Beasty's objectives for 2010

RobFowl

Beasty wrote: »

Someone from around these parts has been suggesting doing cyclocross also ...

Ardgillan's more suited to cyclocross than MTB. It's really not very technical at all but has a decent hill.
Great when the weather's bad especially when there's ice about.

Raam

Looking forward to the CX. Still need to build my new machine up. It will be a franken-bike.

Beasty

Having previously hinted that I will return to Manchester next year to try and hit my 40km 1hr target, last night's 10m TT has prompted me to set my second target for 2011 - that is to join Planet X in the sub 24/over 50 club - ie doing a sub 24 minute 10 mile TT at the age of 50 or more!

I need to gain 49 seconds on last night's time - 4 seconds of that is quite simple - I had to pretty much stop at the roundabout as a vehicle was already on it. Another couple of seconds should be gained by being held at the start. Conditions last night were almost as good as you could ask for, with an ESE 11kph wind, although I could shave a few seconds off if the wind was slightly less, so it looks like I need to find another 40 seconds or so

New wheels, and in particular a rear disc wheel, should save another 20-30 seconds. I should certainly be able to push out another 10w, and probably another 20w compared to last night, which should be worth another 20-40 seconds, so on the face of it, this should be achievable ...

Lumen

Beasty wrote: »

I should certainly be able to push out another 10w, and probably another 20w compared to last night, which should be worth another 20-40 seconds

I think calculated at some point from my own data that for 40K TTs around the hour each minute saved costs about 20W. Obviously that goes up a lot as the time decreases.

niceonetom

I don't have any insight into the power thing as I've never trained with it, but would either of you mathematical geniuses like to hazard a guess as to how fast you'd have to be over the 10m circuit we just did to be strong enough to go <1hr for the 25m on the same road? I know some of it would hinge on how much your power would have to be lower for the longer effort but I'm just trying to get a ball park figure. <23minutes maybe?

I can see myself doing some testing on the 10m and, if/when I get strong enough having a go at the 25m. I'd really like to get below the hour next year.

Lumen

niceonetom wrote: »

how fast you'd have to be over the 10m circuit we just did to be strong enough to go <1hr for the 25m on the same road? I know some of it would hinge on how much your power would have to be lower for the longer effort but I'm just trying to get a ball park figure. <23minutes maybe?

In theory, the difference between CP30 and CP60 depends on how much anaerobic capacity you have. The more anaerobic capacity, the greater the difference.

According to my own graphs, there isn't really a huge difference between 16km TT and 40km TT effort, maybe 10W (for me). The extra distance is mostly about mental toughness and comfort.

I'd guess that 16K in 23:30 should have you under the hour for 40K, so you're thereabouts already.

niceonetom

Thanks Lumen. I certainly don't think I'm there yet, so maybe I am using a bit of anaerobic effort during in the 10m. I reckon that even on a good day I still have about 2 minutes to find to go sub 60. A disc and a skinsuit might get me half of that (?) the rest I'll have to supply myself.

Beasty

niceonetom wrote: »

I don't have any insight into the power thing as I've never trained with it, but would either of you mathematical geniuses like to hazard a guess as to how fast you'd have to be over the 10m circuit we just did to be strong enough to go <1hr for the 25m on the same road? I know some of it would hinge on how much your power would have to be lower for the longer effort but I'm just trying to get a ball park figure. <23minutes maybe?

I can see myself doing some testing on the 10m and, if/when I get strong enough having a go at the 25m. I'd really like to get below the hour next year.

I think you are nearly there, but bear in mind we did have good conditions and a flattish course - the extra along between the roundabout we turned and the one at Trim to get to the 25m mark is a bit hillier - I found the 3rd quarter on that course particularly difficult the first time I did that course(but had a head wind along there)

Looking at the vet's age standards you will see at age 40 the 10m increments are 8s, and the 25m increments 20s - extrapolating back would suggest that you would need to do about 23m 6s at 10m to equate to an hour at 25m

My road times suggest I am just under age standard at both distances - before Wednesday (when I had the benefit of a TT bike for the first time) I was 22s under the 10m standard, and 63s under the 25m standard. Obviously the conditions were not identical, but it does give some credibility to the relative times in the vets standards

Also, bear in mind I did get pretty close to 40km in the hour myself - yes the conditions were perfect, but if I can get so close indoors at a first attempt, I am sure you can crack it outdoors. In fact, I think you could probably get there by going a bit more aero - a skinsuit and TT bike should make sufficient difference based on your time on Wednesday

Beasty

Lumen wrote: »

I think calculated at some point from my own data that for 40K TTs around the hour each minute saved costs about 20W. Obviously that goes up a lot as the time decreases.

The bike calculator suggests just under 20w will get me 40s or so at around 40kph. If I go back to the Swords 10mTT my normalised power was 17w higher than Wednesday (although I was using the clip ons, so in a slightly higher position), so hopefully I've got in in me (although I will be another year down the slippery slope .... - the vets standards suggest each year adds another 10s at my age)

Beasty

In the end I did not do the vets 50mTT this morning. A couple of hard commutes at the back-end of the week left me feeling a bit drained, and a slight back strain meant I could bring my search for excuses to a rapid conclusion:rolleyes:

Total distance for the week was 246km at 31kph and an average power of 221w. This included 4 commutes and Tuesday's 10m TT

YTD distance now stands at 7,140km at 29.5kph, meaning I am now 345km ahead of target, and have less than 3 million metres to go!

This week I will be in the UK for a couple of days, and will be hoping to get commutes in on the other 3 days.

Now the racing is over, it's time to start thinking about those wheels - perhaps more about that next time...

Beasty

3 commutes, a hotel gym session and a few local circuits this evening added up to 220km at 29.3kph this week. Total distance to date now stands at 7,360km in 7 minutes short of 250 hours, and an average speed of 29.5kph. This puts me 373km ahead of target, with 2,640km now to do

Next week I'll be away for a couple of days, and may only get one commute in, plus a couple of gym sessions. I may also get out one or two evenings if the light holds out long enough. I suspect I will eat into a bit of my headroom though (I guess that's what it's there for)

Hopefully the week after I'll be back to frequent commutes, which should allow me to make more inroads into my 10,000km target.

Beasty

These are spread out over 2 days. Today was supposed to be the 500m TT and (in my age category) the 2,000m pursuit. I got there nice and early following my trip to Navan in the erly hours. Racing was due to start at 11, but that is when teh rain started. Racing for the day was abandoned at 1pm, and they will try again tomorrow. Not sure I'll be able to make it though:(

Beasty

Unlike those lunatics racing around Ireland on their bikes and in their campervans, it's been quite a quiet week for me

The plan was to end the week with a marathon effort of my own - a 500 metre TT around the track (as well as a 2,000m pursuit) - that would have been about 2,158km shorter than the RAI:).

Unfortunately the weather intervened, both yesterday, and today, when I had managed to get a special pass to head back down to Sundrive. I was there at 8.30, and we abandoned about an hour later, when it was clear the track was waterlogged, and unable to absorb the surface water on on the painted lines, making it too dangerous to ride. The really frustrating thing was only 4 turned up in my age category today, which meant I only needed to beat one of them to get a medal! They'll try again in 3 weeks time, but who knows what the weather will be like by then, or if I'll be able to get down again.

I had been taking it easy in the build up to the track championships, and only managed one commute, plus a couple of gym sessions when I was in Manchester on Tuesday and Wednesday, together with just under 50 minutes warming up on the track yesterday before the heavens opened.

Total distance for the week was therefore only 124km, at an average speed of 30.3kph.

YTD distance is now 7,484km at 29.5kph, so I should get to the 3/4 mark tomorrow morning. I am now 306km ahead of target, with 2,516km to go

With no racing on the horizon, it's now back to mainly commuting, and I should get a few days in this week

sy

Beasty wrote: »

..........YTD distance is now 7,484km at 29.5kph, so I should get to the 3/4 mark tomorrow morning. I am now 306km ahead of target, with 2,516km to go.......

Impressive figures Beasty especially the average.

Good luck with the 500m next week (if it stops raining!)

Raam

Beasty, at the RAI finish when you said you had a 500 TT, I automatically assumed you meant 500 miles!

Beasty

Raam wrote: »

Beasty, at the RAI finish when you said you had a 500 TT, I automatically assumed you meant 500 miles!

That was the idea - I even mentioned it in my RAI post as a "500m race", and that I needed Caroline's cakes to sustain me through the day:D

Beasty

Readers of this log will know I am quite fond of stats, and following sy's post above and getting through 75% of my 10,000km target, I set out below a breakdown of the distance and average speed between types of "riding"

Road racing - distance 634.8km in 18h 24m 2s at an average speed of 34.4kph
Road other (commuting, sportives etc) - distance 5051.9km in 177h 53m 3s at an average speed of 28.4kph
Track - total distance 354.6km in 10h 45m 32s at an average speed of 33.0kph
Turbo/Gym - distance 1,503.2km in 48h 50m 18s at an average speed of 30.8kph

Overall - distance 7,543.5km in 255h 52m 55s at an average speed of 29.5kph

Now only 2,456.5km to go

Beasty

:)I like tailwinds ...

Commuted in today in 38m 41s which was 17s faster than my previous best. Average speed was 34.6kph, with a max of 61kph. Tailwind of 19kph (northerly) was inside the legal limit, so I'm claiming a new record.

I reckon I lost nearly a minute slowing down and getting back up to speed at roundabouts, lights and junctions, so with a clear run, hopefully 37 minutes is achievable

... it will be a headwind on the way home though:(

shaungil

Gosh darn there's me thinking I'm flying despite hardly touching the bike for 3 weeks and spinning in in small ring most of the way this morning.......

Better leave erly to get home for my curry and Cider to watch Leinster game this evening.

Beasty

4 commutes this week, for a total of 233.4km at 30.4kph and 217w

YTD now stands at 7,731km at 29.5kph, with 2,269km now to do. I am now 361km ahead of target

Next week will hopefully see another 4 commutes, and maybe a nighttime spin around the area one evening over the weekend.

Beasty

Only the 3 commutes - Monday to Wednesday - but I managed to finish the week off with 3 nightime spins (got to give the new Assos 3/4 Bibtights a go - they are perfect for the cooler evenings)

Total distance was 285km at 28.9kph and 201w. This managed to get me past the 8,000km mark, putting me 441km ahead of target, with less than 2 billion millimetres now to go

Next week I'll hopefully keep on track with another 3 commutes

Beasty

It’s just over a year since I got hold of my (first!) powermeter, and given I had no racing distractions in September I thought it may be useful to compare my “commuting” performances this September with the same period last year.

In terms of speed, it was pretty much identical, with a monthly average of just over 29.9kph both years. However last year I only did 413km, all commuting, during the month, whereas this year I did almost double that (797km) plus another couple of hundred when not commuting.

Power averaged 225w last year, but only 215w this year. Last September was quite a bit windier, which helps explain why I needed more power to achieve the same speed. I also suspect I was a bit more aero this year, using the drops more. The commutes were on average longer (23km last year, 28.5km this year) and average energy was therefore higher also (615kj last year, 728kj this year). Total energy for the month was almost double this year (20,381kj versus 11,070kj)

2 stats I find particularly interesting – average cadence last year was 73, and this year increased to 82, perhaps suggesting I am grinding a bit less, and preserving the muscles better. Average HR was 153 last year, and dropped to 142 this year, which I find particularly encouraging.

What conclusions can I draw – I’m now riding a lot further, both in total and average distances. My average power may be down a bit, but overall energy output is much higher, and I believe I am considerably fitter than I was at the same time last year (when I was considerably fitter than at the same time the previous year, when I was at that time fitter than I had been at any time in my life).

Planet X

Good stuff. I agree with the "getting fitter".
My TT times have dropped slightly, but dropped, over the last three years. Actually, dropped big time three / two years ago but dropping slightly last year. Hitting a plateau?
Was doing 28's in (2007), 27's, 26's, never did a 25 in a ten, but went to 24's and finally down to a 23.
Don't think I'll get out of the 23's though because I just scraped in........:D:D

Beasty

I'm hoping the rest of you vets are all on the plateau, and that the combination of Skeff's TT bike, some new wheels and "tactical" TT pacing may allow me to get somewhere next year;)

Planet X

You should come up trumps.
See you on the line......:eek::eek:

Planet X

Victorcarrera is a guy who came on in leaps and bounds in the last three years. I started with him in the Greens, both our first year in the Vets. and now he gone up two divisions. Brilliant. He has made some improvement. Even last year, this season, his TT times dropped big time. He's obviously a guy who is training very hard and fair play. Seems to have lost alot of weight to boot.


I've never rode the Black Bull TT course and that's a 10 I want to do. It seems like a much better surface, faster and better sheltered compared to Moy Valley, which can be a bit exposed.
Do you agree?


Then again, I got my PB this year on the Sorrento course which has huge drags down the N11. Does it, or how does it work out, I know I was pushing a 53/11 on the downside of drags, hitting huge speeds, and most likely pushing hard on the up of the drag, but, is a flat course better than a draggy course?
What would you prefer? Then again, it's all down to training and fitness hey.

Put Lance on a Raleigh Chopper and me on a speed machine? Doesn't factor.

Beasty

I think you're probably right about the 10mTT courses. I've only done Moy Valley the once though, and if you get the right weather I think it could be quite fast. Swords are using the Old N2/Dublin Wheelers course next year, which I suspect could be quite fast also (just a bit of a drag towards the end I think).

I've not done the Moy Valley 25, but suspect that will be a bit faster than Blackbull, as there is slightly less climbing involved.

Victor won the TT league this year, probably having come from a similar situation to mine a year or so ago. I guess the proof of what I can do will come next year. My only concern is I may have already taken some shortcuts to improve performance from my use of the powermeter to pace myself, which means I may have less improvement still in me, although the TT bike (and in due course wheels) should help!

If you can pace yourself (which is where the powermeter comes in very handy) a flat course is definitely much better than one with inclines and declines. I did an analysis of the impact of wind and hills earlier in this thread, and concluded each makes a big difference at the same power output.

Beasty

3 commutes this week, which I took relatively easily in preparation for today's final racing of the year (but more of that later)

Total distance, including the racing, was 216km, bringing my YTD total to 8,207km at 29.4kph. Now 454km ahead of schedule, and down to the last 1,793km.

With no more racing, hopefully I'll be ramping the commuting up - I'm aiming to do a minimum 4 returns next week

Beasty

Having been rained off a couple of times, the IVCA Track Championships went ahead at the new track at Kanturk today. This was my first experience of track racing, and I was concentrating on the time trial events. My intention at the original running was to just give the 500m TT and 2km pursuit, but having driven nearly 300km to get there I decided to leave my options open.

Quite a few had made the effort to head off to the new track to give it a go. 8 signed on in my group and 4 or 5 in each of the other groups – I’d been hoping for a lower turnout to improve my chances, but it wasn’t to be, and I was up against, amongst others, a silver medallist at the European Masters Championships (and he’s giving the Worlds a go next week).

The first event was the 500m TT. Everyone was a bit nervous after the warm up, as it’s a tight track, with the banking quite shallow compared to other 250m tracks. Riders really struggled to keep a line, and the 500 was going to be a real test, particularly as most, if not all, the participants had never ridden the track before. I changed from aero bars to drops to give me more control.

As it turned out, pretty much everyone strayed above the blue line in the bends, adding probably 5% or more to the distance. The track was not as smooth as Sundrive and there was also some dampness, resulting in quite slow times all-round. My main focus was on the 2k pursuit, and I was probably running too high a gear for the shorter event. I certainly lost time getting up to speed. I certainly felt I could not push as hard as possible through the bends. My time was just under 50s (49.6s I think), putting me in something like 5th place

Next onto the pursuit, and I was up against the European Silver medallist, who had already won the 500m. As it turned out, I just managed to hold him off. My time was 3m 4s, putting me in 4th place, my best result of the day, 12s behind my opponent, who won the title (he won all 4 on offer). I was quite a bit faster overall in this event than in the 500, and my time would have got me a silver medal last year (on the much faster Sundrive track) - the 3 ahead of me all had disc wheels, so maybe I need to look at new wheels for the track also;)

The next event was the 200m sprint. However for safety reasons it was run as a TT rather than head-to-head and again I finished around 5th or 6th. One rider from the 40+ group hit the fencing during the event - no damage done, but it did highlight the difficulty of keeping a line on this track.

The final event was the scratch race. 7 took part in our race, which meant we would be doing 25 laps. It started at a reasonably brisk pace, then after a couple of laps someone took off. I was towards the back, with only one person behind me, and very quickly a gap of 30-40m opened up, with 3 in the break, and one rider trying to bridge the gap, but she was getting no-where. I managed to put in a strong couple of laps to close down the leaders, bringing her with me, and dropping the other two riders in the process. Now there were 5 of us, but the lady rider misread the lap counter, and launched an attack when she thought there were 2 laps to go, when there were actually 12. Not knowing she had made a mistake, and not wanting to have to drag it back again, I closed her down over the next lap, bringing the others with me. When it came to the final sprint, I did not feel experienced or confident enough to challenge and sat up for the last 50-100m, taking 5th place again.

Beasty

My previous peak power was 948w, hit back in July on a Swords club spin. Tonight's commute saw me improve that when moving off a roundabout (the one 07Lapierre mentioned as being difficult to navigate last week). I wasn't trying anything spectacular - just looking to get away from traffic at the lights. I was therefore very surprised to look down and see a peak of 991w. About 1.3km later I got a run in and onto the next but one roundabout, and this time saw 1,012w - so now I'm through the 1,000w barrier

When reviewing the power records this evening, I saw I had hit 978w at the second roundabout, meaning I had broken my previous PB 3 times in less than 2 minutes. I can only guess this was down to my preparation for and participation at the track championships yesterday, where short power bursts can be critical. Now I need to work on joining them up to give myself a more sustained power effort...

Beasty

4 commutes in relatively light winds amounted to 236km at 30.6kph and normalised power of 235w this week.

YTD total now stands at 8,443km at 29.4kph. Now 498km ahead of target with 1,557km still to do, but I only need to average around 150m a week, which should not be a problem, assuming no injuries

Next week should see 3 commutes, probably a Swords spin on Saturday, and a big birthday somewhere along the line (to be "celebrated" with a boards spin on the Bank Holiday).

Weather looks chilly over the next few days, so it looks like the bibtights will be getting their first outings of the winter.

Beasty

With the family away I managed to get on today's Swords spin, which turned out quite "interesting"

The first hour or so was interupted by a puncture to one of the group, and average speed was quite slow - only 21 kph at average power of 150w, pedalling 191w, normalised 217w

Then, coming out of the Naul, I had a mechanical - I dropped onto the small ring going up the hill, and the chain slipped badly. I could not get it back working properly, and the bunch headed off into the distance.

Having tried various gear combinations, and fallen over on one attempt, I eventually put it back onto the big ring, and could set off again - looks like I need to change the chain, and probably cassette also. Anyway, I had lost about 4 minutes on the Group, so set off trying to TT back to them. I went the rest of the way withoiut dropping back onto the small ring.

The next 24km I managed to average 32kph, at average power 225w, pedalling 239w, normalised 254w.

I didn't think I was going to catch the group, so took a short cut before the airport, and waited for them just outside Swords. The final 19km was then done at 27.7kph, average power 164w, pedalling 201w, normalised 219w

Overall my average speed was 27.1kph, power 179w, pedalling 211w, normalised 230w

Looking back, I was waiting for the Group for about 5 minutes at Swords, and I could well have caught them if I'd continued on the full route. It was a large group, but I guess some are just starting back training, and the overall speed has probably dropped a bit, whereas I feel as if I've not lost any form, and am continuing to hit power peaks for periods of up to 15 seconds or so.

Beasty

3 commutes, and yesterday's Swords spin this week. Today I checked out the chain and cassette following yesterday's problems, to discover both are fine. It looks like the spring in the rear derailleur is not working properly, leaving the chain completely slack on the small ring (unfortunately I had already removed 4 chain links before I worked out what the problem was!)

With no spare derailleur (other than a long cage), I reverted to sorting the Cayo out - so now I have the new shifters fully installed, and I took it out for a spin tonight to make sure it's working OK (and there are no after effects to the knock I took on the knee in yesterday's tumble). Anyway everything was fine, so I'm OK for Beasty's Birthday Bash tomorrow.

Total distance this week was 275km at 28.5kph, making my YTD total now 8,718km at 29.4kph, 581km ahead of target and leaving 1,282km to do

This week should see a couple of commutes as well as tomorrow's spin

Beasty

A decent tailwind helped me knock 48 seconds off my best work to home commute tonight, averaging 34.7kph, despite being slowed down by roadworks and traffic in a number of places. PB now stands at 38m 31s (I have done faster in the other direction though)

Then went for the first shaungil spinning lesson - not sure what I'll feel like in the morning, with a strong headwind forecast, and the legs probably suffering from tonight's exertions

Beasty

214km this week, and I've now exceeded 300 hours in the saddle this year. YTD total stands at 8,930km at 29.4kph, over 304 hours 1 minute and 8 seconds - now 601km ahead of schedule.

The odd thing is I am now feeling fitter (and faster) than I have done all year - I guess this may be because of the lack of racing distractions, allowing me to be a bit more intense in the training/commuting. I suspect the miles in my legs are helping also.

People keep mentioning the possibility of burn-out. I'm hoping it's not going to be an issue, and I do plan to ease off a bit during the worst of the winter

Still have 2 months to do the remaining 1,070km:)

Next week there should be at least 3 commutes, plus probably some hill repeats on Tuesday, and another spinning session on Thursday.

Beasty

Managed the 3 commutes last week. Tuesdays winds resulted in the Ardgillan hill repeats becoming interval work with the Swords guys instead, and we also had a fairly intensive spinning session on Thursday. In total I managed 224km to bring the YTD total to 9,154km at 29.3kph. I am now 634km ahead of schedule, with 846km to do over the next 7 weeks or so.

I've decided to try to avoid the worst of the winds, following some precarious moments during last Tuesday's commute. That, and taking my car in for it's NCT on Wednesday means I am unlikely to get any commutes in this week, as I will be away on Thursday and Friday. I will hopefully be out for an hour or so on Tuesday evening though, and I should get a couple of sessions on Manchester's track in also. If I can then get out for an evening session over the weekend, hopefully I should still get well over 100km in next week - this can be my first "easy" week for a couple of months.

Now need to start thinking about next year's plans ...

RobFowl

Beasty wrote: »

Managed the 3 commutes last week. Tuesdays winds resulted in the Ardgillan hill repeats becoming interval work with the Swords guys instead, and we also had a fairly intensive spinning session on Thursday. In total I managed 224km to bring the YTD total to 9,154km at 29.3kph. I am now 634km ahead of schedule, with 846km to do over the next 7 weeks or so.

I've decided to try to avoid the worst of the winds, following some precarious moments during last Tuesday's commute. That, and taking my car in for it's NCT on Wednesday means I am unlikely to get any commutes in this week, as I will be away on Thursday and Friday. I will hopefully be out for an hour or so on Tuesday evening though, and I should get a couple of sessions on Manchester's track in also. If I can then get out for an evening session over the weekend, hopefully I should still get well over 100km in next week - this can be my first "easy" week for a couple of months.

Now need to start thinking about next year's plans ...

Weather permitting might join you on Tues evening if you like.
Am off next week and doing a lot of painting this week :rolleyes:
80k with Swords yesterday and 70k with a mate today (hungover ).
Some Xcross skill work in the morning for an hour and Tues would suit great.
Wed maybe 2 hours.
Thurs same (but Wed night am going out to "celebrate" 12 years of marriage.
Fri rest.
Sat Swords spin or cross race.
Sun maybe cross up north.
Looks like a good week.
81.5kgs too (good for me this time of year)
Stamina good but 0 speed at the mo..
Looking for goals for next year now.

Beasty

RobFowl wrote: »

Looking for goals for next year now.

Let me help you by stating my first "challenge" for 2011:

A substantial donation to the charity of RobFowl's choice if he beats Beasty in any formal (eg Club League, IVCA, Boards) TT during 2011 (on a non-handicapped basis) (Team TTs do not count!)

RobFowl

Beasty wrote: »

Let me help you by stating my first "challenge" for 2011:

A substantial donation to the charity of RobFowl's choice if he beats Beasty in any formal (eg Club League, IVCA, Boards) TT during 2011 (on a non-handicapped basis) (Team TTs do not count!)

Ok and matched by a similar donation to a charity of Beasty's choice if he beats me in a formal sprint finish

shaungil

Now need to start thinking about next year's plans ...[/QUOTE]

20000km?

Beasty

shaungil wrote: »

20000km?

Nope - it will not be driven by distance;)

Beasty

Only 126km this week, comprising a commute on Tuesday and a couple of track sessions on Thursday and Friday. That makes the YTD total 9,281km at 29.3kph, still 568km ahead of schedule, with 719km still to do.

The track sessions were quite intense. In the first one I did 34.5km at an average of 37.9kph, but within that I did 3 long intervals totalling about 44 minutes when I was averaging 40.5kph or so, although for perhaps two-thirds that time I was sharing the work with another rider. The Friday session I was on the track with no breaks, and no drafting, and I managed to average 38.3kph over 56 minutes or so.

Next week I expect to do at least 3 commutes, with extra training on a couple of evenings, so should make inroads into the remainder of my 10,000km target.

Cabaal

Beasty, let me just say that your crazy
10,000km in one year :eek:

Beasty

Cabaal wrote: »

Beasty, let me just say that your crazy
10,000km in one year :eek:

There are a number around here that do more than that (quite a bit more in one or two cases)

Having a long commute helps (particularly as I tend to take the long way home) - it helps with the training also, as it's mainly on country roads (few junctions and lights) and I can push it most of the way without having someone else's wheel to suck. It's part of the reason I think I am a much stronger TT'er than "proper" racer;)

Beasty

So having commuted through the winds today (mainly behind me tonight:)), I ventured out on one of the Swords winter training sessions this evening. The wind was getting even stronger, and about 7 or 8 turned up with the option of intervals along a local road (about 1 mile in length, pushing it into the wind, with a bit of an incline in that direction), or repeats of Ardgillan Hill. The Lusk branch of the Doyle family was there - nice to meet you Lusk Doyle

All but 2 of us chose the hill. The combination of the commuting effort and hazardous conditions meant I was always going to stick to the (relatively) flat road.

After about 20 minutes 3 of the others returned - their first descent had been a bit precarious, and they took the view that discretion was the better part of valour.

I stuck with it for about 1hr 15mins in total, and then left the others to it. The winds were getting stronger - at one point I was pushing nearly 400w on the flat and only managing 11kph!! According to weather websites the winds were averaging 50kph or so, with gusts of over 70kph

With similar weather forecast for tomorrow, I'll be giving the commute a miss, and may get the Tacx going for the first time this winter.

Now into the final 600km.....

shaungil

I'm so proud of you all, Sorry I couldn't make it.

Lusk Doyle

Beasty wrote: »

The Lusk branch of the Doyle family was there - nice to meet you Lusk Doyle

All but 2 of us chose the hill. The combination of the commuting effort and hazardous conditions meant I was always going to stick to the (relatively) flat road.

After about 20 minutes 3 of the others returned - their first descent had been a bit precarious, and they took the view that discretion was the better part of valour.

Nice to meet you too Beasty - that's the amazing light that graced the handle bars of my bro's bike for the RAI. Some light!

We managed 3 ascents of the hill but after the 3rd descent caution got the better of us and it was extremely nerve racking with the strong cross winds coming down.

Must get better nerves!!!

Beasty

Only managed a couple of commutes due to the weather and trying to get the car sorted out for its NCT retest next week!

Also had the "windy intervals" on Tuesday, and added a first turbo session of the winter last night 1hr 30mins covering some of the dirt tracks of Northern France on the Tacx. I also have the latest version of the Tacx software and some new Real Life Videos on their way, so I may get a bit more variety if the weather keeps me in the garage

Total distance for the week 183km, making the YTD total 9,465km at 29.3kph. Now 560km ahead of schedule with only 535km to go.

Hopefully another 2 commutes this week, and finally out on the hill repeats on Tuesday evening. Thursday should see an hour on the track, and I may get some more turbo time, or perhaps local circuits in, at the weekend.

The new Garmin 800 should get its first roadtest tomorrow also.

biomed32

as a late poster to the thread, your absolutly flying on your end of year targets, i think you should more so see how much you can smash your end of year targets!!

The Bad Pawn

Great going Beasty, keep it up!