Sunday 27 May 2007

Training: EF-Welwyn-Essendon-EF

Pouring with rain from the start I didn't expect anyone to be waiting at the meeting point for the group ride. Only one other guy pitched up and we agreed that we wouldn't make it a long ride. He took the lead choosing the route and led us though some backroads to Welwyn via Brookman's Park. I punctured my front wheel twice on the road to Welwyn - the other guy sponsoring a tube with my second flat.

I led the ride from Welwyn through Essendon hill and back to Potter's Bar. The rain never let up at all and I was totally drenched by the time I got back home. I would have like to have done a long ride today, but the rain made it very uncomfortable and nerve-wrecking.

View this ride data at Motionbased

Distance: 66.3km / 41.2mi
Time: 2:10:31 (5 min subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 30.5kph / 18.9mph
Elevation Gain: 624m / 2047ft
Heart Rate: 129bpm (avg) / 175bpm (max)
Calories: 2776

Saturday 26 May 2007

Training: EF-Hatfield-EF

Quick out and back ride to warm up the legs after taking the day off riding yesterday. Ended up doing a surprisingly fast ride. Generally overcast with a few light showers, though not really cold.

Distance: 46.2km / 28.7mi
Time: 1:26:45
Speed: 31.9kph / 19.9mph
Elevation Gain: 427m
Heart Rate: 158bpm (avg) / 183bpm (max)
Calories:1959

View this ride data at Motionbased



Sunday 20 May 2007

Training: EF-Walkern-Codicote-Welwyn-EF

Nice high paced ride with Werner and a new guy that turned up at Potters Bar. The new guy had to turn back early but he was very fast and pushed the pace whenever the road went up. Werner and I continued on into the hills around Stevenage at a slightly more relaxed pace, but picked it up again as soon as we hit the main Codicote-Hitchin road.

At the end I was totally drained - riding with Werner seems to do that to me - just what I needed really!

Distance: 110.7km / 68.8mi
Time: 3:34:00 (5 min subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 31.0kph / 19.3mph
Elevation Gain: 1136m / 3727ft
Heart Rate: 150bpm (avg) / 188bpm (max - new max!)
Calories: 4551

View this ride data at Motionbased

Saturday 19 May 2007

Training: EF-Hatfield-ColneyHeath-EF

Nasty wind from the SW - pretty tough little ride. Ended up on the motorway after getting a bit lost on the way back home and then ended up in a dead end after trying to get to Dancer's Hill from Colney Heath without going through Potter's Bar. The wind didn't help much, but it compensated for riding a fairly flat route.

Distance: 68.0km / 42.3mi
Time: 2:12:30 (5 min subtracted due to traffic/getting lost)
Speed: 30.8kph / 19.1mph
Elevation Gain: 556m
Heart Rate: 150bpm (avg), 179bpm (max)
Calories: 2789

View this ride data at Motionbased

Sunday 13 May 2007

Training: EF-Welwyn-Whitwell-Bendish(loop)-EF

Met up with the Potters Bar group this morning - the 2 English guys from last week's ride and an Australian that I hooked up with on the way out. Werner didn't pitch up and I don't blame him - the sky was pitch black, it was cold and the forecast said there would be heavy rain. We agreed from the outset that it wouldn't be a 70-80 miler like last week... more like 40-50 miles - unfortunately I didn't bring my HR monitor with me, just the GPS.

The pace from the start was fairly brisk, with the Aussie and I at the front taking pulls through the light drizzle. At Whitwell we encountered some sort of cycling fun ride with lots of men, women and children having taken over the road. We weaved through them and since I was leading the group, missed our turn and ended up doing a big loop around the surrounding hills and back into Whitwell. One of the English guys punctured as we entered the town again so we waited for him to change his tube.

The ride back via Codicote was into the wind, though it wasn't too windy. I led most of the time and actually preferred it as there was lots of water on the road being flicked up from back wheels. At Welwyn with 30km to go the rain really started coming down and all I could think of was getting back home - I was absolutely soaked. Pushing the pace over the last few hills, I started dropping the other guys, so freewheeled on the down slopes to wait for them. By the time we got to Barnet I could hardly see where I was going and the busy traffic made the going dangerous with quite a few close calls. Thunder and lightning started up on the last 5km.

Made it home in one piece - wet, but not really very tired.

Distance:98.9km / 61.5mi
Time: 3:14:22 (5 min subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 30.6kph / 19.0mph
Elevation Gain: 959m / 3146ft

View this ride data at Motionbased

Sunday 6 May 2007

Training: EF-Sandon-Buntingford-EF

Official maiden voyage of my new bike - I have called her Eleanor because she is French.

Rode up to Potter's Bar at 10am in the hope that there might have been a large group for the Sunday group ride...but there was no one. As it was still 9:55 I waited for a bit - and was joined by three other guys - two English weekend warriors and an ex-pro South African rider!

We headed off with me leading out the group. The South African, Werner, and I got chatting about all things South African and how we were finding it out here in England - very cool guy and a pleasure to ride with. He said that he'd stopped racing 5 years before and that he was just getting back into serious riding again - it didn't show - this guy was fast, especially on the hills and we kept having to wait for the other two.

We stopped in Buntingford for a cuppa tea and headed back toward London, though there was a fierce headwind to impede our speed. The two slower guys we not handling too well and they told us saffas to not wait - they knew the way. So Werner and I took off into the hills around Bayford - it was here that I could see how strong Werner was - was struggling to hold his wheel on the steeper parts. Lack of miles in his legs soon caught up with him as we went into the last 10-miles before Potter's Bar - he started lagging behind and said that he almost "blacked-out" on the last hill.

At Potters Bar we shook hands and agreed to meet up again for some more riding - a very cool maiden cruise on Eleanor (saddle is a bit painful, but I'm probably just getting used to it...and the rear mech definitely needs replacing - lots of jumping) and hopefully a cool riding partner for the future.

Distance: 123.3km / 76.6mi
Time: 4:14:47 (5 min subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 29.1kph / 18.1mph
Calories: 5304
Elevation Gain: 1321m / 4334ft
Heart Rate: 144bpm (avg) / 185bpm (max)

View this ride data at Motionbased

Saturday 5 May 2007

New pics of the Look

OCP quality I hope...




Friday 4 May 2007

Training: EF-B.Cm-Hoddsn-NG.St-EF

Well - good news and bad news for this ride... The bad first then - after receiving a phone call from someone 40km into my ride, I decided to cut what was meant to be a 115km ride into a 70-80km ride so I could get back to London sooner (because of the call). Refusing to simply "turn around" and do an out and back ride (hate those...less scenery), I tried to find a road that looped through Hertford or even sooner - through Broxbourne. In attempting this I became horribly lost - virtually a tour of the cul de sac's of Broxbourne. My map on Motionbased shows just how lost I got! Thus my avg speed is again pretty low...

The good news was the phone call. Matt called to say he was finally building my Look bike up and that it would be ready today!!! Once I arrived home I showered, changed, chowed down a pasta salad and recovery drink and caught the tube straight to Victoria. I stopped off at Evans to pick up some Look pedals as Matt didn't have any and went directly to his bike shop afterward.

I spent a good 2 hours there watching him finishing off the build, drinking coffee and chatting about gear and his racing days in Belgium. My past anger at the amount of time it had taken to get my bike built was washed away - the Look was/is beautiful - especially with the Easton Vista SL's. Matt gave me a fantastic price on the parts - a lot was at dealer rate and he didn't charge for labour..he also threw in the areobars from a couple of weeks ago in for free. It was worth the wait and the ride home was lovely - despite the fact that I'd just ridden almost 100km earlier and the rush hour Friday traffic. I've made a few adjustments to it and its just superb - I LOVE MY NEW BIKE! Just can't wait to go for a long ride on Sunday, though I'll probably go for a 30-40km recovery ride tomorrow.

So the build has the following:
  • Look KG451 size 53 carbon frame
  • Campy Record '05 group (mechs and chainset will be replaced with new '07 Chorus)
  • Easton Vista SL wheelset with Michelin Pro2 Race tyres
  • Easton EA70 alu bars and stem (the silver spacers will be replaced with carbon ones)
  • Look Keo Classic pedals (will be swapped out with the carbon Keo's from my other bike)
  • Selle Italia SLR xp saddle
  • El cheapo 25mm alu post (will be replaced with a USE Alien carbon one)
  • Cane Creek S2 headset
  • Bontrager alu cages

Here's a photo I've just taken of the new bike:





OCP pics with white garage door to follow tomorrow.

Distance: 96.9km / 60.2mi
Time: 3:11:37 (10 min subtracted due to traffic/getting lost)
Speed: 30.3kph / 18.9mph
Calories: 4048
Elevation Gain: 1008m / 3307ft
Heart Rate: 155bpm (avg) 183bpm (max)

View this ride data at Motionbased

Wednesday 2 May 2007

Training: EF-Bull's Green-Welwyn-EF

Good paced ride - pushing hard into the wind and up hills - otherwise keeping HR in zone 3. Nasty cross-tailwind on the way back - constantly pushing me towards traffic, though not complaining too much as it was keeping my speed up. The traffic was pretty bad on the way out and back (mostly at the bottle-neck that is Barnet).

Distance: 73.3km / 45.6mi
Time: 2:19:49 (5 min subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 31.5kph / 19.6mph
Calories: 3083
Elevation Gain: 726m / 2382ft
Heart Rate: 157bpm (avg) 183bpm (max)

View this ride data at Motionbased