I started this blog as a means to chart 12 months of a novice cyclist, and today marks 12 months since my first race as an unattached, totally green rider.
16th Sept 2012 - I entered my first race, a 10mTT held by the Aberdeen Wheelers on their Drumoak course. A few weeks before that I had got in contact with the organiser, Colin Sim, and asked if it was ok if I took part, this is where my learning began.
Then came my first race, which posed my first problem - I'd never done a proper warm up before. So when I arrived at HQ and saw most folk spinning away on their turbo or rollers, I thought I'd better do something similar. I signed on, got my number and went for a cycle. I pedalled up and down the road for about 20mins then made my way to the start. Putting all I'd learned over the last few weeks into practice, I set off, keeping fairly close to my planned heart rate (I'd been told 90% of your max. I used the old: 220 - age(32) = 188 x 90% = 170). I used 170 for the first 9 miles then emptied the tank for the last mile and surprised myself with a time of 22:54 - target for 2012, done.
That was enough for 16th place on the day but it gave me the hunger for more. In the coming weeks I decided I would target the same race the following year and try to be 60sec faster!...
October, November and December passed with pretty much zero time spent on the bike, but doing a bit more research on how best to achieve my target. During this time I planned my calendar for the year as best I could. I knew I had to get more experience racing, so I signed up for pretty much every local TT I could find. I knew with a busy family and work life it would be hard to get enough miles in so I bargained enough brownie points to get me two training camps. The first was a week long trip in Majorca with the Wheelers in March (earlier blog on that) and another week long trip climbing the classic cols of the French Alps (earlier blog on that too). I've cycled about 2,600 miles this year and about 1,000 of them came on those two weeks. Each of those two trips saw a big jump in my base fitness.
Throughout the year I have given myself targets and accepted that it wont be a linear line to that target, there will be some weeks that have bad weather, some that have family commitments, some injury, some illness. Also, some events would go to plan and some wouldn't, but the ones that didn't - understand why. The ones that did - be pleased about it.
15th Sept 2013 - 12 months on from the first race, time to execute. But first, there has to be a plan:
There are lots of other tips that I've been told over the year, some great, some not so great, bottom line you've got to try out a range of tricks to find out what works for you, accepting that some of those ideas will cost you time but at least you'll learn what works for you.
For me, the plan had a couple of last minute tweaks as I changed out the front wheel from a tri-spoke to a regular shallow road wheel because there were some nasty crosswinds out on the course and my handling skills aren't up to it yet. Better safe than sorry.
The ride went pretty much according to plan and rounded off a season that I'm pleased with. I crossed the line in 21:37 and picked up a second place. There were a few riders from the district missing, some recovering from injury, some DNF. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm happy that I achieved my season time target and content that I was beaten by a much better rider.
This may never be read by anyone except the Mrs, but before signing off I want to make sure I thank a few... in no particular order:
Best of luck to all for 2014.
16th Sept 2012 - I entered my first race, a 10mTT held by the Aberdeen Wheelers on their Drumoak course. A few weeks before that I had got in contact with the organiser, Colin Sim, and asked if it was ok if I took part, this is where my learning began.
- Apparently you need an annual race licence (or a day license), basically you look up British Cycling, tick a box, hand over about £30, get a passport photo of yourself and stick it to a credit-card sized license card that gets posted to your house.
- I rocked up to the Tuesday night taster session not knowing anyone, not knowing anything about bikes and possibly even less about how to time trial.
- First thing I learned was that everybody there was helpful and really wanted everyone to enjoy it and get the most out of themselves.
- I took a few tips before I set off, but it takes a while to put others wisdom into practice. My first Tuesday outing was around 26mins and I thought I was going to throw up. A bit more training and I managed to get my time down to 24:23. I was pleased with that and set myself a new target for race day - to break into the 23s.
Then came my first race, which posed my first problem - I'd never done a proper warm up before. So when I arrived at HQ and saw most folk spinning away on their turbo or rollers, I thought I'd better do something similar. I signed on, got my number and went for a cycle. I pedalled up and down the road for about 20mins then made my way to the start. Putting all I'd learned over the last few weeks into practice, I set off, keeping fairly close to my planned heart rate (I'd been told 90% of your max. I used the old: 220 - age(32) = 188 x 90% = 170). I used 170 for the first 9 miles then emptied the tank for the last mile and surprised myself with a time of 22:54 - target for 2012, done.
That was enough for 16th place on the day but it gave me the hunger for more. In the coming weeks I decided I would target the same race the following year and try to be 60sec faster!...
October, November and December passed with pretty much zero time spent on the bike, but doing a bit more research on how best to achieve my target. During this time I planned my calendar for the year as best I could. I knew I had to get more experience racing, so I signed up for pretty much every local TT I could find. I knew with a busy family and work life it would be hard to get enough miles in so I bargained enough brownie points to get me two training camps. The first was a week long trip in Majorca with the Wheelers in March (earlier blog on that) and another week long trip climbing the classic cols of the French Alps (earlier blog on that too). I've cycled about 2,600 miles this year and about 1,000 of them came on those two weeks. Each of those two trips saw a big jump in my base fitness.
Throughout the year I have given myself targets and accepted that it wont be a linear line to that target, there will be some weeks that have bad weather, some that have family commitments, some injury, some illness. Also, some events would go to plan and some wouldn't, but the ones that didn't - understand why. The ones that did - be pleased about it.
15th Sept 2013 - 12 months on from the first race, time to execute. But first, there has to be a plan:
- Know the course - check (I've ridden it 14 times this year).
- Know the weather - good luck in Scotland.
- Get the rest right - my fitness levels are not the greatest so if I do too much in the days before I feel it in my legs.
- Get the nutrition right - I was told that whatever you need in your tank on race day will be stored in the preceding 18 hours, so no piss ups or pic n mix.
- Get the hydration right - as above.
- Get the equipment prepped - keep everything clean and polished, make sure you've got the right cassette on for the course. Get the wheels you want all set up, on the bike, tightened up, ready to roll. If you have alternatives, get them all cleaned up and ready to go.
- Get the clothes looked out - I've nearly missed a race because I forgot my cycling shoes (had to turn back half way to Ellon for the Massie Shield).
- Get your matches thought out - No course (that I've seen) is perfectly flat and straight with no wind. So some parts of the course will be tougher than others. You need to figure out at what points you can put in extra effort for 60 seconds (burning a match) without losing time elsewhere. Generally when it's getting tough, there's a lump in the road or there's a headwind, the slower you're going the more time you are losing, so it can be worth that extra few beats from time to time to get those precious few seconds to take you into PB territory. So, with your knowledge of the course and conditions you can put together a plan, so that 2.6miles into the course when there's an incline into a headwind for 0.2 miles you know that extra little bit of effort will be what gets you those 4 seconds under your target time/rider.
There are lots of other tips that I've been told over the year, some great, some not so great, bottom line you've got to try out a range of tricks to find out what works for you, accepting that some of those ideas will cost you time but at least you'll learn what works for you.
For me, the plan had a couple of last minute tweaks as I changed out the front wheel from a tri-spoke to a regular shallow road wheel because there were some nasty crosswinds out on the course and my handling skills aren't up to it yet. Better safe than sorry.
The ride went pretty much according to plan and rounded off a season that I'm pleased with. I crossed the line in 21:37 and picked up a second place. There were a few riders from the district missing, some recovering from injury, some DNF. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm happy that I achieved my season time target and content that I was beaten by a much better rider.
This may never be read by anyone except the Mrs, but before signing off I want to make sure I thank a few... in no particular order:
- Colin Sim - For organising the Majorca trip, the Sunday club runs, the AWCC 10mTT and for being on hand via phone, email, Facebook whenever I have a bike / race / beer question.
- Lee Smith - For calming me down with some good advice minutes before setting off for my first 25mTT (reminding me to enjoy it, and not go off too fast) and providing excellent competition throughout the year.
- Neil Mosgrove - For the banter and for giving me a target on the hills.
- Conan Able - For an inspirational amount of effort he put in to the first half of the season and great head-to-head battles on the 30s.
- Jono Hunter - Excellent battles on the 10s, got my ass handed to me on the National 25 though before illness and injury frigged the rest of his season.
- Brendan McCabe - For being the inspiration for my efforts this year... and next.
- Jennie McColl - For joining the Wheelers, enjoying it and generally being what it's all about.
- Michael Fletcher - For being an absolute bastard on the hills and dishing it out on the road races.
- SVB - It's almost a pleasure to lose to this guy. Class act.
- Ian Watson - Providing friendly abuse throughout the year and making me feel like a lazy bugger as I see him commute most days in wind, rain and shine. I'll be along to get a membership shortly.
- Stuart & Saville - For being the best hudder uppers / shover offers in the district.
- Bob Gibson - What can I say... 60 mile round trips every week to organise and run the mid-week series, the back bone of my training for 2013. Attending almost every race and providing reports in record times. And generally making the club a pleasure to be a part of.
- Debbie Ley - Food, smiles and support.
- Ross Hayworth - For the banter and riding TTs with a pair of trainers and the baggiest tops he can find... every week!
- The rest of the Wheelers - An excellent club - nuff said.
- Deeside Thistle lads and ladies - Been great contributors and support to the district.
- Ythan lads and lasses - as above. A great club with a great vibe.
- Granites - RR Royalty.
Best of luck to all for 2014.
RSS Feed