First TT of the season

Last Sunday was the first chance for me to see how the winter training has gone. I went into it feeling pretty upbeat as I had  recently pushed out a new ftp highest value on TrainerRoad, and I had also dropped 4kgs. The event was the Kingston Wheelers’ Sporting 14. A two lap event that took in the Hungry Hill road just outside Ripley. It’s a steady, long drag rather than a hill and a felt that I should be able to power myself up and over it fairly well and with Simon starting 2 minutes behind me I thought that I should be able to keep him at bay fairly easily. Factoring in the last time I did this event a couple of years ago and the improvements that I have made since then, I thought a long 35 should be manageable.

I didn’t work out that way. I ended up riding 37:57, a long way from what I thought I would do. I can’t really explain it. I did have some mechanical issues with my shifting not working properly, but other than that I was just a lot slower than I should have been. Simon is probably a good 7-8 kgs lighter than me so I would have expected him to take some time out of me up the climbs, but when he overtook me halfway through the second lap, he kept pulling away from me on the downhills too. I just wasn’t generating the power tha5bi had been in training and it was very frustrating. Oh well, it’s only a hobby and it’s a very long season, so plenty of time to get my legs fired up again.

In other news, Mrs Wheezy and I have joined a gym. While I have been regularly bashing out 8-10 hours a week, Mrs Wheezy has been holding down a career and doing the vast majority of the childcare while I have been out riding my bike with my mates. We thought it was time that she had the opportunity for some health and fitness stuff and as our children are older and can look after themselves for a few hours,  joining a gym and doing a few things together seemed like a good idea.  So far, it’s been great. A 25m pool that’s usually deserted and has a lot less chlorine than other pools; watt bikes for me to do some interval sessions on, and some very funky treadmills, which hopefully will mean I can get back into some gentle running. Mrs Wheezy loves the pool and the cross trainers  so it mean we can do a few bits together, which is a bonus. It almost means that I’m a triathlete again.

Winter; do one.

The lurgy’s hit hard, after I did a 60 miler at the weekend. Two days off work feeling sorry for myself but it’s the first time I have beenproperly ill in a long while. The said 60 miles was good fun, low speed, low stress on a Phoenix Sunday club run. I had a couple of friends come out to join us and one has even ended up joining the club as a result.  It never ceases to amaze me, the shear number of cyclists out on the road every weekend. Most look like bunches of mates but with quite a few clubs thrown in the mix too. There’s the whole debate about waving when you see other cyclists. Quite a few don’t, and it’s cool when others do. I am an ardent waver, it just seems a good thing to do, minimal effort and a shared camaraderie. I’d like to think that I would never be ‘too pro to wave.’

I have to say I’m done with Winter.  I don’t mind being cold but the constant low cloud, drizzle or heavy down pours are starting to become a bit of a bore. I can’t wait for some warmer weather and the chance to get rid of snoods, leggings and winter tops. I dream of Majorca and Sa Calobra,  it it’s going to be a while before I see them again.