Tom’s Pyreneen route
Tom Wood, my long-time off-road bike buddy, has been doing some more back-country riding in the Pyrenees this autumn. Above is the map of his latest trip and below are pics from the trip. Check out Tom’s Flickr.
Archive for October, 2008
Epsom 50-miler
This is a really nice round route from Epsom. Not that long, but hilly. As well as going up and down Box Hill in both directions, it has all the best stuff around Shere, Peaslake and Coldharbour, but there’s loads of room to extend it – which I will be doing / posting in due course.
The hack
My hack bike is the one I commute on. Here she is, the Ballistic, in all her filthy glory (and in high-contrast black and white to emphasise her gritty street credentials). Robust and uncomplaining, the Ballistic has seen me through two years of hardcore inner-London riding. She’s caked in dirt and oil, the grips are worn out, the forks are bent (a slight late-night mishap, I’m not going into it), the rear hub rattles and the saddle always slips back on the seatpost. But she’s light, nimble, and capable of serious speed when properly worked.
LanceTube
I’ve become slightly addicted to watching video clips of Lance Armstrong riding the Tour. I like the really blurry ones with bad, tinny house soundtracks. Like this one:
Alpe d’Huez – the finale of La Marmotte. Yep, it’s going to hurt.
The bread and butter
Here’s a map of my route to work. 5.38 miles each way / 10.72 miles per day. Not bad for keeping the legs ticking over 4 days a week. It takes me at about 30 minutes, although I’ve never timed myself. It’s a good route:
- Descending Dartmouth Park Hill really blows out the cobwebs in the morning, and provides a tough climb to finish on the way home at night.
- The whole area around Belsize Park, Chalk Farm and Primrose Hill is pleasantly quiet, green and varied – this route cuts out the clogged Kentish Town Road / Fortess Road stretch.
- Regent’s Park is good for a burst of speed if the legs demand it. It’s hard to see how I will ever get tired of drafting and overtaking other riders on this stretch.
On a general note, I really feel that, if you live in London and within 45 minutes to work by bike, and you’re lucky enough to have two legs, functioning lungs and a brain, you should be riding to work. Your life will be enhanced immeasurably. When I ride to work, I arrive:
- Wide awake
- Endorphin-charged and happy
- Showered and fresh (I have a shower at work – you’ll need it)
Whereas, on days when I don’t ride and have to take the bus or – in a worst-case scenario – the tube, I arrive:
- Grumpy
- Sweaty
- Tired
- Poorer by £1-£2.50
Naturally, I don’t commute on the Wilier. I’ll be introducing my hack bike soon.
La Marmotte
I’ve just added La Marmotte (4 July 2009) to the calendar. No turning back now…
I decided to ride La Marmotte while staying with Joe in September. He’s ridden it before, at least a couple of times, and at his most recent attempt came 80th out of 8000. Top 1% – a truly phenomenal effort. In Joe’s view, La Marmotte – not L’Étape – is the French cyclosportive to do.
Here are a couple of accounts:
So that’s the big target basically – my plan is going to be focussed on this event, although I hope to enter further races / sportives later next summer.
Merckx on the rollers
The Cannibal works on his cadence… Eddy Merckx, for many THE greatest cyclist of all time, is seen here doing the pro cyclist’s equivalent of domestic admin. For me this is a vision of latent power and speed, like a lion padding around his cage. Merckx’s expression is placid, his concentration total, just humming along. Legend.
Winter planning
It’s mid-October, and my main aim for the moment is simply to stay riding over the coming months. I want to be fit enough in January to ride 5 hours comfortably. If I have that as a base I think that’s a good start considering what I want to achieve next year.
At the start of this year I began a 6-month plan with Ewan, who was training for his Ironman. I’d been fit in the autumn of 2007 (when I bought the Wilier) but my stamina wasn’t that good. Ewan’s plan involved building distance steadily week on week: we started at 3 hours and built that up to 7 hours continuous riding in late May of this year, just prior to the Dragon Ride in June. I found that during the winter months the long distances really wiped me out – next year I’m hoping to feel stronger, earlier, and to start building in hills and pace work sooner.
I’ve uploaded a Google calendar to share my plan.
Wilier Mortirolo Veloce 07
The Wilier Mortirolo Veloce 2007
Here’s my bike. I’ve had it since early September 2007, and it’s performed handsomely in its first year of service. The only bits I’ve changed so far have been both tyres and numerous inner tubes – sharp flints are a regular hazard on the roads of southern England.
Some upgrades are on the cards for next year however:
- Wheels: splashing on a new set of wheels is probably the most sensible way to improve the bike’s performance and reduce the weight (by around 300-350g hopefully). Joe recommends the Campagnolo Neutrons.
- Pedals: some Look Keo carbons, for sure.
- Bar / Stem: possible bling carbon action for the cockpit.
Welcome and Why
Welcome to my blog about cycling. Setting this up I’ve got some key aims in mind:
- Training. I want to record and share my training diary over the coming months, for my own benefit but also hopefully for the benefit of others. I know I’d be interested in reading a good cycling blog about following a training plan through the seasons – maybe others will too. A little early research has unearthed not much in the way of cycling training blogs on the web.
- Web Design. It’s not (all) about the bike. I make a living from the web, so naturally I want to shape this website into something that looks good and works well, while reflecting my love of cycling. A little early research has unearthed practically nothing in the way of well-designed cycling blogs.
- Community. It’s a tall order, but I’d be well chuffed if people actually read this blog. With that in mind, I’m going to try to mash the whole bike thing with the whole web thing, and with any luck produce some content that’s worth visiting the site for – whether you’re a commuter, roadie, MTB-er or armchair enthusiast.