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January / February The majority of January and February was spent on the turbo trainer during the week and on my winter bike whenever possible at the weekend. I loosely followed a training plan from the Lance Armstrong Performance Plan book on the turbo and watched a lot of DVD's to off set the boredom! This is the first time I've done any "real" winter training and it really helped get my fitness kick started. Every made sure I rode at least one "century" ride courtesy of entering the Century A Month Challenge on the Cycling Plus Forum. Although not much fun in Winter it certainly gives me something to focus on and aim for every month. March / April Pretty much the same as January and February really. As often as possible I got outside and put some rides in to increase my stamina and help with weight loss. Once the clocks got altered the turbo was put away, I couldn't face any more time on that thing anymore! Towards the end of April the weather finally got warm enough for me to wear short finger mitts and dump the overshoes although I still needed thermal tights for a while longer. May At last, warm weather! I seem to overheat quite quickly on the bike so I was very soon down to short sleeves and shorts, not a good sight when my legs were so white. Apart from increasing the amount of climbing I put in and keeping the mileage high I also rode my first organised group ride. The Dougie Mac Ride is a 110mile charity ride in aid of the Douglas Macmillan Hospice in Stoke. This was my first test of the year but I came through with flying colours. Although I tired towards the end I felt good and really enjoyed myself, the route from Stoke out to Llangollen was very well marked, good roads and lots of fun. This month I started riding to and from work as training rather than drive there and back before going out afterwards. Although the route is only about 15miles each way it's very hilly and a great workout. This was really the basis for my training from now on along with longer rides at the weekend to work on my stamina. June June was a but worrying for me. I'd enrolled in the Dragon Ride in Wales back in January and I knew it was going to be a very hard, hilly route that would really let me know how well I was going. The day was extremely hot, extremely hill and really really good. I found that I went really well on the hills but struggled a little on the flat but overall I was really happy with my fitness by this point.
Prior to starting the Dragon Ride, if only I knew how hard it was going to get!
As an extra point, this ride was only the third time I ridden with large groups of cyclists, the previous occasions being Alpe d'Huez last year and the Dougie Mac in May. Although I'm a bit nervous in large groups it's something I quite enjoy so I might try to do more rides like this next year. July More of a reconciliation month really. Continuing to ride to and from work I found I was using larger gears on the climbs and putting in faster times as the weeks went on. Although the way I've been training would not be enough for a racing cyclist I think it's more than enough as prep for the End to End. Over eight months I've lost around 8kgs in weight and lowered by resting heart rate by 6bpm but more importantly I increased the power in my legs enormously. August |
