Minehead CC - Porlock Hill Climb

The legendary Porlock Hill Climb... 4.1 miles @ 5% average gradient... and a very stable 5% at that. There aren't than many climbs of that duration in the UK. Not only that, they close the road for the duration of the competition. 

Long climbs are not exactly my specialty so I knew I wasn't going to come out of this race with a good time or position... even if the competition wasn't riddled with pro riders.

I'm not sure if it is the climb itself that attracts the pro's, the well organised event and hospitality of the Porlock community or the £300 prize for the winner. Either way it makes for a very competitive and exciting event... albeit useless for gaining points in the series.

Knowing that I was never going to get that much in the way of points I decided to go into the race with a very specific (if not painful) race plan. Go off hard, blow up and hang on.

According to BestBikeSplit.com I calculated a prize winning (7th) power output of 350W. The longest I have ever held that power output before was about 7-8 mins. This was going to be over 16 mins... but if there was ever a place to try it, it was here. The consistent 5% incline makes it easier to keep the power down... and as it doesn't change much, you don't find yourself going 'into the red' that much. Combining that with a race environment, it was the perfect place to attempt it.

Setting off I was finding it really difficult to hold back (which is typical of a race in general). The first minute I averaged 400W... but I still felt comfortable. Settling into the rhythm I was holding power ok. Fluctuation around the 350W +/- 10W. Before I knew it, I was at the hairpin bends... the half way mark. Getting out of the saddle coming out of the bends I realised my legs were beginning to feel it... they started to feel like jelly. 

From this point on, it started getting harder and harder to hold power. After another 3-4 mins I had blown up. I struggled to even hold threshold. I still had another 3-4 mins to go... it wasn't pleasant.

I'd overtaken my 2 minute man earlier in the climb and my minute man wasn't that far away. I had made good progress for the first half but I just couldn't bring him back in the second. He was holding his ground. It was still a good carrot to aim for. 

I don't really remember much of the last 1/2 a mile... I know I was probably upsetting the spectators with my birthing sounds and I vaguely remember the time keepers asking me if I was ok after crossing the line... I would have replied if I wasn't about to die from lack of oxygen.

As soon as I had caught my breath I made my way down... I always forget to drop off a bag of kit to put on at the top... instead I made my way down the 4 mile decent in nothing but a sweat ridden skin suit. I wont be making that mistake again... cold doesn't even describe it. 

The results were surprising...

Position: 14th/120

Time: 17:31

Average Power: 330W

I knocked 2 mins off last years time and took power PB's for my 8-18 min power output. 

Hill Climb Weekend #2

The second round of hill climbs was this weekend... a total of 4 races in two days! 

Saturday
Race #1 - UHC60c 0.5miles @ 6%

This sort of short hill definitely suits my attributes... 2-5min efforts seem to be my preferred choice. This one will be anywhere between 1:30-2:00 for the majority of riders. 

With a target power of 500W based on my PB power over this duration it was just a case of go hard and hang on! 

There was a slightly shallow section before the 6-8% ramp starts... Get the momentum up and try and hold it for as long as possible. Before you know it, the crest of the hill is in sight and your legs have turned to jelly. Like pushing down with two bits of rope instead of legs you attempt to muster every bit of energy before throwing the bike over the line. With a brutal headwind for most of the climb I was glad to have a disk wheel.

 Average power: 514W
Time: 1:47 (winning time 1:38)
Position: 8th

Race #2 - UHC60b 3.1m @ 2%

This length of hill climb definitely does not suit me... 8 mins really is at the upper edge of my preference. In hindsight, it would also of been worth bringing a TT bike for this one... > 20mph with a downhill section. Not ideal on the hill climb bike with the front derailleur removed for weight saving. I had removed the larger chain ring as well but given the course I decided to put it back on and just manually put the chain on the right ring at the start.

On the way down to the start my chain came off... this was not filling me with hope. I've run the chain on the smaller chain ring without any issues... turns out the larger chain ring is a bit more temperamental. It was too late to change anything... and the inner ring was too small.

Target power for this climb was 375W... it was a tall ask as it was over my PB power output for this duration... but then again, I have never done an all out 8 min effort before. The first section on the climb was more like 4-5% so it was easy to hit power then (maybe slightly too much power)... but once it had flattened out it was hard to keep on top of the gears. It was tough going and I was losing power. Probably went off too hard on the steeper section... power was hovering around 300W for the middle section then it started going downhill... then the chain came off... great! 

In the panic of a situation like this it difficult to know how to react. Fortunately I reacted well and managed to hook the chain back on with my right foot... albeit onto the small ring. Dropping down onto the 11 tooth on the back I span at 135rpm until the climb started again. I don't think I lost much power but the adrenaline certainly took my mind off the pain as I pushed 530W for the last section. 

Average power: 325W
Time: 8:50 (winning time 8:08)
Position: 9th

Race #3 - UHC60a 0.5miles @ 9%

9% average does not do this justice... a flat run-up and a shallow finish makes the middle section about 16%! 

Starting off you quickly spin up to max speed... and then you lose it just as quickly... Hitting 16% gradient like that is like hitting a brick wall. Just as the lactic is starting to build the climb really hits you... then you have another minute before you see the top. For some reason I thought the climb was longer than what it was. Hitting the top I still had some left in the tank. I guess I'll just have to save that for the following day.

Average power: 425W
Time: 3:02 (winning time 2:36)
Position: 11th

Overall I finished 9th in a combined time of 13:40.2... nearly 1 min behind the leader but only 20 seconds separating 5th and 10th.

Later that evening, my private physio (and better half) LouLou treated me to a full leg massage... not only very relaxing they also felt suitably supple... much more effective than a warm down... if not just for the psychological advantage.

Sunday
T1Diabetes.info's UHC26 Hill Climb on Burrington Combe 1.9 miles @ 6%

I can't say this is my favorite climb... in fact... it's far from it. Its too long (8mins in duration) and has too many changes in gradient. The changes are not something I'm used too... steady state efforts are what I usually train for... this year is a little different though. The VO2 Max intervals I've been doing certain will help with this... just maybe not with the duration.

I should be able to do 375-380W for this duration, but like I said earlier... its not really something I train for. Before arriving I had planned to go off with the intentions of averaging that power and seeing what happens. 

Once I started warming up though... I realised that wouldn't be the case... fatigue from yesterday was still present... I did a long warm up of about an hour consisting of a course recce and then 30mins on the turbo. Whilst on the turbo I did a few 15-30 sec intervals at 380-400W... the first few were hard but by the end I was actually feeling pretty good.

Yesterday I average 325W for 8 mins... as 375W was a bit high I aimed for 350W. It was difficult to hold back at the beginning but I did my best and it wasn't long before the pain was building... I just kept counting down the minutes and focusing on holding power. The final stretch was tough... I was out the saddle... I couldn't see the Garmin so it was just a case of smash it out and hope for the best. Crossing the line in 7:45 (ish) I knew it was a good time... a minute quicker than last year and better time than most of the other favorites in the race. I was hopeful of a podium.

Whilst cooling down it was apparent that I wasn't the only quick time... sub 7:30's and sub 7:15's started coming in... Not only that but Jo Jago took the women's course record in an impressive 8:59!

Average power: 345W
Time: 7:44 (winning time 7:14)
Position: 10th


It's becoming quite apparent that despite making some considerable gains this year... The level of competition has increased massively! There are some real quick riders including Junior's and Vet's... even a few domestic pro's have made an appearance. 

These times would have been putting me in top 5's and podium positions this time last year... I know I've got my own game in order though... It's just a case of seeing the plan through to next year and I'll be taking home the £££! ;)

Start of the Season

So after the first serious year of training the race season is finally here!

Training has gone really well with my FTP raising from 257W in November 2015 to 315W… My weight is doing ok at 145lb… still 7 weeks from Nationals so no reason why this cant get down to 138lb. At my current 5 min power output of 430W this will give me a whopping 6.88W/kg… still a bit of the champs with their 7.4W/kg but should be good for a top 20 :)

Race season started a couple of weeks ago with the Dursley Road Club’s Hill Climb on Stouts Hill finishing 1^st at each of the two events. My fastest of the two was 5:06… 8 seconds off the course record. It was a good start but I can’t help but feel mildly disappointed that I didn’t quite take the record… something to aim for next year though :)

This weekend was the first open event in the WTTA Hill Climb Series hosted by Somerset Road Club on the UHC23 course. A 4-5min climb of a reasonably steady gradient of 6%… a good course for me. 5 mins is at the top end of my preferred duration and it’s steep enough to be heavily impacted by weight.

I was really excited about this one… looking at the start sheet I only recognised a few names that are of similar abilities so I was secretly hoping for a podium… or at least a top 5 (to get a prize).

I felt good on my warm up… hitting and holding 400+W was satisfying enough to know it was going to go well.

And it did… setting off it was difficult to hold back to 400W… hovering around 500W for the first 40s. Finally settling into a rhythm I made my way up. There is a left had corner half way and ended up having to ride round the outside of a few local riders that had come to spectate… slightly annoying.

The middle bit flattened slightly and made it more difficult to hold power with it dropping to 370W but managed to get this back in the final minute.

Average Power: 403W

Time: 4:45

Position: 6^th

I was appointed not to get a top 5 or podium position but that just goes to show how tough the competition is.

I just need to concentrate on getting my weight down to sub 140lb and peak that 5 min power back up to 430W… after a few weeks of reduced TSS last month I managed to loose a bit of form… I’m hoping this will peak back to 430W after the next rest week.

In other news… Justine Beiber made an appearance and got a bit of attention…

I think the shades work well… I’ll take the nickname (Justine) and roll with it ;)

A few other shots:

Training Camp

So I've been fortunate enough to have been given a free pass whilst on a holiday with the Mrs to Mallorca. Either she is fed up of my company or she wants something... Time will tell...

As I am in the 'base' phase still, I will be keeping the intensity moderate but racking up a large training volume. Managing this closely on Training Peaks I will be careful not to overtrain and also ensure I get sufficient recovery following. There are a couple of long rides I will be looking to do but other than that, I will most likely be filling in between with some Sweet Spot intervals on some of the more local climbs.

I've never ridden in Mallorca before so wasn't to sure what to expect or where the best routes are... Fortunately there are not many routes anyway... There are only a couple of roads that go up through the many mountains so planning is reasonably simple. I had a look on Strava and the Internet for the best climbs and then planned routes around them. The main climbs I was looking at were Soller and Collabera. Both of which required a round trip of 90 and 110 and between 10k and 15k ft of climbing... Which is much more than I had ever done in the past.

Day 1

I was going to take it easy on the first day... Short and simple to get used to the new environment... But temptation got the better of me. I decided to do the Col de Soller. 86 miles planned. I'd estimated I could handle about 200+w for the duration (5.5 hours). I had a big breakfast of toast, pate and eggs. Went out with 2L of coke (flat) a pack of Fig Rolls and enough motivation to win the TdF. Within the first 10miles I hit a problem... Road closure. Looked like some moto cross hill climb event or something. Looking at my Garmin I found another route up to the top of the climb... Venturing off I was quick to understand what the terrain is like... 7% up or 7% down... Nothing in between! I find it difficult to hold back on climbs... It seems so much easier to output higher watts so it wasn't long before I had to force myself to hold back... Average power was >250w. With an FTP of 300 it was obvious this wouldn't last very long. It wasn't long before my second problem... The road was closed even at the top. So after over an hour of riding I had made no progress into my 86 mile ride! Heading back down I was forced to re-route by heading out the only other way up through the mountains... My return route. It was going to end up as a bit of an 'out and back' type of ride. As I was riding out in the opposite direction the Garmin was unable to give me directions. After the decent my NP had reduced to 236W... Still a bit higher than I had wanted but I felt good so continued on. Although my pacing strategy soon came to an end when the power meter battery went flat... Bugger! The rest of the journey I relied on perceived effort. Each of the climbs I was probably averaging about 240-260W, free wheeling on the downhill and about 200W on the flat. I missed a few turnings here and there as a result of being 'off course' but managed to cover most of what I had planned... The most disappointing mistake was missing the turning that continued the main climb up another 1000ft... Therefore not actually achieving what I set out for! 

After half way I was still feeling good... But then again, I'm used to 3-4 hour rides at this intensity. It was the lumpy coast road back that was going to change all that. Stopping off at a small supermarket I topped up on fluids. Filling the water bottles with water and drinking a Power Aid energy drink. The 30 deg C temperature was beginning to take its toll. Once I got over the 4.5 hour mark I was really beginning to suffer... Counting down the climbs until reaching base... "I'm sure this is is the last one" I was saying to myself... Each time getting it wrong... 

I was falling apart by the end... Muscle cramps in muscles I didn't even know I had. Even my arms were cramping. Lack of fluid and food didn't help but it probably didn't help I did approx 230w for the first 4+ hours. 

Arriving back at the hotel 6.5 hours later and having covered 94 miles I was exhausted. Fortunately the Mrs and put a bottle of coke in the fridge along with a fish salad from the restaurant... Downing the coke and chilling off in a cold shower I was beginning to feel human again. It would have been good to have eaten straight away but I was feeling a little nauseous after so waited about an hour before I could stomach it.

Despite the negatives this was probably the most satisfying ride I have ever done. Perhaps it was the sense of achievement or maybe it was just the knowledge of the training benefit the 350 TSS was going to give me. All I know is the roads in Mallorca are to die for. Smooth Tarmac, twisting climbs with enough switchbacks to make you dizzy and road users with enough consideration to give you the allocated 1.5m distance. I've never felt so safe cycling before!

I'm just hope I'm not too broken tomorrow!

I got a nice surprise that evening when I got an email from a company I'd forgot I'd signed up for... Relive.com... You sync your Strava account to it and a few hours after completing a ride it sends you a link to a video. It looks like something out of a tour stage preview... Check it out. Makes you realise how much distance you cover.

https://www.relive.cc/view/627523304

Day 2

I was expecting to be destroyed this morning... I expected night cramps and being unable to walk properly... As it happens I had a great nights sleep and my legs were actually not that bad. I had planned a Sweet Spot hill repeat session the night before providing I felt OK so the plan was going as planned.

I haven't done an FTP test outdoors but I know what my 10 mile TT power output is... Works out about 300w FTP. Sweet Spot is 90% of this (270W). The purpose of this power range is to gain most of the benefits you would get from threshold work with much less damage to the muscles. This results in large gains in optimum time with little recovery. These sessions will make good gap fillers for the 'Training Camp' acting as a form of lighter/recovery day.

The local climb is only 5 miles away and is about 15 minutes in duration. I'd planned on 5 repeats if I could still output the power.

The first one was reasonably enjoyable (as you would expect) and was bang on target power at 272w.

The second one noticed a small increase now I was properly warmed up and was struggling to hold it back. I ended up at 276W.

On the start of the third rep I was a little more controlled although I was slowly gaining on a Spaniard that further up the climb. As I passed him he changed gear and proceeded to sit on my back wheel. Being competitive it was difficult to hold back... My power was hovering around 300W by now. Steeper ramps in the road saw this rise to 350+W on occasions... It was getting out of hand... But I'd started so obviously had to finish now. The guy stayed on my wheel then all the way to the top... I must have been giving him some aero benefit ;) ended with 292w.

It kinda ballsed up the session then. The forth one ended up being my last as I struggled to hold power and dropped to 265W.

Short and sweet... I proceeded to make my way back. I'm probably going to repeat that session again during the holiday as it was so convenient.

Day 3

My legs were feeling it today so I decided to do a gentle paced 40-50 miles... Hopefully it will be just enough recovery to hit the big one the following day.

It was certainly nice to go out without any targets in mind. Gently ambling along without a care in the world... Soaking up the sun and scenery. When you spend so much of your cycling time either suffering on the indoor trainer or blowing out your ass during a race it's easy to forget how enjoyable cycling can be. Just you and road in front of you. Pulling over to check out the views... Taking pictures & videos. It was a nice day out and certainly glad I took an easy day to recover.

I'm pretty sure I got overtaken by a Pro from Tinkoff. He had the full kit on... Even an S-Works bike, socks and bottle. If he wasn't pro, he was a very dedicated fan... 

Tomorrow is going to be a killer. 115+ miles and approx. 15k ft of climbing. I've boxed up some breakfast from the restaurant with the intentions of waking up early to make the most of the cooler morning air. It's going to be a long day in the saddle... But well worth it... The climbs look epic!

Day 4

The big one! I was up early to try and get as many miles in before the sun got too strong. I took away some breakfast from the day before so I didn't start on an empty stomach. Just as the sun was coming up at 6:30 I was out...

The plan was to go up the coast to Soller, up Col de Piug, down Collabera and back up, drop down to the flat lands, straight back to the south on a flat run and then coast line to the hotel. Pacing was just a case of 'as easy as possible'. Going up hill I was doing just enough power to get up and I would free wheel down. I took two litres of electrolyte drinks, 4 more tablets and two packs of fig rolls. I had no plans on where I would stop... I was just going to see how it went.

I'd already completed 95% of the route to Soller on previous days so it wasn't exactly exciting... More of a necessity to reach the goal. It was certainly casual which was relaxing. I got to Soller after about 3.5 hours... With a NP of 170W it was never going to be quick. I think my average at this point was about 11mph. I'd much rather start steady and end strong. Having already topped up the bottles I started the 10km climb up from Soller. The new Tarmac was flawless! The only downside was it was it was very dark. It just absorbed the heat and radiated it. Travelling at 5-6mph didn't help cool things either. It was sweltering! On a positive note, a consistent 6% meant you could settle into a rhythm and just keep plugging away at it. The odd switchback livened things up and the views of the mountains peaking out the trees and valleys opening up were awesome!

The true breathtaking views were going to come when I reached the top of Collabera. I've never seen or witnessed anything like it before! You could see all the way down into the valley with the road just dropping away. Switchback after switchback. The photos just don't do it justice. As I started to descend I was beginning to doubt myself. A sense of sickness brewing at the thought of having to climb back up. Anyone who knows me would know how out of character that is... I purposely go out to ride up hill. Hence the 115 mile round trip to ride this. I was already committed.

There was a lot more traffic than I thought. Travelling down there was just a steady stream of buses, cars and mopeds. It must be the most popular tourist spot in Majorca! The long decent was beginning to pay its toll by the end... It was a relief to get to the bottom just to give my hands a rest from braking and supporting my body weight!

I didn't bother to look at the beach when I got there, the traffic was ridiculous, instead I ate a fig roll or two, sipped at the remaining water and proceeded to make the way back up.

There was a sense of admiration coming from the car drivers coming down... They had obviously witnessed the decent and understood what I was about to embark on. It certainly gives you a boost of motivation... Even some of them give you encouragement... Even if it is just a thumbs up or a smile. 

Slowly turning the legs round you start to make your way up... Counting down the switchbacks. You begin to recognise some of them from the way down. 'Am I here already' I'd say to myself... it was surprising how much ground I was making. Before I knew it I could see the top few bends... Carrying on past the cafe at the summit I made sure I went over the invisible 'Strava finish line'. Last thing I wanted was to be bottom of the leaderboard because I stopped too soon for a break! I ended up something like 17,765th on the leaderboard! Double the time taken for the pro's! Maybe one day I will take a car out to see how well I can do!

I had a break at the top. Ice cream, coffee, Marsbar and water. Probably the most expensive water ever at €1.50 for half a litre! Needless to say I only bought enough to last me till the next stop!

The break did me good. It was a steady decent then down into the valley and flatlands. By the time I had reached them though it was siesta time and everywhere seemed to be closed. The only places open seemed to be bars, which will probably charge a similar amount! Finally coming across a supermarket just as I sipped at my last drops of water I was massively relieved! Filling both bottles and downing some extra I was on my way!

The return journey was fast... Ever so slightly downhill and a tail wind. On the flats I was flying at 25mph with very little effort... Resulting in a rather refreshing breeze. 

I'm not sure how I managed it but I had routed the journey directly through the centre of Palma City! I'm not really accustomed to city centre riding, let along in a foreign city, not knowing the signs and trying to follow the route on a 2 inch screen! As it happened I quickly made my way through unscathed and was making my way along the coast to Malaga and then back to the hotel... Only problem was my Garmin was about to die! Great!

I was also running out of water again. The early afternoon sun is hot... Very hot! The Garmin was reading something like 36 degrees. Weather reports were saying 30 though so not sure which is true. Stopping off at a garage I topped up on water as well as indulging in another ice-cream, a red bull and a Marsbar. I checked the route on the Garmin for last time before it died and proceeded to make my way. The rest of the route was entertaining to say the least. The route home followed adjacent to the Motorway and as a result, all the signs for the towns I was heading for directed you into it... At one point I even started to make my way down a slip road!

Eventually I consulted google maps and found a cycle route which took me adjacent to the motor way... I pretty much made my way back on this.

I was certainly glad I set off early, the sun was getting unbearable! I think I emptied over a litre of water over me in the last few miles... Albeit warm water! As long as you were moving though it did have some cooling effect.

Overall I was well chuffed with the ride. A record distance, highest climb, a record total elevation and longest duration at nearly 9 hours in the saddle... All in possibly the hottest climates! Certainly a memory to remember!

https://www.relive.cc/view/630908062 

Day 5

Rest day... A complete rest day. 

After yesterday, my Training Stress Balance (TSB) was very low at -60. Knowing I had two days left I decided to allow this to rise slightly to enable a decent session tomorrow... Any more any I would have ended up injured or sick... Which is still a high possibility given the training load.

Day 6

This would be the last day I'd get to ride. I have complete all the climbs I wanted to do so this was just a TSS filler. I decided to do sweet spot repeats  on the climb I did the other day. It is a consistent gradient, 15mins long and has no switchbacks. Perfect for settling into a consistent pace. 

I completed 4 repeats the other day because I went a bit OTT on the 3rd interval. I was planning to do as many as possible this time.... Focusing on even pacing. I could certainly feel the tiredness in my legs on the first one but once I had got used to the effort the subsequent intervals became more tolerable. 

With all the best intentions of repeating until exhaustion I had inevitably run out of fluid by the 5th interval. Knowing the 6th would be the last I just kept increasing the power throughout the climb. By the end I was well over my threshold @ 400W! Had I taken more fluid with me I recon I could have done 7 or 8 before I started to lose power. This would have been a total of 2 hours spent at an average of 92% FTP! Either that or my FTP has risen to > 310W and therefore they were only completed at 87% of that threshold. Either way... Very promising results!

1st interval - 272W

2nd interval - 274W

3rd interval - 275W

4th interval - 276W

5th interval - 277W

6th interval - 299W

I'm surprised how good I feel considering the high training load over the last few days. I feel so highly motivated to crack on with the next phase of training now. Before that begins though, I will have to wait for my TSB to rise to a positive number. This should work out perfectly for an FTP test next Tuesday. I'm hoping my indoor FTP will be a PB of >290W.

Overview

Day 1 - 370 TSS

Day 2 - 154 TSS

Day 3 - 125 TSS

Day 4 - 300 TSS

Day 5 - 0 TSS

Day 6 - 186 TSS

Total - 1,135 TSS

Training Progress - Base Training

The purpose of base training is simple... to make physiological adaptations to your body to allow you to build your fitness later in the season. Without this you will basically reach a 'burn-out' point before the big day.

The physiological adaptations that you are looking to gain are processes within the aerobic energy system. The ability to process energy, the transporting of oxygen and the removal of lactic.

Traditionally, this was achieved by clocking up lots of slow miles. Winter miles. This however requires lots of time... over 15 hours a week to be exact. Each ride also needs to be long... not 15 x 1 hours rides... more like 5 x 3 hour rides. I for one simply do not have the weekday hours available to achieve this.

Thankfully there are also other ways of achieving this with less that 10 hours a week. It's called the Sweet Spot. This is approx 90% of your FTP power output. It's high enough to cause the adaptations of threshold work but low enough training stress to allow you to train on consecutive days. Another way of achieving this is fasted training sessions. Most of the adaptations in longer rides occur when your energy stores are depleted. By depleting them before hand, you can get similar adaptations in less time.

I'm now coming to an end of the 12 week sweet spot training plan with Trainerroad. I'm taking an early recovery in week 10 to prepare for a training camp in Majorca... I say training camp... I actually mean a holiday whereby I leave the Mrs to go cycling.

I will be raising my Training Stress Balance (form/recovery) to a high 15... That way I can inflict a large amount of training stress whilst I am away with less risk of 'over training' and becoming ill. The following week will be a rest week to recover fully before starting the build plan.

The plan is to do a mixture of long rides (to get to some of the famous climbs) and shorter rides at Sweet Spot... basically achieving both types of 'base training' in one hit... a large hit. The weeks TSS will total a massive 1300! A little higher than the 650-700 I'm currently at.

Doing a large 'block' of training like this is great for teaching your body to withstand a large amount of training stress. Once it has been completed and the necessary recovery/adaptations take place, I should be able to up my weekly training load. The build phase I am planning on will give me a peak weekly TSS of 800 and will take my CTL to over 100. 

A higher CTL isn't always good... Pro's don't necessarily train with that high of a training load. It's about finding what works best for you to give you the optimum gains. I'm purely doing this to trial how I respond to it... I figure, IF I withstand a higher training load, I can train more often or for longer resulting in more gains. All I know is... what ever I'm doing at the moment seems to be working... so i'll just carry on until something changes.

Summer Valley Cycle Club U303 Hardriders

After a successful race at Thursdays Inter-club I was feeling optimistic about this race. I did well the last time as the course is in my favor... only 19 miles but a long drag up for the first 17 miles and then a sharp drop at the end. Sufficiently hilly enough to suit the feather weights!

On the morning of the race though I wasn't feeling so optimistic... a head full of hayfever made breathing far more difficult... I had to race though as a result of forgetting to enter a few of the earlier races... I need this race to count towards the series.

Doping myself up on allergy relief I went on my way... nearly crashing a multiple of times on the journey there as a result of sneezing.

Up until the plague hitting me I was hoping for a 300+W average but I didn't know how my blocked nose was going to impact this. I decided to just go off on target and see what happens.

Hitting target on the first half wasn't too bad but it pretty much went down hill from there. Struggling to breathe I kept having to sit up more to get the necessary oxygen in. The second half also included the downhill section which I always struggle to keep power high on. Despite this I still managed to knock 75 seconds off my PB from earlier in the year and finished 5th overall.

First Half

Power - 297W

Speed - 23.9mph

Cadence - 87rpm

Second Half

Power - 270W

Speed - 23.8mph

Cadence - 89rpm

Just goes to show what difference a wheelset makes. Average power last time was 300W but I was running standard wheels. With the DT Swiss 65mm front and disk rear I managed to save over a minute despite being 17W lower in power (and 11lb over weight).

Maybe it had something to do with the lucky number...

The Victor!

My first win in a time trial came last Thursday at the Inter-club 10 mile TT on the U7b.

I have been riding well anyway recently and went into the race feeling confident. The new DT Swiss wheelset has been outstanding and my power is beginning to return to my best after 8 weeks of base training. The last time I rode the U7b I knocked over a min off my PB from last year to get a sub 23 with an average power of 297W. I've been feeling a lot stronger since then so was confident I could hit 320W target power. The plan was to go off hard and try to hang on... no half measures!

The wind wasn't in my favour... steady headwind on the return leg. If you go off hard it builds up a larger amount of lactic acid in the legs making it more difficult to hold the power later on... couple that with a head wind and it is destined for failure... 

Outward leg was great... the wind was behind me... the power was good at 313W... a little lower than I had hoped but still up on last time. Average speed was 29.4mph! 

Turned at the roundabout to return and it was like hitting a brick wall. Attempting to get as aero as possible to get the best gains (and knowing that my head sticks up way too much!) I was determined to keep the power on.

I was hurting all the way back... passing Berkeley Heath I was down to 27mph. This was putting me into the sub 22 bracket. From Berkeley, the course is a little lumpy with a drag up to the finish... the average was floating from 26.9 to 27 and back... it was going to be close. That last mile and a half saw power rise to 338W with the final half mile at 365W... Despite all my best efforts I crossed the line in 22:14 smashing my PB and joining fellow Dursley Road Club rider Graeme Davis in first position.

Outward leg
Power - 313W
Speed - 29.4mph
Cadence - 92rpm

Return leg
Power - 321W
Speed - 25mph
Cadence - 90rpm

If I had a better average power, rather than surging at the end, that would have been a sub 22 no problem... fingers crossed the weather turns out better next time... It will be an interesting result.

Thanks to Rod Hunt of rnh fotografia  I even came away with a photo of me towing a lorry

1st Attempt... Trial... Comparison... Prediction

Took the new Ridley Helium out for its first outing... complete with new DT Swiss wheelset.

I decided to have a go at Stout's Hill... I haven't had a go up there since I purchased the power meter so it was a trial for a few reasons... see how the new gear performed... and see how I performed.

I'm 5 weeks into my next phase of training... it's not going very well. Think I have missed about 20% of prescribed training sessions due to lack of motivation, low sugar levels and Stag weekends. I've also increased my body weight by about 5kg to help reduce the risk of illness through the 'off season'. I'm also 15-20W down on my FTP. 

I went out with an open mind in terms of my performance. I have not completed a VO2 Max effort for a good few months... as a result of that, I have become 'weak' minded... it's been too easy to give up. It takes a special kind of mind to power through a long threshold session... even more so, to hold a VO2 Max effort. I decided to not ride on power... more so on perceived effort.

The expectation of the new bike and wheels on the other hand... that was high... very high! 

The Helium SL20 is supposed to be one of the best frame's for hill climbs. Ridiculously light... and ridiculously stiff. The frame itself is 800g (1050g including the fork) without sacrificing the integrity of its strength.

The wheelset, although not specifically designed for hill climbs, are the lightest I have ever owned and are also considered the stiffest rear wheel on the market. The RCC 2.0 Disk wheel is just remarkable... manufactured by the carbon Gods at Lightweight and perfected with DT Swiss hubs this is the best disk wheel on the market... I almost can't believe i'm riding it!

I'm not going to see the true potential from the wheelset until I complete a 10 or 25 mile time trial... but even if there is no aerodynamic benefit... the psychological benefit will be massive! They feel awesome! They look awesome! They sound awesome! They are just... awesome!

So there I was... half way into my first hill climb effort on the new kit... riding on pro spec equipment... wheezing like true wannabe! The pro's make it look easy... the truth is you are far from feeling pro when you are on the limit like that. Dribble hanging from your mouth... not enough energy to wipe it off. Face looking like someone has just slapped you. I also make the sound of a woman during labor... its not pretty to say the least. I'm just glad that, on this occasion, no one was around to witness it! 

I was coming into sight of the start of the final corners and I could feel the power draining from my legs. Without the crowds cheering on... without family watching... its difficult to dig deep at this stage... I just tried to carry on to the finish. The end was tough and I certainly realised I was no where near peak fitness!

I had no idea what my time was or how I performed. I remember looking at the power reading a few times and seeing 350W on there a lot so was hopeful.

I got back and loaded the ride to find a 3rd fastest time (on Strava) with a time of 5:44... only 14 seconds behind my PB. Not bad considering it is the start of the seasons training and I'm 5kg overweight! 

And it was only on those final corners did I lose the time:

I thought I would have a play around on Bestbikesplit.com to see what potential it would predict.

So Bestbikesplit predict my time as being 5:40 based on my current bike, body weight and power output. By changing the power output and body weight to my (optimistic) predicted levels (141lb and 400W) the magical software thinks I will get up there in a rather impressive 4:51... the club record is 4:58... I don't want to jinx anything... and 400W for 5 mins rather ambitious... but how awesome would that be!!

Time will tell I suppose... all I know is... I can't improve the equipment any more than I have... I just have to put in the hard work now and see what happens!

Christmas has come early...

I have sold a few bits of kit recently and (along with some extra funds from 'The Boss') have been fortunate enough to invest in some new equipment.

I have spent many an afternoon down at the local bike shop (Delta Bikes) discussing various options for optimising my funds to get the best outcome for both TT's and hill climbs. With suppliers like Madison, they have been able to source bikes from the top Belgium manufacturer Ridley and highest spec wheelsets from DT Swiss.

I will be sure to get some more detailed reviews uploaded once I have put them to good use but here is just a teaser of them: 

Ridley Choronus (Time Trial)

Ridley Helium SL20

DT Swiss RRC 2.0 Disk & RRC 65 DICUT Wheelset

The wheels certainly look the business on both bikes:

Couldn't have come at a better time...

So for the 3 weeks I've been battling and recovering from the mother of all man-flu's... there have been some brutal viruses going around and I somehow managed to cop one. It didn't take long before it turned into a chest infection as well. I don't think I have been this ill for a good decade or two. I remember having flu when I was younger. Bed bound for 2 weeks and full body aches and pains. It was just like that with a cold sweats and fevers just to top it off. 

I was off the bike for a whole week and took it really stead for another two weeks. I say it couldn't have come at a better time... I have already planned two weeks off as a recovery before I started my next phase of training so I haven't really lost much. At least, I haven't lost as much as if it was a few weeks before the National Hill Climb Championships... That would have been a complete waste of a year then!

There was no real reason for catching the dreaded man flu. I wasn't really training at the time and I was really 'fresh'... much more than I should have been really. I was just unlucky. 

That being said, I have decided to increase my weight a little to reduce the risk of picking up any further illnesses. The hill climbs are not until September so I have no reason to be this low at the moment. I purchased some body fat calipers the other day to get a second 'opinion' of my current body fat. Taking at 3 points (chest, belly & thigh) it measured in at an impressive 4%. Not sure how accurate this is as there is still more to come off I'm sure. My bathroom scales measure in at 10%... I recon i'm somewhere in between so going to take an average from now on. Weighing in at my lowest weight of 142lb I have decided to take my weight up to 147lb knowing I can drop 7lb in a few weeks when I need to.

Going back to the illness and time off... I can't believe how much power I have lost. The next phase of training started today and as per usual, it starts off with an FTP test. Feeling optimistic I went into the test with the hope I would be able to hit just under 290W... 5 watts lower than my peak about 5 weeks ago. I couldn't have been so wrong! Not only did I fail to hit the target, I went of so hard in the first 8 mins test I couldn't even finish the second... well... I'll be honest... I gave up because I was no where near target power.

Rather than taking 90% of the average of the two 8 mins tests, I've taken 85% of the first test... clocking in at a rather embarrassing 275W... a 7% loss in power.

 I'm hoping the main reason for the drop in power is due to the chest infection and that I just need to clear my lungs a bit... but then again, I have taken 3 weeks away from structured training so perhaps a 7% drop in power is typical of an 'off season' such as this. Time and experience will tell... I have hope and optimism that this will quickly return now I'm back into training mode! I will be doing the evening 10m TT on Thursday and have a 25m TT on Saturday... That should remind my body and mind how to deal with the pain of sustained power if nothing else ;)