Allow me to point out that West Norwood rocks, for a number of reasons – not least because I can ride this hilly 4-5 hr route from my door:
View West Norwood foray in a larger map
Rode it last Sunday with Millsy, who has been bending my ear on recovery smoothies and base amino supplements among other matters. Actually felt pretty good.
The route takes in Toy’s Hill along with plenty of other rolling sections, and has plenty of room for expansion for longer rides.
Here’s my new commute route:
View West Norwood – work in a larger map
So – 8.35 miles, 40 minutes each way on average. It’s a tougher ride in than my former one – not just because it’s 3 miles longer, but because there’s more traffic, more traffic lights, more exhaust, and more other cyclists on the road. There are more tricky bits where you need to be in the right lane, or you need to take a particular bike path – or you’re toast, basically. There’s no final stretch up Dartmouth Park Hill to finish you off, but on the way home the route between Acre Lane and Thornlaw Road does gradually climb and it can be as hard as you want it to be. 4 days of 80 mins per day can deaden your legs at this stage in the season as well, especially on 6-7 hours of sleep per night.
Day off tomorrow.
At 26 January my weight is already down below 11st / 70kg. I’ve lost the Christmas flab simply by not over-eating at every meal. However, at this stage I’m not convinced it’s wise to lose much more weight. It will be easy to shave off 5-6 pounds between now and 4 July – no need to get hysterical.
With this in mind, here is a rough outline of my daily diet. This is accurate for days when I commute into work (40 mins), do 10 hours at my desk, then commute back.
Breakfast:
Mid-morning:
Lunch:
5pm:
Dinner:
I wanted to record this realistic picture of a hungry cyclist’s food intake when it’s cold outside and he’s already a bit skinny. There’s plenty of room for trimming out the munchies and the fatty / sugary stuff in due course.
With the snow and ice washed away by rain and milder weather, I’ve spent the weekend pulling January’s shoddy training schedule back into line.
Despite waking up on Saturday morning vowing to spend two days at my laptop, I braved the drizzle for an hour on Regent’s Park. As ever, the hardest part about going for a ride in bad weather was pulling on the lycra in the first place. I rode the hack, and got soaked.
Today I rode the Finchley – Knebworth ‘cheat the week’ route – for one last time before the move south. To be honest, it’s not one of the classic routes (no hills to speak of, plenty of A-road) but from North London, without taking a train, it’s about as good as it gets. I’ve never Google mapped it before, so here it is for posterity:
View Cheat the Week in a larger map
It was 3hr 30 – the majority in the small front chainring. Conserving le jus at this stage. Joe once told me one of his club mates didn’t go into the big ring before March – excessive or the best way to build an early-season base?
New Velodramatic redesign
Sweet new look for Velodramatic to start the new year. Has anyone seen another site showcasing cycling photography of this quality?
My goal this January is to ride for more days / hours than last January.
In Jan 09 I had 15 days or 21 hours of some on-bike activity, 10 hours of which were commute days, and the others being regular winter training rides on the road. So far, I’ve already racked up 4 days and 7 hours, so hopefully, weather permitting, this should be an easily achievable goal. However, the weather isn’t exactly permitting – it’s the coldest winter for 30 years.
Hey - nice!
Another comparison with last year is that I’m starting it lighter. In Jan 09 I was a stocky 11st 12 – this year I’m probably around 11st 5-6 (lighter than I was in March last year). True, my form is fairly rubbish, but one thing about starting a third year of serious riding is a certain mental confidence. I’m more in tune with my own fitness levels after several seasons of waxing and waning form. I know what’s required of me come July, and I know that my body will respond to the training in due course – better, even, than in years past, because your legs do remember.
In addition to the riding, I’m building in plenty of core work now. I realised too late last year that my core muscles (abs, back and hip flexors) needed to be stronger to avoid fatigue on long, hard rides. I would go into the exercises in detail but Millsy’s already done it for me.
Following on from my rather anaemic Asian bike round-up, here’s a gem I discovered via kevincyr. Pure armchair category.
Rickshaws in Kathmandu.
Abandoned bike in Kathmandu.
I'm wondering how the fruit vendor stays upright when on the move...
A brief bike-related retrospective from my trip to Nepal. Please enjoy the full photo set.
The current conditions just north of Potters Bar.
Yesterday was my first ride out of the new decade. Following a period of 2 months out of the saddle (a trip to Nepal was partly to blame), which itself included a 2 week drinking marathon (the party season) and a 1 week eating marathon (the Mucklow family Christmas), it wasn’t surprising that my form stank.
My leg strength deserted me; my heart rate pootled along in zone 2; my blood sugar levels bonked as my stomach craved cake and turkey trimmings. Compare this graph from yesterday (peak HR 157):
Heart rate graph 2-1-10
with this one from 18 July last year (peak HR 177).
Heart rate graph 18-7-09
I remember this ride. I never blogged about it because I was just back from La Marmotte and I couldn’t be bothered. But it was the ride of the year. I was out with Millsy on a 4hr+ circuit from Sevenoaks (possibly the Hell of the Ashdown route). I was rested from my trip to France, but still held the form from months of training. I was hitting the hills hard, and just kept feeling stronger. Then came a truly epic half-hour stretch in the closing stages of the ride, on a gradual climb up to Sevenoaks Weald. My heart rate climbed from 160 into the 170s, and I recall looking down at my wrist to check the effort and seeing 177. There was an almost other-worldly absence of pressure.
But back to yesterday. In a nutshell, I followed Millsy all the way up to Woolmer Green, whereupon he binned it on the ice, and I followed his bloodied carcass all the way back to London. My flabby core is so out of shape that it’s all achey today, and I’m saddle-sore into the bargain.
Looks like more snow’s on the way for Wednesday’s ride – sweet!
