Training blog - page 27

Day one hundred and seventy nine: Wednesday 2 August 2006

Bike.  Today I headed to the North Norfolk coastal town of Cromer.

Equipped with my winter training bike, my intention was to fundraise with the hope of reaching the £3,000 milestone. 

Little did I know that I was riding into a monsoon; I approached a village called Roughton (about 2 miles from Cromer) with a menacing filthy black cloud hovering above.  Moments later, the heavens opened, causing flash flooding around me.  I could barely see ahead of me and shortly afterwards I could hear the rumble of thunder with subsequent lightning.  Prior to this, light rain prevailed for much of the outward journey.

My immediate aim was to carry on to Cromer where I could park the bike and seek shelter near the doorway of a shop.  The rain was incredibly heavy and intense; I was forced to slow down dramatically as visibility ahead of me was very poor.  I did look up today's weather forecast and this deluge was not forecast whatsoever.  In all the time I have ridden a bike, I can only ever recall one other occasion where the rain was on this kind of scale.

On the return journey, occasional bursts of heavy rain hit the area a few miles out of Cromer with lighter rain following.  The rain ceased approximately 16 miles from Norwich.

Today I cycled a total of 52.82 miles at an average speed of 15.9 mph.  Wind conditions were of a moderate strength at the very least.

Day one hundred and eighty: Thursday 3 August 2006

Gym.  With my cycling shoes not completely dry, I decided to walk into the City today.  On the way I managed to raise further funds and am tantalisingly close to my target of £3,000.

At the gym, I spent one whole hour on the exercise bike.  On a resistance setting of level 4 against a maximum level 20, I concentrated on turining the pedals very quick for a whole hour.  I feel the main benefit of this is to keep my legs acclimatised to cycling whilst at the same time causing minimal muscle fatigue.  Another benefit is that I can monitor pedalling efficiency and my legs will also benefit from pedalling a fast cadence which I will be aiming to do in the Alps.

According to various bio-mechanics experts, a fast cadence up gradients equals less energy expended.  Whether I will climb up the mountains in this manner is debatable as my leg muscles tend to favour pushing a bigger gear, in which case my cadence is usually lower than most cyclists.

On climbing off the exercise bike, my legs felt as fresh as they were before starting an hour ago.  With an overwhelming desire to keep working my quadriceps and legs, I even strapped myself onto the leg extension machine before quickly unstrapping realising that I must remain disclipined in giving my legs a full weeks recovery time.

Similar visits to the gym are planned for the weekend and early part of next week.

Day one hundred and eighty one: Friday 4 August 2006

Rest day.

Day one hundred and eighty two: Saturday 5 August 2006

Rest day.

Day one hundred and eighty three: Sunday 6 August 2006

Bike.  I decided to ride on the VC Norwich club run today.  Keen not to ride too intensely today, I asked the Club Captain Stan Walker if it would be ok to not ride on the front for today only.  Stan duly agreed to my request.

Today I cycled 57.6 miles at an average speed of 17.6 mph.  Average heart rate was 137 bpm and on the return journey to Norwich, I did work and keep with faster riders almost until the outskirts of the City and this was emphasised with a heart rate of 195 bpm at one point.  This equates to 94.6 % of my maximum heart rate.

My legs felt great for having three days rest.  With the same amount of time to go until I arrive in  France, I felt I could do today's ride without destroying my legs.

Tomorrow, I will be continuing my preparations; today my bike has been dismantled to fit in the bike suitcase, equipped with new tyres / brake pads and has been wrapped with bubble wrap, as have various tools needed for reassembly.  I will also be visiting the gym to do another hour on an exercise bike at level 4 resistance.

Day one hundred and eighty four: Monday 7 August 2006

Gym.  This is it, the very last training entry for the French Alps bike ride!

I simply spent another non-stop hour on the exercise bike, starting at level 4 resistance for the first ten minutes followed by the remaining 50 at level 5.

This evening, I will be concluding all equipment / sundries packing.  Fortunately, my bike case is able to not only accomodate bike frame and wheels but also items such as shoes and food.

Tomorrow at 4 pm, I will be catching the bus which will take me to Norwich train station.  I will then be taking the train to Stansted airport, where I will be staying overnight, ready for a very early flight on Wednesday 9 August to Grenoble.

Over the last three weeks, I have been riding extremely well (by my standards) and have found an improvement in both endurance and pedalling action.  My training has gone very well considering circumstances.  I feel I have trained the best I can given my geographic location and am very confident I will conquer these four ascents in one day.

On my return to the UK, I will download then edit all images before submission to the  photo gallery page and write a comprehensive report on the ride for all to view.

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