Regular readers of the blog will know that I'm now in training to ride the Hotchillee London to Paris three day event in June. This particular event is a fully escorted ride departing 21st June, so around twelve weeks away, plenty of time to make sure that I've built a decent base.
Chatting to my ride buddy today - Irish Dean, who has just acquired the most magnificent Titanium bike from Spin cycles, complete with Rotor cranks - we were talking about riding 100 miles and how tiring it can be and what recovery period you need. I recalled the Fred Whitton sportive, 114 miles of sheer hell which took me about two weeks for my legs to recover!
I've done a good quantity of centuries in isolation, but never any back to back. This is my key goal, to build the strength and endurance to get in the saddle three days on the bounce. Personally, I think I'm good for it. I do get tired after a 100 miler, that's for sure, so anyone that wan'ts to leave their top recovery tips, please leave a comment.
I'm reading The Man that Cycled the World at the moment, adventurer Mark Beaumonts account of his 194 day record breaking journey across the world by bike. I was lucky enough to meet Mark recently at a dinner (blog here), so I hope to be able to get an interview from him in the near future about this experience.
The thing that struck me most about his attempt was he had to ride 180 centuries almost back to back. That takes one huge amount of strength, particularly when your bike weight was almost 30kg. I guess it puts my three day jaunt to Paris in some context. Man up!
Garmin, Garmin Gone
My ride today was blighted by my Garmin 800 playing up. It's such a great bit of kit when it works, it's hugely frustrating when it has an off day. Today's off day, was the unit thinking it was stopping every fifteen seconds, auto pausing, then re-starting - it was bleep city. When I got home, it had only recorded 28 miles of my 60 mile route.
My journey with Garmin hasn't been the best, I've had three of their products, all have had technical problems. The 800 has been the most superior in terms of functionality, however it does still have software bugs, so let's hope that get a patch or O/S upgrade sometime soon.
Weather today was smashing, around twelve degrees, not too hot, not too cold. Looping over to Henbury and Alderley Edge, the roads were quiet. We stopped at that little Italian cafe in Alderley Edge again - superb. Leg's were a little sore towards the end of the ride, primarily as I'm continuing to push bigger gears up the hills as I mentioned last week.
Spinning the last few miles home at around 100 cadence, I was pleased to be home. Recovery drink, hot bath and straight into Mothers day.
You are going to hurt in the morning, after 10 miles the legs will be flushed out and you will be back on your game again. The Key for me on the way to Paris was stretching every night when I really wanted to collapse, good recovery drinks and eat good quality food. I had one evening when I ate junk and paid big the next day. The best tip I can give you is ibuprofen gel, amazing stuff, saved my day. Good luck.
ReplyDeletePhil, I just finished read the Mark Beaumont book. I couldn't put it down. I was glued to the book. Good luck with your training. I am once again going to tackle the Mountains of Misery in Blacksburg, VA. It's a 103 mile ride with 10000 feet of climbing, a good amount of it near the end of the ride when your legs are toast!
ReplyDeletePhil, I did the L2P last year. As per the previous comment, your legs are tight for the first 20-30 minutes in the morning and then you'll be fine. The event is such a buzz that you won't notice the distance. Also the Tri Touch team are on hand for massages in the evenings, lunchtimes and mornings and they're well worth using! Looking forward to seeing you there (Andy - Manchester Wheeler)
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