With a recovery week after the Perf's, a weekend of hard training and a brutal week of training over half term, there isn't a great deal to report.
Thanks to In Gear for a new chain quickly slung on this morning. Not surprised how quick James Brickell helped me put it on after he put up with listening to my screaching chain for 3hrs on Sunday. I really could not have left the links any longer. Had a solid 9hr weekend with a particularly good ride on Saturday with 5hrs of riding in the rain and hardly came off 95rpm and out of Zone 2. Did some great hills up near Brightling and then round to Beachy Head, getting through a fair few fig rolls!
Looking forward to getting the cycling team started up at school; got some potentially pretty strong students who are keen to get racing which is great to see and I am sure will keep me on my toes in training during the week.
Half term never seems to be that quiet with preparing for the next half of term and trying to ensure I get enough work done so I can train in the evenings.
Monday 21 February 2011
Monday 14 February 2011
Race Calendar Now Up
Provisional Race Calendar is up for the first half of the year as set out by the Progressive Cycle Coaching Development Squad. See below. This is subject to change depending on form and there will be plenty of midweek racing and some 2nd cat racing sprinkled in as well but these are the core races to perform in up to June. Also hope to include a decent amount of track this year. Going to be a big year!
Levels
One of the hardest aspect of my cycling at the moment has to be working out how good I am. While I don't want to brag but at the same time I do train damn hard and some of the guys I race against are pretty quick. Simulataneously I look around I know that I am a long way off a top ten in the type of race I did at the weekend. Trying to explain what level I am racing at to non-cycling friends is proving increasingly complex, especially when you have to make sacrifices.
Case in point was Sunday's Perf's Pedals race. While this is a race that no-one outside of cycling has heard of, at the same time, I was racing alongside a number of guys who have spent a large number of years racing abroad professionally such as Magnus Backstedt, 2004 Paris-Roubaix winner and Tour rider. I had a reasonable race and felt very comfortable in the bunch but then attacked trying to follow the winning break. I held a gap between the break and the bunch but couldn't maintain it and then went out the back on the climb. While I knew it was beyond my limits to attack, I wanted to try something and knew that was the move to make. I got back on and finished in 33rd. Not bad for the start of the season and glad to stay upright.
Having shown some normal, non-cycling people the Cycling Weekly report on the team, I am still not sure what level I am performing at and I get the impression that some people who I tell about my training think I am making it up. Looking around at other 2nd category riders, I know I usually perform well but at the same time I know I have a lot more development to do before being able to place well at elite level events.
In conclusion, I think the answer is to stop thinking about it, forget what other people think and keep training like a savage. Being back racing was absolutely fantastic, loved just being in the bunch and seeing my heart rate monitor go nuts. A really gritty race with some quality riders, I'm still getting the grit out my ears now!
Thanks to my parents to driving Matt and I down there! Great race by the organisers! Next race San Fairy Ann Circuits on the 26/2 at Hog Hill. Got half term beginning this Saturday so will be a hard week building up to this though so its definitely a C race for me but still very much looking forward to it. Team meeting this weekend with the PCCDS all back from Spain!
Case in point was Sunday's Perf's Pedals race. While this is a race that no-one outside of cycling has heard of, at the same time, I was racing alongside a number of guys who have spent a large number of years racing abroad professionally such as Magnus Backstedt, 2004 Paris-Roubaix winner and Tour rider. I had a reasonable race and felt very comfortable in the bunch but then attacked trying to follow the winning break. I held a gap between the break and the bunch but couldn't maintain it and then went out the back on the climb. While I knew it was beyond my limits to attack, I wanted to try something and knew that was the move to make. I got back on and finished in 33rd. Not bad for the start of the season and glad to stay upright.
Having shown some normal, non-cycling people the Cycling Weekly report on the team, I am still not sure what level I am performing at and I get the impression that some people who I tell about my training think I am making it up. Looking around at other 2nd category riders, I know I usually perform well but at the same time I know I have a lot more development to do before being able to place well at elite level events.
In conclusion, I think the answer is to stop thinking about it, forget what other people think and keep training like a savage. Being back racing was absolutely fantastic, loved just being in the bunch and seeing my heart rate monitor go nuts. A really gritty race with some quality riders, I'm still getting the grit out my ears now!
Thanks to my parents to driving Matt and I down there! Great race by the organisers! Next race San Fairy Ann Circuits on the 26/2 at Hog Hill. Got half term beginning this Saturday so will be a hard week building up to this though so its definitely a C race for me but still very much looking forward to it. Team meeting this weekend with the PCCDS all back from Spain!
Wednesday 9 February 2011
Thank yous!
Its been a really tough couple of weeks hence the lack of blogs and have been finding it difficult both to set myself up in a completely different training regime and also from sleep deprivation;however from looking round friends at school, I know I am not the only one so tired.
I have had quite a few changes going on-all for the better recently-I moved flat finally a couple of weeks ago and want to really thank everyone who helped from the Peckhams with offers of fridges, Andrew with calming me down and reorganising furniture to Giorgia, Matt and Drew who helped me with the heavy lifting. Mum, Bow and Dad have been fantastic mostly with being patient with my tantrums with the frustrations of moving. Trevor and Dan have also been great.
I have spent the last two weeks teaching at another school as part of my course which has thrown me off my usual rigid training schedule and it has been hard to stick to my training as strictly as I would have liked to which I need to be more accepting of at times. That said, I have not missed much and made the mistake of counting that in the last 4 weeks I have climbed Ditchling Beacon 42 times and Firle Beacon 22 times but as my teammate Henry Bird tells me apparently I am a "training Nazi". My climbing MUST be improving. I dropped 2kgs in the week I moved and that has stayed off so I am way ahead of where I was at the start of the winter. I have already hit last years Max Heart Rate in training so on paper this could be a pretty mad year.
Looking forward to Sunday where it should be a pleasure racing the 2004 Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt! Race calendar to come up on the blog this week hopefully!
I have had quite a few changes going on-all for the better recently-I moved flat finally a couple of weeks ago and want to really thank everyone who helped from the Peckhams with offers of fridges, Andrew with calming me down and reorganising furniture to Giorgia, Matt and Drew who helped me with the heavy lifting. Mum, Bow and Dad have been fantastic mostly with being patient with my tantrums with the frustrations of moving. Trevor and Dan have also been great.
I have spent the last two weeks teaching at another school as part of my course which has thrown me off my usual rigid training schedule and it has been hard to stick to my training as strictly as I would have liked to which I need to be more accepting of at times. That said, I have not missed much and made the mistake of counting that in the last 4 weeks I have climbed Ditchling Beacon 42 times and Firle Beacon 22 times but as my teammate Henry Bird tells me apparently I am a "training Nazi". My climbing MUST be improving. I dropped 2kgs in the week I moved and that has stayed off so I am way ahead of where I was at the start of the winter. I have already hit last years Max Heart Rate in training so on paper this could be a pretty mad year.
Looking forward to Sunday where it should be a pleasure racing the 2004 Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt! Race calendar to come up on the blog this week hopefully!
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