Festive exploits

The post Christmas period of sales and throwing away out-of-date food and wishing you hadn't eaten so much is upon us. From a training perspective it has been a good period, the weekend of the 13th / 14th December 79 miles and the weekend prior to Christmas started a cumulative ride distance of 191 miles in 1 week with various other training sessions like my first post-op run of 8 miles on the fells on Christmas Eve, running in a 1.2m deep swimming pool - 1 mile sessions at about 32 minutes.

The Christmas Eve run was followed by coffee, brandy, whiskey and mince pies back at the cars, well worthwhile and fantastic weather, the views from the top of Great Hill were getting up towards 40 miles. I blame Thomo for this festive excess, it was all his idea. See pic, top right at recent Leverhulme Park XC in November 08.

The 2 long rides of note in this period were 53m on 23rd Dec: Chorley - Darwen - Horden Rake - Lower Darwen - Shadsworth - Grane Road - Haslingden - Belmont - Rivington (Cafe !) - Coppul - Eccleston - Leyland, very hilly, estimate around 1200m in the 53m. Then 59m on the 27th Dec: Chorley - Preston - Grimsargh - Longridge - Chipping (Cafe - to thaw out my 15 year old son who was in the early stages of hypothermia !) - Great Mitton - Whalley - York - Blackburn - Pleasington - Wheelton - Chorley. Cliff (Brown - trains with us but not doing the Etape) came off on a patch of diesel on a roundabout, no real damage done apart from pride and a new pair of long cycling pants. Thomo has just had his chainset changed to a 50/34 compact, which is excactly what I'm using, or will be when I sort the new bike in the new year. Regarding my son, Ciaran (15), he does quite well all things considered, staying with us for nearly 60 miles at an average speed of over 15 mph.

The good news from the Etape party is that Yvonne is joining us for the event, assuming we can add her to the party. Yvonne Russell (36) experienced Ironman Triathlete, is warmly welcomed to our small group and will in all seriousness probably show us testosterone junkies how it should be done.

All in all, the post operation recovery has been fantastic so far, just hope I can carry on, sustain this training effort till March then pick it up.

Christmas brought me various cycling related bits like Assos clothing, so nicely presented I don't want to take them out of their boxes ! oh, and a lightweight folding aluminium work stand.

The cyclefilm.com Etape recon DVD arrived just before Christmas so we had a Ventoux evening on the 27th to terrify ourselves as to the enormity of our undertaking. There were some worried faces, particularly on the Ventoux ascent. It'll be tough but for me at least this will be my third Etape and I have never trained through the winter before so I hope this will have a massive payback come the big day. On a lighter note, the Cotes des Ventoux red wine is excellent and the Cyclefilms DVD is really well done, they get better each year, well worth the money.

Rehab

Published 15th December (started on the 6th.... oops!)

It's been a difficult couple of weeks following the hip op. My wife's mother, Mary (80), passed away quite unexpectedly leaving a large void in my wife's day to day, we all expected her to be around for many years to come. She is missed by all of us, the long process of adjustment to life without someone now begins.......

Did my first post-op turbo trainer session at 11 days, only 15 minutes light resistance. Then did a 35 minute session during a spin class, keeping the resistance low. Had a private physio session to try to correct the pelvic alignment issue caused by the injury. The NHS came through with their 'URGENT' physio appointment nearly 3 weeks post op !

Done 2 consecutive 30 minute turbo sessions now and am going to try to up this towards 45 minutes over the next weeks. All seems well on the hip so far.

Having entered the Cumbrian Christmas Cracker and then passed my entry to Gaz because of the hip op, texts and e-mails came through on Saturday 6th Dec to advise it has been cancelled due to ice and snow on the route. Shame, the 5 or 6 people from the club who had entered were looking forward to it. But as Thomo found out last Wednesday having just returned from Tenerife, cycling on icy roads is not a good idea. I think he was in Tenerife training with Lance but he's not admitting to it !

Picked up the new winter bike last weekend and wend out Saturday and Sunday 13th / 14th December 2008 on the flat mostly 25 on Sat and 30 on Sun, about 1300 Kcal burned, just about kept the weight static thruogh the operation period. Might add a hill or 2 this next weekend. I have to say it was cold on Sunday, lost all feeling in the feet for an hour after getting back but the bike was excellent.

Just getting the etape forms ready for submission with the various Doctor's signatures. There's a major inconsistency here, some Doctors are seeking to profit to the tune of £100 or so for the taxing task of signing a form to say someone can take part in competitive cycling. Others, like mine are glad that we do keep very fit and consequently don't spend our time in their surgery whingeing (apart from the odd hip injury !). Sportstours advise the sooner the forms are returned the higher up the start order we will be, hence the quick turn-around.

Oh, the Cumbrian Christmas Cracker people have decided to reschedule the event to 1st February 2009 and carry-over the start list. So, we'll be there !

Well, the excitement for this week is the Etape recon DVD is due to arrive, can't wait. Till next time, seasons greetings to anyone reading this post.....

Keyholes and crutches

Last Saturday's XC was interesting, Chorley Harriers only had 5 out so no team entry (6 needed). Thomo ran steady, I heckled here and there, then he suffered a muscle tear literally 50m from the finish. This looked bleak but he struggled home then, much to my surprise, he came out on the bike next morning for the 40miles. Sunday AM we had a good turnout, 7 of us: Nikki, Vicky, Gaz, Pete Starkey (see pic RHS), Thomo, Cliff and myself, I led the way and picked up all the hills from Chorley to Billinge, I peeled-off at about 32 miles to get to Goodison Park for the Middlesborough game (the most boring 90 mins I've seen for a long time!). The group did OK, reasonable training pace, the new riders are better on the hills than the flats because this is where the running fitness becomes apparent. Monday evening I did the spin class at the gym, lost about 4 pounds in sweat ! This was to be the last serious workout for a few weeks, biggest problem now was trying no to put on weight.

Thursday: I was in by 08:00, theatre at 09:00 (that feeling as the anaesthetic starts to take effect is amazing), 2 keyhole incisions, awake by 11:30 and home by 15:00, no pain, everything numb. Lots of goodwill texts which was nice. A set of basic exercises from the physio and a pair of crutches. Biggest issue seems to be keeping the weight off the joint whilst it heals but at the same time seems OK to walk on, no doubt I'll pay for this in the weeks to come.

Can't do the Cumbrian Christmas Cracker, so Gaz is taking my place since the event is full. Bought a new bike for winter use last weekend from Buy-a-Bike, Charnock Richard see http://www.buyabikedirect.co.uk/, an alloy Trek 1200 (I think?), it's got Ultegra rear and 105 triple front, carbon forks, in white, a smart looking bike, all for £600. Not collected it yet because of the op. This should save the carbon one getting trashed.

I've been running with a blind runner from our club these last few Thursdays and talking as we run, (it's quite tiring trying to speak and run at the same time). Mike Ogle is his name, he's run for years and years and a few people take him out during the week (mainly Thomo I think). He even did a Duathlon with us last May on a tandem, see pic, with Malc Christie. Mike was asking what it was like to climb a col for 2 hours ? My only reply was 'incredible' to apply such a sustained effort for so long, in the 2007 Etape there were 5 Cat 1 or HC cols and the 4th one; Col du Port du Bales just about blew most of the masses away. The side of the road resembled a war zone with brightly clad bodies strewn all over. This was the year that out of 8,500 entrants, only 4,600 finished inside the allotted 12h30m. Most of the non-finishers would be locals who seemingly don't need to go through the Doctor's certificate hoop.

There are no climbs remotely like the Alpine and Pyrenean climbs in the UK, we have steeper climbs but generally shorter (maybe I would exclude Scotland from this generality since I have never cycled in Scotland other than access cycling on a mountain bike). What distinguishes the TDF climbs is the relatively consistent gradients, although, they often aren't as consistent as books and DVDs would have you believe. By far the best and most comprehensive road climbing guides, in my opinion, are the Atlas Des Cols from www.altigraph.fr. These excellent books give a kilometer by kilometer breakdown of the route in terms of ascent and gradient. The one for Ventoux is 'Des Alpes One', sorry, but they are all in French just to get you into the spirit of things !

So, off for a tour of the lounge.... on the crutches, till next time.....

Hip Hop

Didn't post last weekend, been under the weather for the past 2 weeks with this bug, tried to get back into training twice but just comes back with a vengeance. Cycled Sat and Sun last weekend, with my son on Sat about 40 miles with plenty of hills av. speed 16.0mph and in a group on Sun a good bit slower for many reasons: group speed / bug / wind. One thing I do know is that the bike is getting trashed, it's a Trek Madone 5.5 and needs to be put away in cotton wool till the Cheshire Cat 29th March 2009. So the search is on for a winter bike because my son now rides my older bike a Ribble triple.

So aside from the weekend rides, been doing the 45 min spin classes at the Next Generation Gym each Monday, these are good and shouldn't be entertained when you have a bug because all that happens is the bug spreads but that's probably where it came from despite copious quantities of Vit C to boost the immune system.

Regarding the Etape, was doing some research for next years sportives and went on the Etape Du Dales website and was knocked sideways to learn that the organiser of many previous years Stuart Holdsworth had been killed in the Yorkshire Dales in an accident with a car / caravan. Only knew him in the context of the event but was one great guy. I can see from the press releases he has left a wife and children and I would extend to them my sympathy.

The Etape du Dales is a must-do preparation event to be held next year on 17th May, opens for entries on 6th Jan 2009 06:00 and will fill up within 5 hours for 800 riders see http://www.etapedudales.co.uk/

It was following a trail from the Etape du Dales website that led me to discover that the French authorities have decided that a BCF Racing Licence is no longer acceptable and that overseas riders must have a Doctor sign-off the entry form. This is a bit of a blow because some doctors can be a bit uppity about signing such forms, mine is a star, he signs each year, no questions but others in the group are going to struggle. All this is aside from the fact that Peter Starkey has already paid £60 for his BCF Silver Licence !!! Seems I owe him one ! See http://www.cyclosport.org/article.aspx?id=953 for much more information.

So that's it for Sat 15th November 2008, off to a Cancer Research Charity Dinner Dance tonight. Cheers !
The Cumbrian Christmas Cracker was mentioned in a previous post but I note is now full, that's probably partly because Chorley Harriers have about 12 riders entered. From my point of view it loks like I can't do the event, this last week, after about 12 weeks of waiting, I received a phone call from the NHS offering me a cancellation for a hip operation, the operation date is now 20th November 2008 and I'm so relieved, I was worried this would extend into next year.

The operation is called a hip arthroscopy, quite a leading edge procedure, the consultant enters the hip joint with a camera and very small tools and tidies up various issues including a torn labrum (the gristly bit around the socket), some bit of bone referred to as a bone 'cam' etc etc. This will put me out of action for a number of weeks, I'm told it'll be 2 weeks before I can get on a turbo trainer then build up from there, probably 6 weeks before I can resume running.

So, aside from being elated at the news, this is going to be a somewhat sedentary period. Just been to the Red Rose XC meeting in Bolton, my son ran and I took photos (can't swell the joint before surgery). We are due out in the morning for 3 hours on the bikes, not sure what the weather will be doing, sometimes the surprise is better than the bad news !

Runing, cycling, research and the credit crunch

So, aside from coming to terms with the much discussed credit crunch, it's time to do some event planning for the coming months. Most cycle events are not taking entries for 09 as yet. The only event we have entered is the Cumbrian Christmas Cracker....... http://www.epicevents.org/section.php?xSec=17&jssCart=32c14882bb4a55955fc291216cf222da

This is a 60 miler in the Lakes on 7th December 2008, the fastest times from the 07 event were just under 4 hours, so a good social event. We've managed to talk plenty from Chorley Harriers into the event so should be a good day.


This weekend there was no opportunity for a group ride, I had a match at 12:45 Saturday (Everton v Fulham... yes an Evertonian and season ticket holder, likewise Tommo and Gaz are Liverpool season ticket holders, Frosty is a MUFC season ticket holder) so ended up going out at 07:45 Saturday, with the mercury reading -4 degrees, it was going to be cold but not raining. The road surfaces were lethal, some not gritted in my 2 hour / 35 mile circuit from Chorley via Brindle, Darwen, Tockholes, Belmont, Rivington, Horwich, Adlington, Coppul. It warmed up soon enough. Sunday AM along with 350 others had entered the Through the Villages Race from Wheelton, 8.45 miles of up / down, no flats. A bit of a challenge with the hip, particularly on the downhills, but got round in 1:06:50.

We are trying to fit in cycling with the cross country timetable at present, the next 2 Saturdays see XC events so the long rides will be Sunday AM. So another week looms to see if we can stay in business (Civil Engineer - construction - dire at present). On the upside there is a still a demand in the Middle East and there is a strong road club in Dubai. More next weekend......

Etape 09 route announced....hmmm!

Well, the route was announced 10 days ago and the excitement surrounding the possibility of riding the stage where Tom Simpson passed on seems to suggest it will be a sell out. The previous 2 years haven't sold out probably due to the severity of the routes, particularly 2007 (more later).

Photo right, Etape du Dales May 2008 - fantastic ride 175k / 3750m Yorkshire Dales, under 8 hours.

Sportstours UK, the tour operator has 1,000 places, 100 sold entry-only within 3 hours of going on sale, it was going to be a rush for places. Lobbied mates at our running club for interest, 6 positives, amazing. So it was to be Sunday night, midnight the packages came on sale. Numbers had dropped to 4 plus myself, still not bad for such a commitment, more on the team members later: frosty / tommo / pete starkey and gazbmw. We had selected our package (based at Bollene / Orange) fixed centre package, 3 nights just over £700. The application went off within minutes of them coming available, it was done, now it was a case of wait and see.

It was Tuesday 28th October before I received confirmation, we were in on our selected package, now the hard work would start. I've been doing long rides thruoghout the summer: Etape du Dales / Wicklow 200 (IRL) / TDF Etape Pau - Hautacam / Holiday on the Tourmalet / Spud Riley Memorial and the secret is to keep up the miles thruoghout the winter.... I keep telling myself. The rest of the group have been coming on Sat / Sun rides for the past 2 months up to 50 miles, all athletes (team photo to follow):

tommo (52): running with Chorley Harriers for over 20 years - fells / XC / road (numerous marathons - too many to mention !) / duathlons, road biking (regular Manchester > Blackpool)

pete starkey (54): running with Chorley Harriers for many years - prefers the fells / XC / mountainbiker until recently

gazbmw(40): running with Chorley Harriers for about 3 years - road / tri's and road biking - New York and London Marathons 07 / 08

frosty (48): mountain biker - convert to roads about 3 years ago - veteran of 4 x Wicklow 200's, 2 x TDF Etapes 07/08, Etape du dales 08, Dragon Ride 07, various kilotogo 100 - 125m sportives, running GNRun every year

The team regularly raise monies for their chosen charities by doing these events, most recently at my 50th birthday party which raised over £1,000 for Macmillan and Cancer Research.

So a 35m ride due in the morning, it's going to be cold and a 8.5m road race on Sunday - going to be painful with the hip injury, more on that later.