Winter Update....

  One of the great things about….

   …this ridiculous sport is how the goalposts keep moving. I trawled through the last few years of blog & website highlights and came up with my 10 mile PB’s since getting back on my bike in winter 2008. I can still remember thumping the handlebars in ecstasy when I first got under 24 mins in the spring of 2009!

  2009 – 22:39

  2010 – 22:20

  2011 – 22:20

  2012 – 21:45

  2013 – 21:05

  2014 – 20:18

  2015 – 19:??

Well, you never know.....

  Well, as usual, things haven’t quite got to plan this winter – my plan to ‘try and arrive at the start of the year with slightly better fitness than last year’ isn’t going too well. Took a while to get over a few niggly recurring vitamin B12 issues***, then the mad Xmas rush started which, when you work for Royal Mail is pretty draining. However, all the overtime has paid for my aero upgrades, all next year’s entry fees and all of my PB chasing travelling expenses, so can’t complain! (‘We Love Parcels’ ha ha ha…).

  Then I acquired the most horrible cold which left me in a near vegetative state for three weeks. Ah well. At least it’s left me feeling like I can’t wait to start training properly, which has got to be a good sign.

  Not sure how to get cracking really. I might just get out for a few long stiff rides initially to see how things are then take it from there. I shouldn’t be too far off – the few short rides & turbo sessions I’ve done have been quite pleasing and have kept things ticking over nicely so it shouldn’t take long to get up to speed. The main thing is that I’m nice and rested – that’s the most important thing for me I’ve learned.

 I’ve not been totally distracted though – I’ve made amazing progress in getting my body fat right down and have leaned up very nicely. As I mentioned in a previous post, the best way for me to go faster on my limited power is to save drag, most of which is caused by my body. Still got a few kgs to go I think but quite happy. The logic behind doing it before xmas was so that the required calorie deficit wouldn’t impact on hard training in the spring. So at least that part of the plan has succeeded.

  Of the other drag saving tweaks, well, I've bought myself a new front wheel! The faithful Spinergy Rev X has served me well but it’s about 20 years behind the times now so time to move on. I really wanted one of those new ‘fat’ U-shaped style of wheels with a really deep section but couldn’t afford a 'proper' one so went for one of those Chinese counterfeits again. It’s about as close as you can get to Zipp 808 spec but for 20% of the price! Deep rim of 88mm so makes the TT bike look a bit strange but is a light as a feather and looks really fast!  The field test data of this new approach to wheel design looks very promising and has to be slicker than the old Rev X, so worth a go!

  New helmet too – A Scott Split. Again, not the most expensive but seems to offer the best all round performance in the ‘real world’. A proper ‘safety’ helmet too – you start to worry about these things when you get old and decrepit, especially with my history of head injuries. I look bloody ridiculous wearing it with my fat face bulging out but, as my mum would say, "It's not a bloody fashion parade!" 

  Finally, a super slick hi tech skinsuit made from Barracuda eyebrows or something to shave another few watts off. A Castelli BodyPaint 3.0. Looks the biz and it’s bloody tight! I can’t physically stand up in it – reminds me of my days in the RAF Cadets staggering around the apron like a tortoise, hunched over with an ancient parachute virtually castrating me. Again though, really pulls everything in and feels seriously slippery. Got to be better than one of those flappy 40 quid screenprinted club cheapies.

  Not totally turned my back on the DIY stuff though – it’s traditional to have something homemade on the bike! I couldn’t find the right chain retainer for Trigger and an old front mech looked really clunky and draggy, so I made one. Knocked up a bit of aero section from flat aluminium plate and built it around that. Looks nice and compact and, psychologically at least, gives me another bit of an aero edge.

  Oh, and got meself a Garmin Edge too. Well, why not?

My first 2 x 20 of 2015. Made me realise that I've got a looong way to go to get back to PB power....

*** Having to have regular B12 injections now to keep the deficiency in check. Hopefully, after 3 years of faffing about it's now fully under control. I did do quite a detailed post about it but a couple of people warned me that being so open about some of my neurological symptoms might come back to haunt me, so I removed it.  Apologies.