Very cool club ride today despite puncturing and dropping a chain. Managed to stay with the pace the whole time and did quite a lot of work at the front. We saw a bit of a race in Whitwell - some of the guys from the Finchley Racing Team were in in the running - hopefully they did well.
Our ride went over quite a few different roads and found some nasty hills. A lot of guys were messing around - sprinting for sign posts and hill tops. I reacted to almost every move and wasn't dropped once. Big pat on my back for today's efforts!
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Sunday 30 September 2007
Saturday 29 September 2007
Training: EF-Colney Heath-Radlett-Whetstone-EF
Nice easy spin with the Finchley group, though there was a bit of breakaway action that I got involved with for about 5km that started on the first climb in Radlett. All came back together (except Werner who went on a solo flyer) with a nice coffee in Whetstone.
View this ride data at Motionbased
View this ride data at Motionbased
Sunday 23 September 2007
Training: EF-St.Albans-Great Missenden-Stanmore-EF
After taking Saturday off I was feeling a bit stiff taking off for the Sunday ride with the Finchley bunch and even thought it would be best to cut the ride in half - turn back early. I didn't, however, and paid the price towards the end of what was to be a devastating ride
I suspected a bit of Chiltern Hills action when we turned through St. Albans and prayed we weren't taking in Ivinghoe Beacon. Instead we went over Gaddesden and I managed to stay in contact over the top. The route took a turn onto unknown roads after that and we ended up in Chesham. I was feeling a bit tired by this point and knew I should eat some of my energy bar, but my stomach felt queasy - the warning signs had started.
There were two more big hills after Chesham - one before Great Missenden (2km at 5-7%) and a new nasty killer - Coleshill (1.5km at 10-14%). Me and a couple others were dropped on these, but it was brought back together by the other sides. We then headed back toward London on the motorway with a fast tailwind - speeds were in excess of 50kph. I took a few pulls on the front, but my energy levels were already critical.
On the outskirts of West London I suddenly cracked and came crawling to a very low speed - a paced myself alone for the next 5km. I met up with the group again in Stanmore Park where they had reserved outside tables at a coffee shop. After coffee we headed back to Finchley - the pace was upped again and three of us immediately dropped back - the strain of the day showing clearly now.
I was very glad to get back home - my legs seemed to have pedalled all by themselves over the last 5-10km - my mind escaping the pain that had taken over my body. A rough day, but I never gave up!
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I suspected a bit of Chiltern Hills action when we turned through St. Albans and prayed we weren't taking in Ivinghoe Beacon. Instead we went over Gaddesden and I managed to stay in contact over the top. The route took a turn onto unknown roads after that and we ended up in Chesham. I was feeling a bit tired by this point and knew I should eat some of my energy bar, but my stomach felt queasy - the warning signs had started.
There were two more big hills after Chesham - one before Great Missenden (2km at 5-7%) and a new nasty killer - Coleshill (1.5km at 10-14%). Me and a couple others were dropped on these, but it was brought back together by the other sides. We then headed back toward London on the motorway with a fast tailwind - speeds were in excess of 50kph. I took a few pulls on the front, but my energy levels were already critical.
On the outskirts of West London I suddenly cracked and came crawling to a very low speed - a paced myself alone for the next 5km. I met up with the group again in Stanmore Park where they had reserved outside tables at a coffee shop. After coffee we headed back to Finchley - the pace was upped again and three of us immediately dropped back - the strain of the day showing clearly now.
I was very glad to get back home - my legs seemed to have pedalled all by themselves over the last 5-10km - my mind escaping the pain that had taken over my body. A rough day, but I never gave up!
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Sunday 16 September 2007
Training: EF-Whitwell-Hexton-Hitchin-Codicote-EF
Today's ride was the biggest I've seen it so far - 20 guys give or take on what started off as a spectacular day. Werner joined again and all the regulars were there - Dave, Steve, Darren, Patrice among others who's names I still haven't remembered.
The first big 'dig' came after a piss stop at the bottom of the south side of Digswell Hill. Me and a couple others were caught out - my legs just couldn't respond fast enough, but I managed to catch onto the back at the summit, with the decent being a manic 65-70kph scramble to catch another group that had attacked off the front. We pulled it all back together by Codicote and continued for the next 30-min at a conversational pace through Whitwell.
Sadly one of the guys crashed just before reaching Hexton - apart from a bloodied knee he and his bike were OK and we carried on. After getting slightly lost (ended up in a dead-end), the pace was upped considerably and me and Patrice were dropped off the back before reaching Hitchin. We shared the pace into a horrible headwind, trying to catch the much larger bunch, but our efforts went unrewarded. We picked up one guy who had been dropped after Hitchin, but he had obviously blown up big time and he couldn't even latch onto the back.
After about 30km of chasing we finally gave up and took the pace a bit easier, knowing that we wouldn't catch the others. A few kilometers before Potters Bar, we came across Steve, who'd punctured, but he told us to not wait. Shortly after we picked up Werner who had dropped back to pace Steve, so we told him not to wait and the three of us rode back together, with Werner turning off for home at Potters Bar.
Patrice and I stopped for coffee in Whetstone where Dave was waiting (he'd taken a shortcut apparently) with Steve coming in a few minutes later. We chatted about the ride over double shot latte's and then rode back towards London to finish off the day. I'm feeling OK after the ride - my recovery is clearly getting better.
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The first big 'dig' came after a piss stop at the bottom of the south side of Digswell Hill. Me and a couple others were caught out - my legs just couldn't respond fast enough, but I managed to catch onto the back at the summit, with the decent being a manic 65-70kph scramble to catch another group that had attacked off the front. We pulled it all back together by Codicote and continued for the next 30-min at a conversational pace through Whitwell.
Sadly one of the guys crashed just before reaching Hexton - apart from a bloodied knee he and his bike were OK and we carried on. After getting slightly lost (ended up in a dead-end), the pace was upped considerably and me and Patrice were dropped off the back before reaching Hitchin. We shared the pace into a horrible headwind, trying to catch the much larger bunch, but our efforts went unrewarded. We picked up one guy who had been dropped after Hitchin, but he had obviously blown up big time and he couldn't even latch onto the back.
After about 30km of chasing we finally gave up and took the pace a bit easier, knowing that we wouldn't catch the others. A few kilometers before Potters Bar, we came across Steve, who'd punctured, but he told us to not wait. Shortly after we picked up Werner who had dropped back to pace Steve, so we told him not to wait and the three of us rode back together, with Werner turning off for home at Potters Bar.
Patrice and I stopped for coffee in Whetstone where Dave was waiting (he'd taken a shortcut apparently) with Steve coming in a few minutes later. We chatted about the ride over double shot latte's and then rode back towards London to finish off the day. I'm feeling OK after the ride - my recovery is clearly getting better.
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Saturday 15 September 2007
Training: EF-Colney Heath-Radlett-Whetstone-EF
Fast paced ride with the Finchley guys. Werner turned up for today's ride and we found ourselves in a group of about 6 riders that had been dropped at a traffic light in the first 5km - the front 5 riders were not waiting. We decided to up the pace at the front, but the other riders in our group were content with their pace, so Werner and I spend a few minutes bridging the gap to the front group.
Within a few kilometers, the front group started breaking up and I was dropped on the biggest hill at about the halfway mark. I time-trialled my way to the end alone and ended up about a minute behind the front group, with the rest of the guys coming in about 2 minutes after me. Fun, hard ride!
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Within a few kilometers, the front group started breaking up and I was dropped on the biggest hill at about the halfway mark. I time-trialled my way to the end alone and ended up about a minute behind the front group, with the rest of the guys coming in about 2 minutes after me. Fun, hard ride!
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Friday 14 September 2007
Sunday 9 September 2007
Training: EF-Welwyn-Bulls Green-Essendon-EF
After what has been a pretty low mileage week with most of my time spent doing a conference in Leeds for work, I've finally been able to put in a few k's today. Deciding to skip the group ride (not in the mood for a 80-mile hammer-fest), I did a high-paced ride through the Bulls Green/Essendon area, basically treating it as a 75km solo time trial, and the results were pretty good, with my Garmin showing an average speed of 32kph before the first of the longer hills started. I managed to hold the rhythm all the way home, coming in with an average speed of 31kph (though the results say 30.4kph...). Generally a good ride with some nice mild weather.
View this ride data at Motionbased
View this ride data at Motionbased
Sunday 2 September 2007
Training: EF-St. Albans-Ivinghoe-Whipsnade-St.Albans-EF
Today's ride was a viscous bitch of a ride - definitely one for the record books for me. From the start I had an odd feeling of apprehension. There was a pretty big group - about 10 riders, but this swelled to about 15 as we picked up the 9am Potter's Bar group. I was told that we were heading off to the Chiltern Hills again and there were a few 1st category riders in the bunch who were feeling antsy.
After a brief 15km warm-up, we fell into a working on-and-off the front pattern along the fairly flat road towards the first of the Chiltern climbs. Our speed grew faster and faster until we were flying along at 40-50kph INTO to the wind. At this point about 3 guys turned off for a shorter (and easier) ride. I was tempted to go with them, but I wanted to see what riding with the top guys was like... if only I'd re-considered.
We discovered that the first climb of Gaddensden was being resurfaced, so the guys took off towards Ivinghoe and some even nastier climbs. The first one took me by surprise - a gradual incline to what looked like the summit and then a sudden, sharp turn onto a pretty horrible hill that climbed for 3km at around 7-8%. I was dropped here, but one guy tailed back and drafted me back into the group. The effort of the climb and the chase to get back into the group left me exhausted, and as soon as we caught the group, the next climb started - 1 mile of the most evil incline I've ever seen - 15% according to my Garmin - so bad in fact that halfway up I had to put a foot down for 30-seconds. Grinding away on my 39x23 at 8-10kph I eventually made it to the top and found the the re-grouped bunch at the bottom of the hill.
I was the slowest of this group and felt bad for them having to wait and to make matters worse, going down a tricky little decent a few miles later, my multi-tool somehow found its way out of my saddle bag and dropped onto the road. I had to go back and pick it up and then the chase was on, getting back into the group in about 5 minutes while they were coasting through a small town. The group leader said to everyone at this point that it was time for big-ring and no more stopping.
The hammer, in this case, was well and truly dropped - flying along with a slight tailwind along undulating open road, I was just hanging at the back for dear life. A gap opened up a rider ahead of me and suddenly we were two riders sharing the pace trying to get back into the 'race'. After five minutes or so of chasing, my back wheel punctured and the guy I was with didn't wait - understandable, but I was in a state - totally knackered. I changed my tube and carried on.
I realised when I got to the next intersection that I'd be riding home alone as I didn't know which way they went. By my calculations I still had another 40-50km to go, but I didn't know the area and found myself a bit lost. The map function of my Garmin 305 helped me get my bearings and I headed towards the south-east with a nasty little cross wind slowing me down. I stopped at a garage to refill my bottles and took off on a lonely and painful ride back home. I felt devastated, but soon fell into a sort-of rhythm and eventually arrived home after riding for about and hour and a half by myself.
Today was another painful lesson and one that I won't forget in a hurry.
View this ride data at Motionbased.
After a brief 15km warm-up, we fell into a working on-and-off the front pattern along the fairly flat road towards the first of the Chiltern climbs. Our speed grew faster and faster until we were flying along at 40-50kph INTO to the wind. At this point about 3 guys turned off for a shorter (and easier) ride. I was tempted to go with them, but I wanted to see what riding with the top guys was like... if only I'd re-considered.
We discovered that the first climb of Gaddensden was being resurfaced, so the guys took off towards Ivinghoe and some even nastier climbs. The first one took me by surprise - a gradual incline to what looked like the summit and then a sudden, sharp turn onto a pretty horrible hill that climbed for 3km at around 7-8%. I was dropped here, but one guy tailed back and drafted me back into the group. The effort of the climb and the chase to get back into the group left me exhausted, and as soon as we caught the group, the next climb started - 1 mile of the most evil incline I've ever seen - 15% according to my Garmin - so bad in fact that halfway up I had to put a foot down for 30-seconds. Grinding away on my 39x23 at 8-10kph I eventually made it to the top and found the the re-grouped bunch at the bottom of the hill.
I was the slowest of this group and felt bad for them having to wait and to make matters worse, going down a tricky little decent a few miles later, my multi-tool somehow found its way out of my saddle bag and dropped onto the road. I had to go back and pick it up and then the chase was on, getting back into the group in about 5 minutes while they were coasting through a small town. The group leader said to everyone at this point that it was time for big-ring and no more stopping.
The hammer, in this case, was well and truly dropped - flying along with a slight tailwind along undulating open road, I was just hanging at the back for dear life. A gap opened up a rider ahead of me and suddenly we were two riders sharing the pace trying to get back into the 'race'. After five minutes or so of chasing, my back wheel punctured and the guy I was with didn't wait - understandable, but I was in a state - totally knackered. I changed my tube and carried on.
I realised when I got to the next intersection that I'd be riding home alone as I didn't know which way they went. By my calculations I still had another 40-50km to go, but I didn't know the area and found myself a bit lost. The map function of my Garmin 305 helped me get my bearings and I headed towards the south-east with a nasty little cross wind slowing me down. I stopped at a garage to refill my bottles and took off on a lonely and painful ride back home. I felt devastated, but soon fell into a sort-of rhythm and eventually arrived home after riding for about and hour and a half by myself.
Today was another painful lesson and one that I won't forget in a hurry.
View this ride data at Motionbased.
Saturday 1 September 2007
Training: EF-Colney Heath-Radlett-Whetstone-EF
Back with the Finchley group again for a very cool ride. Started off nice and easy, chatting with a few guys, but the end was very fast - averaging around 45kph for a good 3-5km. I started slipping towards the back of the group here, but managed to hold on until the end where we regrouped at the cafe in Whetstone for a coffee and chat.
View this ride data at Motionbased
View this ride data at Motionbased
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