Winter Training - Week 12

Week Ending - February 3rd 2008 ............................................................. Miles to date:- 1870

A misty, damp and cold Monday morning greeted me but it did not deter me riding my Great Missenden loop. Had a good 50 mile plus ride, felt a lot stronger on all the early hills, struggled up the last few but managed to beat my previous best time so far by 8 minutes. One downside, another pinch puncture caused by riding over a pothole. The roads are in a terrible state after all the recent rains.

Good weather on Tuesday and I was realy feeling strong while riding at the circuit. But just before the normal fast laps I suffered two punctures in quick succession so as Betty was picking me up at 12 o'clock, the ride was a lot shorter than planned, just 34 miles. The circuit sure is getting popular as there were over a dozen riders out. Not to be deterred I set up my new turbo in the afternoon and rode another 16 miles to make the day's total 50. It sure was hard work on the turbo, I will need to attend a training course to understand all the settings!

Perfect weather for cycling on Wednesday morning, sunny, not too windy or cold. I am planning to ride a 100km reliability trial on Sunday so I decided to test out some of the climbs from Loudwater to Marlow via Flackwell Heath. They were quite hard and I am sure going to struggle up them on Sunday. No punctures today but my cycle computer went wrong, if I went over 19 mph it would go into pause mode. I am sure I covered a minimum of 50 miles. When my computer is better I will have to do the ride again to check the distance.

An important day too, I receive my first donation from clubmate Paul Williams who is also riding La Marmotte but I know he will be well refreshed by the time I finish. Many thanks Paul. I also did an interview with BT, my former employer, who are going to feature the ride in their Employees Newspaper. Lets hope more sponsorship arrives too!

Friday was another good day, a few fast laps at the circuit but most of the time pretty steady riding. Another 57 miles covered.

Weather was good on Sunday so I rode the Quest 100km reliability trial which took in some very tough climbs through the Chilterns. Could not keep up with the fast group, but I did get in a small group along with clubmate Dave Eckersley, but I punctured with about 28 miles to go and rode most of that alone into a strong wind. Managed to cover the distance which was about 106KM in well under 4 hours. An impressive weeks riding, just need to improve a bit more next week.

Weekly Totals:- Miles:- 281.0 Time:- 17 hrs 34 mins 37 secs