Bovingdon Bomber circuit
Week commencing 26 Feb- Been of the pace for a while, sickness knocked me sideways for a several weeks, racking cough, aches and pains the flu struck. So this week apart from the prevailing cough I’m back on track and seeking inspiration to get fit. The first Bovingdon Bomber event is not till mid-May so I still have time. Major snow falls this week, has made safely getting out difficult so taken to the indoor trainer. Snow and yet more snow has struck this week, so walking boots the order of the day. Weds & Thurs, 1 & 2nd March, well things go from bad to worse, tons of snow, meant walking boots donned again and Friday receiving a massive dump in the afternoon. The weather played havoc with my training- no cycling simply shod myself with walking boots and trudged through the snow especially on Saturday, by the evening with rain it had disappeared. The wracking cough I’ve had for a few weeks, surfaced destroying my mojo for Sunday which as it happens turned out ok for cycling.
Week commencing 22 Jan – completely lost my mojo this week. Despite a good roller session on the Tuesday evening knocking out some intervals and a endurance ride on the Thursday, the weekend came and what with various things cropping up, the bike never got out of the shed and I only amassed a miserable 2 hours on the bike. On a more positive note the lower back has improved with various stretching exercises. February commences next week, time to press the go button.
Week commencing 15 Jan – Grim weather stymied me over the weekend. Wet, cold and wintry, only managed a short ride hard ride on my Brommie on the Saturday, with Sunday a total washout. However, in the week, did manage 3 sessions, all mixed, one indoors and the other 2 being a combination of one endurance ride and a hill session. A bad lower back has not added to my mood of feeling depressed with such abysmal weather.
Week commencing 8 Jan – A few weeks off the blog. Christmas period wasn’t great for riding, heavy cold knocked me for sick and slight loss of motivation. So returning to work brought more intensity to the program. My new year’s resolutions are: reduce weight to 75 kgs by end of March, finish in a 3rd/ 4th cat race on the Bovingdon circuit and be grade 3 piano by year end. Training for January would consist of a Tuesday evening interval session, Wednesday endurance ride and Thursday easier indoor ride. Ride both weekend days if I can. Lets see what happens!
Week commencing 4 December – Promising start to the week, with 4 rides around Moor Park circuit 4 times pushing up my average speed over 13 mph on this difficult circuit. So I was pleased with that. Weekend wipe out though. Saturday commitments meant no cycling and heavy snow on Sunday put the kibosh on any cycling. Overall, only 1.5 hours on the bike so a poor week timewise.
Week commencing 27 November- . Poor week, training wise. Only managed two rides after work, and the weekend spent on purchasing Christmas tree and getting the house ready for Christmas. At least got my strength exercises in 3 times which have certainly improved my stomach muscles. Did record my fastest time around the MP circuit 12.9mph.
Week commencing 20 November- Recorded my fastest time around the MP circuit 12.7mph, and a sub-2min 30sec Westbury Rd sprint. Overall aim to average over 14mph maybe even 15mph.Overall though a bad week, over the weekend went down with the vomiting and diarrhea virus which knocked me for six. So no riding at all over the weekend. Total riding time for week only 2 hours and 15 minutes
Week commencing 13 November- Hard week. Rode MP lap 4 times and finally improved my average speed to be in excess of 12 mph and just over 2mins 30secs for the Westbury Rd sprint. Aim in short term to exceed 13mph. On Saturday went for a ride with Phil to the Hub- Redbourne and met Tim Childs who I rode back with. Just under 6 hours of riding for the week, which is about much as I could hope for. Must admit on Saturday, I struggled to hold the pace especially with Tim, whether it was the cold and wet don’t know, but I was on the limit in places.
Week commencing 6 November- Mixed week. Rode MP lap 4 times once on fixed (which was faster). Couldn’t get out over the weekend, apart from a last minute dash on the Brompton to Lea Valley for coaching purposes, but despite this rode a total of 4 hours 49 minutes.
Week commencing 30 October- Back into the routine riding after work. 30-40 minute loop straight after work 3 times per week, and on the other 2 days, roller session and hill efforts up Oxhey Drive. This week I rode 4 efforts but in future ride 5, these are full on and extremely hard. Good Sunday ride with Malcolm best part of 50 miles gave me 5 hours and 38 minutes in the saddle
Week commencing 23 October- Half term week, despite having theoretically more time, this does not work well for me as I’m out of my normal schedule. So all in all, only managed a 2 hour ride on the Tuesday. By the weekend, I’d got the lurgy with zero energy to burn. A bad week to sum up.
Week commencing 16 October- Not too bad with the week finishing strongly with a near 4 hour ride with pal Malcolm two hills ride, taking in Ivinghoe Beacon and Bison, must admit I was pretty shot when arriving home as ride completed on Winter Bike, so heavier. I only previously managed a Pyramid 1 session on the Tuesday as breaking up for half term on Wednesday screwed me up a bit. So all glory over the weekend, plus the cold took its toll on the Sunday ride, wearing gloves for the first time for ages.
Week commencing 9 October- Really good week, starting off with Red Line session on Tuesday, followed by a Pyramid 1 on Thursday warming up using the BC 20 session and having a Brompton saturday ride to and fro from the Velodrome and a Sunday morning club ride. So a total of 6 hours and 35 minutes.
Week commencing 2 October– feeling a tad refreshed from a weekend off, it was back on the rollers on Tuesday evening to ride 2 x 20 minutes at threshold, hard session, but feeling strong. So completed it well. Thursday evening rode 1 min flat out and 3 minutes off. With the on sessions for the future, I should build up to 400 watts at 100 rpm and hold it there. Saturday’s ride with Malcolm was a tad short, just under two hours but it was wet and not nice. Average speed just over 16 mph but I was faffing around for 20 odd minutes beforehand. Total 4 hours in the saddle, but did go for a 5 mile walk on Sunday as well.
Week commencing 2 October– feeling a tad refreshed from a weekend off, it was back on the rollers on Tuesday evening to ride 2 x 20 minutes at threshold, hard session, but feeling strong. So completed it well.
Week commencing 25 September- carried out a FTP test, disappointing to say the least, average power over the 20 minutes was 237 watts, take off 5% and that gives me 225 watts. Coupled with my weight of 78kgs, gives me an FTP of 2.74. So there is a lot of hard work ahead of me to improve this figure. Thursday night ramped V02 max session, hard but enjoyable. No cycling this weekend as off to Cambridge for a concert. It will be good to give the bike a rest for a couple of days.
Week commencing 18 September– Rode on Tuesday – rollers Red Line effort totalling 40 minutes, glad to have the power back on the cranks. Weds, rode the Batchworth hill circuit and hit this hard on the MTB, but felt really tired, so I’m reverting back to the Tues & Thurs sessions. When I’ve got a Thurs music lesson, I’ll hit the road, as more time productive but when there is no music lesson I’ll hit the rollers instead. This Thursday I’m going to experiment with the Batchworth Hill circuit making it an hour. With poor Thursday night weather pouring with rain, I never road and simply too tired again. So rode a soggy couple of miles home after work. Rested up on Friday and had a big Saturday morning ride with mate Malcolm taking in our hilly Marlow circuit going up some of the largest Chiltern’s climbs, nearly 4 hours racking up best part of 70 miles. Sunday rested up.
Week commencing 11 September – again 6 hours in the saddle with the long ride with Malcolm on the Saturday – winter bike hitting over 40 odd miles. During the week I was coaching getting home late on the Monday night which put the mockers on the Tuesday ride, but got out Weds, and Thurs, walked to work on Friday. I’m going to drop the walking on Friday’s though, simply makes me too tired for the weekend energies
Week commencing 4 September – 6 hours 46 minutes and just under 100 hundred miles. Sunday 19 September- 4 hours out with Malcolm E, covering nearly 70 miles, hard hilly course taking in Bison hill, legs felt that.
So training for the winter would comprise of 2 x 1 hour indoor sessions per week, on the rollers and one on the road about an hour. Plus one weekend ride between 3 and 4 hours. And to improve core strength, 3 x kettlebell sessions per week. The weekend rides either with the club or out with Malcolm giving him good competition up the hills.
A fairly modest achievement you would think but competing with some guys a third of my age, it would be eyeballs out from when the flag dropped. How to get fit was the challenge. I’d guess my FTP power figure would have to be around 270 watts and to shed some weight realistically get down to 12 stone in old money or preferably 75 kgs. So that would give me a FTP of 3.6 which is about the most I could hope for. If and it’s a big if, I’d like this to be 300 watts, with an FTP of about 4.
I needed a challenge for 2008. Reaching the ripe old age of 62 the aim for the season was to finish a ¾ cat race on this competitive circuit- The Bomber.
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