A jam packed week full of fun and games. I do feel fitter and a lot stronger, my long rides and relatively quick recovery after them is testament to the fact that I must be doing alright. Two double hits down at the peddle studio and a particularly nerdy acquisition of a new gearset and cycling computer… I am fast becoming the ultimate cycle nerd. Although some might say this actually happened a long time ago.
Monday 29th March
Double Spin!
The weeks are ticking by and I need to get some serious hours in the saddle. As I didn’t ride out yesterday I have decided to do the double hit at pedal studio and 2 back to back classes…
Class 1 - Cadence
We work gradually to increase from 80 rpm to 110 rpm over a 40 minute period.
I had never thought really about cadence before but when you take time to you can see that if for example you were to pedal 1 mile in 4 minutes at a cadence of 50 and then do it again at a cadence of 100 the second time around you are exerting half as much energy per resolution (while still getting there at the same speed) and therefore putting half as much strain on knees etc. An interesting tip that I picked up is that if you are getting knee pain then maybe you need to increase your cadence to take the pressure off.
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Katie’s Uphill Battle – Week 7 – White Week
Katie’s Uphill Battle – Week 6 – Back in the old routine
Katie’s Uphill Battle – Week 5 – officially back in the saddle!
Katie’s Uphill Battle – Week 4 – on the mend…
Katie’s Uphill Battle – Week 3 – disaster strikes!
Katie’s Uphill Battle – Week 2 – a world of pain…
Katie’s Uphill Battle – Week 1
Katie’s Uphill Battle – Getting Started
Katie’s Uphill Battle – Katie’s training plan - Training Plan Etape Caledonia
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Class 2 - Climbing
A casual 38 minutes worth of climb, the purpose being to build on endurance.
When I first started coming to the studio I just followed along quite merrily not really giving massive amounts of thought to what I was doing other than the randomness of:
being in Putney e.g. totally the wrong side of town by about 10 miles - cycling nowhere!
Now however things have changed and I just think about those Scottish hills and the high potential for major shame if I have to get off my bike and push. I’ll thank myself for this later.
To geek up on endurance, once again Joel Friel’s blog has some really helpful info about working economically and the sense of it.
Basically he likens our bodies and their efficiency to cars and their gas consumption e.g. how many miles to the gallon – I think this is a helpful analogy. www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2010/03/physiological-fitness-economy.html
New Gearset
This is worthy of its own special section!
I only picked up my bike on Monday so the 7 mile cycle to the studio was my first try with the new set. It’s a Shimano Ultegra Triple Groupset and it runs like a DREAM – no more clanking and jumping but my gears slip up and down like magic.
I know now that I have reached a whole new level of specialness in that I am completely over excited about said gears and the difference they make not only to my everyday life but also to the 2,000m of climb I’m looking at on 16th May.
Not only this but because they are so amazingly nice the Fullcity team have also kitted me out with new handlebars and seat post. When I asked them why they were being so incredibly the nice the response I got was simply:
“We just love bikes, and people that love bikes.”
If that’s not a great motto for a cycle shop I don’t know what is.
Wednesday 31st March
Double Spinning AGAIN
Heading down for another double session. Not really feeling the love for it, I think my body isn’t quite recovered from the session on Monday but I’ll cycle down, give it a go and can always leave after the first class if I feel its not right.
Class 1 - Intervals
4 x 7 minutes of hard effort climb with 3 minute recoveries.
Class 2 - General Training
Some hills
Some speed work
Calculating Cadence
Kitting up
Its a long process this getting bike savvy business and there seems to be an ever long list of ‘things I need to get’… I quite enjoy this process though and have recently made a few more additions.
Sports Bras
Solid as a rock!
I have recently invested in my future by upgrading my sports bra collection. I’m 31, these things are important. I realised that wearing the same sports bras that I had when marathon training is not a smart move unless I want to be the proud owner of a pair of spaniels ears in 10 years time.
Apparently after 30 – 40 washes the technical fabric in your bra will diminish so that gives a rough guide of how long your bras should last. I’m a massive advocate of shock absorber – http://www.shockabsorber.co.uk/bounceometer/shock.html
I love this ‘bounceometer’ – check it out for a good guide on what bra is right for you.
The Clock, or ‘computer’…
Horror upon me! What is this evil contraption?
Firstly I don’t like extra things on my bike – it makes it look messy and secondly how the hell do you make this thing work?
After much pain and shame I have established my wheel circumference and programmed that in. I am now exhausted but have yet to accomplish the thing actually works, where is the pause button for when I stop off for some cake? Where is the flipping bit of plastic that’s meant to attach section D to part 1? Arghhh…
Saturday 3rd April
Riding solo
The weather for this weekend was predicted to be awful. I need to get a long ride in though despite the predicted thunder. Good job I’ve got such a fantastic selection of random clothing. Note, must invest in proper cycling jacket.
I’ve planned my route to fit in with my other plans for Easter weekend and hectic chocolate eating schedule. I’m heading to my sister and her boyfriends house in Wiltshire, so my plan is to get the train to Slough and then cycle from there, about 65 miles.
www.mapmyrun.com/route/gb/wiltshire%2c%20to%20wilcot%20from%20slough/918127037980063001
Its raining when I leave Hackney – I pack my rucksack, its not waterproof so I stick all my stuff inside it in multiple carrier bags and head out into the drizzle, destination Slough! Wow, really living the dream.
I’m actually excited about my adventure and really excited to see how the gears are.
The initial part of my route is a bit heavy on major roads but once I’ve ditched Bracknell things get a lot more fun. Somehow or other I manage to navigate my way across the back roads of Berkshire, Hampshire and Wiltshire.
High points were succeeding to get from A to B – some brilliantly massive downhill wooping rides and joyously clicking up and down on my gears with the greatest of ease. Low points were 2 torrential rain pours and the acquisition of a flat tyre during one these. Luckily this lead swiftly onto another high point of successfully fixing tyre in record time and getting upon my way very swiftly. I am extremely proud!
The ‘stupid’ clock is a total revelation and from now on will be known as the ‘brilliant’ clock. Its amazing and I think actually a good motivator to keep the legs spinning as you can see your current and average speed at all times.
Courtesy of the ‘brilliant’ clock I can tell you that my ride yesterday amounted in:
Average Speed – 14.6 mph
Max Speed – 31.5 mph
Duration – 5:37 hrs
Distance – 82.1 miles
So, I knew I’d got lost a few times and that my ‘mapmyroute’ was done quite crudely but it seems I’ve actually achieved my distance in a not too shoddy time!
I arrived at my sisters house totally filthy, pretty wet but completed elated – such a good adventure and of course now I feel completely justified in excessive easter egg eating and general sitting around. At least for the next 24 hours or so anyway.
Katie Gormley, Sportsister
The Women’s sports Magazine
