Hey everyone,
This post is also available to read at vivacoppi....
Sorry for not posting last night about hopefully you'll find it within you to forgive me.
No messing about tonight as the clock is ticking, I'm pretty tired and looking to catch up on some much-needed beauty sleep.
Not a lot to report from last weeks training between Monday & Friday. After a big ride the previous Sunday and with a big ride on the Sunday ahead, I eased up on the volume and focused on hitting a couple of quality rides.
I came out from last Sundays long ride feeling pretty good and pleased with where my riding was. I didn't do a lot on Monday & Tuesday, opting to get the rest in.
Wednesday morning was an early start to get into London for 9am - a good but long day saw me get back to Cheltenham at 6pm. However, I really needed to get out on the bke and the weather was really good. I met up with a mate and managed to get a good 90 min ride in.
I took the Planet X & power meter out - just to give my legs a break from the 53/39, enjoy the 50/3 and look at what the power data looked like. All felt & looked good.
Thursday night was a good ride with a few mates - 90 mins again - with some efforts. I took the Prince out and she felt great. My legs knew they had had a good session and felt kinda heavy on Friday morning.
Friday was a super long day. Early morning recovery swim was great fun and helped me loosen up. Mid-afternoon I got a call from my bike shop (Echelon Cycles - Pershore, Worcs) to let me know that the Garmin 500 I had ordered for the Prince had come in. A great result - given that the Dragon ride was on Sunday.
Originally, I was not going to put a computer onto the Prince but after only a few rides without I really missed having the standard of data & information I had become accustomed to riding with. Obviously, I won't have the power meter on both bikes as the PX is a Shimano set-up, and the Prince is Campag, so would turn out to be pretty darn expensive exercise to set up for both bikes!
The Garmin 500 is a really impressive piece of kit and an improvement on the 705 and not just in the size reduction. The extra bonus was that the new colour scheme was a perfect match with the Most bars on the Prince!
So, anyway all of that meant I had to shoot over to Pershore and back on Friday afternoon so an addtional 90 min trip before packing my bke & kit for the drive down to South wales - ahead of Sundays Dragon Ride.
Luckily it was a very easy drive down to South Wales - Junction 35 on the M4 - and I was at the cottage for 9.30pm.
Saturday we went out for a nice 90 mn spin which did end up including a nice little blast up a short steep climb - always good to open the lungs!
Sunday morning saw us up at 6am - after a really bad nights sleep on my part - don't know why but always seems to happen the night before a race. I felt pretty sluggish and didn't allow myself sufficient time to have a good breakfast. I did have a bowl of porridge and an espresso - but should have had more.
We got to the race start in good time and lined up to set off as soon as we could. I felt hungry at the start line so had half a Clif Bar to settle the stomach.
We set off and the pace was really comfortable. My legs didn't feel great straightaway, really heavy and tight. My hamstrings and glutes were particularly painful and I was slightly concerned.
It didn't help that I start felt pretty sleepy - even after the espresso and Maca powder! So I decided that I if things didn't improve I would look to take the Biest Booster early on - as I knew this would pick me up and would last for about 6 hours.
Once I got warmed up and got the legs spinning, things improved. I think a lot of it comes from wishing to stay in the big ring more than my legs would like to. I need to remind myself that the big ring is now a 53 and not the 50 I've been used to - so they will feel the difference.
Once I started to use the 39 ring on some of the little climbs my legs loosened off and I felt a lot better. I decided now would be a good time to take the Booster - as the longer climbs were approaching - and I wanted to feel good by the time we approached them - both physically and mentally.
The ride was a good challenge with plenty of nice, long steady climbs. It was a good opportunity to practice getting used to climbing for long periods of time - although France is going to be a whole different level.
I wanted to get used to riding in the 39 ring - so still bigger than the 34 I've been used to - and then using the 23/25 gears to help keep a nice cadence. I like to ride at around 70 rpms on the climbs - not too low - not too high - and keep a nice light-ish beat going.
I was pleased with how this worked on the less steep sections - upto 7% -and then a slower cadence was required on the steeper sections. I found mixing up getting out of the saddle helped me keep a nicer cadence than just churning my way up.
It was a long day in the saddle but all together very satisfying.
I was pleased with my climbing, very pleased with my descending and kinda pleased with strength on the false flats.
Once again - I didn't eat enough which took its toll within the last 30 miles. I should have had a bigger breakfast and eaten more regularly through the ride. My trusty Clif Bars and Blok Shots were superb as always - but I should have had more of them. I only 2 bars and 4 bloks.
I did scoff down some bananas and 'fairy cakes' at the feed stops but these didn't fill the hole. I also didn't use a sports drinks - as I won't be in France - but I should have taken along my Nuun electrolyte tablets.
I was drinking plenty of water -as it was pretty warm - but on an empty stomach - so I started to become bloated and was not absorbing the water. The electrolytes in the Nuuns will help with this.
The end result was that I completed the 118 miles in 7 hours 19 minutes. So pretty satisfied, considering we didn't really start riding solidly until the second half.
Climbing = Pleasing
Descending = Very pleasing (some really nice long winding descents)
Power = Pleased but not satisfied
Food = Clif Bars & Bloks were perfect - just need to eat more often
Drink - Need electrolytes if only drinking plain water
Bike = Long live the Prince (plus the Garmin 500 is super cool)
This week will be a reduction in volume but with some intensity dropped into the mix.
Now the Dragon has been tamed, next stop the Pyrenees and Alps.
Bravo!
M.
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