Grain of Sand

Yesterday was my last event of the 08/09 racing season! The Twickenham Club Hill Climb champs. I finished off with a win which I was really happy with, when taking into account the bad last few months ( knee problem). I beat National 24 hr time trial champion and ex-GB rower John Warnock, and Scot Jim Cusick into 2nd and 3rd place. The climb took place on my Crimp Hill, a whole 3 minutes from my house. I was a little surprised to do almost the same time as last year. Looking back to 2008, I was training 15 hours a week almost all on the bike, so my form should have been good. This year I have been doing almost zero riding because my knee, and doing gym workouts 3 times a week, including one the day before. This suggests that I was over-training last year. This winter I am going to stick with my 3 gym sessions until February- then go down to 2 through march, and then 1 throughout the rest of the season. I am also going to make sure I keep my weight over 70kg, as being too light seems to...

I was training pretty hard for track nationals, combining lots of training with physio and core exercises but alas, it was pointless. My leg was useless and come the races I had very little power. I raced the full week (with no results), all the way through to the National Hill Climb champs, but I wouldn't have been racing if it wasn't the end of season. I have taken two weeks off and set about fixing myself. I have discovered through an x-ray that my femur is 8mm short, and that one glute is producing half the power of the other. I am now doing lots of gym and physio work, and made the appropriate changes to my cleats and bike. Today was my first ride in 2 weeks. 3:30 was too long and I blew after 2 hours! Maybe a steadier approach is needed. I am not supposed to do intervals until December so as to allow for recovery. On a lighter topic, Look at this cycling themed cheese my Dad found in London, Mont Ventoux. It stinks really badly and tastes pretty bad. Here is Tim and I in ...