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.