Like a rat deserting a sinking ship......

....I too will be flying south for a bit of warmth staying here and, after a bit, here. I shall, of course, be riding my trusty Scott (assuming it survives the indelicate treatment of Mr Baggage Handler) She is currently at the cycling equivalent of Peterstone Court's spa, being pampered and made even more gorgeous! In reference to my own preparations, no plans for waxing like LTB though shaving is being seriously considered - can you imagine riding in Spain with hairs on your legs? Oh - the humiliation! Regular updates will be provided....

Warm (hot) weather training

Well here I am touching base with my fellow veloists.......

I have to admit to a slow start with the training due to the copius amounts of food, wine, beer and sunshine.

The bike arrived on Tuesday morning and in the afternoon i ventured out for a leg 'loosener' - how bloody wrong could I be - here it is but dont let the distance or profile deceive you - this is a better statistic sea level to 2300 ft in 8.5 miles sheer pain and suffering like i have never suffered before - I assume this is what the Alps/Pyrenees feels like ? - Tempo.

Tomorrow i am embarking on a harder longer ride to try and purge my body of the alcohol that is constantly swishing around. - wish you were here and hope its not too miserable back in blighty

Adios amigos, buenos noches...... till next time

Despite the abandonment of one of our alleged "team mates", Tempo and Farmer struggled out in the unpleasant conditions to get a Llangorse Loop under our belts.

Here it is:

http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/workoutdetail/index.do?id=2221962

Should be tempo training...

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Worse than the heinous Tumblegate...?

Drastic times require drastic measures has always been my mantra..
So, with this in mind, and given my current doom like demeanour, a general feeling that the weather is going to be shite, coupled with Tempos cheating I concluded a training camp was needed albeit a luxury one with good food, lots of Tumble climbs and sunshine.
You will get more of an idea by watching this nice film


With this information now 'public' I need to 'confess' that the Sunday ride will be impossible - I shall be here on a last minute jobby.



The bike has been hired and currently being prepped with carbon trinkets.

The leg waxing has been booked - maybe even a happy ending !


My research has concluded that Tenerife is the ideal location for pre-season training and it is possible to climb from sea level to 2600m. Much pain will ensue.


This looks a good one, and this monster.


Now, by this point you are probably very angry with me, but theres no need, team only190 will always be in my thoughts, I shall take the laptop and whilst watching the sun go down with a cool beer in hand update you with that days particular riding stats, maps, and pictures - it will seem that you are actually there with me.


I expect we will all catch up before I go for a little chat or some 'texting'


In the meantime i've just got to figure out how to pay for it all........................LTB

Tumblegate...The Facts

Never been compared to Tricky Dicky before, but I'm honoured! The real question is - was he any good on a bike? And when is Frost coming to interview me? Here is the Tumblegate Route in all it's painful glory. Sunday morning is my next available time - who's around?

Tumblegate doom

Due to a "secret" expedition by our "team-mate" Tempo (an incident now offically know as Tumblegate), LTB and Farmer slipped out for a quick loop to try and cheer us up after such a direct challenge to the team only190 ethos.

Here it is:

http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/workoutdetail/index.do?id=2201030

You will notice from the stats that it was a slow one, but clearly we had a lot of "bikering" and "debating" to get off our chests.....

Bombay Bicycle

In pursuit of a curry banquet, good company and a few sherberts, I undertook a one way trip to Dad's on Saturday morning and a jolly nice ride it was n all.

Here we go:
http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/workoutdetail/index.do?id=2174386

Certainly not a mountain stage, but a 50+ trip all the same and a good deposit with the legs of steel bank.

Amy and the kids followed later in the car and were avaiable as support if required, but indeed not and not even a puncture to be had. It must be my advanced road technique that I have developed......

83 days to go.

Farmer

Sufferfest Doom Destroyer

This route took in just a little bit of the Dragon in the form of the Rhigos climb. Really hurt from beginning to end - no REALLY hurt! The initial climb out of Aberaman over to Maerdy averaged 10% but had proper switchbacks, which is always nice. Got lost in Maerdy and had to get directions from a bus driver whilst feral children eyed up my bike. Headed rapidly down the valley and then climbed again before dropping sharply into Treorchy and hitting 50 on the descent. Then it started.....the mother of all head winds.....playing games with me.....toying with my mind.......all the way home. The climb over the Rhigos was long but gentle in comparison to the previous two. From Penderyn across the mountain top and over Storey Arms was soul destroying because of the wind - hard to get above 25 even whilst descending towards Libanus. 47 miles in all, 7000 feet of climbing. Deep joy.

Lanterns latest training stats.........

Given the fact my contribution to the blog has been somewhat sketchy lately i have decided to 'dump' my routes from the last month all in one go.

Some are good, some not so - but at least all of them pretty much hurt.


The new garmin test ride was done at 7.30 in the evening - bloody freezing and after a long layoff was pitiful

This was the serious comeback ride that includes the farmers favourite 'wall'

The next day this one included 'Tumble Mountain' mountain goats, extreme flatulence and high speed blowouts.

After a 4 day lay off managed to do a 54 minute Llangorse loop - not bad - for now....

I think i did this one with the Farmer - very pleasant ride up to mountain centre, Heol Senni, Cradoc and Home. Could have been with Tempo...my memory is failing me, must be the dried overies.

Llangorse loop again - much slower but with a bottle of wine and beers later, certainly added to the pain - next day

This is the 'sneeky' ride i did with Phil - quite like this one turning left in Llangorse up to Pengenffordd, to Cwmdu and back home via Llangynidr

Saturdays ride with all the veloists together - well at least until the Farmer had a tantrum and left LTB and Tempo to finish with a few 'enhancements'.

Last nights 'cheeky' llangorse loop via Llangynidr with Tempo - felt good, clear sky, bike clean and running well, Tempo's bikes audible squeek enhanced the whole experience.

So all in all 230 miles a sore arse, the occasional sore head, and (hopefully) going in the right direction. Oh btw weight loss - nothing, HOW............

Previous efforts

Here are some of our previous training runs which I have negelected to post.

http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/workoutdetail/index.do?id=2141975
http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/workoutdetail/index.do?id=2141978

Feel like a new stage in the training coming up, what with the "countdown" clock on the blog now......and a solo beast coming up this Saturday down to Much Marcle.

Bring it on I say. Drove some of the Dragon yesterday on the way down to Swansea and got me all excited (mainly cos it was a beautiful day and the route over Hirwaun road is lovely). I feel we need a gathergin soon to put togehter a "90" day action plan.....

Going to be setting up a "Just Giving" site soon and will put link on Blog as I want to raise some money for a great cause and on behalf of a mate who would love to take part in the Dragon if he was well enough.....more details to follow.

Farmer

Llanfrynach to Monmouth

.....for Mr Farmer's information: this is the route I took a month ago. Not too taxing - no walls!

Pengenffordd on steroids

Saturday's route took us down to Crickhowell and then over Pengenffordd at a pace that put our HRMs into meltdown. This set us up well for a series of short, sharp climbs that served to remind our legs how little they have all been doing over the past fortnight. Great route, worth doing again in a few weeks time if only to see how far we have progressed.