July 2015 Mileage

What a couple of months.  Battling back from a nasty virus, June saw a paltry 85 miles on the bike due to a combination of a number of factors including my own health, a close family members health and a big weekend away with the lads!


July needed some serious re-thinking to get things back in shape.  I don't know how you approach your re-builds, my process for fitness recovery is pretty simple after a gap from the bike: -

1) Slow, long (ish), flat and steady rides to begin with, keeping  a close eye on heart rate intensity.
2) Building ride intensity as you can see your numbers improving.

As usual, it's it's a bit of slog as you go out for your first couple of rides.  It feels like you're back at square one as a cyclist with lots of people riding by you, each bit of wind feeling like a big battle and a low average speed relative to where you might normally be, with a higher heart rate to get there.

You have to stick with it.  Keeping an eye on what your heart is doing (in terms of where you are on your training zones) your engine eventually wakes up and bobs your uncle, you're back.  When that occurs, you can begin to start raising your intensity, taking on some harder profile and getting back to normal.  

Later in the month, I recorded 19.6mph average for one ride over 25 miles (flat route) which I would consider very fast for me, so it goes to show that rest, patience and a slow build can have a positive effect on your performance. 

It''s been a lower mileage year thus far, primarily as I didn't do the London to Paris event this year, which normally adds another 300 miles onto my total.  Taking that into account, YTD mileage would be about the same as last year.

Month  to Date

Mileage- 412miles/659km (+488% vs. PY - only 70M last year due to illness)
Ride Time - 23hrs 58mins 
Ascent - 15,232ft (+814% vs. PY)
Avg. Speed - 17.2mph (-6.5% vs. PY)
Avg. HR - 148pm

Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 37(Flat/Undulating) (+42% vs. PY)

Year to Date

Mileage- 1,981 miles/3,169km (-14% vs. PY)
Ride Time - 114hrs 01mins 
Ascent - 62,501ft (-35% vs PY)
Avg. Speed - 17.4mph (+5% vs. PY)
Avg. HR - 142bpm

Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 28.1 (Flat)