The Sleeping Cyclist

My sleep pattern has been pretty unhealthy lately, averaging under 4 hrs a day for the last week. I never thought that I would nod off whilst cycling though. Untill yesterday morning that is.

I set off on the 30 mile ride home after my night shift feeling pretty knackered and resigned my self to getting into the grind of just turning the pedals over and over and over and over.... The usual sort of ride home except I was even more tired than usual.




As I plodded along a straight bit of road just before Wickwar it happened. I had let my eyes shut for just a second, It felt so good. So I did it again, I was only going to have 1 second of bliss but the next thing I knew I was upside down on the verge with my bike on top of me! I had actually nodded off and veered into the verge on gone straight over the bars. No damage done thankfully but if I had veered the other way, into the oncoming traffic...... Not good.

It certainly woke me up anyway. I stopped in Wickwar for a bit of chocolate and then plodded the last 20 miles home without further incident, thankful that I had not done this whilst driving home from work.

Fat Men Can't Climb

There is a hill near me Called Frocester Hill that runs about 1 1/4 miles in length at an average gradient of about 10%. Nothing too extreme but over the years I have timed myself up it when bored as a very unscientific measurement of my state of fitness.

The last time that I had tried this was about 2 years ago when I was 20lbs lighter. I thought I would have a bash at it yesterday because I couldn't be bothered to do a long ride and well to be honest I was curious. Recently the miles have been piling up so I dared to think that maybe, just maybe I was in olympic form. Unsurprisingly this is clearly not the case.

I managed to climb the hill in 10mins 50 sec at an av heart rate of 165. My previous record was 8mins 30 at an average heart rate of 164. So compared to me I was slow but to really put this in perspective on the climb of Mont Ventoux, a similar gradient but about 10 times longer, the top riders in the world average about 14mph. I am averaging about 7mph. Fat boys can't climb.

Here is my attempt.

Pretty Fly for a Fat Guy

I am rather pleased with my portly self. This afternoon I did my 66 mile Severn Valley loop and knocked 40mins off my previous best - the training must be doing something!

If you have IE with the necessary plug ins checkout the exciting dot race here . Worst thing about Motionbased - having to use IE. If you don't have IE (and who could blame you) here is a map of the route:

I was able to get my heart rate up a lot easier than has been the case so far this year averaging 152 with a max of 194 recorded. I think that might be an error though the highest I saw was 187.

180 mile week

This week I was hoping to do 240 miles by cycling 4 days in a row to work. However due to a top secret mission I have undertaken it was necessary to drive on Friday night. This meant I only managed a paltry 180 miles. Bum.

Fortunately for me, the one day that I didn't ride Bristol was caught up in a Mega thunder storm. The rain was so heavy that traffic on the M4 slowed to 30 - 40 mph due to poor visibility.

I am a little concerned that although my weekly mileage is not too bad it is all made up of the 30 mile each way ride to work. No longer rides. Hopefully next week there will be a chance to fit in a long ride. It would like to do a few 100 mile rides before the JOGLE just for my own peace of mind, to know that I have it in my tired old legs.

My fitness seems to be coming on just fine though. My resting pulse was 44 before my weeks rides and now is at 46 suggesting my recovery is ok. Or at least I think that is what it means. Maybe It means I wasn't riding hard enough. If anyone out there knows about these things perhaps you could correct me. :-).

So the plan for next week is to fit in a 100miler. Anyone want to join me? Company would be good. Even if it is one of the joglers. ;-)

Really Geeky Tractor Motivation

Struggling on my bike ride home from work the other morning I had another tractor slip streaming session. I had the impression that cycling behind the tractor made life so very much easier. The average speed per mile as shown below in the geeky table bares this out, rising from about 15 - 16mph to 25mph.

It surprised me that my average heart rate went up by over 30bpm as well though. This surprised me because a lot of the time when following the tractor it feels as though I am practically coasting. It is necessary to really gun it when trying to keep the wheel up an incline but then on the flat and downhill It felt as though I was just ticking over giving the overall impression that it was easy.

I suppose this just goes to show how much speed and performance is in the mind. With a bit of motivation I was able to raise my average heart rate to 160bpm in order to stay in the tractors slipstream, where as before the tractor came along I was struggling to get the average up to 130, convinced that I couldn't go any harder. Unfortunately I seem to need a tractor to motivate myself.

Joglers Crummy training Graph

Since we all have super duper Garmin 305 devices i thought I should compile the data to create a highly sophisticated graph detailing just who is the Daddy!

It is clear to see that Dave and Steve are following highly original training plans no doubt designed to maximise blow ups in the first few days. As Mr Dawsey would say You Gotta to have discipline, no bout a doubt it. Verdict - Nick is the Daddy.

Updated: Since Dr Stephen's post I have been able to accurately incorporate his data into our high tech statistical analysis of Jogler training. It appears that Nick is still the Daddy in terms of time on bike but is no longer the fastest. Must be the belly.

Stroud Valleys

Today's riding was a case of squeezing as much into 2 hours as possible as that is all the time granted to me today by my ever understanding family. Not being a fast guy I decided to see how much accumulated elevation I could get in. Luckily I live just outside Stroud which nestles at the meeting point of 5 valleys. This means there a lot of hills close together as you can see from my elevation trace.
I managed to climb 4286ft in 23.5 miles. For a fat bloke that was quite a work out. If you are the train spotting type then the ride stats are here.

Time for the dishes now.

Weeding Proves I am a Weed

You would think that a guy who is cycling over 200 miles some weeks would be able to do a bit of weeding without killing himself but unfortunately that is not the case. After just about 20 minutes pulling up weeds yesterday my hamstrings are tighter than Dave at the bar. I had planned an 80 miler for today and foolishly thought maybe it would still be ok. I set off intrepidly into the wind and rain but soon realised I would do myself more harm than good. Instead I just settled for a very gentle 30 miler. At least it got the months total to over 600.

Training Regimes

The Joglers are taking different approaches to to their training. Strangely, despite these differing methods the fittest and fastest seems to be the fattest. Must be natural talent. :-)

Click on the image to see full size.

Training Progress, Bribery and F1

The training is actually going well. I imagined I would be behind at this stage but I feel quite confident that things will be ok for the JOGLE.

I have been increasing the mileage gradually and adapting well. This week was my biggest yet. I managed 231 miles, all of which was commuting and am still feeling pretty fresh. Next week will probably be shorter in total miles but I will try and get in one or two longer rides.

I think I will have a few beers and some time off the bike tomorrow to celebrate in front of the Grand Prix. Lucky for me Noah, my oldest little boy, loves cars and will usually watch the Grand Prix with me rather than wanting Mr Tumble on or me to play Tigers or something. JJ the littlest of the two is not quite so understanding and will probably need bribing with food. I am above nothing after a run of nights though. I do hope Hamilton does something silly again. Go Alonso! Go Kovalainen!

My training progress is here if you fancy checking up on me.

Thanks Alison!

There is nothing better than achieving your goals and targets. All too often I have failed in this respect especially when it comes to weight loss. Acheiving the training targets I have set for myself for the JOGLE has been meaning that I have required the support of My wife - Alison. She has been great. Normally she has her work cut out as it is being married to a paunchy middle aged guy who wears lycra. Lately though I have been spending alot of time on the bike leaving her to deal with the kids and house etc on her own. She has complained not once. So I wanted to say thanks on here. I would not be able to get into shape without her support. This week I have been on the bike for 16 hours and that is a lot of time out of the house. So - Thank you Alison!

The HONC is looming

This Sunday it is The Hell Of The North Cotswolds .This is a very popular and fairly tough reliability ride in and around the Cotswold town of Winchcombe. About 1000 riders take on either the 50K or 100K courses which are a mix of about 50/50 on and offroad. It is one of the few events that us JOGLERS have had a regular presence at over the years. This will be my 5th time at the event and Daves 2nd. Dr Stephen did it in 2004 and Steve in 2006.

I have tackled it on a singlespeed, a full sus mountain bike, a tandem, a hardtail mountain bike and this year it will be done on my cyclo cross bike. Dave is riding his hard tail and Steve will be washing the dishes at home. Girl. I may however have frightened Steve off, as the last time he rode it was on the back of the tandem. Unfortunately my confidence outweighed my talent on that day and we had a fairly spectacular wipe out when I tried to squeeze into a narrowing gap between two other riders on a descent. Fortunately the other riders were restrained enough to avoid punching me on the nose, which is probably what I deserved. I am pretty sure I ruined their day as well as Steve's. Sorry out there whoever you are. For Steve's part he was suprisingly restrained, didn't even swear. Considering he could hardly use his arm for a month after that was quite impressive.
Last year, due to a general lack of riding and fitness we took the short route but we did at least get around without any dramas. This year Dave and I are planning on doing the 100k hopefully without any faceplants or broken bones.

The pics are At the Top: Nick and Dr Stephen at the start of the 2004 event. on the right: us again on a descent later on the same day and the last pic is Dave with Nick on the left.

2006 Route 100k shortened after Tandem Wipout
2007 50k Route

2008 routes are here: Short Long
The Memory Map and Tracklogs versions are here

Time Trialing to Work

Cyling into work this evening was great, the sun was shining and I was able to just wear shorts and top for the first time this year. I even added a few miles to the trip to make it a 32 mile inward ride. What made the ride was discovering myself in the middle of the local bike clubs evening time trial. Just as I turned onto the A38 a guy flew past me all tucked down and really going for it. Not long after another guy came by but going at a more sensible pace averaging about 22-23mph. I was able to grab his back wheel and got a nice tow for the next 5 miles or so Mega! After he turned off it was me and the wind again but I managed to keep up a better pace than of late and consequently had the time to add a few extra miles.

I am still riding the cyclo cross bike with knobblies on so hopefully I should see a pick up in pace when I get around to sticking the slicks on.

Another 70 Miler

I was bereft of imagination today so when given 4 hours to spend on my bike I just rode the same old loop down to Chepstow and back. Here are the details for my training free Joglers to admire.

Another very, very wet ride.

Managed a decent 3 hours on the singlespeed mtb today. My original plan was to get out early and do 40ish road miles, however by the time i got wife/daughter sorted out it was 10am and raining very persistently. Not good for road riding, as you become even more invisible to certain car drivers who's aim in life appears to be to run you off the road.
So took the singlespeed out, first time since Jan, and rode on the back lanes to Woodbury Common where i managed 50 mins in the mud. Woodbury is a great place to ride, when the wind and rain are not pummeling you from all directions and the sand/water/mud is not corroding every part of your bike, especially brakes. Just reminded me i should clean it and put a bit of lube on or it may never work again! Anyway on returning home i was freezing cold and soaked to the skin, unable to undo my shoes and praying that June is not like this.
Now, after a very hot bath and much refreshment i feel very smug, especially as having spoken to Nick and he said he had not ridden due to the weather (lightweight). Hopefully tomorrow will be drier.
Looks like we might be joined by Steve on our little trek in June, providing he sorts those gears out, the thought of Steve cursing every slipped gear and then having to ride in the big ring everywhere is not pleasurable! Dave.

I will start training soon

I was beginning to get concerned that my training is not going to plan, ie i haven't been on the bike for 10 days, yikes. Then i realised that Nick needs to train more than i do!!! Sorry mate, please don't make me suffer on the HONC. Poor weather, lack of time, work commitments, you name it i have an excuse for not training. I did go out on Easter Monday but 5 miles down the road from my in-laws in N. Cornwall the chain snapped (no comments about my mechanics), my mobile wasn't charged and i had an hour and a halfs walk home. On the plus side i have got back into my running after a long injury lay off, so hopefully there is some aerobic capacity somewhere in my body. The plan is some big riding this weekend, aided by my new Garmin 305, sadly in the post office until Sat. morning. Hopefully it will inspire me to ride a bit more. Thanks for all the donations coming in, nice one Steve. Should also mention Claires cousin Shaun, running London Marathon for help for heroes, check out justgiving.com/shaunpascoe. Thanks Dave.

The Pro's and Con's of Night Shifts

I work nights, just nights and they suck. In a lot of ways anyway - I never get more than 5 hours kip, usually about 4, so I am grumpy, I am less productive, always hungry and will probably die young. Ok not that young I am already a grey paunchy middle aged man but you know what I mean. On the plus side - often the nights are (touch wood) quieter, meaning I can catch up on stuff like studying etc in work time. Also the shifts are longer 10 - 12 hours which means a 3 day week almost makes full time hours giving me much more time to do other stuff. Best of all work is 30 miles away making the commute excellent Jogle training.

This week I decided that I would cycle the 60 mile round trip 3 days in succession. This, for me at least, is quite ambitious. Cycling into work is usually ok but facing 30 miles after a night shift is often not a pleasant thing. Anyway as I am writing this I have failed but with a B+ for effort. The first night was great, I took it easy going in listening to the Fantastic "Murder At Avedon Hill" podcast and the journey flew buy as I absorbed the world created by PG Holyfield. It was a real disappointment to get to work and have to stop listening. This repeated itself on the way home only I ran out of Murder half way home so I put on my "Go man Go!" play list. This certainly works as my average speed went up from 15 mph to 21! I think perhaps I should listen to this play list more often. Unfortunately I was so hyped up from the blast home that I couldn't sleep and after finally getting a solid 2 hours sleep decided to take the car for my second night. Light weight. Fat but light weight.

Update: I am writing this having cycled in for my 3rd night shift and am not looking forward at all to the ride home as I will be riding into a 25mph head wind all the way. Still it is good training for those "the JOGLE is a stupid idea" moments.

This is the elevation profile of my ride to work:

Route to Bristol is here

Route back is here

Further update: I have just got back from my ride home. I was pathetic! It took an hour longer than usual with the headwind, I am surprised I didn't topple over I was going so slow. Off to bed now.

Waffle

Thought i'd throw in a quick update. My bike is in pieces at the moment as a very, very wet ride on Saturday meant that rust was creeping in on Sunday so had to strip it down and do some greasing. Problem is i now have to put it back together again, never my strong point. I have been doing my fair share of turbo training and blasting my head with some natty sounds on the i pod, would highly recommend The Clash, Happy Mondays, Spear of Destiny, Nick Cave (new cd is superb) if spending time frantically spinning nowhere while staring at a wall. Nick unfortunately has a poor taste in music, perhaps i can educate him while we are meandering down through the country.
Thanks to Alison for her input, i did suggest my wife had her say, but she doesn't do anything related to cycling without including strong language so perhaps best if she stays away. Last expletives issued re my bike is when she came in from work to find bits of bike lying on the kitchen floor, which of course was properly protected, my response of it's to cold in the garage didn't go down well. Perhaps i won't push for having my Stumpjumper mounted in the lounge (between rides) as a piece of art.
Read a good article in this months What MTB mag, how many bikes is enough? n+1 (n being infinity). Made me think about buying another bike, do fancy a nice bit of titanium......Mmmmm.
Dave.

A clip From Todays 67 miler

A quick clip to demonstrate my double chin and prove that I do actually go out in public dressed in lycra.


Severn Bridge from Nick on Vimeo.

The route can be found here as if you cared...... and here is the elevation profile:

Alarmingly it says I am under sea level as I cross the Severn Bridge!

Good intentions....

Well February was shaping up quite nicely in terms of training for me. I had been achieving my modest targets for this stage of my training. Things were going to take off this week with an 80 mile ride followed by commuting to work for the next 2 night shifts (60 mile round trip). What did I achieve? 0 miles is what! I have been struck down with tonsilitis.

Hopefully March will fare better. I am aiming to do a 600 mile month with one 4+ hour ride a week. A lot of this is going to have to be after the childrens bedtime so I am ever more grateful for my amazing exposure enduro maxx light. The thing is fantastic, to get such brightness and long burn times from such a small package is astounding. You can see it perched proudly on the bars of my bike below.