Cycling in the cold and wet, you must be joking!! Well you could go to your local sports centre and do spinning classes. These are good fun and you do it at your own pace. It is not unusual to find a

complete novice doing the same session as a top amateur racing cyclist, who knows they may give you a few tips! Can't find the time to get to the gym? Think turbo trainer, these allow you to use your normal bike indoors, any time night or day out of the wind and rain and you can watch TV whilst you do it ! Prices start about £80 but can reach upwards of £400 if you want to race against virtual opponents on the Tour de France mountains.

For those who like a challenge or want to have a target to aim for why not enter a local time club time trial, just turn up and ride. These normally start in the evening towards the end of April and cost less than a pint of beer to enter. Race distances range from 5 miles to 15 miles. Details will appear in the local press. If you feel you want to have a go but are not fast enough, try some interval training; warm up on your bike for 20 minutes, ride hard for two minutes then ride easy until recovered and repeat 5 or 6 times or as many as you feel able to do, then warm down and stretch your legs out. Hard work but after 4 weeks you should see an improvement.

 VIRTUAL REALITY TRAINING

Want to make your indoor turbo sessions more exciting?

Enter virtual reality worlds with the TACX i-magic and Fortius trainers which give a PC based VR experience.

Without the i-magic to train on in the dark evenings, the wet and cold days and to push myself to higher levels, i would not be riding as competitively in my 'real' races.

The i-magic and Fortius trainers make riding very interesting and addictive, the virtual community and racing leagues (The Virtual Cycling Federation) also spur you on to ride harder.

The trainers are equipped with a powerful brake that simulates climbs and descents. When you are climbing you will experience almost the same resistance as if you were outside. 

As well as VR other features of the software include...

REAL LIFE VIDEO: Ride the cobbles of Roubaix or climb the Alps.

ERGO VIDEO: Try to match the watts of Cadel Evans or the Schleck brothers.

GPS TRAINING: Record your rides with GPS then ride them indoors with Google Earth.

 Screenshots from Ergo Video and Real Life Video.

Screenshots from GPS training.

Check out the TACX video link to see what your missing and join the VCF to race alongside Birdwell Wheelers members.

For further info contact Darren Gill at lycralad@sky.com

TRAIN IN SPAIN !

I have just returned from a fantastic week’s cycling in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Alpujarra district of Spain. The holiday was centred on the small village of Cadiar some 930 metres above sea level.

We stayed with Sarah and Gary Williams who run Vamos Cycling     www.vamoscycling.com

Gary took parties out every day and we climbed at least 1000 metres each day ! The 2 highlights for me were climbing the 25 km of Puerta de la Ragua to the ski station at the top.

http://ciclismo.sitiasp.it/altimetria/1782/Spagna/salita_Puerto+de+la+Ragua+-+Cherin.aspx

Me looking rather exhausted!!

and climbing to Trevelez the highest all year round inhabited village in Spain

http://ciclismo.sitiasp.it/altimetria/5032/Spagna/salita_Trevelez+-+Torvizcon.aspx

It is really not a holiday for the absolute beginner-some climbing kilometres are needed in the legs but for a reasonably fit cyclist the climbs are definitely do-able.

The hospitality is great and the food is just as good as the reviews on the site say. Definitely planning a trip out there next year all being well!

Paul Heggie         14 April 2010

 Fred Whitton Challenge, May 2010

This is THE sportive me, Craig and James have been dreaming of ever since we did the Dragon Ride 2 years ago.  The 'Fred' is almost certainly the hardest Sportive in the UK calendar, taking in 112 miles of almost all the big road hills of the Lake District in one day.  We were so keen to ride it we mooted the idea of riding it on our own midweek and calling it the Fred Kitten - don't ask me why!  Fortunately James was right on the ball and entered us on the first day of opening, which I'm told you have to to stand a chance - and it worked!  He then fixed us up with Consiton Youth Hostel which - although he didn't know it then - placed us only 300m from the event start - nice one James!

I was really anxious as I had had a series of colds all year which had stopped me training properly and I wasn't fit.  And I knew James was roaring fit and Craig was racing so he would be way ahead of me.  I had been boring everyone with how unwell I was and that I was going to stop inthe road and tell them to ride on - but they were having none of it.  We'll see, I thought!

For James' You-Tube footage (taken by him whilst riding - don't try this at home, kids) see www.youtube/watch?V=Bk7SHUodVI

We woke up to a cool but clear day so whilst the other 2 opted for shorts I bottled it and went for leggings - it is the Lakes after all!  Turned out they called it right as the weather was great.  Just as well on some of those hairpin descents.  We opted for an 8am start which meant we had the boost of catching slower, earlier starters all day.  Kirkstone pass was first up, and despite being long we breezed up it.  I tried to ride behind the other 2 to shelter early on.  Over the other side, great descent into Patterdale and good views across Ullswater.  As we passed one group a guy pulled alongside and clapped me on the shoulder - turns out it's my 'tester' mate Colin Parkinson from South Western Road Club - like me a mile-eating BBAR specialist.  Unlike me, he's top 12 in the country and out of his depth in hills!  His excuse is he's riding with mates - yeah, pull the other one Colin!

Up Matterdale Fell - this was supposed to be one of the easy ones! - and then steaming along the A66 with the wind into Keswick.  Relief to turn down Borrowdale and everyone's thinking of the first 'biggie' - Honister Pass.  I've only driven it and recalled it was hard - and now I'm 'towing' as they say in Barnsley: I'm struggling to hold my own with this group of 10 or so we're with.  Honister is indeed difficult, but I manage to hang on and then we descend to the first of 2 refuelling points.  Only to find out the buggers have run out of isotonic solution for bottles - extremely annoying and unforgiveable.  We compensate by eating too much cake and taking cordial with us instead.

Then it's immediately onto Newlands hill - not one I knew at all but it was a belter - great views not unlike an Alpine climb and well worth bagging.  I'd recommend it!  Descend to Bassenthwaite and straight up Whinlatter Pass.  I had it in mind this was easy as I'd ridden it the other way on a mtb doing the Coast to Coast a few years ago - how wrong can you be!  Craig and James just rode away from me without trying as I was beginning to blow.  I thought the buggers would stop at the top and say 'Sorry Trev, you were right, do you mind if we ride on?' but they just kept going!!  Fair enough really - just me being sensitive!

Down the other side I found myself with 2 others and we were flying - we came up behind another guy and were about to overtake when he saw someone on the other side of the road and without looking just breaked and pulled across the road.  It was one of those bizarre incidents when you think 'what happened there' when you crashed - except we got away with it by some expert manouvres plus a lot of expletives.  Idiot.

The course then bumped up and down the foothills of the west Lakes including Cow Fell to Ennerdale Bridge, the second stop.  I briefly saw my muckers as they were setting off but I wisely took a few minutes out to refuel.  Also went to the toilets and recognised another friend, Bob Merryweather from ShefRec at the urinals - I asked if he minded if we didn't shake hands!!  Bob retired from Barnsley Council last year and is at last managing to do all those miles he promised himself - good on yer Bob.

Although the next stretch to the foot of Hardknott isn't flat, it is flatter and I managed to recover a little before the beast loomed ahead - with 10 miles already ridden!  I looked up to the top from the foot and said to myself 'I am NOT going to get off this f'ing bike!' and set off.  The bottom third is very hard and I was glad of having 34 x 27, although I didn't need to snake up the hill.  The hairpins were mad - I'd ridden it on a mtb a few years ago during a race and had been in the granny ring then - Cumbria Council ought to be made to make a decent road up here!  Then it eased off in the middle and I went up to second gear before the push for the equally hard last third.  In the saddle for as long as posible and then out of it, lungs bursting, don't give up now, nearly over - and YES!!!  Done it - magnificent.  The hardest hill I've ever ridden.

No time to relax - difficult descent (thanks God no rain) then straight up Wrynose the 'easy' way - still difficult but a pussycat compared to Hardknott.  Awful descent again - I lost the back end a couple of times just trying to ride it at all, let alone fast.  Then an annoying shoulder of a hill that I wasn't expecting and I was back - 6 hrs 35.  James and Craig had done it in 6-27 so i was happy to have got so close to them.  (3 Peaks winner Rob Jebb had done it in 5-47 for fastest on the day - but we suspect he had a back-up team.  Not that we're bitter.....!)

Awesome event - 'challenge' is a bit of an understatement!  Well done team!

Trev

www.fredwhittonchallenge.org.uk/Results.php

Training with a Heart Rate Monitor and Scientific Testing

Like many cyclists who are looking to improve , a few years ago I bought a heart rate monitor , read a little bit and religiously downloaded the figures to my computer after each ride. I certainly improved but not necessarily through using the monitor correctly –more likely through just cycling more!

Having a mathematical background I had always viewed the “numbers” quoted for power output , VO2 etc of professional cyclists as being of interest but not really relevant to me but in the back of my mind there was always that little voice saying “I wonder what mine would be?”

Then I read an article about Dr. Garry Palmer who runs Sportstest .  He offers testing to both professional and amateur athletes including cyclists. I decided to forego the upgrade to the bike and booked a test in March 2010. The website gives details of what the testing entails. I had gone into it with an open mind not necessarily expecting any significant insights.

After the test Dr. Palmer went through the results and the main focus was on the heart rate zones I had been training in. The testing clearly showed I was going anaerobic far too soon. It also showed that while I would never be classed as fat my % body fat was on the high side of ideal. A schedule was suggested where I trained mainly in the aerobic fat burning zone 2. This I found very difficult for the first fortnight or so as I felt I wasn’t working “hard enough”!

My target was to ride the Etape Hibernia in August in less than 5 ½ hours without feeling shattered at the end!  At the beginning of August I booked a re-test and was pleasantly surprised to find the figures showed a significant improvement. Spells of zone 3 work were scheduled and I completed the Etape in 5 ¼ hours feeling fairly fresh at the end-even passing people on the climbs!

To conclude I feel that for me it was a worthwhile investment to improve my cycling performance which I don’t think I would have done otherwise.

Paul Heggie 26 Aug 2010

Links: www.sportstest.co.uk

(I have no links with Sportstest other than being a satisfied customer)