Stage 3! The suffering begins.....

Today was stage 3 From Antwerp to Hoy, 100 miles. Today was the hottest yet, 38c around Liege. Struggling to keep on top of fluids, despite a litre per hour all day! 

The last climb up to Hoy was fun. Watch for it when the pros do. It's 19% for a good whack, but I kept thinking I've done hardknott pass and that was much steeper!! 

Few moments of 'realisation' today over what the Tour De France is really about. My legs felt strong, almost 15 ave, at 138ave heart rate (but that was not accurate as was close to heat stroke at 1pm!!). 

Now at a camp site, sadly it's quite a 'loud' happening camp site. Hope I get a good nights sleep as tomorrow is the longest day of the tour, 138 miles. I'm expecting a 8am to 8pm ride! 

Stage 2!

Thought I would use todays blog to document the humour of the Tour De France. Here are some comical moments from the last two days.

1) Bryan (driver) trying to close the van door after having a toilet trip at 4am. Door wouldn't close. 13 slams later. In the morning "Did I wake you last night?"

2) Amazing tan lines already!

4) No, my bike is not electric sir.

5) missing the finish line and cycling a further 5km. Then sat at bus stop in the shade with some 'Cool teenagers' who found my bike and yellow cap hilarious! 

The reality of the project.... It's all about logistics!

You might think (or hope) I would be busy training with 1 week to go but it seems I am even more busy doing final planning and camp site bookings! Plus sorting flights and transfers for the 3 drivers. Oh plus all the insurance head aches with having 3 drivers on the motorhome! The list goes on! Had some interviews with Netherlands and Norway TV today, plus cycling weekly magazine so the interest is starting to grow in the project!

 

I hope to get out on my bike 1 day this week, promise!

Bad news comes in 3's.....

Ok have to admit last week was one I'd rather not repeat. Had to cancel my Lake District 5 day climbing camp due to contracting food poisoning from rice, only now starting to feel human again. My long term right sided lower back injury reared its ugly head again, with consequent knee pain. This is being urgently attended to, thanks to Mo, sports injury therapist, Martin, masseur, and Dave Wordsworth, physio. Lastly, the driver for the motorhome very sadly had to pull out, leaving a mad dash to find a replacement driver, just two weeks out. The whole week has been spent either on the phone or on the treatment bed getting my back fixed. Good news is.... Knee and back improving, stomach is now almost back to normal, plus

I'm only 2lbs off my target weight, and I now have 3 drivers for the trip! Result!!!!

Training camp!

This Sunday I plan to start a 5 training camp in the Lake District, using some of the lake districts famous climbs like Whinlatter and kirkstone pass. Although they are much shorter climbs than those I will be encountering in France I plan to simply (!) do hill reps on each. Over a 80 mile course in the lakes it's fairly easy to knock up ascent totals of 3000m, so I'm pretty confident that 5 days of this will really boost my climbing strength. Of course.... I'm still going to suffer like a dog in the Pyrenees, but that's the tour for you :)

June update

Having realised not everyone following me uses social media i plan to keep a blog each day leading upto and during the event itself!

So we're in June. Things just for serious! Huge focus on climbing for next 3 weeks. Huge focus on core and flexibility. The latter being essential for handling a chopper bike up and down hills. The bike is very unforgiving on corners and even in a straight line at speed. Improving on my core conditioning has been a priority this year, but it's really been stepped up this last few weeks..... And happy to say already feeling the benefits. Far less high speed wobbles! 

Below is a pic of me enjoying the sun at top of Clieves hill, my local hill with a massive 29 metres of ascent. I know. Mind blowing climb ha ha

Progress!

Sunday 15th Feb was a great day for cycling, lovely sunny morning and fairly mild for feb! I covered 85 miles on the chopper, at an ave of 15.2mph. I did two key climbs, Stoney and hunters hill, both done in gear 1 (spinning). I usually like gear 2 and out of the saddle but as I was planning a longer ride than normal I opted for energy conservation. This is me being sensible. I do have a habit of attacking climbs, but understand I can't do this on each mountain in the tour! 

Legs felt great at the end of the 85 miles, a good sign my winter base endurance

miles are paying off.

Total for the week was 334 miles, on either MTB (with panniers) or chopper, so a good week for feb. 

Week summary

Last week I cycled just over 300 miles, mostly on my 29er MTB, as the chopper was being serviced (again). I've used a new pannier rack and my work gear in the pannier bag to make some of the miles on the MTB feel a bit more like the effort required to power the chopper. The chopper rolling resistance is pretty high, something I am very aware of. This week I'm planning on upping the weekly mileage to 400 miles, this sounds a lot but in reality it's only about 50% of the distance I'll be covering each week in France! Lots of training to come then :/ 

Happy knees = happy Dave

One real issue that I have come to recognise since training on the chopper is the impact it's having on my body.... Mostly my quads and knees! You see the chopper is heavy and it has tyres which don't roll well (a combination of thick MTB like tread and a max of about 3.5 bars). All this combined means to keep the bike moving along requires a fair bit of torque being placed through the cranks. I've tried 'spinning' in a low gear, it just doesn't seem to work, I just end up going slower and with a high heart rate! Plus the high cadence spinning action  causes the diddy front wheel to wobble excessively! As a result I find the best speeds are achieved with a slightly higher gear than what I might use on a road bike. This is fine, as long as your knees track correctly. Placing high amounts of torque through mal-aligned knees is a sure recipe for disaster! I'm very aware of this, so as a result I spend a fair bit of time each day doing core work and stretching key muscle groups like my hip flexers, quads, lower back etc. This has really helped (I think) to keep potential niggles at bay. I've suffered with right patella tracking issues for the last few years, but since December 2014 I've really knuckled down and committed to a daily 'TLC' routine. Since then I've been riding with no pain or knee issues :) 

Here are a few photos of me doing my core  & stretch exercises.....

Team Chop 'Sportive' calendar

I like Sundays. Great to do a big ride, then spend some time plotting and planning. My wall planner is taking shape! 

Today (1st Feb) I did 60 miles, averaging 15.4, which I'm happy about given the strong artic northerly wind of the coast! Bloody freezing! The chopper bike worked well today, much thanks to Alister at mecycle cafe who sorted out the brakes and gear tension. My legs lasted out well, although I probably pushed it a bit to much on way back, hate slowing down in the wind.

I've finally organised most of my weekends between now and July, here is a list of events I will be attending. I will be on the chopper unless otherwise stated  .....

15th march: Jodrell Bank sportive 

22nd march: Eden Valley, Epic Events

29th march: Cheshire Cat (kilotogo)

April 12th: North shore & moors (MTB)

May 2nd: Selkirk national MTB champs

May 10th: Fred whitton challenge 

May 24th: polka dot jersey sportive

May 31st: roman roads sportive (HMCC)

June: 6/7 Bala boot camp (including the balla half ironman (road bike)

20-23rd Team chop bootcamp in the Lake District 

Winter training....

Snow,Gail force winds, ice. Worst day of January so far! More watt bike sessions today ! This is my most recent watt bike selfie pic. Pink towel on head essential! 

Team Chop Pro cycling kit arrived!

Finally, all the Team Chop Cycling kit has arrived! Many thanks to champion systems for there help in designing it and getting the kit organised over the Xmas holidays.

I've opted for for some quite 'aero fitted' garments. Given that the chopper isn't great on aerodynamics (or handling) I thought I would adopt the marginal gains ethos of David Brailsford e.g try and make me (the rider) as aero as possible. This includes skin suits and of course an obligatory pointy aero helmet for the TT's. Given its -2c in my kitchen right now I'm not about to start modelling the skin suit!