Barrmill Road Race, 1st!

Well, I guess my luck had to come good some time. This past saturday I decided to have a go at the 56mile Barrmill Road Race (Scottish TLI event) in Ayrshire while I was down in Glasgow visiting my sister, and at last a decent result, I took 1st place from by a solo attack a few miles from the finish!

Going into the race, I knew myself that I had the form capable of getting a decent result, all I had to do was get out there and do it. After the poor result at SXC1 Kirroughtree, I started to think that the fact I wasn't doing well was just in my head - like a mental barrier that I had to break through. I think this partly down to all the poor performances last year, I was starting to think that maybe I didn't have that winning edge any more. But then I was thinking to myself, how can I go so well in training yet perform so poorly at a race? I had the wattage numbers and times to prove to myself that i've got what is required, but i'm not getting the results. So I decided it was just all in my head. I kept telling myself that for this race and sure enough, i've at last proved I can win again!

I left my sisters flat at 8am to make the start for 10am in Barrmill, near Beith. After a fairly firm but steady start, taking a few turns on the front and learning the 9mile course, prior plans of conserving energy went out the window as usual and I was off the front, 20miles in and joined by 3 other riders. Unfortunately that attempt was dragged back, as were the other two attempts I made to get away. However, on the last lap I could see that everyone was starting to look pretty tired. From a previous break which I missed, there was 1 rider up the road with about 30 seconds on us. After a few attempts to get away by other riders, we hit the climb round the back of the course where everyone was starting to feel the lactate burn and I decided it was time to try again. This time it stuck, and I was on my own, giving it 100% to try and get across to the lone leader. I caught the rider with about 1 mile to go, we did a couple of turns together and looking at him, I weighed up the decision that I wasn't going to leave any chances for a sprint so I attacked again, and crossed the line a few seconds ahead, closely followed by the main peleton about 30 seconds back.

Very happy, as although it wasn't a huge race i've proved to myself that i've still got what it takes. I went out the next day and did 70miles with fellow racers Alan Clark and Dave Henderson (bit much for a recovery ride!) and still felt pretty good, considering! I'm racing in Contin next weekend for round 2 of the SXC, so with refreshed mental determination from this result, I think I better go get my arse on the MTB again and see what I can do! My employer has just put me on a 3 day week due to a lack of work at the moment (dry spell up here), so this is exactly what I need to build on this great start to my season.

Ciao for now!

SXC Round 1

Morning all!

Just back from the first round of the Scottish MTB series at Kirroughtree, Dumfries. Looking back, this venue was probably where I scored my best result all season last year, with a 2nd place finish behind UK pro Paul Oldham. I was getting the whole pre-race jitters feeling all week about the race and felt confident of my fitness, so was looking forward to getting back onto the MTB race circuit.

Unfortunately, the weekend didn't go quite to plan. On saturday during practice, I did 2 laps pre-ride of the course. I felt good on the bike fitness wise, although perhaps a bit rusty on the technical sections. My confidence grew as on the 2nd lap things were flowing very nicely, so I thought I was on for a good result. However, come race day, I warmed up with fellow racer Dave Henderson and could tell straight away I wasn't feeling so great. Off the start, I decided to pace things out and hold back. I rode with seasoned racer James Fraser Moodie for the first 3 laps, as we sat in around 10th place in a fairly high quality field of riders.

With very little snap in the legs, I was simply struggling to sustain any effort, so decided it wasn't going to be my day and backed off to use the race to hone my bike skills by spinning the climbs and flats and attacking the technical sections (which it was great for - awesome course!). I enjoyed the encouragement from spectators giving shouts of "well ridden" and cheering as I did so, which picked up morale!

I eventually finished in 11th place, which certainly wasn't the result I had hoped for, given the fact i've been going better than ever in training, and putting out the best wattages on the Kurt Kinetic i've ever seen. Admittedly, I haven't been putting in the hours on the Mountain bike as much as i'd have liked, but for me to be that far off the pace was a bit of a suprise. However, although it wasn't my day, I enjoyed the race, and the course was really top class and fun to ride. I'm planning on racing again in 2 weeks time, this time on the road at a Scottish TLI 56mile Road event so it will be interesting to see how that goes.

Over and out!

La lluvia en España!

Good afternoon readers and fellow cyclists. I'm just starting to get back to full recovery from our fairly epic training week in the mountains of southern spain. The conditions were interesting to say the least! On arrival, although a bit on the nippy side, the weather "seemed" quite nice. Not so - the next 5 days we would experience heavy downpours, hailstones and gusting winds!

The day we arrived, things started nice and easy, setting up the bikes and heading out for a nice easy 1 hour spin on dry roads. Our plan was initially go for easy day, hard day but we soon realised there is no such thing as an "easy" day in the sierra nevada mountains. Day 2 we had decided to go on a "brisk" 3 hour ride, but due to navigational error we ended up on a 5.5hour route which saw us all starting to flag and forced a stop and begging for food at a small town towards the end!

From there on every day was a matter of survival. Every climb was a race to the top, and each day finished with a "king of the mountains" style finish at the town of Lanjaron for those that had enough left in the legs to contend after 4-5 hours on the bike. Day 4 took us up a steady mountain climb to the highest village in europe where we encountered possibly the worst cycling conditions ever - what started as rain, soon turned to hail and snow along with mega strong winds. It was so cold it got to the point where I could no longer operate the brake/gear shifters. Not to worry - the pro's go through worse than this right? Well, possibly. As we descended down the other side of the valley, we then had to negotiate a mud landslide which had filled the road. Andy B chose the "straight through the centre" route and our moods lifted as we laughed watching him sink nearly waist deep in spanish mud! Luckily we all started to warm as the air temp improved lower down the mountain, which resulted in a nice finish to the ride.

After a much needed rest day, we were finally blessed with our first dry conditions which were very much welcomed. At last, we could hammer those alpine style descents at 40-50mph, Valentino Rossi style! That was, until a massively strong sidewind threw myself and Andy B into the armco barrier, resulting in Andy bending his front wheel, bending his forks and picking up several cuts and bruises! Luckily we were ok and were able to continue thanks to Simon, one of the guides from http://www.freeridespain.com/ (cheers again!).

On our last day we picked up some race pace action from a couple of local pro riders which saw the heart rate sitting in Zone 5 for around half an hour! They were fast, and gave us all a good challenge, but considering we had 4 hours in our legs compared to their meagre 10-20km's we didn't do half bad!

So, despite the weather conditions I can safely say that it was a very productive week in terms of training. 22hrs in the saddle and around 400 miles isn't to be scoffed at. Everyone was riding strongly, so we were able to give eachother plenty of challenge on the climbs. It should make for some interesting racing at this years SXC. We also introduced Andy Barlow to the delights of a double espresso mid-ride, being that he was a coffee virgin. "This stuff is amazing" and "Tuned to the moon" are two quotes that I vividly recall.

So, that's about it for the mo. Preparation for the season ahead is pretty much complete, so let's hope things go well. For more pics, check out my Facebook!

Heading for the Mountains of Spain!

Morning all!

This weekend i'm heading off to Spain for a week, for a repeat of last years training camp in southern spain, hosted by the nice people at http://www.freeridespain.com/ . Fellow scottish racers Andy Barlow, Dave Henderson and Douglas Shearer are amoung the crew that are joining me for a weeks enjoyment (or should that be punishment?) on the roads and mountains surrounding the town of Lanjaron. Check the google map below if you are interested in the location!



View Larger Map

Despite the adverse weather conditions so far this winter, i've managed to get in some quality training which should put me in good stead for the year ahead. I can confidently say i'm in good shape for this time of year, and very much looking forward to the upcoming season. My friend and European Quad racer, John Mitchell (ATV world Yamaha) has been joining me on the roads for those longer miles, which has been a great help - not only to me but also for his off-season conditioning, too.

So, spain here we come! I'm very much looking forward to it, and will definately be more prepared than last years episode as I know what to expect from the grueling 15km alpine like climbs which we will encounter. Last year, every day was like a road race so, this will be my first real "high intensity" training of the winter so far, so let's hope the legs (and body) hold up.

My bike is prepped up with a 53/39 front chainset, and this time round i've decided to go for a 12-27 rear cassette. I ran a 25 last year and it was a bit of a "grind" in places, and feel I could have been more efficient by keeping at a higher RPM which i'm inclined to do. My "race" roadie hasn't seen tarmac all winter, so i'll no doubt be making a few other adjustments along the way (I always seem to be adjusting things...).

So, that's about it for now, to the mountains we go! Lookout for my report (will pics) soon after arrival.

A winter on the turbo?

With all this snow we've had across the UK in the past few weeks, it seems it hasn't been the best winter training start for a lot of riders. I've actually managed to tough it out ok, although my road bike has only seen tarmac (and gritty/icey tarmac at that!) once in the last 3 weeks. As an alternative to the planned long road miles, i've just been getting out on my mountain bike when the surface has been grippy enough (not too icey), visits to the gym and of course plenty of turbo workouts.

Last week I actually clocked up more miles on the turbo trainer than I did outside. Now, once you mention turbo sessions, a lot of riders cringe, but with the right setup they can actually be quite enjoyable. The key is good cooling, a good turbo setup and plenty of cycling DvD's to keep the motivation high. For workouts, you can get a good, productive session in just 1 hour - I find http://www.turbotraining.co.uk/ to be great for this - check it out!

I've got my rig setup in my bedroom, in front of my computer which has TV channels and DvD via remote (if you are too lazy to get off the bike and click the mouse ;-) ). A simple cooling fan from your local bargain centre and i'm good to go.



To gauge the effort and workout, the tools i'm using are a Kurt Kinetic watt computer for power output and a Polar CS200 computer which has heart rate and cadence functions built in. Simple enough but all that's required.



Add to that a good cup of joe and there are no exuses for a winter of indoor training :-D

White Xmas!

Well, with all the snow around here right now, I wasn't going to let it stop me getting out on such a nice xmas day to test out my latest Xmas present (some new MTB shoes), so I decided to hit the snow and ice covered roads with my GT I-drive training steed - all 26lbs of pure full suspension fun!

Admittedly, I was still slightly under the influence from over-indulging the night previously, but I had once heck of a good cycle... clocking up 35miles on the MTB in crunchy snow and ice isn't the easiest surface to ride on, but somehow I felt faster than ususal. Now whether this was due to the beer intake the night before, or my pimpy new race shoes, I don't know! I will have to experiment with pre-race beer loading during the race season and find out (hah). Here's a pic of my fresh new Gaerne G.Wallaby MTB shoes. They fit real nice, and so much stiffer than my old Diadora Team Racers, very pleased with them! Look good don't you think?




So, that's about it for the moment. A big merry xmas to you all. Hope santa was good to you! Oh yeah, almost forgot! If any of you are into music and playing guitar like me, Baba, a best mate of mine has a cool website, The Boy and The Bar Stool . He's written a stack of his own stuff, so pop on over and take a listen if you are interested, awesome stuff! (Merry xmas, dude).

One last shot.... pentland road just before achmore. Stopped for the call of nature :-D

I thought it about time...

Hey all! I am total pants at updating you all, ain't I?? Well, here's my first off-season update. Especially for Kenzie' seeing he nagged me about it so much - haha! (Seriously man, you should get yourself a bike and start riding with us, too)

Well, after a short layoff i'm now firmly set in my winter training routine. My GTR Ultra carbon is firmly strapped to the turbo trainer with watt computer, all set for the nights which are too wet and windy to venture outside. Mudguards are on my Giant Road training bike and i've been doing a bit of cross training as usual - in the form of running, and there is actually a local XC running race on after the new year which I may just enter if I feel i'm good enough (can't hurt, can it?). Avoiding fell/hill running this time round - definately too risky for the injuries. Also doing a little weight training this year, just to mix things up if nothing else, although not too much on the upper body as I seem to bulk out quite easily which isn't what you want as a cyclist.

As far as on the bike goes, i've taken time to reflect on last year, and i've decided to switch back to more traditional training methods this winter (i.e. keeping intensity lower, and building volume) as that's what I did the winter before the 08 season which was my best to date. I think too much intensity last winter killed me (although I arrived at the first race in good form) and I was a bit mentally fatigued, so when the virus struck it just wiped me out completely. My first real intense sessions will likely be the Freeride Spain training camp in Feb with Andy Barlow and crew - very much looking forward to that! On the plus side, the season finished on a high - I came in 2nd at the Ullapool beag road race, which wasn't too shabby.

So - here's looking to a good season next year. I plan to do a bit more in the way of road racing next year, too. Right now, i'm feeling nice and focused and looking forward to racing stronger than ever. Quite happy with how things are going at the moment. Easy does it as they say....

Still Alive!

Well, as you may notice, this is the first time i've posted in quite a while. First of all, let me reassure you that i'm still on the bike - (I don't think you'll ever get me off it tbh!). I haven't been posting due to a secession of poor performances which kind of killed the enthusiasm to update you all. I guess I just found it hard to post up when i've not got too much good news for you, and it's tough when you are used to standing on the podium and all of a sudden you are half way down the field. I'll have to try and not let that get in the way of me posting from now on!

So, let me kind of summarise how things have been for the past while. The last few months has been quite an experience to say the least. Following the big crash at Sherwood pines, things just didn't go to plan at all. Firstly, I picked up some kind of virus which really took the life out of me. I had very little energy for weeks, and just couldn't seem to shake it, despite plenty of rest etc. Things went from being able to do normal training every day to feeling wiped out after an easy 20 miles on the bike. At one point I was literally just sleeping all the time. I'd get home for lunch - sleep. Finish work - sleep. Then head to bed at night, sleep for 10+ hrs and wake up the next day only for the whole cycle to continue once again. Anyhow, I managed to shake that after a while, but let me tell you, my cycling performance was very poor. I had a lingering cough/tight chest which just wouldn't shift and my ability to hold any sort of intensity on the bike was greatly impaired. A string of DNF's at races (should I even have been racing?) and poor finishes continued. Got a 7th place at SXC round 3, and 6th at the Scottish Champs - which was a struggle. The other rounds I felt so lifeless I couldn't finish.

Following that, I decided it was best to hang up the MTB season early and focus on getting back on track. A string of poor performances and training really starts to eat your mental enthusiasm for the sport, and I didn't think racing in that state was doing my mind or body any good. It's pretty hard to know what to do in that kind of situation given i'm self coached and don't have anyone at hand who is experienced enough to speak to for advice.

So, I decided to go back to basics and sit myself on the road bike for some nice steady mileage to allow recovery while maintaining some sort of fitness. Things started to pick up and so a few weeks ago I decided to enter the Scottish Road Race Championships for training. Things went a lot better - my aim was just to finish with the main peleton as the pace at the champs is pretty savage, and after 81miles of racing I crossed the line happy, and well into the top half of the field.
Following that race, my training has started to take a turn for the better. I started to feel like my old self once again (albeit a bit slower) and things have picked up. Last weekend I rode the 90 mile Bealach Mor Road Sportive (http://www.handsonevents.co.uk/) with fellow Island Cyclist Roddy Murray.


The conditions on the day turned out to be pretty windy with heavy rain. Ok - no problem, i'm a hardened roadie (erm..) from the Hebrides so used to that anyway, right? I set off from the race HQ with some great legs, and to be honest, the weather kind of urged my enthusiasm to hammer on. Myself and Roddy picked up a few riders during the first half of the race, but once we hit the 8km Bealach Na Bah climb I decided to go my own way. Being the longest Road climb in the UK, I expected it to be tough, and with 40-50mph gusts, 10m visibility and pouring rain that the top it certainly wasn't easy. But, I have to say, I climbed with an eagerness I haven't felt for some time. As I climbed, picking off riders, I thought of the once great and under-respected Robert Millar for a few moments, forced into using his unique climbing style as I pushed an unusually low cadence in the 39/25, seated and swaying my upper body from side to side. The enjoyment of suffering and usual twinges of cramp as I hit the top in 39mins and something seconds was more than worth it. Straight into the big ring and down the other side, trying to control the bike with the strong side winds. To my surprise, I found myself as lead man on the road by the bottom at Applecross. I thought it wrong not to try and hold it to the finish, but after another 10 miles I got caught by a small group of riders. 20 miles from the end, I struggled to hold the group as a marshal shouted to inform me of my current 4th position. Unfortunately things went a bit backward from there and I laboured back to the finish line, feeling pretty depleted in 5hrs dead, but in a respectable 20th position from 560 starters! Roddy crossed the line in little over 6 hours, beating his own P.B from previous years by a significant margin. I enjoyed the whole race, and what a cracking race route! A good race like that makes me realise why I enjoy cycling so much. Anyone who completed that deserves respect, it's a testing route, especially in those kind of conditions!

Well, that's about it for now. Some pics from the Bealach above. I've certainly learned a lot in the past few months, so i'll reflect on that as a good thing. Heres to some more good miles on the bike, and some better luck. I'm riding the Ullapool Beag Sportive in 3 weeks time so next update will be on that. Over and out.

"Hit and Miss" start to the season!

It's been a hectic last few weeks for me, with the race season starting and other work and day to day stuff getting in the way, so haven't had a chance to post! Ok, so i'm just a lazy bugger really, but i'll use that as an excuse anyway. On a more positive note, it looks like my winter training has worked very well, as I managed to take 2nd Elite at the first round of the Scottish XC series at Kirroughtree - yeah!!

Being the first time i've ever raced at Kirroughtree, I didn't know what to expect. On saturday practice, I instantly enjoyed the course, and knew it would make for some good racing. After a crazy fast start with adrenaline filled younger riders such as Hamish Creber and Kenta Gallager lining up the start line, I settled into a decent spot around 4th-5th, sitting just behind the lead group. After a couple of laps, I was up with them, and decided to sit pretty to find some recovery. Meanwhile, UK pro Paul Oldham had shot off up front (no suprises there!). So, I pushed on with the group behind, and was soon setting the pace at the front. I decided to put a few digs in on the climbs, and as the laps dwindled down, Hamish and the Irish (?) rider fell back, so it was soon just me and young Kenta Gallagher. On the 2nd last lap, I pulled a small gap, and unfortunately he punctured so all I had to do was push on and 2nd spot was mine. I had caught glimpses of James Fraser Moodie behind, so didn't want to back off too much, knowing he can be strong at the end of a race. Thankfully, all went well and I took the credible 2nd spot - what a great start to the season! :-)

The weekend after, I was heading on down to Nottingham for the 1st Round of the British XC. Having recovered pretty well after SXC1, I was looking forward to racing with top UK pro and Elite riders. Now first of all, let me just say that this wasn't your typical Scottish XC race course. It was FLAT. Like pan flat! So I didn't fancy my chances being of a smaller build, but it should make for some fast racing (or so I thought).

With 50 riders lined up to start, I was gridded 2nd or 3rd row from the back. Unfortunately, after a frantic paced start, another rider came into me, took me down along with a few others and there was instant carnage and bikes flying everywhere. I took a rather nasty blow to the head, breaking the rear of my helment which caused me to black out for a moment. I was kneeled down, when the ambulance crew came running over, but I decided to get up and try and continue. By that time, I was dead last by quite a margin, but managed to claw back 4 places on lap 1. Realising I was hurting from the crash, things kind of just went downhill from there. My lower leg was swollen and sore, with that and some bike mechanical issues on lap 5, my race came to an end. Bugger! That's racing for you!

Once back home, I realised the crash had taken more out of me than expected. I should have really gone to get checked over, but just wanted to get going (as you do when things don't go well). Having decided a few days off the bike would be best, I delved into a state of complete exhaustion for the whole week, sleeping 10-12 hours each night. Also, I had this terrible headache that wouldn't shift. However, the cuts and scrapes healed up quickly, and by the weekend, things were looking up and I ventured out for some easy spinning. Right now i'm feeling back to my usual self thank goodness, which is just as well as I have a race next weekend, which is SXC round 2 at Aberfoyle - bring it on!

Anyhow, enough for now. The photo above is from SXC round 1, just after I caught the front bunch. Great race. For now - turbo for some interval work before the caffiene kick wears off ;-)

Later People

Fine tune your Nutrition

Hey All. Just a quick post. Recently, i've been reading Monique Ryan's book - "Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes". It makes a good read, with loads of interesting info, and I can highly recommend it to anyone wanting to fine-tune their nutrition for both training and racing. I'm also using it quite often for reference, too. Weather has been pretty rough up here as usual, but training is going well all the same :-)

Freeride Spain Training Camp

Well, i'm just recently back from a week long training camp in the South of spain. Really enjoyed my time out there, and got some quality training time in. Our stay and accomodation was organised through the friendly people at http://www.freeridespain.com/ (thanks for a great stay Simon, Emma and others!) who I would highly recommend. We stayed in a small town called Lanjeron, north of Granada. The view from our apartment can be seen below;

I flew out a week after some fellow race pals, Andy Barlow and Gareth Montgomerie, had arrived, so I certainly had a bit of catching up to do. Thankfully, the poor weather and rain that had hit the lads for the first week cleared, and it was all sunny, clear skies for me! There were also a few others over for training, all of which were at a decent level of fitness - and a great bunch for the craic! The roads and climbing out there were just top quality - tour style climbs and descents, beautiful scenery and weather - I will definately be going back next year. Here is a shot of us all at a water stop, somewhere up in the hills;

And so arrived mistake no1. I had travelled out, just off a heavy training week, fatigued and hungry, so straight into 4-5hr training sessions in the mountains quickly took it's toll. On day1, I felt ok and got through, but a big ride on day 2 with 3 monster climbs saw me crack bigtime and forced to jump in the van at the bottom of the last descent, 10km to go. However, after a rest day, I started to find my legs and things went much better from then on. Let me tell you, the climbs out there are damn steep - and they don't stop after a couple of km like in the UK. 10-15km would be more accurate! Top quality training! In total, I clocked 22hrs on the bike in 5 days of riding which was around 700km with a massive amount of ascent (and descent for that matter).

So, after getting back home and getting some rest in, I can say my form is very good indeed. Let's hope it puts me in good shape for the start of the MTB race season which is now just 5 weeks away! At the moment there has been a delay with my Orbea Alma frameset from Sandy Wallace, but let's hope it arrives in time. Just one last pic for that mystery bike that kept appearing in random places around Lanjeron... never seen with a rider!

Over and out for now :-)

Mid-winter update

Hey all. Haven't posted in a while, as things have been pretty hectic between training, work and all the other things that go with it. Just coming to the end of a rest/easy week from a 3-week block of training. It always amazes me how you only start feeling tired when you back off the training - this week I have been constantly knackered and hungry, sleeping for up to 11 hours a night, although as of today i'm pretty much back to normal. I've just been putting in the odd easy session on the bike, along with running and walking to mix it up. It just shows how much fatigue you can unknowingly carry if you don't back of the training, so rest periods are very important. The hardest part is making yourself rest - I tend to be quite guilty of not doing so.

As far as form goes, i'd say i'm in pretty good shape for this time of year. Unfortunately the weather has been fairly awful of late, so I haven't managed to get many decent rides outside - instead I have been confined to the realms of the turbo trainer for on the bike stuff during the week. However, I got a cracking 16hours of training in on New Year's week (250 miles road work, and a few hours on the MTB) while I opted out of the party mode. The mainland weather was a bit iffy, so I decided to stay home and make the most of the crisp, dry winter spell we had. Here are a couple of shots from my travels;





Along with rest, i've been doing a bit of bike servicing this week. The salty wet roads had really taken it's tole on my Giant OCR winter bike. Drivetrain and rear hub was in a bit of a state but all sorted now.

And for the best bit of news, on 7th of Feb i'm heading to the mountains of South Spain for a weeks training at Freeridespain with some fellow XC racers (Gareth Montgomerie and Andy Barlow to name two). Really excited about this, it will be great to train in a decent climate for a change, a much deserved mental break from the dark, wet winter up here. We will be covering some of the "La vuelta de espana" (Tour of Spain) roads where the top pro's race, so it should be a great experience.

That's all for now. I'm just going to head out for some easy miles before our Burns Night Supper . Gie yer a haggis!

Feeling slow after breakfast?

Just found this interesting article;

http://www.theiflife.com/2008/05/21/why-you-shouldnt-eat-breakfastagain/

I've experimented recently with skipping breakfast, going out on the bike and feeding during training as needed (if it's a longer session). My energy levels are WAY higher, head feels clearer and for some reason I don't seem to be craving junk through the day. I don't think this is for everyone, but if you find that you are slow and sluggish all day after your usual early morning breakfast then it might just be worth a shot. The trick is to have a decent, carbohydrate based meal in the evening and post workout to replenish glycogen stores. Not sure how this will work in on race days yet though - i'll have to do a bit of testing.

Don't forget your overshoes

Just back from a 75miler. I didn't honestly realise it was going to be so cold, so I set off without overshoes. About 15miles in the ice blocks that resembled my feet were begining to bug me. A quick call home to send out the "team" car (aka my dad in his van) resulted in him arriving with no overshoes as he couldn't find them, and him nearly running out of fuel by the time he reached me as he didn't think I would have made it so far. So that meant I had to hand over my coffee shop cash so he could get fuel. Nice one! Now I was not only sufferring from ice block feet but white van man had stolen my cash. Argh! Why is it some days just go like that?

Anyhow, it turned out to be a pretty good ride all the same. I had actually planned on doing 100 but without money to buy food I didn't want to chance it. I'm now sitting pretty in my slippers, scarf, wooly jumper and jogging bottoms, proud to have suffered the distance with cold feet. Tommorow, I will be more prepared!

New Team and Merry Christmas!

Afternoon readers.

Hope everyone has had a good christmas. Apart from spending the first half of my holidays fitting my mothers new kitchen, i've had a nice relaxing time at home with my mum, dad, sister (who is home from glasgow) and friends. Yesterday I did a nice easy 30miler before the Xmas meal to work up an appetite. I can safely say that i've now seen all the turkey and chocolate I want to see in a while!

The thing I enjoy about this time of year is that it marks the time for when the real focus for the race season begins. Having already filled my alcohol quota with celebrations with friends over the christmas period, i've decided to use the remaining 10 days of my holiday to lay down some high volume training miles. The weather outlook is good so I might venture across the water for a couple of days and do some exploring. Not what some people would consider the best way to spend new year, but for me, being on the bike is what I enjoy the most, so that's exactly what i'm going to do :-) At the moment, i'm probably in the best form I ever have been for this time of year, and i'm feeling highly motivated so things are looking good.

For the next bit of good news, I've also picked up a sponsor from Sandy Wallace Cycles who will be supporting me for the upcoming season. He already has the likes of Hamish Creber on the Team so it will be great to be riding and racing with other top cyclists. Thanks to the support given by Sandy, for 2009, I will be riding an Orbea Alma (same as Olympic Champion Julien Absalon). It should be in my hands in the next couple of weeks so i'm very much looking forward to recieving that. I'm building it custom spec as i'm a fussy blighter with my bike setup, but it will look something along the lines of the pic below. I will keep you posted on the full spec, and the build should come in around 19.5lbs by my calculations which saves 1lbs on my trusty GT Zaskar build, while gaining a heck of a lot of stiffness. Heck, if it is good enough for Absalon, it will sure be good enough for me!



So thats about it for the moment. I hope everyone has a great new year if I don't post again before then. Slainte!!

Nice winters day

Or at least it was until it started raining. Myself and my friend Roddy set off this morning for a 50-60 miler out towards Uig. With the roads all frosty, and little wind, we both were feeling the chill to start but soon warmed up. On the way back the heavens opened unfortunately, and we both ended up soaked to the bone. Roddy peeled off at about mile 52 to make a break for home, and I continued to turn the clock round until the 60mile point. Great ride (well, at least I thought so)!

Gently Does it...

It's been that long since i've had any sort of injury that i've forgotten how fustrating it can be. Got on the bike last weekend for a 50mile run and the pain in my knee kicked in again after 12 miles. I decided to turn back and let the wind take me home. After some thought, I decided a few days of layoff would be the best thing for recovery. I did a bit of walking which I always find helps balance the muscle groups out, and thankfully things are now feeling much better. This week I started out with some light 1 hour sessions on the turbo, with the view that i'd stop if I felt any pain. Plenty of stretching as pescribed by the physio was the key I think. It seems to have cleared up rather nicely now, and I managed to put in some 10min Sweet Spot efforts last night on the turbo, with no problems at all.

Today i'm heading for a walk before lunch, then an easy spin on the Mountain Bike in the afternoon. That is if the weather clears - it's sleeting heavy and 1 degree here with black, moody skies.

Did the Hundred!

Ok, a we while ago I mentioned I was following a 6 week plan to train for 100 pushups. I've incorporated the plan into my own core-strength workout which I do twice per week. I'm glad to say that as of tonight, I just did the final test and hit 100 pushups. I wasn't feeling too energetic to be honest but decided to give it a go anyway. I started out pretty steady, trying to focus on breathing as I always seem to hold my breath when doing them for some reason. I hit 60 pretty easy then started to feel a bit of a burn. At 75 things were starting to get a bit tough, so I stopped at 80 for a few seconds and regained composure with my arms locked. Managed up to 98 after that, the last two were damn tough, but I did it! Whey!

Enjoyed it so much that I think I will do a "100 test" monthly, and try to keep up the pushup form by maintaining the last couple of weeks of the program. In terms of bike performance, I think the program has futher increased my core strength to the point that I could sit in the drops on my road bike at any intensity for as long as I like. A year ago I'd get a sore back after 5mins.

Pushups Rock!

Winter Niggles and Power Training

Well that's me coming to the end of my first 3 week block of training. Next week i'm keeping things easy. Got in some fair quality for this time of year, and doing some different stuff in the gym and that has been fun. It's great to be back in shape. I think i'll be killing the upper body stuff in the gym and reducing to light weights from now though, I seem to be packing on muscle up top which is never a good thing for a climber like myself :D

However, along the way I appear to have picked up a little knee injury. My physio (thanks Pete) tells me it's from the Fell running down hill. Woops. The medial ligament on my left knee is inflamed due to the hammering it's had from running down hills, and is rubbing on my knee bone causing some discomfort. I've been told rest and ice until things return to normal. Lucky I have an easy week coming up! On the bike it's pretty uncomfortable, so i'm going to just lay up and do some walking/jogging/swimming and core work next week. You can see the inner Medial Collateral Ligament below. Pesky blighter!

On the plus side, i've got myself a new Turbo trainer with wattage readout. For those of you that don't know, a Turbo is something I mount the bike to and train indoors on those crap winter nights. It's a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine, with power computer and i'm led to believe from reviews and the like the power readout is fairly accurate as it has been Powertap calibrated. It's certainly the best "feeling" turbo trainer i've ridden. Having the numbers in front of you really does give you something to focus on. After doing some 20min "Sweet Spot" intervals the other night (which is where you train just below or at your threshold power), i'm knocking out 350Watts over 20mins. Ok, so that hurt quite a bit, but it's quite a pleasing figure. That means at 145lbs i'm sitting at a healthy 5.3w/kg. Kind of figures for an Elite class rider. If I could increase this to 400W over the winter (not likely but it's an aim), i'm good for 6w/kg which puts me at a pretty darn high level - enough to dice with Pro riders. Something to aim for in the long term at least. Check out my "green" machine... ;-)

Anyhow. Time to lay up the knee and chill out for the weekend. That will be the end of fell running for the time being unfortunately. It was fun, but I can't afford to do something that's going to jeapordise my bike training.

Laters

One Hundred Pushups

I've always been a fan of pushups as a great core and strength workout and i've always felt they work in really well with cycling and help hone your form. However, i've only ever been able to do around the 50 mark, until now that is!

http://hundredpushups.com/index.html has this cool 6 week training plan which is low intensive (and free bar a few mins of your time a week) to help you reach 100 pushups. Fits in great along side my other training - and I usually do each scheduled workout at lunchtime before eating so don't really notice the added time. I'm on week 5 at the moment so not long to go! It really is quite suprising how you can improve by following the plan. Let's hope I can reach the 100!

Check it out!