Still Rolling, Nilhg's 2014 log

nilhg

After a considerable time being the archtypical couch potato, 2012 saw me get off my a**e and start cycling, I think it's fair to say I got the bug big time and 2013 continued that trend, it was a great year for me cycling but as we start 2014 it seems I'm going to have to change the way I been doing things, for various reasons, for the first few months of the year at least, I'm going to have less time to cycle so I'm going to have to try to use what I do have to best advantage.

While I'm trying to figure out my goals for the year I'm at a slight disadvantage in that in that I'm probably going to miss a few weeks at some stage for a small medical matter but I don't have any idea when so all I can do is take it as it comes and accommodate it when it happens.

Speaking of goals, for the moment these would be the main ones, I don't really expect all will work out, but I'm leaving myself some wriggle room here.

• Orwell Randonee
• Wicklow 200
• Tour of Kilkenny
• The Sean Kelly TOW
• At least one Audax
• A multi day event/tour
• A four provinces in one day spin
• A 3000m day

It's probably fair to say as you go down that list the probability of me achieving the goal decreases but if you don't aim you'll never hit the target.


I'll do as many local events round about as I can, I like the sportives, I find them a great social change from solo rides and club spins, I've met loads of folk from here and other "normal" people that have shortened the road over the last few years.

I don't really know whether weekly reports will be the way I'll go with this log this year, maybe regular but a bit more widely spaced updates might be the way to go.

nilhg

Ok, three weeks in to the new year so time for a bit of an update, as I said before I'm more constricted in when I can head out than before, really this affects me most first thing in the morning, last year I could head out early and be back to face the day but for the foreseeable future that's not going to be as easy for me, I'll have an hours worth of work in the yard first thing, the problem is that once I go to the yard it can be hard to get out.

My solution to is to try to make the best of any chances and after a bit of reading the plan I've come up with is to try to at least get in two spins on the road during the week, and at least the club spin or sportive at the weekend (My young fella has recovered from his injury and is back playing rugby, so that's one day gone most weekends till the end of the season). One of the spins will be an easy recovery spin and the other the so called 2x20, two intervals of 20 minutes at 85%MHR with a short recovery in between. For me, because of the medication I'm on for the SVT MHR probably isn't going to be totally exact but with no way to justify a power meter that's the best I can do.

The biggest problem with those intervals is finding a suitable road, luckily for me the Rathangan-Edenderry road fits the bill, a nice spin to the start to warm up, quiet, long enough to do the 20 minutes with no interruption and flat so you can play with cadence if you want. Also it's about as stimulating as sitting in the garage on the turbo, you can just sit on the bike and concentrate on the job to be done.

I've done 2 sets so far, found them much as expected, the pressure comes on from about 13 minutes in and you feel better as you get near the end, the surprising thing for me was how much it seems to take out of me later in the day, I'd feel as if I'd done a much longer spin than the 37km round trip.

One nice feature is that there is a strava segment on the route and the other morning as part of the first interval I managed to nab the KOM (a bit of a tail wind did help)

http://www.strava.com/activities/106497635

Apart from that I feel reasonably strong on the bike, yesterdays club spin was in the rain and wet, it turned into a miserable slog but I was going as well as anyone at the finish, and I was out again today, ideally I'd have done a longish spin but I didn't get out till late and had to be home by lunch time, so after a short warm up I did 50 km at a nice clip, nothing mad but felt well doing it.

I hope to be able to do the Portlaoise winter classic but cant be sure about getting away, I should be able to make the Ned Flanagan sportive though, plan there is to go round in the front bunch if I'm able, we'll see how that goes and I'll report back here afterwards.

quozl

As an Audax is a goal of yours have you considered the Ardattin on April 5th?

The post on Audax Ireland claims

The Ardattin is an ideal 200k for anyone wishing to try their first audax event or their first 200 of the season. Despite being predominately run in Co. Wicklow with a few kms in Wexford and Carlow there is no major climbing involved and the route sheet is easy to follow.

http://www.audaxireland.org/calendar/gazetteer/ardattin-200/

From what I've read it's one of the best organised Audaxes, one of the more popular ones and a rolling course without any big climbs. I'm planning on doing it - it looks like a reasonable introduction to the world of Audaxes.

nilhg

quozl wrote: »

As an Audax is a goal of yours have you considered the Ardattin on April 5th?

The post on Audax Ireland claims


http://www.audaxireland.org/calendar/gazetteer/ardattin-200/

From what I've read it's one of the best organised Audaxes, one of the more popular ones and a rolling course without any big climbs. I'm planning on doing it - it looks like a reasonable introduction to the world of Audaxes.

Yeah I saw that, the date won't suit though, our club is organising our first (hopefully to become annual) sportive that weekend so I reckon I'll probably be sorta busy......


http://www.headstrongcyclingclub.com/about-sportive/

I really don't know when I'll get to do my first Audax, there's one from Dublin at Easter, that might suit me but at the moment here it's hard to plan anything too much in advance.

nilhg

January's totals:


Distance:670.63 km
Time:24:05:08 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:4,195 m
Avg Speed:27.8 km/h


I'm kind of surprised with those figures, only 5km less than last year in a month where I felt I was very confined in my ability to get out on the bike and usually just ended up grabbing an hour here and there, even the weekend spins were affected, I missed several club spins and usually had to go out late and get home early. I even had to resort to the turbo a few times to get some work in the legs.

As I said last time I've been trying to be a little more structured, working in some long intervals (I don't really see the point of the shorter sets if I'm not racing, but would like to know if that's a mistake) sometimes just doing the 2 x 20s but othertimes using strava segments as a substitute, last Sunday's spin being an example, a bit of a slog down against the wind then gave it a decent blast on two longish segments on the way home,

http://www.strava.com/activities/109058176

I was happy enough with that spin as I'd done some hill repeats the previous afternoon after getting home from a rugby match in Dublin,

http://www.strava.com/activities/108844797

Today's club spin was my longest so far this year, there was a small crowd out and half of them turned off before half way so we were exposed to the breeze most of the way south and up the first climb, after that it got a bit easier but we didn't push home too hard, just wanted to keep the group together. I felt comfortable all the way, legs were good and I managed a few PBs so it seems I'm on the right track, hopefully as the evenings stretch I'll get out and not have to use the turbo, something about that machine drives me mad.

http://www.strava.com/activities/110656022

I do hope to make the Portlaoise Classic next week, there'll probably be a decent group till the Ballyragget climb and we'll see how it goes after that, I'll have a fair idea how my legs are by the time I get to Castlecomer.

nilhg

Portlaoise winter classic today, wasn't too enthusiastic before we rolled out with the rain and wind but warmed up a little in the neutralised bit out to Abbeyleix, the pace cranked up from there but, after a little scare, I was able to hang in to the front group comfortably enough right up till the start of the hill after Ballyragget when the hardy lads started to play, I rode up at my own pace, even picked up some who had shot their bolts trying to go too fast early.

After the food stop in Castlecomer we left just behind a big group but got caught in a traffic snarl up in the town and they were gone well up the road by the time we got out, 4 or 5 of us rode hard to catch them and to be honest I was still feeling the effects of the effort dropping down to the Swan but managed to stay in the group over the drag and drop down to Timahoe. I recovered a bit on the leg through Stradbally and Vicarstown but was suffering when we turned for home into the wind but with a bit of organisation inn the group we managed to make it home.

All in all I'm very happy with the day out, even though we rode hard for quite a bit of it I felt I recovered well and even though the wind was probably a help for some of them I managed a few PBs on the strava segments.


http://www.strava.com/activities/112181714

Not sure if I'll make the Ned Flanagan leisure spin next week, hopefully if the weather improves soon I'll get back to Wicklow or the Slieve Blooms soon.

nilhg

A quick update, on the Tuesday before last I had a phone call to see if I would be available to have my Cardiac Ablation done on the following (last) Tuesday, it took me a bit by surprise because I'd been told I'd most likely be done in April, but I wasn't complaining because the timing was great for me.

After going the whole winter with hardly a sniffle I woke up on Wednesday with a cold so after that I was taking no chances so stayed off the bike in case it got any worse and I wouldn't be able to go to the hospital. By Sunday I was feeling a bit better so took a chance and went for a bit of a spin to see the end of the Ned Flanagan, because of the ablation I'd stopped the meds I'd been on to control the SVT, it was a little bit of an eyeopener to see how my HR responded to any effort, theoretically I should see a benefit to being off them permanently but TBH I can't say I ever felt that they held be back. They were effective at their job, within about 20 minutes I had my first (thankfully mild) bout of the high HR but it stopped quickly.

The procedure itself went well, I didn't have a full anaesthetic, just sedation, but I remember very little of it at all. The docs were very happy afterwards, reckon they got it at the first go, so I wasn't in the Cath Lab for too long but took a while to come to afterwards. I had to spend one night in the hospital, didn't get too much sleep, nothing to do with me, one poor fella had a poor night and things got hectic for a while, but I was out first thing the next morning and back at home in the yard working the morning after, the only real effect I felt was tiredness for a day or so, there is a little swelling where they put in the catheter but it's nothing really.

The advice I got leaving was to stay off the bike till after the weekend then take a few weeks to build back up to any sort of intensity, so I'll be in touring mode with the camera for a while, but that's not a problem for me, I'm just delighted to have the job done successfully.

Nisio

Thats' good new for you!

I couldn't keep up with you with before this; there's definitely no hope for me now!

Oisin

nilhg

The recovery process has gone well, I stayed off the bike for a week after the procedure, till the wound where the catheter was inserted had healed up, then did 30km at a very easy pace, watching my HR to make sure it didn't go up too much. Since I had no reaction I went out again a few days later and upped the pace a little, again with no reaction. That weekends club spin was mostly flat so I tagged along and did the shorter route, we did go over the Hill of Allen, it was hard to watch the lads zoom off into the distance but needs must.

Over the last fortnight I've been gradually building up the intensity, probably quicker than I would have thought but I felt really well and had no real reaction at all, I'd been told in the hospital that a few attacks were still possible for a while till the scar site was healed but I haven't had anything like that so far.

Initially I did a few shorter spins at a good average pace but tried not to let the max HR go too high, then I threw in an effort or two on the spins (hard to resist the odd Strava segmet PR chase when the wind is favourable) and last weekend I had a longer spin, which was mostly easy enough but I rode the last 15km at a fair effort, again I felt fine throughout.

This week I got out once during the week and yesterday did a nice 50km, not pushing too hard since the plan was to head up to Wicklow with a few lads from the club today. As it worked out there were only three of us and one of the lads had to turn back early so it was just the pair of us most of the way. We went up through Hollywood over the Wicklow Gap and down to Laragh before retracing our steps home, it felt easy going East, the wind hadn't seemed too bad leaving home this morning but had obviously picked up as we were on the road so I knew coming back would be harder, but there was no option but to grind it out for home.

I felt fine till we passed the carpark at the steep section but from there up it was a slogfest, so a good test of the old ticker, close to 30 minutes at an average HR of 173 with no reaction was a satisfactory result. The rest of the way home was fine but tiring into the wind, I was glad to get over Dunmurry and down the hill to home. Great to get back up the hills though, it had been too long.

http://www.strava.com/activities/121176289/overview

Generally speaking I feel good on the bike, my average speeds are a little improved on last year I think but it remains to be seen how I go in either the club spins with the faster group or in some of the sportives. My weight is still a bit above last years minimum, ( I have a terrible weakness for fruit cake and biscuits) I wasn't worried about it over the winter but I'll be trying to cut it back a little now, when there is going to be a bit more climbing to be done.

I'm hoping to get to do the Lap Of Laois next week all going well.

nilhg

March Stats:

Distance:997.76 km
Time:37:50:53 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:6,782 m
Avg Speed:26.4 km/h

Not really a huge amount to report, the recovery process from the ablation seems to be complete and I've given it a decent testing since the last report and thankfully haven't had a single occurrence, the attacks used to start with a missed beat and sometimes I'll feel that happen but it hasn't ever kicked into the arrhythmia.

One thing that's changed though is that my (normal) HR has gone back to the way it was before I was put on the beta blockers, I reckon my max has gone from 176 to 187, you'd think that should have somewhat affected my performance while I was on them but it's hard to see much in it. I did do one non-scientific test on the Dunmurry segment beside me here at home and my time improved by about 10 sec under what I thought were pretty identical conditions.

http://www.strava.com/activities/108844797/segments/2371980170

http://www.strava.com/activities/123247264/segments/2758786286

I didn't get out at all early last week but managed to get a decent weekend in , 30km Friday, 62km on Saturday and a spin up to Wicklow on Sunday with some lads from Headstrong, we went up the Wicklow Gap, down into Laragh and home via Glenmacanass and the Sally Gap, we went up the climbs at our own pace and regrouped at the top so while the moving pace was decent enough I did have a few handy breathers, I felt good all day, the only problem being some cramp at Ballysmutten on the way home (I think I didn't drink enough) and with a tail wind behind felt fresh when I pulled in home, so much so that I filled my bottles and did a 30km loop to get my first 160km of the year. I was happy with that and 250km on the weekend was nice to get.

http://www.strava.com/activities/125285126

Next weekend is the Headstrong Sportive, I'll be on duty on the day, I think I'll be riding the 60km route to keep an eye on things, but that could change, if anyone who reads this is there please come and say hello.

upthe19th

Nice going john. Had hoped to head up for your sportive but I've been talked into the 3 peaks. Best of luck with it anyway.

nilhg

Just a short update, this evening I did what I said I'd never do and rode in a race, local club league so not the dizzy heights of open racing but a race nonetheless.

When I get my head back together I'll say more but very happy with how it went, started with the A5s, when the A3/4s came up I managed to hitch on to them and though it was an effort at times I never really thought the elastic would snap, I finished with the group, which was as good as I had hoped for.

http://www.strava.com/activities/131271442

nilhg

Since my last full report I've had a busy time, first the week before the Headstrong sportive was busy with arrangements, then thankfully the weather finally took up and we got to get stuck into the backlog of spring work at home on the farm. Not a huge amount of time for cycling so as best as I could I was trying to make best use of any time on the bike I could fit in. Things are back to something like normal now so hopefully I'll get a few consistent decent spins in.

Racing wasn't something I had really considered, until the SVT was sorted it wouldn't have been feasible but when the club was invited to join the local league it became a possibility. I'd thought I was going OK out with the lads who were racing but knew there's a big difference between those spins and an actual race. There were a few of the lads in the club being encouraged to chance the league racing and see how it went, me included, and I have to admit that I was curious to see if I could survive in the group at race pace, but before I committed my self I decided to do a spin at pretty much full gas and see how the stats would look.

I often use a circuit around by Allenwood and home via the Curragh, flat enough for the first half and humpy in the second, I reckon it's a decent test, so that was the one I chose, the first few km were a warm up then basically a time trial home, with either a side or head wind for the second half it was going to be a bit of a test, so I was happy to take 2 minutes off my PB and finish with an average speed of over 32km/hr, not going to break any records but I thought maybe I wouldn't get disgraced in a club league race and at the very least it would be some consistent structured fast kms in my legs, so I took the plunge and upgraded my licence with CI.

http://www.strava.com/activities/128176242

I didn't make it to the Tour De Foothills but did get out Sunday afternoon, went for a spin over to have a look at the wind farm over at Mt Lucas, had a headwind all the way over but a lovely fast blast home, finished with 90km @just over 30km/hr

http://www.strava.com/activities/129889791/

The league race itself went ok, I was with the A5s, we lasted about 4 laps before the A3/4 bunch came up and the pace kicked up considerably, I just grabbed on the back and tried to stay there, mostly if things went smoothly through the corners I was comfortable enough there but if there was any mishap at all in front of me then there would be a mad sprint to get back on, but I never really thought I'd lose contact. The road races in the coming weeks should be less technical that the Mondello circuit, certainly less corners, I've a lot to learn about racing but it should be a bit of sport.

I'd been wanting to get in a decent long spin and while up the mountains would have been ideal I wanted to support the Pat Jones Memorial sportive in Edenderry yesterday, so spinning over, doing the 120km route and spinning home seemed to be a good way to kill two birds with one stone, I'd be taking it easy enough, nothing too stressful, that was the plan anyway.

It didn't quite work out like that, on a beautiful morning, I had a slight tail wind heading over and had a nice average speed arriving, then set off close to the front of the peleton, quickly enough we had a nice big group of lads willing to contribute to a good pace around the first lap, when we came through the start again for the second lap some of them stopped but most of us carried on, with a tail wind we flew up to Rhode and Fahy hill, I went over near the front but it seems that we lost quite a few of the group there and on the drag up to Croghan, at that stage it with a head wind to come from Daingean back to Edenderry it seemed best to stick with the lead group, TBH I was feeling very well at this stage and enjoying it immensely, the blood was up now so when the general consensus was to have a quick tea/cake/toilet break then head on as a group I was happy to stay going with them. Again we flew to Rhode and again after Fahy Hill we lost a few souls and by the time we got to the main High road there was only 5 of us left, TBH while I felt OK (ish) I could feel the beginnings of cramp in my right leg so was doing more wheel sucking than working at that stage, about 6km from home I did go to the front and do my turn but the effort told and I cramped up so had to let the lads go. A few quick stretches from the saddle and the drop in pace meant the cramp cleared quickly enough and I got going again but there was no catching them but I was happy enough with how the day went, the sportive section was 120 km @ roughly 33.4km/hr and with the over and back sections I finished up with 163km @32km/hr, delighted with that, was tired afterwards but never really thought I'd be able for that pace over that distance.

Tied up today so no recovery spin, hope to get out tomorrow and maybe during the week, don't think I'll get to the club league race on Thursday but hopefully mountains are on the agenda for next weekend.

nilhg

April's stats

Distance:787.44 km
Time:26:15:08 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:4,367 m
Avg Speed:30.0 km/h

A bit of a jump in the average speed there, probably just a reflection of me increasing the intensity a bit to compensate for my inability to get out as often as I'd like, plus the league races do drag the average up a bit.

I got in two decent enough weeks since my last report, 320 km last week and despite trying to make this an easy week another 210 done during it.

I did two club league races since, both on road circuits, both went the same way, our group being caught by the faster lads, me grabbing on the back and hanging in as best as I can, if I was better at holding my position in the group I think I'd be comfortable enough but my inexperience and nervousness lets me down and I find myself out the back more often than I should chasing to get back in, I'm sure in time I'll learn. I enjoyed the road circuits better than Mondello though, less technical. One of these days I think (hope) some of us in the A5 group will get our act together and there might be a possibility that we make the others work a bit harder to catch us, there's a few strong lads there someday it'll come together.

Yesterday was the Orwell Randonnee, and after a fairly big week the previous week I wanted to rest up a little (there wasn't much chance of bike time anyway, unexpectedly busy on the farm) so just did the league race on Thursday evening.

I was happy enough with the Randonnee, felt good till the water stop in Manor Kilbride, missed a big group leaving so headed on easy enough in the hope that another would come up, but instead 4 lads came through travelling a bit faster than I really wanted but I jumped in with them anyway, went with them to the bottom of the Wicklow gap and then paid the price for it, legs felt dead and I suffered, couldn't seem to either spin or mash my way up, not a nice feeling. Thinking about it now the 85km and 1500m of climbing more or less non stop probably definitely is well outside my comfort zone.

Thankfully the soup, sambos and cake, not to mention coffee and coke (I really ate all round me) worked a minor miracle and once I warmed up I really enjoyed the climb up Glenmacanass and across to the Sally Gap then home via Glencree, a really enjoyable day (most of it anyway) and a credit to Orwell Wheelers.

http://www.strava.com/activities/136943469

A quick recovery spin this evening finished out the week.

nilhg

Because of illness in the family I haven't been getting out quite as regularly as I'd like but thankfully when I do I've been feeling reasonably strong, I haven't been doing anything that structured just keeping the intensity up on solo spins and trying my luck on a few segments where an opportunity arises.

A few of us did manage to get away to Kerry for a few days last weekend, we were lucky with the weather and had a great time, with a nice 100 kms on the Friday and 150 on the Saturday and a total of 3000m of climbing. On the more consistent long climbs I felt quite comfortable, with my weight (more about that in a minute) I find the steeper stuff hard but manageable, though the sight of the Ballaghabeema Gap when we came round the corner nearly had me off the bike before I even reached it, I was glad of the granny 30 sprocket then, but I think that was the only time I had to resort to it over the weekend.

Saturdays spin was done mostly at group pace but we did the last climb up Molls Gap at our own pace, TT style, I felt reasonable all the way up and got in under 20 minutes for the segment coveting the last 7km or so, happy enough with that especially since I felt fresh enough at the end of the spin.

http://www.strava.com/activities/142230384/

I'd hope to get one more decent day in the mountains done before the Wicklow 200 but even if that doesn't prove possible I reckon I'm in decent enough shape to get through it comfortably, time will tell though.

On my weight, I've found it harder to loose weight this spring/summer than last year, I was a little lighter this year starting off and would only now be getting to about the same as I was this time last year, partly that's down to having a little more muscle in the legs but I think I'm missing being able to get out fasted first thing in the morning once or twice a week, I believe that gets the metabolism up and roaring for the day and weight comes off a little easier as a result, I'm getting there now though, I wore my Boards jersey today and it didn't feel tight, that's a good sign.

nilhg

Seems like a long time since I updated this, my Dad had been unwell since late last year and unfortunately despite the best efforts of the doctors and nurses up in Tallaght Hospital things didn't go his way, we'd known for quite a while that the long term outlook wasn't good but still it was a bit of a shock that he left us so quickly in the end, naturally enough cycling wasn't a priority those last few weeks but the couple of times I did get out were a bit of a relief really.

I only got one more decent spin in before the WW200, I'd had a hard week with a lot of standing round and felt that my legs had got stiff and tight and rightly or wrongly felt that a good hard blast might be the best way to clear things out so I headed out on the bank holiday monday and did 100km at a fair strong pace, no big efforts just a consistent pace all through, I felt OK, legs were a bit ropey but nothing that I didn't expect really. Emma was home for the funeral and before she went back she wanted to go for a spin so we headed off the next morning to do a local loop, almost from the time I got on the bike I had a pain down the outside of my right knee, a muscle spasm really but it got worse and worse as we went round, with the WW200 5 days away it worried me I can tell you. Emma is a physio and she advised me to ice it and take anti inflammatories so that's what I did pretty much constantly till I did a handy trial spin on the Saturday morning before the big day, it wasn't perfect but it was much improved so on Sunday morning I packed up my stuff and headed for Wicklow.

The 200 itself went fine for me apart from having a bit of a problem with cramp in the last 30 km, I was with one of the lads from the trip to Kerry, he'd had a big year last year and is only really getting going again for this year now so I was hoping I'd be able to stick with him/use him as a hare most of the way round, we got separated early on but met back up again at the first stop in Baltinglass. We made good progress, and I was happy enough with the way we were going, starting off I had a target of 8hrs in my head and even though we were a little behind schedule given the conditions we seemed to be going ok, going over Slieve Maan and Shay Elliot I felt comfortable enough, just rode up at my own pace cause I knew that there was plenty more to come. Down into Avoca we were in a nice group travelling sweetly, making good time but when we met the climb back out towards Redcross that pace was a little too sweet for me and I let them go, hoping maybe to pick them up again down the other side but a herd of cattle on the road put paid to that. Over the next few lumpy bits I was feeling the pace but kept going as best as I could, I could feel the cramp threatening at that stage but a few good stretches on the bike seemed to be keeping it at bay. Down towards Glenealy a fast group came up to me and I was happy to latch on the back, we were making really decent progress home when on one of the drags the leg cramped up completely and I had to get off to stretch it out, once I did it cleared and I was back on the bike feeling good again, a few of us made a small mini group for the last few KMs home and I finished with a time of 8hrs and 5 minutes which I was happy enough with.

An hour and a bit faster than last year and even though I didn't feel great over the last few lumpy bits I was still getting over them faster so I think considering the previous few weeks that I'd have to be satisfied with that.

http://www.strava.com/activities/151071193


I hadn't been able to make the last few club league races and in the last two the fastest group hadn't been able to make the catch, the A4 and A5 had stayed away I would have enjoyed that, I have no notion that I'd have troubled the winners but I hope I'd have been in the mix towards the finish, so predictably enough when I went back last Thursday night the opposite happened, the handicap was less and the fast group set about their business to catch us with gusto, the pace was immense, I stuck it out for two laps (42 and 41.6km/hr) but after one too many times losing my place into and out of a bend I got dropped, I don't know if the WW200 was a factor or if I just gave in a bit too easy but once they were gone it was too late, not the end of the world and I live to fight another day.

Sunday was the Tour de Bog, for various reasons the crowd was small but there was enough there to have a very strong and fast front group, who were all prepared to turn their wheel to the shoulder, we had a ball, hammered round the 105 km at an average speed of 34km/hr, I felt really comfortable at that pace, legs were good, we didn't have much in the way of hills but did go over Dunmurry and Allen and I felt as good as I have ever felt on the bike going over them, just one of those days I suppose, one to remember.

http://www.strava.com/activities/153820521/

I'd be hoping to do the Wicklow Peaks the weekend after next, and there are a pair of TTs coming up in the club league, the first is a team one run in the gentlemans format, hard to know how that will go and then an individual TT, I've never done one, chasing segments is the closest I suppose so I'm interested to see how I'll do, hopefully I won't make a fool of myself, time will tell I suppose, anyway I'll report back then, warts and all.

nilhg

I seem to have forgotten May's stats

May:

Distance: 778.12 km
Time: 28:58:17 h:m:s
Elevation Gain: 6,858 m
Avg Speed: 26.9 km/h


June:

Distance: 1,153.55 km
Time: 40:55:52 h:m:s
Elevation Gain: 9,768 m
Avg Speed: 28.2 km/h


Some new experiences since my last post, namely three TTs, all a little different, first up was a team TT in the club league, this was run under the Gentlemans format whereby all the teams had to nominate a time for the 16km course and whoever got closest won. After a bit if a debate we went with 26.20 for our team, of course without the benefit of any timing equipment on the bikes getting the pacing right was easier said than done. I found the TT itself hard, a lot harder than I'd thought, you'd imagine that as one of 4 that there would be plenty of recovery time but that's not the way it worked out, when I peeled to the side after my turn in front I still had to match the pace so as to be able to slot back in at the back, if I eased up too much I had to chase back into position, really you only got about 25% of the time for recovery before you were point man again. In the event we went 30sec faster than plan, which got us second place on the night.

I was in Connemara the following weekend and got a couple of nice spins in in preparation for the Wicklow Peaks the next weekend after.

I wasn't really sure which way to approach the WP, I was thinking of driving over and trying to stay with the front bunch for as long as I could but with 2 TTs the following week, one on the Monday, I decided to spin over from home and go round at a nice steady pace, I felt reasonably good all day and without ever really going into the red set a nice bunch of PRs, which I was happy with, a great day out in fact, the only fly in the ointment being a slight recurrence of my cramp troubles on the way home when the group we were in kicked up the pace a bit.

http://www.strava.com/activities/159550460/

Next day was our club TT champs over a 5.7km course near the town. The course itself was technical enough at the start up a hill through 3 roundabouts and a traffic lights (the only time I've had a guard wave me through a red light) before a much faster section, then a turn into the wind and up a nice little drag before the last km home. The plan was to gun it from the start and take a little breather before hammering over the drag and doing the best I could home, that worked OK till I got the gearing slightly wrong on the hill and went right into the red zone, which definitely cost me on the run home, happy enough with the effort though, I finished 6th (and first Vet) on the night, enjoyed the experience once the lining of my lungs stopped burning.

http://www.strava.com/activities/160061795/

Thursday evening was the club league TT, 16km out and back on the new link road between Athy and the M9 motorway, anyone that knows the road appreciates how open it is and it was a breezy evening so things werent easy. My plan was to go out at a reasonable pace, make an effort on the drag up to the turn around roundabout, recover coming back down then go as hard as I could for the last 4km but with a sort of tail wind going out it didn't quite work out like that, I had to pick up the pace quicker after the turn and was probably just hanging on for the last few kms. Going over I was hoping to do a time somewhere between 26 and 27 minutes (no specific TT equipment is allowed in the league, normal road bikes and gear only), in the end I finished on 26.36 for 21st place out of 35, so reasonably happy with that.

http://www.strava.com/activities/161379605

Last night was the first league race since I was dropped in Carlow and I was hoping to do a little better, I felt good all through and even contested the two primes on the first two laps, first time round I was a bit of a spectator as the Carlow lads got their train into operation and was a good bit back and way to late to compete, next time round though I wanted to make it harder for them so went with a rattle while they were getting organised, their sprinter managed to grab my wheel though and he came round me easily enough before the line. No one in our group had much interest in working to try and stay clear on the night so it was no surprise when the fast group came up to us on the 5th lap and as usual when they did the afterburners were on to try and thin out the group, the next lap was 43km/hr, apart from one occasion when someone got himself in a loop into a bend and braked, stopping a few of us in the process and I had to chase back on, I was feeling very comfortable in the bunch, and a bit more confident holding my place in the group not getting squeezed out the back all the time, I can't say I contested the sprint but was right up there toward the front as the pace picked up and held my own till the fast lads went, happy enough with that.

http://www.strava.com/activities/164242985

Harvest is only about 2 weeks away now so hard to say what I'll be doing any day, all going well I'll get some of the 3 remaining league races in and I'm hoping to be able to make the Tour of Kilkenny but we'll see how that goes.

nilhg

July's stats

Distance:664.17 km
Time:22:38:02 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:5,150 m
Avg Speed:29.3 km/h

Not an awful lot to report since the last time, we've been really busy between preparations for harvest and actually doing the job itself so cycling time was limited, I did manage to get two of the last three league races in, both went the same way really, our group getting caught by the faster ones and me being comfortable enough sitting in the bigger group but not really able to do a whole lot else.

I have to say though I did really enjoy the experience through the league, it's certainly sharpened up my bike handling and cornering and I suppose as well my general concentration and awareness even in club group rides, I'd recommend it strongly to any one wanting to dip their toe in the racing waters.

I really did want to do the Tour of Kilkenny even got as far as packing my bag and having the bike ready for off but when I got up yesterday morning there was a monsoon outside and no forecast of anything better so I decided to play safe and stay home, hopefully next year will work out better.

I have no concrete plans for the rest of the year, too many things out of my control for the time being, if the opportunity arises I'll do either the Tour of Kildare or the Leinster Loop (if things go really well/badly I might do both) but after that I'm not sure. Going to try and get at least one decent long spin in soon even if I have to sneak off some weekday, Wicklow or the Blooms would be high on the list.

nilhg

August's stats


Distance:717.95 km
Time:24:00:46 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:4,080 m
Avg Speed:29.9 km/h

Still not entirely finished harvest 2014, still waiting on one last field to ripen up before we can put the combine away, into autumn sowing after that but hopefully we won't be too long going through that.

I got two reasonable weeks the first and last weeks of August but only managed to get one spin in on each of the others, and probably lucky to get them in at all.

I did get to the Tour of Kildare which after a slowish enough start developed into the usual hammerfest, I stuck it out in the front group comfortably enough to the food stop in Clane then managed to miss the call that they were rolling out (yapping as usual) and finished up a few hundred yards behind them on my own heading down into Prosperous which was not a good place to be, no chance of picking them up. I joined up with my cousin and clubmate and we kept a decent pace up home, picking up a little group of folk who had dropped out of the lead peleton, all in all a decent and enjoyable day out, 111km @32.2km/hr.

http://app.strava.com/activities/178235255

The spins I got in since had mostly been last minute time constrained jobs and so I usually finished up pushing on a bit to get back to the yard so today I was hoping to get in a nice long spin at an easier pace, I had a few options in my head but since I hadn't been out with the club for a while I decided to take today's Headstrong spin in but to extend it a bit, that all worked out OK but it wasn't quite as handy as I hoped, the lads were chomping at the bit and we kept a fair pace up all through, even against a bit of a headwind all the way home so I finished up with a total of 145km @29km/hr.

http://app.strava.com/activities/187830740

In one way the two easy weeks off the bike probably did stand to me, while I'd been going OK and able to hold a decent average pace I felt I'd been lacking a bit of zip in the legs, just like on a shortish power climb or if I needed a quick spurt to close a gap, on Tuesday mornings spin though I was out with my brother and we gave a couple of local Strava segments a good go, I know we had a tail wind but the legs felt good and I was able to hit and hold my max HR quite easily, got the two KOMs as well:).

I hope to get a decent month of Sept in, I'm not going to make the Rebel tour this year but there are a few nice local sportives coming up and I'll be hoping to take them in.

nilhg

September stats:

Distance:678.63 km
Time:24:39:45 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:6,365 m
Avg Speed:27.5 km/h

Not too bad of a return for September considering it was a busy time on the farm, too good of a chance with the weather to miss so we were flat to the boards to get most of the work done before it broke.

Did get out most of the Sundays at least, including two decent days in the mountains, while the kilometers weren't big those days there was plenty of climbing and some quite steep stuff included. I was happy enough with both days, while I wasn't by any means fast up any climb (upthe19th was a spot in the distance the day we went to Wicklow) I did feel quite comfortable all the way up, even on the climb up to Turlough Hill from Laragh and only had to resort to the 30 sprocket on the hardest slopes of the Glendine the following week (17%!!!!).

The pressure of work is off a little now, I'd hope to be able consistently be able to get some morning spins in over the next few weeks before frost might become an issue as well as some nice longish spins at the weekends, hopefully I might get to take in the Sean Kelly Tour from Tullamore and/or the Castlecomer Sportive, I did both last year and enjoyed them. I general though I'd be hoping to get some distance in but drop the intensity a bit, let the old bones recover a bit.

I'm just coming up to 7000km for the year to date, I don't really have much interest in chasing last year's 10K total, just going to see how things work out.

Heading away for a weeks R&R at the end of the month, going to hire a bike for a few days at least and check out some of the hills in the South of Spain, again not going to go too mad just take it as it comes.

nilhg

October's stats:

Distance:1,122.59 km
Time:45:21:41 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:8,535 m
Avg Speed:24.7 km/h

A decent month, legs felt a bit tired at the start of it so decided to drop out most of the intensity and concentrate on spinning a consistently high cadence, staying in the small ring even on downhill bits and those slightly more hectic last few KMs of the club spin. It seems to be working, holding 95-100 RPM feels natural enough now and while it starts to feel like a bit more of an effort 115-120 is manageable enough for shorter spells.

I took it easy enough the last full week of October since I had a bike booked for our week on the South of Spain and things seemed to be falling into place that I might get to make decent use of it.

We arrived in in the Monday and I picked the bike up on Tuesday morning when I was faced with one of the problems I'd have during the week, getting from A to B along the coast through the traffic, luckily enough that morning I met a veteran Spanish rider on a gorgeous old Look bike with carbon tube and steel (I think) lugs, he guided me down the motorway:eek: and pointed me at my turn off for our apartament, from where I did a bit of a reccee down along the coast to Fungireola and home.

Over the next week I was out every day mixing easier spins with some more demanding days, over the 7 days I managed 482km with at least 7000m of climbing (some days I had the feeling that the garmin was underestimating the climbing, and ticking elevation correction on strava seemed to confirm that but maybe overdo it) highlights would have been Fridays 130KM spin up to Puerto De Las Abejas and back,

http://www.strava.com/activities/213878281

and on Sunday I got up early to cross the city of Malaga to do my first ever HC climb up to Puerto Del Leon/Fuente de la Reina

http://www.strava.com/activities/214552035

The bike I hires was supposed to have a compact with a 12/28 cassette, it wasn't till I hit the first 12% section on the road to Coin that I remembered to check and found that it had a 11-25 instead, despite that I felt comfortable all through with the climbing, at least until the last day, I wasn't in any hurry and just tried to keep a nice even effort up through the climbs and never really went into the red zone at all even on the steepest of slopes.

My last day out changed that a bit though, the plan was to go up to Mijas from Fungireola and then back around the back of the mountain and home but I took a wrong turn somewhere and finished up in some place with roads which no matter where you turned seemed to just point up to the sky, there was no real option, grind it out up the hill or walk and I didn't feel like walking, I was going so slow that the Garmin kept going into autopause while I was turning the pedals, and several times I saw the gradient reading go blank as it seemed to get confused but it was well north of 25% several times. While I recovered my breath over a coffee in Mijas I came to the conclusion that the climb up to the radio masts on the mountain couldn't be any worse though it would be longer and that since it was only a KM down the road I might as well give it a go. I had to negotiate with myself a few times going up but slowly I made my way up, the last 1/2 KM was a bitch but I made it to the top, my second time over 900M in two days, no speed records broken but if somebody had said to me going out that I'd do any of the climbing that day on a bike with a 25 biggest cog on the cassette I have laughed at them.

http://www.strava.com/activities/215023913

I'm very happy with the week, the weather was great, myself, the wife and the youngest had a great time and despite doing the biggest 7 days of my time cycling I felt quite fresh at all times on the bike, recovering really well from any efforts and climbing comfortably if not fast.

Back to the flat lands of Kildare this week and I'll be back to the small ring and spinning a decent cadence, if the weather stays open and I can avoid having to use the turbo I'll not be stepping back up the intensity yet for a while.

I went over the 8KM mark for the year somewhere in Spain, if things went well over the next 2 months I might shake the 10KM mark again this year but not going to murder myself to get it either.

nilhg

November's stats:

Distance:983.33 km
Time:37:48:55 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:7,426 m
Avg Speed:26.0 km/h


A little bit pissed off now that didn't get to 1000km there, didn't realise I was so close, not going back out now though...

Things seem to be going according to plan, mainly I've been getting out once during the week with club spins Saturday and Sunday on the weekends, might have got out a few times more but didn't like the visibility in the fog so didn't chance it, haven't had to resort to the turbo though so that's a major plus.

After getting back from Spain I took a few days off the bike, did one high cadence short spin before going out with the club at the weekend, the weather was a bit iffy so only a few turned out, when I saw them I knew it would be a hard day, we were going up into the Glen of Immal and I knew after the first few drags that I was going to suffer, legs felt a bit dead and it's not a great place to be when you're like that, I was glad to see the coffee stop in Dunlavin and the mostly downhill spin home.

Since then though I've been feeling better though, we were up the Lake Drive and while I eventually got dropped I stuck it out well enough and set quite a few PRs so happy enough with that.

Round about this time I managed to pick up a new bike, I'd been on the look out for something suitable and affordable and one of the lads in the club knew someone who had a Felt F1 for sale, the components may not be quite up to the standard of the frame but it was in my price bracket (just) and I can upgrade if I want in future. I was a bit worried about the fit which is much more aggressive than my Trek but after some research I think it'll be OK, the first few spins don't seem to have thrown up any problems anyway.

Yesterday's club spin was it's first public outing and I came home happy enough, certainly it's much more responsive than the Trek, step on the pedals and she jumps, seems to climb well too, on a very still day I took a bit off my PR on the Windy Gap which I'd set with the aid of a gale, seeing one of the young fellas in the club come by me just before the top in the big ring took a bit of the gloss of it though, oh to be young again....

http://www.strava.com/activities/224368431/

Back to the Trek again today when we did the same route again, this time I did all the climbs in the big ring and maybe a 14 or 15 sprocket, standing all the way up, cadence of about 45, felt really comfortable doing that and the legs felt good all day so when the club spin was over I added in an extra 30km to get this months Gran Fondo challenge on Strava, tired when I finished but legs still Ok, 225km for the weekend so happy with that.

The plan is to continue in the same vein for December, no real intensive stuff except on club spins and to try and bang out decent milage while the weather stays open.

upthe19th

nilhg wrote: »

did all the climbs in the big ring and maybe a 14 or 15 sprocket, standing all the way up, cadence of about 45, felt really comfortable doing that and the legs felt good all day

Good stuff J. I'm reluctant to arrange another day in the hills with ya. Looks like I'd be dropped on the way up and on the way down.

nilhg

upthe19th wrote: »

Good stuff J. I'm reluctant to arrange another day in the hills with ya. Looks like I'd be dropped on the way up and on the way down.

No you wouldn't, the weight still counts going up and you're making much better progress on that front than me.

That'll be next years challenge but reluctant to do much on that front till spring, happy enough that I've more or less held my weight constant since summer.

upthe19th

nilhg wrote: »

No you wouldn't, the weight still counts going up and you're making much better progress on that front than me.

That'll be next years challenge but reluctant to do much on that front till spring, happy enough that I've more or less held my weight constant since summer.

We'll see. Good to be holding it steady.

nilhg

December stats:

Distance:1,101.37 km
Time:39:20:56 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:6,454 m
Avg Speed:28.0 km/h

Not a huge amount to say about December, I put in some big weeks to try and get to the 10000km fot the year and finally made it over the line on Saturday last, with the frost over the last few days I was glad not to have to chase it with the frosty roads.

My form is good at the moment, I haven't done any serious interval work on my own, just taken it as it came on club spins and have felt quite comfortable (most of the time anyway:P) there, picked up quite a few PBs and even one nice KOM.

I suppose the challenge for me now is to take the good base I have, maintain that and sharpen up speed wise a little for the year ahead.

In a few days when I've had time to think about it I'll put up a bit of a review of 2014 and as best as I can look forward to 2015.

nilhg

2014 final stats:

Total Activities 172
Total Distance (km) 10,094
Total Time (hrs) 368:30:24
Average Speed 27.39 km/hr
Total Elevation (m) 78,524
Total Segments 2,301
Longest Activity (km) 201


This time last year I said that my cycling time was going to be limited for the first few months of the year, at that stage my dad had been unwell for a while and even though the Docs were still working to come up with an exact diagnosis the vibes were that while he might have a rough enough time initially that the medium term prognosis was reasonable, sadly though it didn't work out that way and we had more bad days than good ones until we lost him at the end of May. Looking back now I find it hard to figure out how I cycled as much as I did during that time but there's a big family of us and I suppose you just try to keep things as normal as possible for as long as possible.

In a strange way it was (and I hope this doesn't come across wrong) my Dad's illness that sort of tipped me into racing in the club league, a couple of months before it wouldn't have been possible but I'd had my SVT fixed and all was feeling really well, one of the lads in the club persuaded me that since my time on the bike was limited that a regular Thursday evening hi-octane blow out wouldn't do me any harm, TBH even though it took a few weeks to learn the ropes and get comfortable in the group I loved it, never came close to scoring a point or doing anything remarkable but just found the whole thing exhilarating. God willing I'll be on the start line again this year and who knows if things were to go right maybe I might even manage to get my name somewhere on the leaderboard, there's usually one or two races a season where the A5 group stays away, I managed to miss those this year.

Most of my targets from the beginning of the year didn't work out two well, I only got down the first two, I had the bike in the car to go to Kilkenny but the morning was so foul that I wimped out and the rest just fell victim to the usual pressures of work and family time.

The Orwell Randonee and the Wicklow 200 did go well though, both very enjoyable events, I got very close to my 8hr target in the 200 and given the day was very happy with that. I also did quite a few more local sportives, some of them felt much more like races with the odd truce thrown in, one of them had "teams" from the two local clubs in the town doing all the donkey work (hunting down each others breaks) till we reached the bottom of the big climb of the day, I had an armchair ride at 35km/hr for the first 80km till they dropped me early on the climb, very enjoyable day out it was.

I suppose the cycling highlight of the year for me was the week I was away in Spain at Holloween, it wasn't a cycling break per se, I had Mrs Nilhg and my youngest along but I hired a bike and got out 7 days in a row, only one spin was over 100km but almost all had plenty of those steep Spanish hills included in total I did roughly 470km and 8500m of climbing but the really pleasing thing was that I never felt that it was too hard or tired getting on the bike the next day. The area around Malaga is a lovely spot to cycle at that time of the year once you get clear of the coastal strip.

At this stage my targets for next year are very fluid, a couple of us are looking at something which may or may not happen, if it does it'll take plenty of preparation but I'll know more soon. One way or the other I'd like to tick off a few more of those items on last year's list as well as racing the club league and doing all the local sportives I can fit in.

This has been my third installment in the story of my journey from couch potato to improver to enthusiastic veteran newbie racer and it seems to me that maybe this is as good a place as any to stop too much of anything that might be in a new log would just be repetition I think, but maybe, if next year's event comes off I might do one just for that, just to keep me focused...

On that note I'd not like to finish without thanking all those who read, commented on and thanked the various logs over the last few years, just looking back there now the first reply I got was from Beasty,

Beasty wrote: »

........snip.....

Just take things steady, and build up - It's something that could become life-changing if you want it to.

I probably didn't realise it at the time but I think he hit the nail exactly on the head with that one.

upthe19th

All in all a great journey J. I'll see you on the road.