Still pushing myself a bit
So two weekends ago I went and tried something new. I stepped up a group on the WCC main club ride and went from intermediates to intermediate / fast. Yes they are similar in the names with "/ fast" added onto the end of the title of the new group but this group were really not messing about when it came to the speed. A really nice, friendly bunch of guys that made this look far too easy but I suppose if that's what they normally go at then it is par for the course for them.
Being the newbie in the group I was happy enough riding at the back and drafting behind them. Moving up the pack sometimes and only once at the front which I found a tad hard because I was trying to replicate the same effort / speed as well as having to deal with the wind resistance that you dont get as much when drafting / slip streaming / hiding behind another cyclist.
I did feel a little bit unsociable as they were chatting away to one another and there was the "getting to know the newbie in the group" but I was reminded of what my friend Terry said when he first joined WCC. You're being pushed harder than you normally get pushed so at length conversation isn't something I had the lung capacity for.
Outside of Ascot or thereabouts I rode over a smallish stone, knew I had hit it relatively hard but thought I had gotten away with it. Less than a mile later the air had been knocked out of my front wheel so my first "out in the field" puncture change was about to take place. I pulled over to the side of the road onto a grass bank and proceeded to put on my spare inner tube. While I'm doing that the rest of the group had come back and were waiting for me to complete the fix. I knew it wasn't a drop-ride (a drop ride is essentially you will get left behind if you fall behind) but it was really nice for them to all have done that. I felt a little bit bad as trying to do my first puncture change and being very mindful that I'm slowing the group down as we're not moving.
While doing that we're looking at other groups of cyclists passing to see if it was one of the other groups from WCC. The first lot wasn't, but a little while later, the other group came past us while I was fiddling to get the new inner tube on.
I didn't think I was that slow in putting on the new inner tube, however the time on my camera showed a 15 minute period from when I first switched it off to switching it back on. Only discovering that when I was reviewing footage when I got home. So, if you're reading this guys, so sorry about that. Not that I want to be entirely practised in replacing an inner tube on the side of a road, but I probably should practice it at home as I know I can definitely do that much faster.
Back onto the road and the respite had made my legs feel a little bit fresher than they were before the stop. Eventually we made it to the Velolife cafe which is a lovely little place in the middle of... to be honest I don't know, yes I could google it now and find out for you but I had zero clue where I was at that time. Ordered myself a latté, a granola flapjack thing and a brownie and in the process picked up a new nickname. Now I'm Dave "Two Cakes" Bage. I guess thats better than James May's nickname on Top Gear (Captain Slow) so I'll definitely take that.
I cannot recall if this bit was before or after the cafe but there seemed to be a cycling event going on. We went round this corner and I just saw all these plastic cups strewn across the road at a checkpoint and the people manning it were picking them up. Fair play to them for doing that as they were literally everywhere but it did annoy me. Not for the organisers, it was whomever had a drink and then just dumped the cup into the middle of the road. When I was doing the Prudential RideLondon, I had so many gel packs and clif bars which I consumed in the course of the ride but I can 100% promise you that not a single wrapper of mine got dropped onto the course at all. Anyway, rant over.
This weekend just gone I had Keegan. Fair enough he likes his time on YouTube so I made myself useful and "got out" on Zwift to continue my FTP Training program boost. This time it was a free ride or endurance event where you just had to do an hours worth of cycling. The nice thing about Zwift aside from it being much more engaging than just a stationary bike is you can choose different routes in the area you're in. So, I'm pedalling along amongst all the other cyclists and up ahead is a fork in the road. To the left I see is "Epic KOM", now KOM in cycling terms is King Of the Mountain. I fancy a bit of a hill climb so I choose that route because my brain said to me "that sounds like fun". Suffice to say it wasn't that much fun especially at the higher altitudes when the gradient started to pick up.
But it was worth the effort as I got a new badge (I feel like a kid) because I was able to put out 600 watts effort albeit briefly.
But like any mountain climb, what goes up, must come down, so the downhill was a blitz and a half for me with whatever I had left in my legs:
But at the end of the hour I received this:
Keegan, later on Saturday asked if I was OK as he came out of his room and saw me on the bike with the sweat just dripping off me onto the mat below.
On Sunday we went swimming and into the competition pool because the leisure lagoon was closed. He did me so proud and I think he gets his swimming ability from his mum as we managed to do 20 lengths before getting out and heading back home. He's even said to me that he'd be up for trying a park run (its a 5k run which is free) so I've got us registered for that now and we'll see about doing it the next weekend he's with me.
The next challenge for me is this coming weekend where I'll be taking part in whats definitely going to be my final sportive of the year. That would be the Wiggle Devils Punch. Again I'll be doing the epic course which is a leisurely 78 miles, this time though I will have company as I'm being joined by a guy from Woking Cycling Club named Jamie. The gold award will be given to average speeds of 15.5mph or above. This is a bit more hilly than the one in France but I'm hoping its not as "open" so will be afforded some protection from the elements.
Being the newbie in the group I was happy enough riding at the back and drafting behind them. Moving up the pack sometimes and only once at the front which I found a tad hard because I was trying to replicate the same effort / speed as well as having to deal with the wind resistance that you dont get as much when drafting / slip streaming / hiding behind another cyclist.
I did feel a little bit unsociable as they were chatting away to one another and there was the "getting to know the newbie in the group" but I was reminded of what my friend Terry said when he first joined WCC. You're being pushed harder than you normally get pushed so at length conversation isn't something I had the lung capacity for.
Outside of Ascot or thereabouts I rode over a smallish stone, knew I had hit it relatively hard but thought I had gotten away with it. Less than a mile later the air had been knocked out of my front wheel so my first "out in the field" puncture change was about to take place. I pulled over to the side of the road onto a grass bank and proceeded to put on my spare inner tube. While I'm doing that the rest of the group had come back and were waiting for me to complete the fix. I knew it wasn't a drop-ride (a drop ride is essentially you will get left behind if you fall behind) but it was really nice for them to all have done that. I felt a little bit bad as trying to do my first puncture change and being very mindful that I'm slowing the group down as we're not moving.
While doing that we're looking at other groups of cyclists passing to see if it was one of the other groups from WCC. The first lot wasn't, but a little while later, the other group came past us while I was fiddling to get the new inner tube on.
I didn't think I was that slow in putting on the new inner tube, however the time on my camera showed a 15 minute period from when I first switched it off to switching it back on. Only discovering that when I was reviewing footage when I got home. So, if you're reading this guys, so sorry about that. Not that I want to be entirely practised in replacing an inner tube on the side of a road, but I probably should practice it at home as I know I can definitely do that much faster.
Back onto the road and the respite had made my legs feel a little bit fresher than they were before the stop. Eventually we made it to the Velolife cafe which is a lovely little place in the middle of... to be honest I don't know, yes I could google it now and find out for you but I had zero clue where I was at that time. Ordered myself a latté, a granola flapjack thing and a brownie and in the process picked up a new nickname. Now I'm Dave "Two Cakes" Bage. I guess thats better than James May's nickname on Top Gear (Captain Slow) so I'll definitely take that.
I cannot recall if this bit was before or after the cafe but there seemed to be a cycling event going on. We went round this corner and I just saw all these plastic cups strewn across the road at a checkpoint and the people manning it were picking them up. Fair play to them for doing that as they were literally everywhere but it did annoy me. Not for the organisers, it was whomever had a drink and then just dumped the cup into the middle of the road. When I was doing the Prudential RideLondon, I had so many gel packs and clif bars which I consumed in the course of the ride but I can 100% promise you that not a single wrapper of mine got dropped onto the course at all. Anyway, rant over.
This weekend just gone I had Keegan. Fair enough he likes his time on YouTube so I made myself useful and "got out" on Zwift to continue my FTP Training program boost. This time it was a free ride or endurance event where you just had to do an hours worth of cycling. The nice thing about Zwift aside from it being much more engaging than just a stationary bike is you can choose different routes in the area you're in. So, I'm pedalling along amongst all the other cyclists and up ahead is a fork in the road. To the left I see is "Epic KOM", now KOM in cycling terms is King Of the Mountain. I fancy a bit of a hill climb so I choose that route because my brain said to me "that sounds like fun". Suffice to say it wasn't that much fun especially at the higher altitudes when the gradient started to pick up.
But it was worth the effort as I got a new badge (I feel like a kid) because I was able to put out 600 watts effort albeit briefly.
But like any mountain climb, what goes up, must come down, so the downhill was a blitz and a half for me with whatever I had left in my legs:
But at the end of the hour I received this:
Keegan, later on Saturday asked if I was OK as he came out of his room and saw me on the bike with the sweat just dripping off me onto the mat below.
On Sunday we went swimming and into the competition pool because the leisure lagoon was closed. He did me so proud and I think he gets his swimming ability from his mum as we managed to do 20 lengths before getting out and heading back home. He's even said to me that he'd be up for trying a park run (its a 5k run which is free) so I've got us registered for that now and we'll see about doing it the next weekend he's with me.
The next challenge for me is this coming weekend where I'll be taking part in whats definitely going to be my final sportive of the year. That would be the Wiggle Devils Punch. Again I'll be doing the epic course which is a leisurely 78 miles, this time though I will have company as I'm being joined by a guy from Woking Cycling Club named Jamie. The gold award will be given to average speeds of 15.5mph or above. This is a bit more hilly than the one in France but I'm hoping its not as "open" so will be afforded some protection from the elements.
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