticeable. I duly cleaned them and applied bearing grease to all surfaces (that I subsequently found out was a mistake, these should be lubed using a light oil) and put it back together. It was certainly an improvement but still nowehere near as smooth as my TT bike, that has a ceramic bottom bracket and jockey wheel bearings. Which got me thinking; are ceramic bearings worth the cost? The FSA jockey wheel bearings cost nearly £40 for an improvement that probably can't be measured (although rank highly in the bling stakes!). I wasn't prepared to pay that. But I did find BBB jockey wheel ceramic bearing sets for less than £20 and so, in the interests of bike science, I duly invested in these. They haven't arrived yet but I will let you know the results once they're fitted.

Training. Training is going well and I'm really enjoying getting out on the bike almost every day (the joy of being on leave). Add in the structured turbo sessions and the build up to Challenge Barcelona is on course. And I've exceeded 4500 cycling miles so far this year.

Speed. Increased speed is the result of a balanced and structured training programme. Last night I received an email advising that the results of the New Forest Rattler sportive were available. I duly checked and was very pleasantly surprised to find that out of 334 riders that started the 79 mile route Hamish and I had recorded the 5th fastest time. Very happy with that.

Carbon bikes. My Planet X has been getting plenty of use lately and whilst I enjoy the lightness of a carbon bike this particular frame is no more comfortable than my aluminium/carbon Litespeed. I suppose this is a bit disappointing but then it should not be a total surprise; the Litespeed (in it's day) was at the upper end of the aluminium frame scale whereas the Planet X is at the bottom end of the carbon frame scale. That's not to say it's a bad frame; for the money it is very good. It's just that I feel there are much better frames out there just waiting for me to try.

Expensive pants. And I mean pants as in the English usage not the American version. My lads are now teenagers and have started buying their own clothes, including underwear. I've never quite got my head around some of the prices charged by the so-called 'designer labels' for underwear but I may have to have a re-think. My eldest lad bought some Calvin Klein pants, but bought briefs rather than his preferred boxer style. I prefer briefs (hopefully not too much info for you there) and so he gave them to me. And I must say they are one of the most comfortable pair of pants I have ever worn.

Weight. I'm now comfortably under 11 stone (10 12.4 this morning, ideal for prancing around in Calvin Klein pants!) which I find remarkable considering the constant battle I used to have with my fluctuating weight. I'm really enjoying my food as well (although I daren't tell Cavegirl about some of the stuff I eat!).

Start of the new school year. Hell's teeth kitting the kids out ready for the start of the new school year is expensive. I could have bought a very good mid-range carbon fibre framed beauty for what it's cost to get the kids ready for school. Or have I got my priorities wrong?

Well I think that's enough ramblings for one day. Train smart folks.

Do you carry ID when out training?

A serious post for a change. For many years I have used products from Road ID (see here: http://www.roadid.com/Common/default.aspx ). Somehow I have managed to lose my last one so recently ordered a new one, the Wrist ID Elite in a nice shade of blue. The service, as always was excellent, and took just a few days to arrive from the USA.

Why do I wear one? The following is taken directly from the Road ID website:

The inspiration for Road ID was born in the fall of 1999. For my father, the inspiration was his concern for me as I trained for my first marathon. For me, the inspiration was a black, King Kong size pick-up truck that I nearly came face to face with on a long Saturday run. Earlier that fall, I began training for my first marathon. My father worried about me logging all those miles and would often tell me to “be safe.” One day, he suggested that I carry an ID so that he could be notified if I had an accident while training. Of course, I dismissed that suggestion. I thought: “What could possibly happen to me while running?” So, there I was, in a ditch, on the side of the road, having nearly been hit by the aforementioned pick-up truck. From that ditch, my father’s suggestion to carry ID started to make a tremendous amount of sense. Luckily I was OK. But, what if the truck had hit me? I would have been rushed to the local hospital as “John Doe.” Without proper ID, family members and friends could NOT be contacted. Likewise, my Medical records could NOT be accessed at the hospital. How long would I lay there unidentified? This freaked me out. A few months later, from my father’s damp basement, he and I launched Road ID. To us, Road ID has always been far more than a business. We are on a mission to save lives.Since 1999, we have received countless thank you letters and emails from customers that have used their Road ID in accident situations. Many of these customers say they might not be alive today if it weren’t for their Road ID. You can view some of these stories on our testimonial page.We thank you for visiting our site. While here, take the time to read a few testimonials. If you do, I trust that you will make Road ID your new training partner and enjoy the peace of mind that comes with wearing it. Remember, if you ever find yourself in a situation where you can’t speak for yourself, your Road ID will speak for you.

And there are many cases of people being injured or suffering sudden illness whilst out training, such as this well known one:

The unknown jogger lay in a Cardiff hospital mortuary for 36 hours. No one knew his name, his address or what had happened to him. There were no signs of violence yet the 39-year-old man had been found, lying in a gutter, at the side of a quiet residential road by a passing motorist. It seems he cracked his skull on the pavement as he fell, but the moments that led to his death remain a mystery. For international athlete Steve Cram to learn in a phone call that the victim was in fact his younger brother Kevin was devastating.

I'm aware that there are plenty of similar products to Road ID available but the important message is that whenever you are out training, always carry something that will identify you and/or enable your NOK/family to be informed.

Normal joviality will resume shortly. I hope.

Stay safe folks.

Winterising the Bike - in August!

Is 'Winterising' a word? Probably not but I know what I mean. My package from Wiggle arrived this morning (excellent service as usual) so this morning I set about fitting the bottle cages (easy peasy) and the Crud RoadRacer Mk 2 mudguards (somewhat harder, but certainly not difficult). The rear guard is indeed much longer than the original version (something I'm sure my ride buddies this winter will appreciate) and the extended guard around the front mech (see picture) is a very simple but no doubt effective piece of design.

The bike is ready to ride so I will take it out for an hour or 2 in the morning. After 4 quite intensive weeks of cycling this week has been all about unwinding and recovery, and there is very little in the training diary. The next 2 weeks will be fairly intensive leading up to my final long and hard ride (a 155km hilly sportive) and then it's a 3 week wind down to Challenge Barcelona.

Train smart folks.

More Rattler Pics

Early days, relatively clean:

The joys of Blissford Hill - all 25% of it.

Winter is Coming

What has happened to the Summer? The weather here (and I guess across most of the UK of late) is horrible: cold, wet and windy. And definitely not fun cycling weather. Which is probably why I visited the Wiggle website last night and ordered a set of the new Crud RoadRacer Mk 2 mudguards. I used the Mk 1s last winter but the redesign for this winter looks good, with extra material around the front part of the rear mudguard to provide additional spray protection for the front mech and your ankles. I believe the rear mudguard goes further round the wheel at the back as well to provide better protection for your ride buddies. I also ordered some now bottle cages so I don't have to keep swapping them from bike to bike, and being a bike tart I have ordered ones to colour co-ordinate with my Litespeed. I will provide pictures once the latest goodies have been delivered and fitted and the Litespeed is in winter spec.

This morning I dropped my 'retro' wheel off at the LBS to get the freehub sorted; hopefully that will be back early next week and I can maybe take the Litespeed out for a run the following weekend.

Take care folks.

Retro Wheels

Daz put me up to this! He mentioned when I posted some pics of my Planet X about getting some retro wheels and a few days later I unearthed these in my garage; they are Shimano WH-6500 wheels circa 2003. I used them for a couple of years when I first got into triathlon and they were really smooth and comfortable and I reckon they would be good for the winter trainer. After some faffing about getting the 10-speed cassette to fit I was somewhat peeved to discover the muppet that did the hub re-build a few years ago (and I haven't used them since) had lost a bearing and so there are only 8 on the drive side instead of the required 9. This would probably account for he freehub 'grabbing' when freewheeling so I will pack it off to the LBS for a service and hopefully it will come back smooth as silk.

Rattler Pictures

Me, looking dirty but happy!

My ride buddy, Hamish:

And some mucky legs!

Yesterday we had an interesting day out to Dorchester to visit the Terracotta Warrior Museum. Somewhat smaller than we had anticipated it was nevertheless interesting although I left with more questions than answers. There was lots of information about the Emperor and how he united China but very little about how the warriors were found and the excavation process.

More importantly, though, today is GCSE results day and we are waiting (im)patiently for news of our eldest son's results. Fingers crossed.
Edit: The results are in - 5 A*, 5 A and 1 B. He is very pleased (as are Mum & Dad). :-)

New Forest Rattler

Today it was back to the New Forest for the Rattler sportive; I did this event last year but had some mechanical issues that held me back, alhough I did still manage to finish. So this year the mission was to finish without any mechanical dramas and hopefully take a bunch of time off my 2009 standard (4 hours 20 mins).

I left the house under overcast skies and with a steady drizzle of rain. I picked up Hamish on the way and we arrived and registered in good time ready for the 0830 start. We were somewhat surprised to see the first riders set off at about 0815 and after unloading and assembling the bikes we wandered across to the start to see a fairly lengthy queue already waiting. We joined the end and set off at about 0915.

Our plan was to ride moderately hard all the way (not a very technical plan I grant you) with brief stops at the 2 feed stations to stock up on supplies if required. After a couple of miles we had left the rest of our start group behind and quickly caught up with the tail end of the previous group. The rain had resulted in the roads being quite slippery, and in a couple of places it was quite treacherous, with mud and gravel washed on to the road. We caught an ex-Army guy wearing a Help for Heroes shirt and after a chat he joined us until the first feed station where Hamish and I stopped and he carried on. We didn't stop long - top up the drinks bottles, 2 pieces of flapjack and a quick wee and we were off again. Once again it was just Hamish and I and we were exposed to the wind. We were, though, working well together and were maintaining an average speed above 20mph. Too well it would seem, as we picked up our own peloton who were happy to sit on our wheels but let us do all the work. We got a little fed up with this so attacked up a hill and left them behind. Shortly before the 2nd feed station we caught a group of 4 who were riding just a little slower than us. Rather than go through the whole 'peloton' thing again we decided to join their group and sat with them until the 2nd feed station. After repeating the routine off the 1st aid station we were on our way again, and quickly caught a large group that were travelling quite swiftly. We agreed to ride with these but we both noticed that, as the miles went by, the group was getting slower and slower. Decisive action was required. With 21kmto go, at the bottom of a hill, Hamish and I exchanged a 'look', had a quick exchange of words and then we accelerated; me at the front and Hamish on my wheel. We went passed the rest of the group and fully expected a few to grab our wheels. I had my head down and didn't look back until we reached the top. Not only had we left the group behind but they were actually out of sight! I was working hard at this point, and didn't realise how hard until I noticed that Hamish wasn't coming through to take a turn on the front, so we eased back a bit to recover. We were still going reasonably quickly though so I was surprised when a glance over my shoulder revealed a small group catching us, and at some pace. They came passed and we grabbed their wheel. Jeez these guys were travelling quickly. Just hanging onto their wheels my HR was bouncing around between 155 and 160!

We kept this up for a few kms and then we reached Blissford Hill. All 25% of it! Fortunately it's not very long and although we lost 30 metres or so to the rest of the group on the climb we soon caught back up and then all worked together for a very fast ride to the finish. Hamish and I were delighted to finish with a total time of a few seconds over 4 hours. My bike computer showed a ride time of 3 hours 54 minutes so I was well happy with that.

At the end we looked like we had participated in a cyclo-cross race; some very amusing sock marks! A great ride and another well organised event by the Rattler team. The hot soup, roll and tea at the end was very much appreciated. The New Forest is a lovely place to cycle through; today we had to avoid ponies, donkeys and cows, although there was no sign of the pigs we saw when we did the Spring Sportive in April!

I have a couple of days of downtime now; we're off to the Terracotta Warriors museum in Dorchester tomorrow; should be very interesting.

Rest well folks.

Fillet Steak

Mrs TM has taken the kids to see their Grandad for a couple of days and I have taken advantage by trying to be a little adventurous in the kitchen. Adventurous for me that is.

I love steak and so yesterday popped along to the local butcher for a bit of fillet steak; he only had 2 small pieces left but they looked ideal. I wasn't 100% sure how to cook fillet steak but we had taken delivery of the Primal Cookbook just a couple of days earlier that suggested how to ccok it. I therefore followed the simpe instructions and the result was ... mmm mmmm mmmmm delicious. Beautiful piece of meat fantastically well cooked. I kept it simple - I got some chips from the chip shop on the way home, 2 fried eggs on the chips with some tomato sauce, fried some onions and mushrooms and put the steak on a bed of lettuce. It really was good. I followed this up with my favourite pudding at the moment, banana, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries with fresh double cream, and washed it all down with a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape. And a flake to finish off!

Dinner doesn't come much better than that.

Woodcote Sportive

After a gentle week that involved some core, stretch and flex and riding my PX out on the road a few times, I was up early this morning heading towards Reading for the Woodcote Sportive. With 3 distances available I had (of course) chosen the long route; 83 miles and some 1800m of climbing. The weather forecast was for warm and dry conditions but it was going to be windy. Hey ho! It's the same for everyone.

I met up with a few buddies from Shutt Velo Rapide (see here for quality cycling kit: http://www.shuttvr.com/ ) and crossed the startline at 0915. I was riding my PX for the first time in a sportive and was curious to see whether there was much difference in a high end aluminium frame (my Litespeed) compared to a bottom end carbon frame (the PX). The route is best described as rolling with a few 15%+ hills thrown in for good measure. After the first hill I dropped my Shutt buddy but ended up riding on my own fighting the wind. My climbing ability has improved massively this year, due to a combination of things. My power is up a little, the bike has been set up properly after a bike fitting session, and I've lost a bundle of weight. Just before the first feed station at 45km my Shutt buddy came passed in a small group and I tagged on to the end. After a quick stop for a wee, top up the bottles and a slice of flapjack, we headed into the longest section of the course - the next feed station was at 110km. We were going well, picked up other riders and dropped some off, as is the way with sportives. The odd rider came passed as well. Some we hooked up with, some we let go as they were clearly way above our level. In the end we were 3. We arrived at the last feed station just before the 4 hour mark, and after a quick transition we set off and soon became part of a large group. At the next major hill, though, I hit the front and rode at what I considered to be a comfortable pace. I was therefore surprised at the top to look round and see just 2 others with me. The 3 of us were still together. Before the last climb we picked up another rider and with 15km to go I figured it was hammer time. I kept checking to ensure we were together but at the top of the last climb it was just me and one other rider; I'm not entirely sure where we lost the other 2 as my eyes were looking up the road and my heart was in my mouth! My surviving ride buddy was strong on the flats and set a good pace to the end; I led up the hills while he rode on my wheel and together we crossed the finish line. I was well chuffed to have achieved gold standard, not just for my 40-49 AG but also achieving a time that would have got me gold for the under 40s.

The PX rode well. It's a little more forgiving over the bumps but it doesn't feel as 'alive' as my Litespeed. I'm not sure exactly how to describe it but the PX just feels 'duller'. It's not bad, by any stretch of the imagination, and for a sportive its a good frame - handling isn't particularly 'racy' and it's reasonably comfortable. It certainly went up the hills very well and I had no issues on the descents. I would, though, really like to try a good carbon frame, such as the Cannondale Six or Specialized Tarmac (amongst others), and see how they compare.

My legs are fried now, so I guess it will be another couple of days of rest and active recovery. Next Sunday is the New Forest Rattler; a 79 mile sportive with a sting in the tail - the 25% Blissford Hill!

Train smart, recover well, and race hard. All the best.

New Gadget

At last, a gas inflator that fits a disk wheel; this will mean a couple less things in my saddle bag on the TT bike.

I'm thoroughly enjoying my recovery week; some gentle cycling, core, stretch and flex, cake, beer and tonight is curry night with some brandy & coke. On Sunday I am doing the Woodcote Sportive, a moderately tough 83 miler with some 1800m of climbing. Nice and easy, not chasing any times.

More Outlaw Pictures & Stats

Kelda’s swim: 1.02.25 - 129th place overall, 14th Team
T1: 1.39 82nd place leaving T2 - 47 places gained in T1 - the joys of relay teams!
My bike: 5.14.36 - 21st overall, 3rd Team - 28th place into T2
T2: 0.33 6th overall - 26th place leaving T2
Si’s run: 3.34.35 - 21st overall, 7th Team

Total Time: 9.53.50 16th overall and 5th Team.

And by my reckoning a new RAF Tri relay team record!

Outlaw Pictures

The swim start; Kelda was in there somewhere:

Mick out of T1 and around the lake:

Simon looking good (I guess this was lap 1 or 2 then!):

Westy:

Greg:

The Outlaw

What a thoroughly enjoyable race. In fact, I will go further. What a thoroughly enjoyable weekend. The stats are that the RAF Tri relay team finished 16th overall and 5th relay team home; splits (important to all triathletes!) were as follows:

Swim - Kelda - 1.02.25 (14th fastest of 26 relay teams)

T1 - 1.39 (9th)

Bike - Me - 5.14.36 (3rd)

T2 - 0.33 (6th)

Run - Simon - 3.34.35 (7th)

Total - 9.53.50 (5th)

It was a very early start. Awake at 0400 but Kelda provided an excellent breakfast of cheese omelette followed by berries and yoghurt. I felt really good as I walked down to transition, loaded my bike with bottles and pumped the tyres up. For the cyclist in a relay team that was all I needed to do. I said hello to the other RAF Tri competitors I saw and also a few TriTalk buddies, and then had a good view of the start. And then I could relax. Yeah right! I went to the loo, chatted to my fellow relay cyclists, checked kit, went to the loo etc etc. After some 50 minutes or so and the first swimmers emerged from the water. Seeing other relay teams hand over and set out on the bike was immensely frustrating, but we knew that an hour was a realistic target. I saw Greg MacDonald emerge after a great swim, I gave a shout of encouragement and he ran over, shook my hand and wished me good luck before he headed off to collect his bike. Paul Fullalove followed just a few seconds after Greg.

After 62 minutes or so I got the shout from our 'spotter' that Kelda was out of the water. A few seconds later and Kelda emerged from the change tent to hand over the timing chip. After a bit of a faff the timing chip was around my ankle and I grabbed my bike and headed out onto the course. The first part of the bike leg was around the boating lake and I was already into the groove and overtaking people. A couple of tight bends and it was out onto the road and then along a dual carriageway where the inside lane had been coned off for the race - excellent. My HR belt didn't seem to be transmitting the right figures as my computer was showing 240+ bpm at this point, and I resigned myself to racing by RPE, something I wasn't overly keen on after my disaster in Barcelona last year. However, it sorted itself out after a few miles and I settled into a rhythm. The 13.5 miles to the lap route seemed to take an age, but once onto the laps the route was relatively traffic free (although this would change as the day wore on). After a few miles I was heading up the only real hill on the course when I head a voice I recognised "Come on Mick, you've got no excuse!" It was Westy on his gorgeous Fuji bike. We chatted briefly before he headed off on his way to recording the 3rd fastest bike split of the race, and one of only 3 competitors to go under 5 hours for the bike. The bike route had excellent marshalls and feed stations but towards the end of the lap it got a bit lonely, and on a couple of occasions I wondered if I had gone off route! In some of the villages there were groups of supporters, and it reminded me of Frankfurt 2006 where the whole villages seemed to come out to support. In a couple of places, the organisers had to be creative to overcome safety issues at dangerous corners, and on one corner they had built a wooden structure that you rode up to travel in single file before re-joining the road. On another occasion you missed a roundabout by cutting through a pub car park! Very innovative. Towards the end of the lap was a very fast dual carriageway section where I took advantage of the tailwind and an 11-tooth for a few very fast miles.

At the end of the first lap I was greeted by Kelda and Adrian cheering me on. I think they were a little concerned because I was somewhat behind their predicted time of arrival. But I had a plan and after my issues at Barcelona last year I was determined to execute it properly. I'd set myself a target of riding at or about 145bpm for the first 2 laps; I say about because I was happy to let the HR rise above this going uphill (but not excessively so) but would then let it recover on the subsequent flat or downhill. This meant I was overtaken by a few people but I was determined to not allow myself to be sucked in to going faster than I had planned. I was still averaging around 35kmh so was happy. On the second lap I started to catch the BOPers but at this stage they were fairly well spread out and didn't cause any problems. I was also more disciplined in controlling my HR on this lap that resulted in a small drop in average speed. At the end of lap 2 I saw Kelda and Adrian again and headed off on to lap 3. It was now time to execute the next stage of the plan. HR limit was increased to 160 although this was not to be breached on the hills, and I was surprised how much faster I was travelling. I have 2 particular memories - one was of travelling downhill into one of the smaller villages and passing a 30mph speed restriction sign at well in excess of 40mph! The other was following a BOPer into a village that had one of those electronic speed signs - the BOPer went through and it was showing 14mph; I followed at 22! I was enjoying this lap; I saw an RAF trisuit ahead (still one of the most easily recognisable kits out there) towards the end of lap 2 but couldn't quite close the gap. But towards the end of lap 3 I caught him and gave a cheery hello mate as I went passed. I thought it was Paul Fullalove, but when the next RAF guy I passed WAS Paul Fullalove I was a bit confused (turns out the previous RAF rider was Greg MacDonald). I didn't dwell on it too much as I was working hard at this stage of the race, and at the end of lap 3 I headed for home (having had a near miss with a family pushing a pram). The next couple of miles were a head down full on TT effort, but the not very steep uphill to the right turn at the traffic lights really hurt, and I had the first twinges of cramp. The next few miles were painful - twisty, turny, potholes, speed bumps, gravel, you name it, if it could slow you down it was there. But out the other side there was only a mile or so to go to T2. I'd already recced the return bit and worked out where I needed to remove my feet from my shoes. Despite a woeful lack of triathlons of late I executed a perfect dismount and handed my bike to the very young ATC cadet, despite him being on the same side of the bike that I was. I looked up, and to my dismay, there was NO RUNNER. Simon, where are you? WHERE THE **** ARE YOU? A lady marshal obviously witnessed my distress and pointed to the far end of the tent. I looked up and there was Simon waving. I 'sprinted' (it's a relative term because 1, I don't run at all, and 2, I'd just ridden 111 miles (yes, only 111 miles) on the bike!) to the far end of the tent and Simon whipped off the timing chip and was on his way. I collapsed in a heap and was extremely grateful for the recovery bag provided by Kelda - Mars bar chocolate milkshake and banana. Excellent.

I was initially somewhat disappointed by my time, but after finding out that the fastest bike split was 4.52 and only 3 people went under 5 hours I was reassured that I had done OK. A quick check of the provisional results suggested I had recorded the 20th fastest bike split (of some 900 entrants). More importantly, I had a plan and executed it, managing to ignore other athletes and ride my own race. I had fuelled appropriately and was spent at the end, not before.

After something to eat and a very pleasant shower I was changed and back at the racetrack to watch Simon's progress. After 2 of the 3 laps he was looking good, and possibly heading for a marathon PB. Unfortunately Simon suffered an attack of cramp and in the final 8 miles dropped some 20 minutes off his ETA based on his lap 2 time. However, we were delighted to see him heading for the finish and at the end we ran down the finish chute together and crossed the line, arms raised (with me crashing in to the finish line marshal for good measure).

This was the first running of The Outlaw and it was an exceptionally good first effort. I had planned to give up time trialling at the end of this season, but as I drove away I mentioned to my son that I could be tempted back for another attempt next year. So who wants to make up a relay team for The Outlaw on 24 July 2011?

Ready for The Outlaw

The bike is ready. I am ready.

The helmet visor is brilliant - I don't have to wear sunglasses now which makes riding longer distances in the TT position a lot less stressful on my neck (I find the ridge of the sunglasses blocks my vision).

Just need to sort the 'admin' now; tent, sleeping bags, food etc etc.