Road to improvement 2012

Lusk Doyle

kennyb3 wrote: »

Or you can chase them down. The first hour is relatively sedate.

I'd say that in your current "injured" condition you'd struggle to keep up with the "relatively sedate" pace. Also, don't let certain usual members of that group hear you calling the pace sedate...

*can of worms taken down from shelf, opened, contents spill out...*

greenmat

kennyb3 wrote: »

Or you can chase them down. The first hour is relatively sedate.

Jasus I'd hate to see them when their not racing the next day, was only my 2nd 8.30 spin last Sat and they were flying, but not for the 1st hour:D

Dermot Illogical

Garmin data for February:

Count: 32 Activities
Distance: 1,116.48 km
Time: 43:24:43 h:m:s
Elevation Gain: 4,597 m
Avg Speed: 25.7 km/h
Avg HR: 126 bpm

Dermot Illogical

Put my track bike on the road this week having eventually fitted it with a brake. Running it single speed for the moment as I wouldn't be confident enough to run it fixed just yet. Used it for my commute on Thursay, and for the Saturday morning spin with Swords cc. The current gearing is 48:16 which is fine around town but a bit too big for hills. Still, it was a bit of fun all the same.

Mon: 49km commuting
Tue: Rest
Wed: 41km Naul hills
Thurs: 51km commuting
Fri: 49km commuting
Sat: 80km club spin
Sun: Rest

Weekly total: 270km
YTD: 2420km

Dermot Illogical

Got nothing done for the week due to work taking over completely.
Was too tired from lack of sleep to go on a club spin on Saturday, so mileage is way below where it should be.

Mon: 25km commute
Tue: Rest
Wed: 25km commute
Thurs: Rest
Fri: 43km commuting
Sat: Rest
Sun: 51km commuting

Weekly total: 144km
YTD: 2564km

Dermot Illogical

I started cycling on Paddy's day last year, so it's one year completed today. At the time I chose 17th March as I figured I would be better not starting on a day when traffic was heavy. I dug out my old Trek 7.1 from the shed, put some 3 in 1 on the chain and wobbled off towards Dublin city centre. I wasn't in particularly good shape, but made it in and out all the same.
Now the Trek is gone, replaced by a troika of Ridley, Raleigh and Benotto. I've enjoyed my cycling a lot more than I ever thought I would, and feel strange whenever I don't get out on a bike at some stage during the day.
I'm lighter than I was a year ago, and feel a lot healthier. I can't recommend cycling highly enough.

I've kept a record of nearly all my cycles, originally using a cateye computer and after a couple of months a Garmin 500. My total recorded mileage for the year is 13,144km. I'll have to see if I can better that over the next 12 months. :pac:

Beasty

Well done RT66. If you can do the Swords Saturday spin on a single speed, you must be ready for some racing. Are you giving the club league a go (as well as Sundrive)?

If you do take up the road racing, don't worry if your overall distance drops a bit. I found last year I was doing less during the summer, but my overall speed increased, and I feel a lot fitter now than I did at this time last year having put some distance in over the Winter (the better weather helped)

Anyway, keep up the excellent work

G rock

wow, unbelievable stuff.

congrats on a great year, keep it up!

Inquitus

Beasty wrote: »

Well done RT66. If you can do the Swords Saturday spin on a single speed, you must be ready for some racing.

Congrats on the milestones, highly impressive stuff.

Swords Sat 8.30am spin on a single speed RT66, your log has been sandbagging in the extreme, not a hope I could avg 30kph+ round that with that gear ratio, you have condemned me to the latern rouge in the Swords Club league *sob*

Four of a kind

Congrats man. That's an impressive distance. I hope to look back at the end of the year and feel the same sense of achievement as you.

Well done.

Dermot Illogical

Inquitus wrote: »

Congrats on the milestones, highly impressive stuff.

Swords Sat 8.30am spin on a single speed RT66, your log has been sandbagging in the extreme, not a hope I could avg 30kph+ round that with that gear ratio, you have condemned me to the latern rouge in the Swords Club league *sob*

8.30 on a single speed?? Not a chance! Well, not without getting dropped on the hills at any rate. No, I did the inaugural outing on one of the less manic club spins. You have me wondering though...

Dermot Illogical

Beasty wrote: »

Are you giving the club league a go (as well as Sundrive)?

I think I will. Just need to pay the league fee and sign up for marshaling duties.

Dermot Illogical

All commutes last week.

Mon: 51km commute
Tue: 50km commute
Wed: 50km commute
Thurs: 50km commute
Fri: 51km commute
Sat: Booze
Sun: Rest

Weekly total: 252km
YTD: 2816km

Dermot Illogical

A so-so week to start out. Somewhere in the mayhem that was the epic piss-up on Paddy's night I ended up with what I thought were bruised ribs. So I took it handy at the start of the week. On Wednesday I felt a wrench in a muscle while tackling a hill on my way home. It hadn't been a bruise to start with, and I had just done more damage. Cue 2 days off the bike.
That seemed to do the job, and more or less back to normal now. Rounded out the week with my first cycle to Wicklow, which was nice. Lovely day for it too.

Mon: 49km commute
Tue: 51km commute
Wed: 50km commute
Thurs: Rest
Fri: Rest
Sat: 50km commute
Sun: 155km spin to Wicklow

Weekly total: 355km
YTD: 3171km

Dermot Illogical

A couple of things I've been wondering...
Yesterday's spin was undertaken after a bowl of cheerios and with a single energy bar. I'm going to assume this wasn't enough fuel, so by how much did I underdo it? Should I be going out with bags of food, or would a couple more bars have done the job? Fluids were a bit better, but still took on less than 2L which probably was sub-optimal as well.
The other thing I've noticed is that my quads aren't sore, but my calves are. I took the old steel-frame bike (which I haven't been fitted on) as opposed to the new Ridley (which I have) and I think perhaps saddle position might be off a little. On the Ridley I tend to get burning sensations where they belong (quads) on the hills. Anyone any advice for a quick fix?

Lumen

RT66 wrote: »

A couple of things I've been wondering...
Yesterday's spin was undertaken after a bowl of cheerios and with a single energy bar. I'm going to assume this wasn't enough fuel, so by how much did I underdo it? Should I be going out with bags of food, or would a couple more bars have done the job? Fluids were a bit better, but still took on less than 2L which probably was sub-optimal as well.

The 155km ride? Depends what your goal was. If you're trying to empty the tank then you should eat only as much as you need to avoid bonking. If you're trying to do as much work as possible or limit the effect on subsequent days training you should eat as much as you need to in order to keep yourself topped up.

If you're bothered about fluids, weigh yourself when you get in to see how much you've lost. Personally I just try and drink enough to keep the kidneys working and require one or two "stops" in a long ride.

RT66 wrote: »

The other thing I've noticed is that my quads aren't sore, but my calves are. I took the old steel-frame bike (which I haven't been fitted on) as opposed to the new Ridley (which I have) and I think perhaps saddle position might be off a little. On the Ridley I tend to get burning sensations where they belong (quads) on the hills. Anyone any advice for a quick fix?

Moving your cleats back towards the middle of the sole will reduce calf muscle recruitment if that's what you're after, but you would need to drop the seatpost a fraction to compensate for the change in effective leg length. Or just HTFU and adapt.

kumate_champ07

Do you have the same saddle on all your bikes? Measure from the rails of the saddle to the bottom bracket centre, the tip of the saddle to the centre of the stem, the bottom of the drops to the front wheel axle, match the set up from the bike you were fitted on. If the top tubes are different lengths you'll have to adjust stem lengths so that you can keep the saddle in the same possition relative to the bottom bracket.

Dermot Illogical

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

Do you have the same saddle on all your bikes? Measure from the rails of the saddle to the bottom bracket centre, the tip of the saddle to the centre of the stem, the bottom of the drops to the front wheel axle, match the set up from the bike you were fitted on. If the top tubes are different lengths you'll have to adjust stem lengths so that you can keep the saddle in the same possition relative to the bottom bracket.

I do have the same saddle make/model on both. Thanks, will try that.

Dermot Illogical

March:
Count: 40 Activities
Distance: 1,248.61 km
Time: 47:45:16 h:m:s
Elevation Gain: 5,371 m
Avg Speed: 26.1 km/h
Avg HR: 122 bpm

Dermot Illogical

I felt absolutely wrecked after last Sunday's Wicklow outing, so Monday & Tuesday in particular were not the most enjoyable days. Tuesday I even cut my cycle short in spite of great weather. Recovered later in the week and got back to business as usual.

Mon: 50km commute
Tue: 35km spin to Howth
Wed: 44km commute
Thurs: 50km commute
Fri: 42km commute
Sat: 98km club spin
Sun: 50km commute

Weekly total: 369km
YTD: 3540km

Dermot Illogical

A handy enough week. The wind on Tuesday was a touch dangerous, so wimped out on Wednesday when it hadn't died down. Got a couple of club spins in at the end of the week, taking in some hills I'd never met before. I'm back on the Ridley at the moment as the Raleigh needs a little bit of maintenance and I haven't the time to do it at the moment.

Mon: 50km commute
Tue: 50km commute
Wed: Rest
Thurs: 50km commute
Fri: 65km easy club spin
Sat: 85km club spin
Sun: 42km commute

Weekly total: 342km
YTD: 3882km

Dermot Illogical

An easy enough week. Nice spin on Saturday. Slow pace but lots of hills, which I'm starting to get the hang of. Liking them won't happen anytime soon all the same. I could do with shedding a few kilos though if I want to improve upward speed. I'm hoping to get over to the Swords CC hill climb on Wednesday to establish just how bad things are.

Mon: 43km commute
Tue: 50km commute
Wed: 50km commute
Thurs: 42km commute
Fri: 50km commute
Sat: 100km club spin
Sun: Rest

Weekly total: 335km
YTD: 4217km

Inquitus

RT66 wrote: »

Snip

The Epic Battle de La Lanterne Rouge de Swords commences on Weds. Best of luck sir!

Dermot Illogical

Inquitus wrote: »

The Epic Battle de La Lanterne Rouge de Swords commences on Weds. Best of luck sir!

I've already got my maglia nera washed and ironed for the occasion.

Dermot Illogical

This wasn't a great week to be honest. I missed out on the Swords hill climb on Wednesday as work took over my life completely for a couple of days. The RMHC around Blessington made for a lovely day out on the single speed. Fitted it with Panaracer Closer tires so will see how they go. Rounded out the week with a thorough drenching on my commute home today. I'm looking forward to belatedly getting involved with the Swords league this week and hopefully completing my debut race.

Mon: 50km commute
Tue: 50km commute
Wed: 17km commute
Thurs: Rest
Fri: 17km commute
Sat: 72km Ronald McDonald House Cycle
Sun: 51km commute

Weekly total: 257km
YTD: 4474km

Dermot Illogical

A week of rest and recreation. I was off work Wednesday so missed the nasty weather. Tore a hole in the sidewall of a new tyre on Friday evening so Saturday morning was spent at the LBS instead of on the bike.

Mon: 50km commute
Tue: 50km commute
Wed: Rest
Thurs: 50km commute
Fri: 45km commute
Sat: 4km LBS for a new tyre.
Sun: Rest

Weekly total: 199km
YTD: 4673km

Dermot Illogical

Count: 42 Activities
Distance: 1,220.23 km
Time: 46:27:26 h:m:s
Elevation Gain: 5,192 m
Avg Speed: 26.3 km/h

Dermot Illogical

A really enjoyable week for me.
I did my usual bit of commuting without incident. Nothing remarkable there.
On Wednesday I went for a spin around NCD and got onto a few of Beastie's strava segments. He was assisted in keeping one segment by an old boy slowly guiding a banger of a car around a roundabout, dashing any hopes I had of taking the top spot. Never mind, next time perhaps.. I found the Ardgillan hill climb used by Swords CC in the league and had my first spin up it in a time of 5:06. Now that I know where it is I'll have to start targetting a sub 5.
Marshalled at the Swords league on Wednesday evening and got some nice photos. The weather was excellent, which helps.
On Saturday I got to do the Orwell Randonee (thanks Colm_gti) and my 2nd venture into Wicklow. Savage amount of climbing for the uninitiated like myself. Went around in a rolling time of 5:45. Cycled home afterwards into a very unwelcome headwind but very happy with my day out. Met a few boardsies too (Hello Astramonti, Conor20, Seamus, J Madone et al) and found the event to be very well organised indeed. The weather mostly played ball as well. Very well marshalled event, kudos to all at Orwell.
Today I did the Sliabh Bloom 100k. I had originally intended to do the 160, but didn't feel up to it after the Orwell spin. I really enjoyed this one. Stayed with the lead group as far as the tea stop. The pace was lovely, averaging around 30kph, with the (large) group staying together all the way. After copious amounts of sandwiches, biscuits, tea and cakes we formed a grupetto for the continuation of the 100k while the majority headed for the hills. Again we moved along nicely with the group staying together. Back at the finish we were met with enough food to feed an army. A really enjoyable spin, and definitely on next year's list.

Mon: 42km commute
Tue: 50km commute
Wed: 61km spin around NCD
Thurs: 50km commute
Fri: 50km commute
Sat: 185km including Orwell Randonee
Sun: 100km Sliabh Bloom

Weekly total: 538km
YTD: 5211km

velo.2010

Thats a savage amount of cycling in a week, Can't remember but I don't think I did over 500km at any stage last year training for the Marmotte. Maybe 400-450km at the most in a heavy week. Your commute alone would nearly be enough for many folk, absent a long spin.

Keep it up. Next Saturday is that GardaCC sportive.:)

G rock

Agreed. Savage stuff!

Congrats and keep it up!