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

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

New pics of the Look

OCP quality I hope...

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

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

EF-Wheathampsted-Weston-Hertford-EF

Tough day's solo riding - very windy and pretty warm. Started out too quickly and by 60km covered I was getting pain in my calves. The hills north of Stevenage and the unrelenting headwind from the east didn't help much. By the time I'd hit Hertford I was bonking badly, so stopped for a Lucozade. The hills up to Brickendon and through to Potter's Bar were a nightmare and I started to get a very worrying little voice in my head that was saying that this was all too much and I should just quit. Several times during this period I felt like throwing up, but managed to hold it together until I arrived home.

Despite the poor avg speed, I look at today's ride as a reminder that if you push it too hard too early, you will pay for it later...big time!

Distance: 126.1km / 78.4mi
Time: 4:26:25 (5 min subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 28.4kph / 17.7mph
Calories: 5008
Elevation Gain: 1274m
Heart Rate: 154bpm (avg), 178bpm (max)

View this ride data at Motionbased

Training: EF-Broxbourne-Hertford-L.Berk-EF

No one turned up for today's group ride except for one on the slower guys from last week. Was tempted to tell him that it wasn't worth the effort today (then go for a solo ride), but didn't have the heart. Ended up riding with him, just taking it easy as last week. When we finished and split at Potter's Bar I picked up a very fast rider for the last 12km back. Avg speed over the this distance was around 36-40kph - and that was through busy traffic! Despite the slowness of the day, at least I got a nice bit of pain towards the end.

I'm going to stop riding with the Potter's Bar group if this continues. I'm really losing out on proper training and can't afford it with less than 10 weeks before the British Sportive...I think I'll aim to be at Potter's Bar at 10:10am from now on, and if I see the same slow riders there, I'll just keep on riding solo.

Distance: 72.2km / 44.9mi
Time: 2:28:56 (3 minutes subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 29.1kph / 18.1mph
Calories: 3139
Elevation Gain: 845m
Heart Rate: 127bpm (avg) / 175bpm (max)

View this ride data at Motionbased