OK commuter....

Soooo, a bit of a different post today not really related to the TCR or training - just a bit of a reflection on current situations and stuff - ignore this one if you want a tale of how rubbish I am at committing to things and getting my training done (another non-riding day today by the way).....

As children brought up in the rural countryside in Suffolk, there wasn't a lot for my brother and I to do.  With cousins heavily into cars, lorries and all things mechanical we both had an avid interest in anything engine related - I can still tell you the make and model of a truck just from the rear mudguards - I kid you not.

Anyway, our house had a garden that pretty much ran the entire perimeter of the property and it allow us to set up a race track.  I say pretty much, as there was a small foot high wall on one side that required a plank place precariously that would allow us to charge full bore into the back garden, sweeping round the silver birch and then plummeting down the steps on the other side of the house to complete a lap.  Many, many hours were spent racing laps, Ben on his trusty Emmelle with 20 inch wheels and me on my Universal with new at the time 26 inch wheels.  After a Sunday lunch and avoiding any homework I decided to put in a few hot laps.  Head down racing for the plank, I missed it and piled straight into the wall.  I pulled a clean front flip without the bike and landed on my feet, very much in shock.  The bike didn't, having taken full force through the forks bending the down tube and top tube at roughly 45 degrees.  My mum and dad went ape shit, sending me to my room and giving me a thorough bollocking in the process.  The Universal was done, the front wheel touching the down tube, it's days of hot laps were finished.

Following a miserable summer with no bike, my parents finally allowed me to buy a second hand racer from a grubby little bike shop in Stowmarket.  Steel 531 frame, alloy wheels and such, it was pretty awesome for £95...yes, ninety five sterling.  I spend more than that on a tyre these days...Anyway, after doing 'the 7 miler' a number of times, a friend of the family who happened to be a big time trialer suggested I join the local club and start doing TT's on a Wednesday night.  The local club, The Wolsey Road club, was run by two truly lovely people - Don and Olive Forsbrooke.  Both of them were old school riders and by old school, I mean they rode everywhere.  I remember going to their house once (I would have been about 16) for club mince pies and sherry at Christmas and got talking to one of the old boys of the club.  He was 84 at the time, still rode a fixed gear and still raced 12 and 24 hour time trials.  I was blown away, I'd only ever managed 10 and at a push, 25 mile time trials and here was this old boy still smashing out mega miles each week.  Don and Olive were the same, Olive was well into her 60's when I first met them and throughout my teenage years and into my early twenties I'd see her riding to and from Ipswich with her panniers laden up with shopping.  Whatever the weather, Olive would be out there smashing the miles out.

Don's garage was the stuff of legends.  Multiple bikes of all different disciplines hung on the wall, tool chests and bike stands ready to service whatever needed servicing.  When I couldn't fix my bike with the hammer, wood chisels and flat head screwdriver that my dad had in his garage, I'd push my bike to Don's in the nearby village and ask him to help me.  The man was an artist when it came to fixing bikes.  No amount of superlatives could do him justice, he was like a surgeon.  I remember opening a drawer in his toolbox and seeing no less than 7 different bottom bracket tools - remember, this was in the day when 'standards' were just that and you didn't have press fit, external or any of that rubbish.  I asked him why so many, and his reply was 'Right tool for the job'.

Don passed away a few years ago and sadly Olive also died at the tail end of last year - two people who I wish I'd made more of an effort to see before their passing.

Anyway - why am I boring you with this??  Well, I've been without a car for the past couple of weeks due to...well, buying a shit car.  So I've had to resort to doing everything via the bike.  Shopping, getting to the station in a morning, running errands - all by bike.  I've also picked the worst part of the year to do this, its bloody cold and often raining.  However, its awesome.  Yes I feel smug, and quite self righteous and I also feel like a bit of a tramp when I pull into Tesco's with my panniers and park up with all the old drunks who've ridden there to buy their scotch.  But I reckon I'm a fair bit quicker than those in cars and I'm also getting extra miles in when I'd just be sat there getting angry at Nick friggin Grimshaw and wondering if the noise my car is making is a noise it should be making.

Anyway - why the lengthy nonsense at the start?  Right tool for the job...When I first moved to the London area proper I thought I needed a folding bike like all londoners.  I couldn't stomach paying a grand for a piece of hi-tensile steel also known as a brompton, so I bought a tern folder.  Nice spec, 20 inch wheels and v brakes.  It was and is utter shit.  For those that have never tried one - don't.  20 inch wheels and a big hinge in the middle do not a good bike make.  I risked life and limb on it for a year before sticking it in the attic and buying a proper bike on the bikes to work scheme.  I work in Canary Wharf, there's an Evans in Canary Wharf. And my bikes to work thing uses Evans.  A peruse of their website gave many options but the one that stood out was a Charge Grater.  Internal hub gear (OK, its an Alfine 8 rather than a Rholoff), hydro disc brakes and 700c wheels sounded pretty good for £650 notes.  Not something I can get excited about but adequate for what I needed.  It turned up and I collected it with Ben.   Ben seemed impressed.  I fitted a rack I had lying about, changed the saddle for an old Fizik Gobi that I love (there was nothing wrong with the Charge Spoon fitted but I do like a Gobi) and changed the stem for a longer one I had in the spares box.  I also purchased some Ortlib panniers on the insistence of Ben, who said they're the nuts.  Turns out, they are! Who knew...

Anyway, after a year of riding to the station every day , plus going into town on it and running various errands I'm smitten.  It's my most ridden bike.  In the past two weeks I've worked out I've ridden about 150 miles on it getting to work and getting shopping and the like.  Yes, at times I've got wet and yes, my legs hurt a bit when I go out training but thats 150 miles essentially for free.

Additionally I have to pay to park my car at the station, £5 a day.  In a year, there are 253 working days (for 2015), minus my holiday of 25 days plus any sick days or working from home leaves about 220 days.  Multiply that out and you're left with £1100.  And remember, thats just parking and not accounting for petrol to and from.  Not bad eh!

Ahh, I hear you say - but what about maintenance on the bike.  Well, I've had it a year now and so far its cost me...nowt.  I've pumped the tyres up twice and swapped the grips out for some crazy expensive Ergon ones with built in bar ends and I've also swapped the pedals for some clip less ones I had in the spares box.  Other than that, nowt.  The internal hub gear means that the chain doesn't see nearly as much strain compared to a normal setup, hell I've not even oiled it.

I've not washed it, fettled it or done anything to it.  It gets dumped outside the station all day whatever the weather, bashed into by other less careful commuters and still comes back for more.  To be fair, when I got it, I did strip it down and re-grease everything and tighten all the bolts as I don't trust Evans.  But other than that, nowt.  Its fricken brilliant and easily my most used bike.

I don't wear lycra, I don't even wear a helmet (naughty).  Sat on the sofa thinking I need a few beers and some stuff for tea, I just grab it and head to the shops.  Lights wise I use a couple of Leyzene type affairs that are ok, and the lock is a simple combination thing - neither of which are great but do the job.  There's a Garmin mount attached but I've yet to put my Garmin on it.  Why would I, its just one more thing to have nicked when I forget to take it off.

Its a lovely thing, riding along not watching my heart rate or thinking that I need to do another loop to get the miles in.  I wear stuff that I can be seen in public in, with the panniers I can do a full shop and get it all back before my beer has got warm or my ice cream has defrosted.  Obviously being the massive bike geek I've thought about maybe changing the hub to a Rholoff one and maybe rebuilding the wheels onto some carbon rims.  And maybe changing the seat post to a carbon one and putting some flasher bars on it.  But then that would ruin it, it would be something I'd worry about when I chain it up at the station and what benefit would I get?  It would be a bit easier to pedal up the hill from the station?  So what...

It's the one bike I'll never sell.  In my opinion, if everyone got over the idea that they need a Wiggins replica for the Sunday poodle, this is the bike most people need.  It's the right tool for the job and it does that job very well.

Possibly the most exciting post ever....

....or not

Tyres - yeah, what's better than a post on tyres? Two posts of course!

Above is a picture of my rear tyre after 400 miles.  Yeah, just 400 miles and none of them on the turbo.  I love the Vittoria's, I really do.  But 400 miles to do that isn't great by any stretch.  Especially when you're looking at 3000+ miles during the course of one race.  Oh and if you thought it was just an issue with the Open Pave's...

...that red/orange stuff is tyre.  That should be still attached to the tyre.  I wouldn't mind but thats a turbo specific tyre and the dust is after one long session.  I've now got mounds of the stuff covering the spare bedroom and anything in the spare bedroom.  I even emptied some out of my keyboard the other day, it gets everywhere.

So some sort of slightly more resilient tyre is needed.  I hate heavy stiff tyres though, they feel awful to ride.  Once the weather gets nicer I'll give some Conti GP4000's a try as everyone raves about them, until then I'll just keep destroying tyres from the Kitch Tyre museum....

Not too bad...

...How do

So, after my mini meltdown the other night, I've pushed on to try and make amends.  So far this week I'm sticking to the plan.  Turbo sessions have been turbo'd, swim sessions have been swimmed (?) and I'm starting to feel a bit more like I'm making some headway into it.  Albeit still a long way off.

I've handed my notice in at work today and its been agreed that remaining holiday can be used up by taking each friday off.  So quieter roads, hopefully some half decent weather and some big routes are planned.  Additionally, between starting the new job and finishing the old, I can take a week out (I didn't agree that with anyone by the way, just decided on it - like a boss!) so I've got BIG things planned for that week.  I don't know what those BIG THINGS are, but they're going to be BIG.  Good, glad I've cleared that up.

On the bike front - I've still not managed to go get the Crap Dem from my mums so I'm sat here looking at a group set and wheels with nothing to hang them on.  I bought a Di2 group set ages ago, stripped off a bike sat in my mate Rob's shop.  I'm currently weighing up the idea of using it, although cables being snagged and batteries going flat does worry me somewhat.   I can always get another battery if needed and the shifts are sooooo smooth I think its a gamble worth taking.  What this also means is that I'll need to shave all the unneeded mounts off the Crap Dem and drill a few holes to feed the cables through - yes I could use an external kit but I've used one of those before and it looks a bit messy.

I toyed with the idea of trying to find a frame a bit more current - see one of my previous posts - but to be honest, unless I want a cross bike I'm a bit limited.  Add in the need for Di2 compatibility and you've got an even smaller group to choose from.  I could go custom but thats muchos expensive and I'm a bit off custom.  There's a local brand who've started making a proper disc road bike but its a bit of an unknown quantity which is the last thing I need - they're not due for delivery until end of March by which point I'm cutting it a bit fine.  I say that. but its only 6 weeks away but even so I'd rather get something sorted soon.  The other thing worth a mention is that the Crap Dem is a standard 1 1/8 head tube, where as all carbon disc forks bar the Ritchey one seem to be tapered.  What to do....1st world problems eh....

Hour session on the turbo tonight watching a few episodes of Sons of Anarchy.  Which is possibly the best turbo TV ever, mainly because you don't need to know/hear what they're saying to understand what's going on.  House of Cards wouldn't work nearly as well.  I also choose not to switch the fan on as I like to sweat it all out, makes me feel like I'm trying harder.  It also means I'm destroying the paint on the bed room floor boards, but again I think that adds Man Points.  Anything destroyed by sweat is man points - bar tape, headset bearings, paint - its all fair game.

I'm procrastinating again so best I don the lycra (old stuff, relegated to turbo duties) and get on it.  Outstanding....

Time for a change..or A Few home truths...

I looked in the mirror this morning.  Well, I say this morning - it was about 12.20pm but I had just got up.  Banging headache after too much gin last night, the reflection of myself only made my headache much worse.

Things are not really going to plan as I'd hoped.  Mega Mileage Feb hasnt even got off the ground, I've done nothing this week.  My diet is still poor - rubbish food and too much of it - and I'm still drinking.  But above all, I'm not riding my bike enough.

I've been reading other blogs and fellow entrants are doing MUCH more than me.  Not just sessions on the turbo or any sessions on the turbo.  Lots of long long rides and what have I done this weekend?  Nothing, at all.  Apart from celebrate my new job.  I've got about 5 months left now and I'm no where near where I need to be.  I don't have the bike sorted, I don't have sleeping arrangements sorted, kit, nutrition - any of it.  Christ, I'm struggling with anything more than 50 miles and I'm still fat.  In fact, maybe even fatter.

I need to start manning up - and probably doing less blogging - and getting out on the bike in the evenings.  Drivers round here are terrible, dangerous in fact but I can pick routes that are much more favourable to a cyclist at night and just get out there.  Its not like I don't have a batch of nice lights and decent gear - I'm just being lazy.  If I don't start doing this I'm going to be no where near where I need to be and Flanders will just be another place I pitch up to where I don't finish and embarrass myself.

I don't know what the solution is - I need to find my mojo for riding again.  And I need to be doing way more in the week.  And at the weekend - after this zero mileage weekend and fairly low miles last weekend its not looking good.

Less whinging, more riding.  I'm not happy and I need to do something about it so the plan below is what I intend to do this week

• Monday - up early and ride to the closest station I can get to in an hour.  On the train, into work and shower/iron a shirt.  Same on the way home.  2 hrs
• Tuesday - Normal start, swim at lunch then turbo session in the evening.  1.5 hrs
• Wednesday - repeat Monday. 2hrs
• Thursday - Repeat tuesday. 1.5 hrs
• Friday - ride into work, then train home after the bike ban (7pm) - 2.5hrs
• Saturday - 26 mile loop for recovery. 1.5 hrs
• Sunday - 80 mile ride with local club.  3.5 hours

Week total: 14.5 hours

Its not anywhere near where I need to be, but its a start. Lets get through this and see where I stand at the end of it.

Milestones I want to reach
March - century ride to Lincoln from my mums.
April  - century ride each way on back to back days
May - a week of commuting the full distance by bike.

I also need to get a big week of back to back big rides in to test kit and see what I can do.  I'm thinking riding down through France and back. I have a months notice at work rather than the usual 3 and my new employer is happy to wait, so possibly a weeks unpaid leave between finishing and starting will give me what I need.  If I can afford a week without pay that is!

The big thing for me is that I look for the easy way out.  If the bike isn't set up on the turbo when I get home, I have an excuse to bin it off for another night.  If I don't have my kit lined up in the morning ready to just chuck the pannier on the bike, I'll bin it off and spend another hour in bed.  I'm massively lazy and a super procastinator so if theres an excuse, I'll grab it with both podgy hands.

Speaking of podgy hands, diet.  I need to start properly looking at what I'm eating as when I'm not sucking it in, I've got a right gut on me now.  I'm always guilty of eating utter shite in the week that's quick to cook, that doesn't fill me up then I supplement with toast and other stuff that just adds weight.  So I need to cook properly, but smaller portions.  I need to get some tupperware so I can box up left overs and reheat rather than resorting to another ready meal.  Make's me feel dirty even typing ready meal.  And no booze - no if's, no buts - booze is now a no show.

I don't need to spend any money doing the above.  I can't buy the fitness I need and I already have everything I need to accomplish it.  I just need to get my finger out of my arse and get on with it.  Otherwise I have to seriously consider that I won't be ready for July and call it now.  Which is something I'm not prepared to let happen.

Angry Kitch yeah!

He came, he saw, he rode round in the mud for an hour...

Personal life apart, things are going well.  Despite much trepidation, yesterday I loaded up the car with bike, kit and jet wash for a trip to the local Cross club championships.  For the day, I was a member of a local club (to make numbers up) and pitched up on my MTB to what was a very well attended event at a local private school.

Firstly - my megastar friend Jen, who had never seen a cycle-race before said she would come along and offer moral support.  'Pitting' in cross is quite a big thing, but only really if you have a couple of bikes to swap between.  I didn't and was determined to go without a drink so Jen just shouted 'Show me your War face' and other inspiring phrases to keep me from getting off and getting back in the car.

It was cold, BLOODY cold and whilst it didn't rain, the water logged course soon became a mud bath.  Whilst I don't have a cross bike currently, with the course how it was it was very much swings and roundabouts as to whether I'd have benefitted or not.   There was a fallen log type affair in the woods which I could clear but almost everyone else got off and ran over, followed by a pretty steep drop which again I could stay on for.  On the flip side, there was a horrible gradual climb up a field, and then a wobbly rutted descent back down said field where I was definitely at a disadvantage.  To try and get any sort of grip, I ran a fairly narrow spike on the front and ran really low pressures (20psi) which gave me about as much grip as I was going to get.

Anyway, after a frantic start I'd made up quite a few places from my lowly spot on the grid and held my own, swapping places over the course of the lap with a couple of lads on cross bikes.  I lapped a few people which was nice and a definite improvement on my previous ride where I seemed to be dead last.  One of the problems with riding an MTB is the accumulation of mud, and by halfway through there was enough welded to my frame and wheels to stop the rear mech working.  I was reduced to two gears but in all fairness I only really needed two so no real hardship.  Coming round to what I thought was the penultimate lap, I saw the flag hung out and realised that it was over.  Bit disappointing because I'd been saving a bit for a final lap push, but at the same time relieved it was over - I was cold, wet and absolutely COVERED in mud.  Think rice pudding made of mud and you wouldn't be far wrong.  I didn't wait about to find out where I come and as of now they still haven't posted the full results - the thought of clean clothes and beating the rush out the carpark was far more tempting.

It made a huge difference having Jen there, much nicer going to an event with someone to cheer you on and chat through the race with afterwards rather than driving home on your own.  Hell, two laps in I'd have got off and gone home had she not been there.

Dropping her off, I drove to the local Sainsburys to jet wash the bike (I know I know, bearing life...) and rolled home about 4pm.  Stuff in the washing machine, I popped round some friends for dinner before coming home, having a huge argument with my girlfriend on the phone and going to bed with a cluster headache and eventually, migraine.  Mint.

Today, head aside I feel ok.  Back is a bit tight and my legs are quite heavy, but I'm in no way ruined. Maybe a session on the turbo later on might finish them off...

Snow...lots of snow

Well, not that much snow actually.  My mate Jimbo is in New York at the moment, so I can't grumble about a light dusting of the white stuff when its SNOWMAGGEDON weather BOMB over there.  But it's still forcing me to sit here with a coffee writing this rather than getting my dose of MTFU on and heading out in the grimness.

Amateur dramatics aside, it does pose the question - is it better to head out and ride on proper roads or sit inside and do a quality session on the turbo?  Which should be fairly straight forward to answer - get your kit on and get outside.  However I've done quite a bit of Turbo work lately and in the time vs quality argument makes things slightly less clear.

Going out on the road last weekend after three sessions on the turbo during the week, I felt much stronger on the hills.  I also got back not feeling completely toasted which makes a nice change.  I was actually quicker too, not that it matters in the long run.  I think its fair to say that if you've only got an hour or so spare, you can get much better quality sat on the turbo than going out in the dark.  However, for the longer rides obviously the road is an improvement.

It goes without saying that if its icy out then its safer on the turbo, similarly if its dark you're running less of a risk not going out, especially in Kent where they (drivers) seem to aim for you.  But then theres the boredom element.  I've managed 2 hours as my longest turbo ride so far and despite all the music and Netflix in the world, it felt like I'd had a lobotomy of some sorts after getting off.   Maybe a mixture of the two is needed - a compromise, who'd have thought....

So, as I've alluded to in previous threads I need to get some big rides in over the next few months.  I'm going for quantity rather than quality which sounds the opposite of what an expert would tell you, but I'm no expert and I'm also not doing enough riding.  So more miles it is.

First off, introducing MEGA MILES FEB...the plan being to do as many miles as is possible starting tomorrow.  Ideally I'd want to get in 1000 miles.  In 28 days.  In one of the coldest months of the year.  Still, at least its getting lighter in the evenings.  Turbo miles will count (its my challenge so I make the rules yeah!) but even then obviously I'm looking at 250 a week.  I've also maybe got a weekend away towards the end of the month, so it'll certainly be a challenge.  What hopefully it will do is force me to recover properly and eat properly as I'm still eating rubbish.  Coincidentally MEGA MILES FEB also coincides with DRY NO BOOZE FEB, who'd have thought eh!

So what are my plans for big rides during MMF?  Well I'm kicking off the month with an endurance race well known by keen ultra-endurance riders - a cross race.  Yeah, 1 solid hour of riding round a muddy field.  I'll be doing it on an MTB so should manage at least 10 miles.  Awesome.  I've got my friend Jen coming to pit for me, so hopefully I can convince her to drive my car back and I'll ride home, just to up the mileage.  However what will probably happen is that I'll be cold, muddy and wet and want a sunday lunch.  So Sunday evening turbo session for me.

Its not started well this has it...?

Lots of different things

Bit of a Bitsa post this one, like the bike you build out of your parts box that ends up with an MTB crank set, road mech's and inline seatpost, just because you've got a set of tyres you want to use.

Firstly, Everesting.  A craze that seems to get mentioned quite a bit, it even has its own website now - Moody.  I was expecting grainy pictures, tattoo's and some sort of facial hair and looking at the shop pictures, I wasn't disappointed.  However, the challenge itself seems to fit right in with the mindset needed for the TCR so I think I should maybe have a punt.  Or at least try and increase my 'maximum height gained in a ride' record on Garmin Connect.  I think I'm at about 3000m for a ride so far, so that needs to be improved.  Its just living in the south east, I'm not sure I can face riding Box hill 97 times or whatever it is - not because of the climb but because of all the local hero's 'strava'ing' up it. Anyway, I'm being negative and I need to stop that - roll on finding a big hill eh!

Next subject - training, under training and over training.  Now, I know I'm a long way off over-training in the 'take six months off and do nothing' type of thing.  But I do wonder if after putting in a decent turbo session on say Tuesday night, I then repeat the session on Wednesday?  I'm conscious that I don't want to over do it too early on, but I managed a couple of big rides at the weekend, a turbo session last night and now questioning if I have the legs for another tonight.  I know its just under 6 months to go now so I need to start upping the mileage, but I also don't want to over do it and get ill.  Maybe a night off tonight and a big session tomorrow then....or maybe I should MTFU..

Bike - so I'm now dead set on using the Crap Dem.  However, there are a few teething issues. I need desperately to replace the nasty Project II steel fork with something a bit lighter and non-rusty.  However, carbon disc road forks that aren't tapered seem to be a bit like rocking horse poo, in that there aren't any.  Well, apart from a Ritchey one which is roughly a million pounds, or a Chinese version that, well...looks a bit moody.  So the search continues.  If I have to spend the money on the Ritchey then I will (at some point), but I'd rather not as I still don't know whether the frame will be suitable.  From memory it was pretty comfy, but at the time I was a lot fitter and less broken.  So maybe build up with the existing fork and see how I get on.....look at me ACTUALLY planning...

Finally, this blog has tripped over the 5000 view point.  Five Thousand.  Fair play to anyone reading, I bore myself so how you've managed it I have no idea.  I should celebrate somehow as I feel this is a momentous occasion - maybe I'll get the caffeinated Zero tabs rather than the plain ones....I KNOW!

Procrastination is like Mas....

Soo, how's it going?

From my end, not so bad.  I've done three longish turbo sessions this week and I'm just procrastinating going out in the cold for three hours.  I'm still fat as although I've increased my mileage, I'm eating like a horse.  Also managed to pick up a snotty nose from the train (the bucket of all illness) but its nothing like SUPERDEATHFLU that I had at Christmas so its not really affected me.

Bike choice is still very much up in the air, at this rate unless I win the lottery it looks like I'll be riding the winter bike with some borrowed aero wheels.  (If you're a geek like me) then bike choice is an interesting one.  I've got the old cycle to work scheme - for those not in the UK, this is a scheme where your employer can buy a bike up to the value of £1000 and you make monthly repayments through your wages prior to tax, so tax free bike - so thats a potential, but the question is what bike do I pick?

Due to the above scheme a lot of bike companies are doing pretty nice bikes exactly on the 'grand' mark so I'm not short of choice.  But what do you go for?  The top three finishers last year seem to comprise solely of road bikes with tri-bars.  From memory there were no disc brakes and more of a nod was given to speed rather than comfort. I've looked at the AWOL bikes that the two riders used last year, but they look BLOODY heavy for what they are and I struggle enough on the hills without making a rod for my own back.  I've also ridden a few of these adventure bikes and I was less than impressed.  Salsa's Vaya looks lovely and has all the right stuff - comfy position, disc brakes, external BB - but having ridden it, it felt slow, cumbersome and generally just hard work.  Similarly any Surly I've been on feels like its made from Dark Matter.  I'm sure when you're crossing the Ganges its ideal as it'll not let you down, but I can't stomach the idea of starting with a 30lb bike before I've put anything on it.

Disc brakes are a must though, not least because I've got the opportunity to use some Reynolds Assault carbon disc wheels which are super trick.  I also like the slightly more racey geometry - the sit up and beg style I struggle with as it puts too much weight on my back. I loathe press-fit BB's with a passion, so it'll have to be either threaded or converted with one of the Rotar conversion BB's.  I also don't like full cable disc brakes.  I've had Avid BB7's on a couple of bikes and they take constant maintenance to work.  Yes, they're simple to use and fix if they go wrong, but they lack power and the constant pad adjustment is a pain in the arse.

Bar the bottom bracket, I like the GT Grade.  Alloy frame, half hydro discs (they're the TRP model with the calliper holding the fluid and being activated by cable) and SIIILLLLVVVEEEERR.

Oh, and I've always loved the GT triple triangle - this reminds me of a Zaskar.  The bits on it aren't great but I have enough parts to make it a bit lighter and robust.  I'm between sizes, either an XL or an L but I'd probably go for the smaller one as I'd rather not be riding a gate.  The geometry matches my winter bike pretty much, bar a slightly longer head tube.  This will be handy for tri bars as it means I don't have to get into a full on race crouch to use them.

Other options include the BMC GF02, although this is slightly over budget (for Bike's to work) and has a slightly lesser spec than the GT (not that it matters as I'll replace the bits I don't like)

Finally, my brother suggested the option of buying a cheap frame, try it for size and then just keep changing it until I find something that fits and works well.  The problem there is that cheap disc road bike frames are not exactly in abundance so I'd probably be limited to something from Planet X, who I'm loathed to use after being royally messed about in the past.

Oh, and there's one more option.  In my mum's garage, tucked away at the back is an old Airborne Carpe Diem.  It's an old alloy cross frame cum tourer and its done a LOT of miles.  In fact, looking at it, its knackered - however I know it fits, its disc brake compatible and for an alloy frame its pretty comfy.  The picture below is from about 4 years ago, its currently just a bare frame and VERY heavy Kona fork.  I do however quite like the idea of snazzing it up with a new paint job, some nice parts and using it.  Waste not want not and all that.  So maybe thats a potential project in the making....

Look at it, what a stunner.  However it does hold some sentimental value as I did my first tour on it and it performed faultlessly (although not with Campag on it!).  Check out the BB7 brakes too, they were awful.  Maybe I'm just not tolerant enough to deal with cable brakes.  Anyhoo, it'll need a fair bit of work and a lick of paint to bring it back up to scratch but...well....I think I'm talking myself into this as I type....

Project Crap Dem is on!

StrathPuffer....well, almost

I'm sat here nursing my first coffee of the morning at 10.22 feeling like death warmed up.  I knew I'd feel like this, I'd expected it.  In fact I should be feeling worse, which would be OK if I'd actually done what I intended to.

To quote the distinguished gentleman Mr Craig David, re-re-wind....In October I sat staring at my computer screen pressing F5 repeatedly as the seconds counted down on the Strathpuffer entry screen.  The Strathpuffer for those that don't know is a 24hr MTB endurance event with a twist (like riding an MTB for 24hrs isn't twisted enough).  Its held in mid January in Northern Scotland, a place notorious for its non-tropical climate in the height of summer let alone the depths of winter.  Strangely it sells out in minutes so I knew I had to be quick.  At which point my Mac threw a fit, wouldn't reload the page and by the time I'd logged back in it had sold out and I was on the waiting list.  Damn and indeed blast.

The plan had then been to train hard for 3'ish months to get in shape for it and do a good ride (see a pattern here?).  However it didn't happen so I slacked off over Xmas with a view to starting training like a mad man for the TCR in Jan.  Then, two weeks ago I got an email telling me I'm in.  To the Strathpuffer.  Damn and indeed blast again.  At the time I had the dreaded Man Flu so bar some riding over Xmas, I'd done...well nothing.  Obviously  I immediately thought this was a brilliant idea, called my brother and roped him into being my Pit bitch for the weekend.  I may have left out crucial bits like 'its for 24 hours' and 'its miles away from anywhere in a frozen field' but I thought I could leave those details for a later conversation.

Over the next week, the more I thought about it, the less I wanted to do it.  I rang Ben and we had the talk.  His immediate reaction was 'That sounds shit, lets go somewhere else and ride'.  Followed by 'I'm not doing it, you're on your own' or words to that effect.  So a new plan was formed.  We decided to go to the Scottish boarders and ride two of the Seven Stanes, a trail network set up by the forestry commission in Scotland.  I booked a hotel, got all my kit together and got excited.  Plus, being 'South Scotland' the weather would be better, wouldn't it?

Thursday swings round and with a loaded car I head up to Ben's after work.  Ben lives in Sheffield.  I love everything about Sheffield apart from the fact its frigging miles from where I live and work (London).  I get there late, we go for pie and chips then have an early'ish night after trying some fine Scottish Single malt to get us in the mood.  Note - I'm not a whisky buff, I know nowt about it.  It could have been murky dishwater for all I know but I did sleep well....

The next morning I awake feeling like i've been hit by a tram.  Ben fetches breakfast, we pack up and head off for Peebles.  Although being Wil & Ben, this means muchos faffos and we leave around 1pm.  By around 4 PM its dark and snowing.  A lot.

Above is the picture before it got heavy.  Ben was too busy hanging on for dear life to take pictures beyond this point.  We had 33 miles to go before getting to Peebles and it was touch and go whether we'd make it.  For 20 miles we never made it about 15mph, but we finally made it to the hotel in Peebles.  Recounting our EPIC tale to the woman behind the counter, she looked dead pan at me and said 'First time driving in snow?'....cheeky mare..

Anyway - despite the baltic conditions we got some good riding in and the views were stunning.  The trails were mega slippery and on the Saturday we had a hike-a-bike section for about an hour in a total whiteout - terrifying but awesome at the same time.

What did I learn that might be of use to the TCR?  Erm, Maxxis High Rollers are rubbish in snow?  But seriously, clothing wise layers are clearly the way to go.  The TCR should be a good deal warmer but at least I know I've got the right stuff for the really nasty weather.  And if all else fails, the Air/Sea rescue helicopter will see my gloves.

What I'm trying to convey in this picture is how cold it is.  What I'm actually conveying is that I'm an idiot that shouldn't be in photos. But the view eh....

So after a long drive back yesterday dropping Ben off in Sheffield on the way, I'm ruined this morning.  Not in the way I should be, but I'm slightly thankful of that as I know after the 12 hour in October it took me a few weeks to get over it.  I've got the day off today so off for a ride once the ice has cleared a little. Or maybe just a mega session on the turbo.  But the good news is, I've lost about 6 lbs in weight over the past couple of weeks - which is nice.  I think I left most of it on some Scottish hillside but either way, adding lightness can only help!

'Status update - I've gone from Moist to 'kin soaking....'

I've just been to watch a friend play hockey.  Its currently pretty flipping windy and raining enough that despite my long jacket, I've got wet pants.  And socks.  And my car keys have got wet enough that they won't unlock my car.  As I'm watching my friend run round the hockey pitch, I'm glad that stood with my back to the wind, at least I'm partially dry.  Then I remembered watching Melons, trucks and angry dogs...

This is the final episode, you can find the others online.  The bit that stands out is the point at which the errr....better one of the two is riding up the Stelvio pass.  In similar conditions to what I've just been stood in.  Oh...

So now my attention is turned away from the thought of flash wheels and electronic gears to multiple layers of waterproof clothing.  And water proof socks.  And mudguards.  Yep - I need mudguards.

Data....who doesn't love data

So, its been a while but I'm in the final throws of chest infection from hell.  I've never had a cough that a) lasted so long or b) buggered me up as much as this one has, but for the first time last night I didn't go to sleep under the heady haze of Night Nurse and this morning I haven't coughed up that much of my lungs.  Having read a number of horror stories on the web about people training with said infection and it turning into something much nastier I've laid off doing any riding at all.  Frankly even if I'd wanted to I'm not sure I could have, its been that bad.  Thats right, I nearly died.  

Anyway, I'm 'working from home' today so my lunchtime was spent performing an 8 minute test on TrainerRoad.  First upset was, its not 8 minutes long.  Its an hour.  Second of all, the bit where you have to try really hard is 8 minutes but you have to do it twice.  So its sixteen minutes.  Either way, regardless of how you slice it, its not 8 minutes.  Minor details aside, the deal is that you warm up with a few short intervals thrown in to get you ready/seeing in black and white, followed by two eight minute sessions where you bury yourself to find out various things like FTP, lactate threshold and stuff.

Now, about 6 years ago I went and had some lab tests done where they prick your ear while you ride at various HR levels and from this they can determine your lactate threshold - the point at which your muscles produce a spike in lactic acid.  From this you can then work out your zones to train in.  With this online tool, you basically ride on your turbo trainer putting out specific (calculated) power and it measures your heart rate and so on.  I was sceptical.  I paid about £200 previously for this test so I'm not sure a web tool using cadence and heart rate would give me anywhere near accurate figures.  Of course, it doesn't really matter if they're accurate or not so long as they're consistent.  But being a data geek I wanted to know anyway and dug out said tests from 6 years ago.  What do you know, these are about 10% down on what my last test was, which keeping in mind I'm older and much slower sounds about right.  I was impressed.  Even more so when I compared the power figures for my old zones (measured using a proper power meter) and they're about 5% down this time.  Impressive.  

I can't afford a power meter at the moment, at least not the one I want.  I've looked at Stages but they seem super flakey, I've had a Powertap that broke A LOT and SRM's are still crazy money.  So TrainerRoad seems to be a pretty good option.  They also have multiple plans that are free to follow (unlike TrainingPeaks which is a fortune) and the interface is really easy to use when your eyes are stinging from sweat and you're not sure if you're about to puke or pass out.  Or both.  Oh, and you get cool graphs like the one below - sweet...

So the question is, for an event like TCR why train on power?  It makes a lot of sense for something like an MTB race or criterium where you're putting out a measured effort over a short space of time but for riding long hours day after day why would you need to use something like the above when surely the best approach is just to ride?

Well, for two reasons really.  One, I have to work.  Because I have to work, I only have a given amount of time in the (weekday) evenings to train.  Because its dark and wet and icy at this time of year, commuting home for two hours only to then head back out is a fairly miserable prospect.  So I sit on the turbo.  Yes, I could sit on the turbo just pedalling away, but having the above helps me to focus on specific workouts that are targeted at a specific goal.  With all the best will in the world, when you're out on your bike you don't put out constant power due to terrain, weather, junctions, traffic lights and so on (unless you live in Denmark obviously).  

Additionally, if I know from consistent testing what HR and power I can maintain for long periods of time, if I can measure these during the race then I know I'm not pushing too hard, or not hard enough.  Steve Abrahams, the chap currently trying to ride more than 80,000 miles in a year is riding on heart rate.  If it works for him, hopefully it'll work for me.

Its different strokes for different folks of course-  I don't doubt that the majority of the racers in the TCR just ride off feel and experience, knowing what they're capable of.  I don't have that, and I find comfort in numbers (do one Freud!) so for me, this seems to be the way to go.  

For the next few months, my training will revolve around doing three sessions on the turbo during the evenings, then two long rides on the weekend.  The way the plans work, the rides in the week get longer and the aim of this being to eventually be able to commute to and from work for an entire week.  I want to achieve this by late March, but I'll go over 'milestones' more in another post.  Either way this gets me finally on the bike and training - there's a lot to be said for just feeling like I've done something.

Anyway, I'm off to stretch if my legs will carry me down the stairs.  16 minutes and I'm toast....dear God...

Life gets in the way...

.....So, Happy New Year!

Obviously spurred on by the New Year,  I'll have increased the training as it now starts in anger.  Think Rocky on the steps and you won't be far wrong.  Well, if Rocky is a wheezing, sweating snotty mess full of Man Flu.

Yep, thats right - I've had the flu.  Now without wanting to blow this out of context, I absolutely LOATHE the flu.  Colds I can deal with.  Food poisoning, chest infections, kidney infections I can stand.  But flu is utter utter shit and I hate it.  The problem is, you never know when its actually done with you.  You wake up after three/ten days of misery thinking you're through it, only for it to bite you hard later on in the day, turning you into a shivery sweaty mess that wants to sleep only can't sleep because you're either too hot or too cold or you itch or your nose is running or....you get the idea.  Its rubbish. So total annual mileage for 2015 is currently 0.  Brilliant.

However, sat on my arse with nothing to do I did start planning the route.  Various tools allow you to do this and the TCR Facebook group has pointed me in the direction of a few.  To start with, just to give me an idea I stuck it in the AA route planner using the avoid tolls/motorways function.

From this (slightly convoluted way of showing a) picture, you can see its a) a bloody long way and b)...its a bloody long way.

The next step is to go through using a tool such as googlemaps or strava and map piece by piece each section.  Finally this will be converted to a .TCX file and loaded onto my Garmin.

Garmin...ah yes.  I have two Garmins, a 510 and an 800.  The 510 is the one I use on the turbo, the 800 the one when I'm riding a route I don't know because it has the SatNav function.  It also has a handy function that allows you to get to the most remote part of your ride, then randomly switch off and drop all maps and routes.  Massively useful, I've taken advantage of this feature many times.  So I need to have a look at other potential devices although the Etrex seems to be favoured very highly.  I had a look at this in Cotswold and thought it was a bit rubbish, but it does use AA batteries which is a nice touch.  Which in turn brings me on to charging devices.

Two options from what I can tell.  One - dynamo hub.  If you're doing 200+ miles a day you might as well use some of that effort to charge your phone so you can tweet how knackered you are.  Two - something like a PowerMonkey solar charger but thats obviously assuming its going to be sunny.  Option three of my two options is stop in a nice hotel and charge your devices while you shower and raid the minibar.

The issue I have with dynamo hubs is that I already have a nice set of wheels to use, with nice rims.  I could have the front rim built onto a dynamo hub, but I'd rather not given a choice.  The PowerMonkey type affair has mixed reviews, some people say they're OK, others reckon they are bobbins and not worth bothering with.  Which leaves option three.....Hmmm, what would Mike Hall do?  I need to get hold of a dynamo hub'd front wheel and give it a try.  Bike24 are banging out Shimano ones for £35 so maybe worth a punt.  I know its not a SON but its not SON money either.

Next up, a highly scientific piece about tri-bars.  I bet you can't wait for that...oh, and hopefully some riding at some point.