After going weeks and weeks without punctures I have suffered two in two weeks!

A great ride on Wednesday morning of just over 60miles with Seb for company was the highlight of the week. The route had plenty of hills and the wind was a great training aide

Slightly less hours trained than the week before at 7hrs 7mins but good hrs in January none the less.

There was some cross training as well with a couple of squash matches and two very good turbo sessions.

Hopefully I can continue this enthusiasm towards my cycling through the xmas break,and not over do the fine food and drink

winter cycling VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Looking at the above picture just shows how wrapped up against the elements I and the other riders were.

My legs and especially my knees were sore from the previous days long hilly ride, and I seemed to be in a bad mood from the min we set off from the Esso garage on Scarborough rd.

It is a strange thing to do when you are not in the mood for it , cycle into a strong head wind for 2hrs, freezing cold hands and feet. All i could think about was how sore my knees were and how much my undercarriage was hurting but i set off anyway. I wanted to turn back at Grindale but thought just half an hour more and kept making this deal with myself all the way to Scarborough. It wasn’t until we  were heading back that I started to enjoy it. By the time i was back in Bridlington I was smiling again.

Road cycling seems to evoke this sort of feeling, about enduring the training or the race, and seems to attract the sort of people that can endure and carry on making bargains with themselves to just go to the next point, then the next then the next.

Is it enjoyment that we get out of it or is it more a sense of achievement of over coming something, either the conditions or our own weakness?

After a week in Devon it was time to get back on into the training.

It was a great day to ride , sunny but cold and I was fully rested after feeling very tired from the previous night shifts.

The plan was to meet up with Stu at Hutton Cranswick, then ride up through Cowlem and on to Thixendale to get some hills in. A quick Cafe break at Fridaythorpe then head back home. For once I planned the ride and rode the plan. Sat down on most of the hills even the ones at Thixendale. The wind and the hills took their toll on Stu and we got to the cafe a bit later than planned. After a cuppa and a tea cake I headed home and managed to raise my average speed back up above 15mph from a low 14mph before the stop.

I learnt some lessons during this first big ride;

1. Need to drink more
2. Started to get cramps on the hills so need to look at my salt intake etc
3. 5hrs is hard work on the “sit bone”!

It was a great days riding and with good company

This series seems the ideal opportunity with the marathon distance being 100km

giving me a test if around 6 hours and testing the bike and my maintenance

skills.

Think i need to learn to change at least three sets of brake pads without taking too long to do it. A wet weekend in Wales should be an ideal “dry” run. It will also be a good pointer of how the winter training has gone.

First block of six days training completed and it  felt like i had completed a

personal goal, a first step on the road to a better season next year and hopefully a small step towards completing the Keilder 100

Just short of 9.5hrs but it felt like more. The best session was following Martin and Warty round the local hills on a dull Wednesday morning.

There were only a couple of turbo sessions included in the week as the program said if i could get out then get out.

Having a written itinerary helps to motivate me to get on with the training and gives me a feeling of satisfaction when the session is completed

Lets hope I can keep the motivation up.

I like having a routine to follow and set times and exercises to work to and this is exactly what i got when I visited Mark of  www.mckeown-coaching.co.uk.  Mark put me on his computrainer and then put me through my paces. An excruciating Ramp Threshold Test to get my training zones set, moving on to a Peak Power test and ending with a Steady State to Limit of tolerance  Test. The worst test however was the body fat measurement, and its official I am carrying too much body fat.

I was there for almost three hours and had a great time, getting very helpful advice on training and diet and goal setting.  The following email ran to 13 pages and gave me a detailed schedule to follow to achieve my goals, and some very in-depth nutritional advice.

My main  target for 2012 is to complete the K100! Other goals involve Time Trialling and road racing. Having seriously underestimated the mountain bike marathon this year I didn’t want to  leave it to chance and think i could breeze through on the seasons fitness and good looks.

The good thing about having a coach is being able to ask them advice , bounce ideas off them, and to get motivated when that motivation can be difficult to find.

So far it has been money well spent, but I suppose the ultimate endorsement is if I realise my goals and enjoy a post race drink in The Grapes after completing the off-road 100 miles.

The 5 of us lined up before the start of the Kielder 100. We were all feeling a bit anxious about the forthcoming event.
Just after this picture was taken it started to rain, which pretty much set the tone for the next day!

This is my nemesis for the winter weather.
I hate it but i need it.
I don’t want to climb aboard but it drags me in.
It goes nowhere, but turns my legs to jelly.
Its a time machine as the minutes drag on and on
Mile after mile in the comfort of my front room with just a pool
of sweat to mark my progress.

The term is Cabin Fever I think? Nearly three weeks without riding a bike was starting to play havoc with my nerves and well being. I was irritable, moody, and on edge with everyone all the time.
So waking up to driving wintry showers this Sunday still wasn’t enough to put me off a couple of hours mtb. Once out of bridlington the weather improved and the four intrepid old men found ourselves in glorious sunshine albeit very cold, and riding on empty roads.
We had great fun on the back lanes around the local wolds, laughing and swapping banter like teenagers, and there were spills and slips as we navigated the packed snow and black ice.
It took me a couple of hours until my feet thawed out but the great mood that the ride engendered is still with me and will sustain me for a while yet.