2013 – The year of the Beasty? …

Beasty

… or will it be unlucky for me?

So this is my 4th training log. I’ve been taking my cycling “seriously” for 3 years now, with over 29,000km and 100 races/track race days now under my belt.

They reckon that people new tocycling can continue improving for up to 3 years just be getting the miles in, so my main challenge is to see if I can continue that improvement by training smarter. Having already seen some rewards from my "competitive racing career", I guess the big question is whether I can break through in my 4th year and get some more placings, particularly in road races.

In terms of my overall plan, I would like to target the vets TT league primarily. This was my main target in2010, but I didn’t have many opportunities to do the vets TT races in 2012. Many of the events are likely to take place on Tuesday evenings. I should have a new TT bike to help me on my way;).

That means I’ll probably do a bit less road racing on Wednesday evenings (Swords League) given the amount of recovery needed (by me anyway) ahead of those races (which will be mainly on hilly circuits in 2013). It also means I should be able to do a bit more track racing on Wednesdays instead, which should help in my preparation for the World (and possiblyEuropean if they run them and dependent on timing) Track Masters events. The IVCA are also resurrecting their midweek league which combines results from both TTs and Road races on Tuesday evenings, and I will probably make this a secondary target. Race calendars are not out yet though, and plans may change when they are as I am already aware I’ll be travelling on business for several of weeks and then in Florida for another two over the summer.

Focussing on midweek racing allows flexibility over weekend racing, and I will try and target some one-off races – perhaps the odd A4 race and I would also like to do some of the Masters races they put on in Ulster for 50+ A4s (assuming they continue with them this year). I’ll try and slot the odd IVCA weekend race in also, but this will be more about keeping race fit and perhaps experimenting with tactics.

In terms of training I would hope to get a bit more focussed preparation in during the first 3 months of the year, with more time on the Wattbike doing slightly more structured sessions. I identified cadence as a particular issue in the 2012 log, and the work I’ve done so far over the winter has certainly improved this. I’m not going to set a yearly distance target, just see as it goes. However I have signed up for the Strava Base Mile Challenge – I did just over 1,000km last year and would like to better that (although that will be dependent on some decent weather), with an aim to do a race or two before February is out.

I'll try and again update this log weekly with summaries of my previous week's efforts and plans for the forthcoming week. I was out earlier today for a couple of hours with a short spin on the Wattbike to warm me up after. I'll see if I can get out again tomorrow and then I'll be back to work with 1 or 2 commutes ahead of perhaps a Wattbike session over the weekend.

Beasty

I used to think the small ring was something that should only be used when going up steep hills. I went month after month without bothering - preferring to grind out the watts. I'm sure that helped me with my overall power output, but I've come to realise over the past year or so that I didn't have a decent turn of speed. Once I got up to speed I could maintain it, but I wouldn't be capable of making a decent break as it wasn't that hard for others to hold my wheel whenever I upped the pace.

I was advised after the World Masters to work on my cadence over the winter, and as can be seen from my 2012 log I have paid particular attention to this for the past 2-3 months. This time last year my average cadence on the commute would be in the high 70s (and in previous years often in the 60s) - now it's in the 90s. I actually averaged 100 for the first time on the way home tonight (and it was 98 on the way in this morning) - I didn't use the big ring in either trip. I had previously been in the low 90s for some of my TTs, but this is the first time I'm consistently in the mid to high 90s. Likewise on the Wattbike I'm averaging well over 100 (and there's no freewheeling with that - I actually averaged over 102 over an hour a few weeks ago). Now I find I can still push hard at the end of an interval and have improved my times on distances between 200m and 10,000m quite significantly as a result (increasing my sustained power - I'm certainly not foregoing any top-end power as a result of lowering the gears)

One of the biggest benefits I've noticed is that I can recover a lot quicker. In previous years by the end of a hard week I would need a complete break over the weekend to re-charge the batteries - I've been out every day since New Year's Day and having done getting on for 240km I still feel fresh enough to head out (or do some Wattbike sessions) over the weekend. Yes the legs still ache after a hard spin, but it quickly disappears when I get back on the bike and I don't feel so fatigued towards the end of the longer or harder spins.

I guess it's common sense - I am not doing so much muscle damage by spinning in a lower gear rather than grinding in a high one. Hopefully that will allow me to get a bit more time, distance and in particular focussed training in. And by the end of the winter maybe I'll be able to improve some of my pursuit and TT times as well as having a bit more of a "kick" when required...

Beasty

A couple of longish (by my standards anyway!) spins on Tuesday and Wednesday followed by 2 commutes then a Wattbike session this evening added up to 270km in 9hr 41mins or so in the saddle for the week

Next week I should get 3 or 4 commutes in then it's whatever I can do ovet the weekend.

Beasty

I've now reached the stage where if there's any ice on the car windscreen when I get up in the morning I won't commute by bike, so I was restricted to a couple of commutes as well as two evening sessions this week.

I've also been discussing my training with a coach and on the back of those discussions have developed a number of workouts for the Wattbike that will hopefully help both my pursuiting but with general racing also.

I've basically split it into two sessions working on cadence and another two on endurance, with the plan of doing a couple of sessions each week - one from each category.

The cadence session was on Friday - after a warm-up it was basically 2 minutes at 90-100 rpm followed by 30s at 110rpm, then 2 minutes back at 90-100rpm and 30s at 120rpm. I increased the recovery period and took it up in 10rpm increments to 150rpm (although I only managed to hold it for just over 20s). I finished with a bit of a blast, hitting 167rpm which was about 5 higher than I had ever hit before. Over time I hope to bring the recovery times down to 2 minutes between each increment and hopefully get up to 160rpm for 30s

Tonight I did some intervals - basically 2 x 1km followed by 750m. It's something I could also try on the road bike using Strava segments as my targets, but this way I can keep track of progress by looking at my total time over the 2.75km. Tonight I averaged just over 49.5kph with a total time of 3m 20s.

Total distance for the week was 208km.

Next week I'm away but should get some track sessions in Manchester then hopefully a commute on Friday, with Wattbike sessions over the weekend (although I may try and do the Wattbike on Friday and Sunday if I think I'll be able to get out on Saturday in a bit of daylight)

Beasty

I've was based in Manchester between Monday and this morning and had track sessions booked for 8am on Tuesday, Wednesday lunchtime and then 8am this morning. However Sunday's Wattbike session probably took more out of me than expected and facing a long drive to a very snowy North Yorkshire I decided to hit the road early and gave the track session a miss on Tuesday.

I was feeling a lot better recovered yesterday and set about the hour-long session at a steady pace of around 37kph. I was riding alone and would have a dig every so often. I noted the HR was relatively high (for me anyway), hovering in the low 170s for most of the time. I suspect it was the after effects of the bug I got over Christmas, but seeing it was quite high I set about seeing how high I could get it. I managed to hit 186, which is as high as I'd ever got it previously, but given I still had 20 minutes to go I didn't push it to the absolute limit. Anyway, by the end of the session I had averaged 171bpm for the hour and just under 37kph.

Then it was back again this morning for what is normally a very fast session, and so it proved - 39.5kph and 169bpm, with the speed hitting 50kph when getting in the faster of the 2 main pace lines established on the track

Anyway, getting back to review the Garmin data, in both rides it recorded much higher HRs in the first 5 minutes or so. Indeed yesterday it's showing as hitting 208. I think it's probably something to do with the Garmin HRM - they do have a reputation of doing this then settling down. However I do have a slightly irregular heart beat, often with extra smaller beats between the main ones (I've had it checked out and been assured it's nothing to worry about!) - so it's possible that it was an accurate recording (and I have seen this occasionally in the past)

Beasty

Never managed to get out on the road bike at all this week - a paltry 146km in total, but it was a pretty fast 146km with 2 hours on the track on Wednesday and Thursday followed by 3 quite intense Wattbike sessions. Yesterday I improved my "Flying 200" time by 8/100 of a second to 11.21s, and tonight improved it further to 11.10s, which is about 5% faster than I was doing this time last year, and my average power was 932w, an increase of around 18%. I also improved on my 500m time tonight - it now stands at 31.42s (previously 31.89s, and just over 34s this time last year), and 655w (540w last year). I've produced a similar power output over 30s on the road bike, but the 11s/Flying 200 power is definitely a PB. A lot of the improvement is down to technique, and in particular the higher cadence I've been working on.

Total distance for the year now stands at 624km

Next week I'll see if the weather is good enough to commute tomorrow and hopeully get out on Tuesday evening. I'll be away for a couple of days then it will probably be more of the Wattbike over the weekend.

Beasty

A commute on Monday followed by a Wattbike session on Tuesday when I repeated the cadence drill I first attempted a couple of weeks ago - basically upping my cadence by 10rpm for 30s intervals with recovery periods in between. This time I managed to average 150 for the full 30s and hit a high of 171rpm which is a PM

Then a couple of days "rest" due to a business trip and Wattbike sessions for the last 3 nights. In the middle one I repeated the "intervals" session of 2x1km and 1x750m and improved my time by just under 2s to 3m 18.71s.

Tonight I hit PBs for the flying 200, at 11s exactly (0.1s improvement), and 500m, a twentieth of a second improvement to 31.37s,

Total distance for the week was 158km bringing the YTD to 782km.

Next week I'll be battling the headwind into work tomorrow and hopefully getting a bit of a push home. Then it will probably be a shortened commute (I'll be dropping the car off for some work to be done on it) on Tuesday, and another commute on Wednesday. Not sure if I'll get anthing more in due to family commitments, although I'll try and get at least one Wattbike session in if I can, then I'll treat the rest of the week as a rest period.

RidleyRider

Beasty wrote: »

A commute on Monday followed by a Wattbike session on Tuesday when I repeated the cadence drill I first attempted a couple of weeks ago - basically upping my cadence by 10rpm for 30s intervals with recovery periods in between. This time I managed to average 150 for the full 30s and hit a high of 171rpm which is a PM

Then a couple of days "rest" due to a business trip and Wattbike sessions for the last 3 nights. In the middle one I repeated the "intervals" session of 2x1km and 1x750m and improved my time by just under 2s to 3m 18.71s.

Tonight I hit PBs for the flying 200, at 11s exactly (0.1s improvement), and 500m, a twentieth of a second improvement to 31.37s,

Total distance for the week was 158km bringing the YTD to 782km.

Next week I'll be battling the headwind into work tomorrow and hopefully getting a bit of a push home. Then it will probably be a shortened commute (I'll be dropping the car off for some work to be done on it) on Tuesday, and another commute on Wednesday. Not sure if I'll get anthing more in due to family commitments, although I'll try and get at least one Wattbike session in if I can, then I'll treat the rest of the week as a rest period.

Beasty you're on a good'un this year;)

Best of luck throughout the year, looking forward to reading more.

Beasty

Pretty much went to plan last week, except that I managed to get 2 Wattbike sessions in and a total distance of 156km for the week

I didn't set any records last week, but did attempt a 4,000m pursuit on the Wattbike yesterday. I did it in 5m 23s which was 3s and 10w outside my best. I reckon I can improve that by up to 10s if I can pace it a bit better and hit my potential power output based on a rough CP curve I've done based on Wattbike sessions

Next week's road activities may well be curtailed by the weather. I'll be commuting tomorrow, but if the ice returns it may well then be a case of Wattbike sessions for the rest of the week, in which case I'll be aiming at doing 1 or 2 cadence-based workouts and 1 endurance session.

YTD now stands at 937km

Beasty

Commutes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with a couple of new segments discovered - a sprint (3rd place) and pursuit (2nd). Filed for future reference and awaiting appropriate WSWesterlies;)

In addition 3 Wattbike sessions with me getting within 3 hundredths of a second of my best Flying 200 and setting a 2 month high power output at 1,117w. I'll probably try and improve my best 500m time next weekend.

Total distance 229km breaking the first 1,000km for the year with YTD now standing at 1,169km.

Next week will hopefully see commutes on Monday and Friday, but I'll be away on business between Tuesday and Thursday so will treat this as a rest period. Then I'll plan to do a couple of Wattbike sessions over the weekend

Beasty

Ice on the windscreen, so I didn't commute on Friday and did a Wattbike session instead. I probably didn't re-hydrate as much as I should then got the opportunity to do the Swords Saturday Spin the following morning. Although it started off fine the pace was very high, and they took in both Ardgillan and Snowtown hills. I struggled up the first hill and was last to re-join the group. Looking back at the stats my HR peaked at 180w which is only 6 adrift of the highest I've ever recorded. It was a similar story on the next couple of drags so when it came to Snowtown I took a slightly shorter route in the expectation of letting everyone else head off and then make my own way home. At least a couple of riders had already called it a day.

As I approached the top of the hill I could see a few riders in the distance - one waited for me just past the Naul and I again re-joined the group. I was getting the message - I definitely need to do some hill work and continued to struggle on the hills so at the next opportunity turned off and headed home. The pace had been high and I thought it better leaving them to go at their own speed rather than having me hold them back. My back was also suffering a bit and I'd had a bout of sciatica earlier in the week. In addition I took a knock on my shoulder back in October which is not responding to treatment so and these niggles were getting to me after 90 minutes of apparent hard work.

Again, having had a look at the stats, my HR did increase alarmingly quickly at the first sign of heavy work, and I suspect dehydration was playing a part - the amount of fluids I consumed later in the day was testimony to this. My legs were suffering but recovered reasonably quickly, whereas it's normally the lungs that recover quickly with the HR dropping to a reasonable level.

Anywar, lesson learned - I will get a few more hills into the commutes and make sure I'm properly hydrated for the longer spins

Today it was back to the Wattbike for an hour or so, and to show the legs still had something in them I set a new PB of 1,151w on it - 11w better than my previous best and only the second time I've broken the 70kph barrier

I didn't quite improve my 500m times - the pacing wasn't quite right and I faded to miss my best by 0.4s. I was within a couple of hundredths of my best "Flying 200" though and feel a sub 11s is within my reach

Total distance for the week was 159km with YTD now at 1,328km.

I'm away tomorrow so won't be on the bike (or Wattbike) until Tuesday evening. Then I hope to do a couple of commutes before flying off to LA on Saturday when I'll be stuck on gym bikes for a week.

Beasty

Due to the weather and business travel I just managed the one commute supplemented by a couple of Wattbike sessions and now I'm 8 hours behind the rest of you I've been in the gym for a couple of sessions today.

One notable "result" on the Wattbike. I tried a different approach to my peak power test and managed to hit 1,239w - 88w higher than my previous PB set last week. Hopefully I'll squeeze a few more watts out as I'm sure my gearing was not at its optimum

Total distance for the week was 147km bringing the YTD to 1,474km

Next week will be spent largely in gyms as I'm not returning from my business trip until Saturday. It should provide me with an opportunity for a bit of cadence work.

RobFowl

Beasty wrote: »

Due to the weather and business travel I just managed the one commute supplemented by a couple of Wattbike sessions and now I'm 8 hours behind the rest of you I've been in the gym for a couple of sessions today.

One notable "result" on the Wattbike. I tried a different approach to my peak power test and managed to hit 1,239w - 88w higher than my previous PB set last week. Hopefully I'll squeeze a few more watts out as I'm sure my gearing was not at its optimum

Total distance for the week was 147km bringing the YTD to 1,474km

Next week will be spent largely in gyms as I'm not returning from my business trip until Saturday. It should provide me with an opportunity for a bit of cadence work.

Gym time would be an ideal opportunity to work on core and also quads, gluts.
Geting good consistant hours on the bike there well done.

Beasty

Now back from my travels, having done four gym sessions in LA and one in NY. Finished off with a Wattbike session tonight when I recorded a new Peak Power output of 1.252w.

Total distance for the week 135km, so YTD now stands at 1,609km

Next week I'll be ...

... travelling until Thursday, but should get a track session in on Tuesday then maybe even get outside on the bike over the weekend

Beasty

Well I managed a session on the track on Tuesday followed by a gym session on my way back from Manchester on Wednesday. Thursday's Wattbike session delivered another 1,252 Peak Power output, matching my previous best set last weekend. I finally managed to get out in the fresh air on Friday with a commute (first time on the road bike for over 2 weeks), with another Wattbike session last night when I improved my Peak Power output again, this time hitting 1,293w, and knocking 0.3s off my previous best "flying 200" with a time of 10.7s.

Another Wattbike session this evening - I've clearly sussed out the timing for the start of an interval allowing me to maximise my sprinting power output, and again improved my Peak Power, this time to 1,321w. Not only that but I further improved my flying 200 to 10.65s (at an average 1,027w) and improved my 500m time by 1.3s to 30.07s (736w, an improvement of over 80w on my previous best) - so the sprint training seems to be going pretty well. Just need to get out a bit more to test the endurance before racing commences in a couple of weeks.

When I was in Manchester I had my annual medical which included a bike test to establish my "predicted VO2 Max". As last year they used the 220-age formula to predict my max HR, which was at least 18bpm less than I know I can hit (and indeed have done numerous times over reccent months, meaning my actual max is probably a bit higher). They only took my HR up to 85% of this figure when a proper test would have taken my to exhaustion. hence the figurehey produced of around 41 is pretty meaningless. My body fat percentage remains at the top end of the healthy range - hopefully I can get rid of a few kilos without unduly impacting on power output. Interestingly I'm 1.5cm taller than last year - first time I've grown since I was 12!! They also noted something unusual about my blood - apparently it's quite rare for someone (of my age anyway) to have all the readings within the "normal" range.

So total distance for the week was 203km, which brings the YTD to 1,812km. It's a bit behind the same stage last year, which is not surprising given the amount of travelling I've been doing. However I think the quality of work done is better.

Next week's activities will be driven by the weather - I'll commute if there's no risk of ice but otherwise it will be more Wattbike time (and targetting those PBs again I guess), although I will be heading off on my travels again on Thursday.

Beasty

I managed a couple of commutes although was nearly caught out by damp conditions combining with sub-zero temperatures one morning, so took it a bit steady on the way in.

I also did 3 Wattbike sessions. Having improved my 200m and 500m times last week, I managed to knock a second or so off my previous best times for 750m and the kilo. Then tonight it was my first attempt at the 2k pursuit since my ill-fated venture to Manchester in October. Again I recorded an improvement of over a second with average power of 409w (an improvement on 5w or so). I think there's more in me as I went out a bit too hard (425w over the first 2 minutes) - better pacing should deliver me another second or two

Total distance for the week was 189km which takes me through the 2,000km for the year, with the total now standing at 2,001km

Next week looks like it will be weather affected again, so again I anticipate a blend of commutes and Wattbike sessions, then hopefully I'll be getting the racing bike out for the first time over the weekend ...

Beasty

The progress I have made at the "short end" of the power curve has started me wondering whether I'm turning into a sprinter. Physique-wise sprinting should suit me, but then again age does count against you (I read recently that Peak Power declines by around 8% per decade whereas power over endurance intervals declines much less rapidly).

Anyway, I checked my W/kg out against the table provided by Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan in their "Training and Racing with a Power Meter" book

My 5s power recently established on the Wattbike was 1,100w or so which is just under 13w/kg, which only gets me into the middle of their lowest racing category. 1 minute power is at 512w, or just over 6w/kg which doesn't even get me out of the "untrained" category, although I think there is more to come if I can get everything right. My 5 minute power is around 4.5w/kg which moves me up to Cat III and FTP around 3.3 w/kg which gets me back down into Cat IV, although I really need an all-out 25m TT to fully test this one out

The CP curve for the winter training period ignores my Wattbike sessions, so I've overlaid them in blue on this chart:



So clearly I am not hitting the levels of a "true" sprinter, and my power profile remains that of a pursuiter. However when bearing in mind the 8% decline in peak power per decade as mentioned above maybe I am reasonably strong for my age and could hopefully start to hold my own in sprints in some of the vets races

Beasty

... knackered

My first race of the season today. I decided to head up north for the PJ Logan Cup at Dungannon this afternoon

Driving up in the freezing temperatures made me a bit nervous as I saw the Mourne Mountains covered in snow, and then approaching Armagh the roads were snow-lined and wet. However as I approached race headquarters in Coalisland I drove the circuit and found it in perfect condition (well apart from the odd obligatory pothole). What was slightly disconcerting was there was clearly a lot more climbing than the 42m stated on mapmyride for the 11km circuit. Indeed that had been one of the reasons for choosing thsi course - hopefully a reasonably "easy" season debut - how wrong was I to be.

I entered the combined Masters/Ladies race. 3 laps and only 34km. Setting up the bike it became apparant how cold and windy it was - an easterly of around 35kph and temperature hovering just above zero, but "realfeel" nearer -8 or so. Anyway, I comforted myself with the fact the wind would be blowing me up most of the hills.

Between 25 and 30 signed on for the race, the majority of them being ladies. I was well wrapped up and didn't really notice the cold except in my feet. We set off at a reasonable pace and before I knew it the group had halved. I had found myslef towards the back on a couple of occasions when the splits arose and put some effort iin getting back on.

With half a lap gone we were down to 12, with someone trying to break away. By the end of the first lap there were 3 or 4 up the road and 5 or 6 of us still in the group. Another guy went and I thought I'd better breach across as the diminishing group may struggle to close the leaders down.

The hills were short but sharp, and I was typically struggling on them, with the other guy getting a lead on them and then I would close him down and take my turn on the flat or downhill. It wasn't too efficient as we were both spending more time battling the wind whenever there was a gap between us. I didn't have the power meter but my HR was regularly hitting the high 170s - the maximum I've recorded is 186, and I know that when I hit these levels I have to ease off and try and get it back down into the low 160s. I suspect there was a bit of an after-effect from a bug I picked up (and thought I'd shaken off) earlier in the week - I don't think I've ever sustained such a high HR in a race other than in TTs where it's more of a matter of cardiac drift bring it up into the low 170s

It continued like this until just over 1 and a half laps to go when he got ahead and I resigned myself to a lonely battle with the elements. However about half a lap later I was caught by the remnants of the group - 3 ladies who looksed like they had one particularly strong rider doing a lot of pulling on the front. I hung on up the hills and with half a lap to go we got the next guy in sight and I managed to drag the group over to him. At that stage I thought we were going to be battling for 5th place and I decided there was nothing to gain from that so took and extended turn at the front, in pursuit mode, just in case we could get any of the leaders in sight. The other guy took a couple of turns also, and with the final hill to go the 3 ladies broke away - I decided there was nothing to gain from contesting, and knowing it had been a very hard race I eased through the line

It then transpired there had only been 2 ahead of the group - another guy had punctured, so we were actually fighting for 3rd. If I had known that I probably would not have dragged the group round for so much of the last half lap, but I guess at least I got a decent workout and some much needed "heavy duty" road time.

So not only was it one of my shortest races, but it was also one of my slowest. Part of that was down to the conditions, but looking at the Garmin it looks like there was more like 150m of climbing per lap with 500m in total over the hour or so of the race

Hopefully I'll get a chance to head up North for another Masters race later in the season when it's a bit warmer (and ideally a flatter course)

A big word of thanks to Coalisland Wheelers who put this race on. It was probably the best organised race I've ever attended and there was a feeling of a safe and well marshalled race throughout

Beasty

In addition to today's race I managed to get out on Monday and set my 4th fastest time up Ardgillan - I guess that tells me the climbing over short distances is going well, but the race established I need to be able to repeat this on spins - I guess that's the downside of spending so much time on the Wattbike and focussing on sprinting. Shorter hill work is fine - I can hold high power for 5 minutes or so, but then struggle on the repeats

I did a commute on Tuesday and would have done another on Wednesday but I was feeling a bit under the weather after Tuesday's double-drenching and then left it to the Wattbike on Thursday and Friday, when I improved my best "Flying 200" by another 1/100 of a second to 10.64s

Total distance for the week was 168km with YTD now at 2,169km

Next week sees the return of the IVCA league and I plan to the DMS on the Green Sheds circuit on Sunday. I'll probably do a commute and a couple of Wattbike sessions as well

Zyzz

Seemed to have missed it but where do you do your Wattbike training?! + would you recommend it?

Beasty

In the garage!

Not sure to what extent Wattbikes are publicly available at gyms etc in Ireland. I know CI own a few (and there's one at Sundrive). It's a heavy investment (probably £2k+ now) - lots of top athletes from many sports use them, although I would consider them a particular benefit in training for track racing

Check out www.wattbike.com for more info

Zyzz

Beasty wrote: »

In the garage!

Not sure to what extent Wattbikes are publicly available at gyms etc in Ireland. I know CI own a few (and there's one at Sundrive). It's a heavy investment (probably £2k+ now) - lots of top athletes from many sports use them, although I would consider them a particular benefit in training for track racing

Check out www.wattbike.com for more info

Damn that is nice! I was having a look through the site and they are fairly expensive, don't see myself getting one anytime soon! Has it been very beneficial to your progress?

Beasty

Zyzz wrote: »

Has it been very beneficial to your progress?

Time will tell - I suspect I will see most benefit in track racing and hopefully in my speciality the pursuit. My times and power output have definitely improved, arguably at a time in my life when they should be in decline, but there are other factors at play. In particular I only took up racing 3 years ago and had been cycling at a decent level for only a year or two before that (having done virtually no sport in the previous 30 years or so) - hence I am still seeing some improvement from the amount of training I am doing and the way in which I am doing it

Come the summer and I will cut down on the Wattbike use (although will continue to use it in preparation for certain track pursuit events). However it's pretty much the best training kit out there and has enough to keep you interested in terms of beating PBs are doing set routines to improve overall fitness (which is why a lot of athletes, rowers etc use it)

Beasty

Beasty wrote: »

It then transpired there had only been 2 ahead of the group - another guy had punctured, so we were actually fighting for 3rd.

Well it now looks like we were fighting for 2nd, with one of the ladies taking it - seems I miscounted the ladies finishing ahead of me also, meaning I actually finished 6th, 1 place ahead of where I thought I was - must have been the effect of the icicles on the brain:o

In other news it looks like I've been "promoted" in the vets league - the groupings are out and I've been moved up to the third fastest. I suspect it's the one I should be in anyway so can't complain, but it does mean harder handicaps and the risk of further promotion if I manage to actually win anything...

RobFowl

Beasty wrote: »

Well it now looks like we were fighting for 2nd, with one of the ladies taking it - seems I miscounted the ladies finishing ahead of me also, meaning I actually finished 6th, 1 place ahead of where I thought I was - must have been the effect of the icicles on the brain:o

In other news it looks like I've been "promoted" in the vets league - the groupings are out and I've been moved up to the third fastest. I suspect it's the one I should be in anyway so can't complain, but it does mean harder handicaps and the risk of further promotion if I manage to actually win anything...

So you're in the same one as me now ? or am I up/down whatever....

RobFowl

RobFowl wrote: »

So you're in the same one as me now ? or am I up/down whatever....

I'm demoted to a slower group .....

Beasty

RobFowl wrote: »

I'm demoted to a slower group .....

Yeah, I don't know how they work that one out - I thought they were supposed to make it easier as I get older ...

killalanerr

Beasty wrote: »

- I thought they were supposed to make it easier as I get older ...

they do for most but not for the beast ....you will be well able
let me know the the next time your doing one of them masters id like to tag along,i will be your lead out man seen your a sprinter now

Beasty

killalanerr wrote: »

they do for most but not for the beast ....you will be well able
let me know the the next time your doing one of them masters id like to tag along,i will be your lead out man seen your a sprinter now

Are you A4 or A3? Only A4 can do Masters races.

killalanerr

Beasty wrote: »

Are you A4 or A3? Only A4 can do Masters races.

Ah scratch that then

Beasty

Second race of the season today - the start of the IVCA league and my debut in the "White" group - not that it made any difference today as in a DMS the whites race with my "old" group the greens.

I was half tempted to give it a miss as the after effects of my cold have left me with a bad cough and I was up half the night with it. With the change in clocks it was the equivalent of an 8.30 start in "old money" and the temperature was hovering around 3-4 degrees in Batterstown, but the cold and strong easterly made the "realfeel" well below zero

It was 4 laps of the Green Sheds circuit - one more than the equivalent race last year, and pretty much 70km in total. Certainly "challenging" given the conditions and the fact it was early season

Anyway, given the way I was feeling the tactics were very simple - just try to hang on and see if I could keep with the main group.

It looks like the vets have more racers signed up than ever, and I'm pretty sure it was the largest DMS field I have experienced with them. Certainly over 50 and possibly nearer 60 in the middle of the 3 races.

The first lap was steady and I stuck near the back, well out of trouble, and conscious of the threatened sanctions for anyone going over the white line (at least one rider fell foul of this). The second lap was slightly faster, but still much slower than normal for vets races on this circuit. We were only averaging between 32 and 33 kph, compared with nearer 37 kph at the "height of summer". The drag back up past the Warrenstown Arms is normally where it tells most on this circuit, but not today as the group felt like it was almost coming to a standstill in the 35-40kph headwind.

A couple of breaks formed but over time were reeled back in as they fought the headwind. Coming onto the final lap there were a couple of riders clear. I was feeling it a bit in the legs but never felt as if I was struggling to keep with the group. It was probably down to 30-40 left in the main bunch and a couple of failed attempts were made to break away. The 2 that were clear stayed that way to take the first two places. When it came to the final sprint I was too far back and the only way to progress was round the outside but into the worst of the wind. The canny riders could weave in and out on the inside and the canniest of them all, 72 year old club team mate Sean Lally took the bunch sprint. I probably made up 20 or more places but the exposure to the wind made it too difficult to get into any position to contest. I would guess I was around 15-20th overall, which I was more than happy with given the way I've been feeling.