Last night I decided to go to Winnats Pass. I wrote it in my blog so thought, "I've got to do it now". I psyched myself at work so by the time I got home I was chomping at the bit.
I rode out to the Peaks entirely against the wind and wondered whether I wasn't being a bit ambitious - a. do I have the energy? and b. is it going to get dark while I'm out?
Whe I got to Hathersage I decided I would definitely go for it. By the time I got to Castleton (it's just after Castleton that Winnats Pass starts) I was feeling a little tired after nearly an hour of riding uphill against the wind (I can't believe it's possible to ride that far with only one descent!). I turned left at a split in the road and started up Winnats. The road itself looks terrifying - a real scar in the landscape with huge crags on either side. It really looks like you're going to ride to Mordor or something. I hadn't even got to the bottom of the climb proper and I was in bottom gear! Anyway, the climb started and I heaved myself up the hill. I was so steep that my bike pretty much stopped between pedal strokes (Have a look at this forum to see what other people say about it - it makes pretty amusing reading http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=12403&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=09213fa961d8257ee6cdc9c2ad2e5fce).
Anyway, I made it to the top and was delighted that I had made it without feeling like I needed to get off the bike. I was tired though and as I was worried about the light I turned round at the top of the road to go back the way I had come. As I was turning round a man rode his bike round the corner (coming from the top of the hill in order to ride down Winnats). I said "I'm tired now". He said, "are you just going to ride back down there? You might as well go to Edale and make a loop of it!". So I did. I went down an insanely steep descent to Edale and started on my way back to Sheffield. by this stage I was very worried about the light. "I'm in Edale and the sun's starting to go down!" I pedalled pretty hard all the way back - all the time waiting for the point where my energy suddenly runs out or I start to get those shooting pains in my legs.
I was amazed and delighted that when I got home (just about in the light) I was still riding hard (rather than rolling along struggling to turn the pedals) and I'd had only one hint of a shooting pain - not even a proper stab. The ride was 2.5 hours and considering I usually start to run out of energy after 1.5 hours I was really pleased with how it went - especially as it had been so ambitious.
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Monday, 28 April 2008
Finally, a slower ride!
On Saturday morning I intended to go for a ride that would include Winnats pass - pretty much the steepest mile of road in the Peaks. I was really excited about it as it's a legendary climb which loads of people just can't get up! I sent a message to a friend to see if he fancied going for a ride and he said yes. Brilliant, my first ride with someone else!
The only downside was that he didn't feel too strong and really didn't want to add on the extra 10 miles that the loop to Winnats Pass would add. The upside was that I had a really nice ride on a really nice sunny day at the slower pace that I've been trying to ride at. It was still a reasonable pace - just not "as-fast-as-you-can-go-for 1.5 hours".
Perhaps tonight I will try to get out to Winnats Pass...
The only downside was that he didn't feel too strong and really didn't want to add on the extra 10 miles that the loop to Winnats Pass would add. The upside was that I had a really nice ride on a really nice sunny day at the slower pace that I've been trying to ride at. It was still a reasonable pace - just not "as-fast-as-you-can-go-for 1.5 hours".
Perhaps tonight I will try to get out to Winnats Pass...
Friday, 25 April 2008
My own worst enemy...
On Tuesday night I played football again and noticed that on Wednesday I felt very similar to how I felt last week. I was exceptionally tired - almost to the point of feeling ill. Last week I actually felt like I had a cold; this week wan't quite so bad but I certainly felt completely drained. This was a shame because on Wednesday evening the weather was amazing and it would have been perfect for a bike ride. The thought, of getting on my bike, though, was horrible and I could just imagine what a miserable couple of hours it would be. So I didn't go out and instead just sat in.
Last night I felt a lot better. The weather looked ok (this turned out to be deceptive as a 10 minute downpour meant that I got a reet soaking) so I decided to make up for Wednesday by going out and doing a ride.
When I first left my house I felt slow and lacking in energy and thought it was going to be a struggle. This feeling lasted for about 25 minutes until I saw a rider ahead of me I couldn't help myself but decide that I HAD TO OVERTAKE HIM! This rider was in fact two riders, one faster one overtaking the other. I started pedalling harder to catch them and soon was riding at a pace that I thought I would pay for later in the ride. In that moment, though, I was intent on catching the riders in front of me. God knows why.
I finally caught the fast rider after around 4 miles (10 minutes) of chasing against the wind. By the time I caught him I thought I would be too tired to overtake him and it took real concentration and will power to go past him and say "hello mate!" cheerfully without showing any outward signs of being tired. Then I didn't think I was going to get away from him. He just sat in my slipstream being dragged along by me! I felt like crying (or at least having a sit down). Then, finally, I felt my turbo training pay off. Turbo training is good because you never stand up so you get used to putting a lot of effort in and pedalling big gears while sitting down. Last night, when the man was sitting behind me a changed up into a much harder gear while carrying on sitting down and not changing my pedalling speed - all because I didn't want the bloke to realise I was putting any effort in! The result was an extra 8 mph or so on the speed we were doing so I finally managed to drop him. If only he had been in front of me and seen the pain on my face the facade would have ended!
Worryingly, I still had the worst climb of the ride to come - one that I've been dropped on by a friendly rider saying "hello mate" cheerfully as he passed me last year. I was amazed when I went up it the fastest I've done it.
By the time I got home I felt dead. But it was a great ride considering that I felt rubbish before I left.
Last night I felt a lot better. The weather looked ok (this turned out to be deceptive as a 10 minute downpour meant that I got a reet soaking) so I decided to make up for Wednesday by going out and doing a ride.
When I first left my house I felt slow and lacking in energy and thought it was going to be a struggle. This feeling lasted for about 25 minutes until I saw a rider ahead of me I couldn't help myself but decide that I HAD TO OVERTAKE HIM! This rider was in fact two riders, one faster one overtaking the other. I started pedalling harder to catch them and soon was riding at a pace that I thought I would pay for later in the ride. In that moment, though, I was intent on catching the riders in front of me. God knows why.
I finally caught the fast rider after around 4 miles (10 minutes) of chasing against the wind. By the time I caught him I thought I would be too tired to overtake him and it took real concentration and will power to go past him and say "hello mate!" cheerfully without showing any outward signs of being tired. Then I didn't think I was going to get away from him. He just sat in my slipstream being dragged along by me! I felt like crying (or at least having a sit down). Then, finally, I felt my turbo training pay off. Turbo training is good because you never stand up so you get used to putting a lot of effort in and pedalling big gears while sitting down. Last night, when the man was sitting behind me a changed up into a much harder gear while carrying on sitting down and not changing my pedalling speed - all because I didn't want the bloke to realise I was putting any effort in! The result was an extra 8 mph or so on the speed we were doing so I finally managed to drop him. If only he had been in front of me and seen the pain on my face the facade would have ended!
Worryingly, I still had the worst climb of the ride to come - one that I've been dropped on by a friendly rider saying "hello mate" cheerfully as he passed me last year. I was amazed when I went up it the fastest I've done it.
By the time I got home I felt dead. But it was a great ride considering that I felt rubbish before I left.
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
Big ole catch up...
Been a week since I last blogged so here's a bit of a round up.
Last Wednesday night I was really hoping to go for a bike ride as the weather was supposed to be nice. It rained. In the end I went into town to watch a silent movie, but at least I walked the 4 mile round trip. Better than nothing!
Thursday was my first snowboarding lesson. Went to Xscape near Leeds to go on real snow. It was great fun! What was exhausting though was trying to make it from the bottom of the slope over to the rope to get pulled back up the nursery slope. As I couldn't be bothered to keep unstrapping my feet from the board I tried to jump all the way to the rope. This was hard given the slippy nature of the thing I was standing on. By the end I was dripping with sweat despite the fact I was in a huge snow filled room! Really gave my abs a workout.
On Friday I was concerned that, although I'm generally active, a lot of the stuff I'm doing isn't going to make me go round these races particularly faster so I decided that I should do a minimum amount of focused stuff per week up to the races. On Sunday I played football but with this thought fresh in my mind I got up early and did a session on the turbo trainer. The 6 hours in between this and the football match was pretty much enough to recover. Admittedly, the other reason I made sure I did turbo training that day was because I wanted to spend an hour watching som cycle racing on TV and thought I would enjoy it more knowing that I had already done some training that day!
Last night I went on the same bike ride I did last Monday, only this time I used my better wheels. What a difference they make! It's so hard not to go sprinting off like a man posessed and tire myself out in the first five minutes. I suppose it's like driving a sports car and wanting to make sure you make the petrol last. It was really windy on the way back and I pedalled really hard gears down the hills (against the wind) back into Sheffield. Normally when I grind hard gears towards the end of a ride I get some sharp stabbing pains in my legs (god knows why) every now and again (just on the insides of my thighs) and I was waiting for them to start as I rode into Sheffield. I made it back without them occuring which was a pleasant change, though, to be honest, I think it was only a matter of time before one got got me so I don't think it's all down to the turbo training I've been doing just yet.
After my shower I decided to retile a bit of the bathroom. Turned out to be a big mistake, much too tired and forgot to schedule in time for eating until late. had to get up early this morning to do grouting - bah!
Last Wednesday night I was really hoping to go for a bike ride as the weather was supposed to be nice. It rained. In the end I went into town to watch a silent movie, but at least I walked the 4 mile round trip. Better than nothing!
Thursday was my first snowboarding lesson. Went to Xscape near Leeds to go on real snow. It was great fun! What was exhausting though was trying to make it from the bottom of the slope over to the rope to get pulled back up the nursery slope. As I couldn't be bothered to keep unstrapping my feet from the board I tried to jump all the way to the rope. This was hard given the slippy nature of the thing I was standing on. By the end I was dripping with sweat despite the fact I was in a huge snow filled room! Really gave my abs a workout.
On Friday I was concerned that, although I'm generally active, a lot of the stuff I'm doing isn't going to make me go round these races particularly faster so I decided that I should do a minimum amount of focused stuff per week up to the races. On Sunday I played football but with this thought fresh in my mind I got up early and did a session on the turbo trainer. The 6 hours in between this and the football match was pretty much enough to recover. Admittedly, the other reason I made sure I did turbo training that day was because I wanted to spend an hour watching som cycle racing on TV and thought I would enjoy it more knowing that I had already done some training that day!
Last night I went on the same bike ride I did last Monday, only this time I used my better wheels. What a difference they make! It's so hard not to go sprinting off like a man posessed and tire myself out in the first five minutes. I suppose it's like driving a sports car and wanting to make sure you make the petrol last. It was really windy on the way back and I pedalled really hard gears down the hills (against the wind) back into Sheffield. Normally when I grind hard gears towards the end of a ride I get some sharp stabbing pains in my legs (god knows why) every now and again (just on the insides of my thighs) and I was waiting for them to start as I rode into Sheffield. I made it back without them occuring which was a pleasant change, though, to be honest, I think it was only a matter of time before one got got me so I don't think it's all down to the turbo training I've been doing just yet.
After my shower I decided to retile a bit of the bathroom. Turned out to be a big mistake, much too tired and forgot to schedule in time for eating until late. had to get up early this morning to do grouting - bah!
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Rolling along
I'm starting to feel quite good on my bike now - yipee!
I went for a ride in the Peaks last night. To be honest - the ride from my house to where I really intended the ride to start (if that makes any sense at all!) was the hardest bit. I've been trying really hard in the last week to try to exercise in my lower heart rate limits as usually I just go as fast as I can for as long as I can (I just have one speed and that's "eyeballs out!") so I was really careful as I started my ride. The hills as I leave my house to get to the road out to the Peaks are horrific though and the quality of the roads means that my equipment gets rattled around all over the place (and my bike gets knocked around a bit too).
Once I got out, though, I rode really smoothly up and down a few of my favourite hills. I really felt like the turbo training was paying off.
This evening I was a bit short of time so went on the Turbo trainer for a shorter session than I've been doing lately. I went back to doing a 21 minute set of intervals like I had been doing three weeks ago. The pleasing thing was that I was able to keep my legs going round through the "hard" minutes whereas before I had been slowing down significantly.
I think a lot of the improvement I see when I am doing these things is down to psychological factors and confidence - rather than being afraid of getting tired and not being able to continue I know that I can carry on at a certain level for a while and survive the little bit of pain that I use to think was going to be a lot of pain.
I went for a ride in the Peaks last night. To be honest - the ride from my house to where I really intended the ride to start (if that makes any sense at all!) was the hardest bit. I've been trying really hard in the last week to try to exercise in my lower heart rate limits as usually I just go as fast as I can for as long as I can (I just have one speed and that's "eyeballs out!") so I was really careful as I started my ride. The hills as I leave my house to get to the road out to the Peaks are horrific though and the quality of the roads means that my equipment gets rattled around all over the place (and my bike gets knocked around a bit too).
Once I got out, though, I rode really smoothly up and down a few of my favourite hills. I really felt like the turbo training was paying off.
This evening I was a bit short of time so went on the Turbo trainer for a shorter session than I've been doing lately. I went back to doing a 21 minute set of intervals like I had been doing three weeks ago. The pleasing thing was that I was able to keep my legs going round through the "hard" minutes whereas before I had been slowing down significantly.
I think a lot of the improvement I see when I am doing these things is down to psychological factors and confidence - rather than being afraid of getting tired and not being able to continue I know that I can carry on at a certain level for a while and survive the little bit of pain that I use to think was going to be a lot of pain.
Monday, 14 April 2008
Activityful weekend
I got up late on Saturday and was worried I'd wasted the day. I got up and went out to the Peaks for a bit of an explore and stretch of the legs. While I was out I saw a few cyclists going up one of my favourite hills and this made me excited about cycling so I decided to go on my turbo trainer for an hour when I got back home. I didn't have any music on so it was reasonably hard to stay motivated (my cellar's pretty boring after a while!) but I stayed on the bike for just over an hour. It was useful that Elly was in the kitchen making a cake she'd hear the change in tone of the trainer if I slowed down. So I kept going!
On Sunday I went for a good long walk around Edale. It was pretty cloudy so on the tops of the hills there was no view whatsoever, which was a shame because we were on a good ridge.
In the evening I went for a walk probably just under two miles around my area just to have a look at the different front gardens and for a bit of an explore. There's loads of nice stuff I'd never seen before so it was a nice pleasant evening stroll which finished off an active weekend perfectly.
On Sunday I went for a good long walk around Edale. It was pretty cloudy so on the tops of the hills there was no view whatsoever, which was a shame because we were on a good ridge.
In the evening I went for a walk probably just under two miles around my area just to have a look at the different front gardens and for a bit of an explore. There's loads of nice stuff I'd never seen before so it was a nice pleasant evening stroll which finished off an active weekend perfectly.
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Revolutions
Probably around 6600. I did 1hr on the turbo trainer last night and had the overall aim of keeping my cadence at over 100 revolutions per minute. I reckon I maxed out at near 130 rpm but averaged 110.
It was a surprisingly fun session for an hour basically sitting in my cellar - I was aided by some good music, though!
It was a surprisingly fun session for an hour basically sitting in my cellar - I was aided by some good music, though!
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
Round up
I've been busy this week trying to keep up with all my biking and running. On Friday I was supposed to be meeting people in the evening but as I'd awarded myself a rest night on Thursday (which was brilliant!) I really wanted to do some time on the bike to keep the momentum going. I did 30 minutes doing slightly different interval to last time (3:15 easy and 1:45 hard as opposed to 2 easy and 1 hard) which made everything a lot easier.
Over the weekend I was supposed to go on a long run with a friend but this didn't end up working out for various reasons, which was a shame.
On Monday, though I did manage to get out on my road bike to do some actual cycling! On the roads and everything! Unfortunately, though, I did seem to succeed in finding the most impossibly hilly route out of sheffield possible. I must get out of the habit of going everywhere as fast as possible too - by the time I'd been riding for half an hour I was pretty tired. Pace yourself Roberto!
Last night I played football. Afterwards I walked to my band practice (round trip of 3 miles) which was a nice stretch of the legs. My knee did hurt a little though which I hope doesn't continue to get worse. Might just cycle this week to avoid heavy impacts.
Over the weekend I was supposed to go on a long run with a friend but this didn't end up working out for various reasons, which was a shame.
On Monday, though I did manage to get out on my road bike to do some actual cycling! On the roads and everything! Unfortunately, though, I did seem to succeed in finding the most impossibly hilly route out of sheffield possible. I must get out of the habit of going everywhere as fast as possible too - by the time I'd been riding for half an hour I was pretty tired. Pace yourself Roberto!
Last night I played football. Afterwards I walked to my band practice (round trip of 3 miles) which was a nice stretch of the legs. My knee did hurt a little though which I hope doesn't continue to get worse. Might just cycle this week to avoid heavy impacts.
Thursday, 3 April 2008
progress?
I feel like I'm doing well at the moment. On Tuesday I played football after work. It was on a bigger pitch than usual and there was a lot more running involved. I was really tired but it's amazing how you manage to keep going when there's a football to chase! Maybe if I could get a football rolling in front of me for 5k I might be able to get my time down a bit!
When I got home from football I changed into my cycling stuff and got on my bike for 21 minutes. By the time I was finished I was absolutely shattered and felt like collapsing over the handlebars and eating and eating and eating! Turned out I didn't need to eat the whole house (including bricks) after all and a plate of pasta was fine.
Last night I went on my first real bike ride since I started training. I think I'll need to do another 3 weeks at least on the turbo trainer before I start to feel like it's making a real difference.
When I got home from football I changed into my cycling stuff and got on my bike for 21 minutes. By the time I was finished I was absolutely shattered and felt like collapsing over the handlebars and eating and eating and eating! Turned out I didn't need to eat the whole house (including bricks) after all and a plate of pasta was fine.
Last night I went on my first real bike ride since I started training. I think I'll need to do another 3 weeks at least on the turbo trainer before I start to feel like it's making a real difference.
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