Christmas Training 2011

Christmas Eve 24th December 2011
61 miles (98km) averaging 18.2 mph
Steady ride initially over flat terrain however including the local climb of Harby Hill before a 5 mile section along the drag strip that is Harby Straight with local club Mapperley CC. Sections on Harby straight of around 30 mph/ 48 km/h despite the road being pretty flat.
Mapperley CC stopped for a Cafe stop however I continued on home steady. I don't like stopping at cafes over the winter as feel it takes me a long time to warm up again and that it leads to a higher number of respiratory issues and colds.

Boxing Day 26th December 2011
62 miles (99 km)
Nice steady ride with the Badger Box lads from one of my previous clubs- Ashfield Road Club, Dave, Phil and Mark into the glorious Peak District and North East Derbyshire hills as well as a nice steady chain gang back along the A6. Warm day for the time of year.
Also had a lovely altercation with a man who wanted to point out to us that cyclists should be more "considerate" to other motorists as according to the Highway Code

"Cyclists are not allowed to ride 2 abreast at any time!"

Isn't it about time that motorists are made to have more consideration towards cyclists?

Phil Struggling his way up one of the many climbs of the day near Butterley Derbyshire.

Winter Training Up to Christmas 2011

Christmas means many things to alot of people

Personally it means a period of at least a week off work and therefore the opportunity to get some quality time on the bike

Having started to pick up the training somewhat over

Throughout December training and riding has looked something like this

Monday's- Day off/ Gym session for core stability and muscular endurance (25+ reps)
Tuesday's- Sessions of up to 1 hour on the Rollers concentrating on pedal technique
Wednesday's- Gym Sessions concentrating on muscular endurance and core stability
Thursdays - Steady low level aerobic sessions of up to 1 hour on rollers or turbo trainer
Friday- Off
Saturday - LSD Long Steady Distance Road Ride of up to 90 miles. Flat to rolling roads
Sunday - LSD Long Steady Distance Road Ride of up to 60 miles. Rolling to Hilly roads

Christmas means a superovercompensation training week with at least 4 rides of in excess of 50 miles

While to some people this may seem to be not a huge distance at my personal level of fitness it will effectively increase my weekly volume by over 50% and therefore must be done with control to ensure the body is able to cope with the additional stress.

2011- a bad year personally cycling wise

After a year off racing in 2011 I feel that it's now time to concentrate, focus and achieve something on the bike in 2012
2011 was a poor year for me on the bike however I had other things to focus throughout the year and managed to stay relatively fit without having a level of racing fitness.
I climbed Jebel Toubkal in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco in October

Scaled Ben Nevis- the highest Mountain in the UK in November and also went skiing for the first time. (Pamporovo Bulgaria March 2011)

Sadly cycling took less of a priority in early 2011 due to personal issues and a knee injury caused by a period of running which was supposed to help strengthen my body for cycling in 2012. This actually meant I had to take things easier up until November 2011 when my body was finally strong enough for the rigours of road cycling.

Ideally I'd have loved to have riden some cyclocross during winter 2011 however the knee problems meant that I never felt 100% confident in dismounting the bike at speed.

The plan is onwards and upwards for 2012