November Ride Stats

November was similar to October for me, you'd think I'd given up cycling!

A combination of a hugely busy schedule, outside work commitments, weather, a trip to Tenerife and an unplanned stay in hospital for my wife meant that I just simply didn't have the time in the saddle.  It's just one of those things when you're trying to keep so many plates spinning, it is what it is, so a MUMO moment (man up, move on).

I did have some down time and used that time in the gym, rather than in the saddle as it was an hour here or an hour there so not practical to get out, as it was mostly in the dark evenings.

One thing I do recall is coming back from one of my two (yes only two) rides earlier in the month with a heart rate of 140bpm and having only achieved 14mph average speed.  It felt like I'd been transported back to August 2009, having just got my first bike.  It was my first ride after the virus I'd suffered in October and my bodies way of saying that my fitness had dropped substantially.  Judging by the weight that seems to be creeping back on again, I'd better get some base miles done - sharpish!!

On the plus side of life, the team at Skoda Cycling have invited me to join their London to Paris 2013 team, which will give me a great incentive to get back on it.  You can read about my adventures on the 2012 event here.

For now, I'm concentrating on gym strength work and core conditioning, so mileage for December I'm not expecting to break any world records.  I've been missing the bike, that's for sure.  

With Christmas fast approaching, don't forget to take a look at my Xmas list for roadies if you want to point your partner to something nice for your leg warmers on the tree!

YTD mileage and ride intensity (miles = blue/intensity = pink)

Month to Date
Mileage- 83miles (yes you did read this right).
Ride Time - 5hrs 50mins
Climbing - 2,051 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.1 mph
Avg. HR - 143bpm
Avg. Cadence - 81rpm
Calories (estimate) -3,393
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -25

YTD
Mileage- 3,087 miles
Ride Time -206hrs 37mins
Climbing - 80,887 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.7 mph
Avg. HR - 140bpm
Avg. Cadence - 82rpm
Calories (estimate) 118,192
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -   26.3

October Ride Stats

October was a total write off for me on the bike.  Likely my lowest mileage month - ever!

I caught one of those horrible chesty colds which seemed to linger and linger, started as a throat infection then moved down to my chest over a period of three weeks.  I just couldn't shift it, had time off work, doses of vitamins - everything.  Pleased to say I've now shifted it.

Advice is always to lay off the bike when you're not well, your heart is already under pressure fighting infection, so it doesn't need additional stress.  I only got back in the saddle for a couple of short rides on the last weekend of the month, taking it very easy.

When you are off the bike for a few weeks, it's amazing how quickly your fitness drops.  My last couple of rides I've ridden in specific heart rates zones to gently ease back in and I could see my heart rate was elevated because my average speed was a lot slower than normal in my training zone.

It's important not to go full throttle into it post-illness, just build up steadily again and your fitness soon returns.  Returning from my first three hour ride of the new month, I felt considerably better, so that can only mean it's back to normal from here on.

Month to Date
Mileage- 61 miles (yes you did read this right).
Ride Time - 3hrs 54mins
Climbing - 1,693 ft
Avg. Speed - 15.8 mph
Avg. HR - Not recorded
Avg. Cadence - 81rpm
Calories (estimate) - 2,203
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -27.8

YTD
Mileage- 3,004 miles
Ride Time -200hrs 46mins
Climbing - 78,837 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.7 mph
Avg. HR - 140bpm
Avg. Cadence - 82rpm
Calories (estimate) 114,799
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -   26.4

September Ride Stats

After a couple of quiet months, I've managed to pick my mileage back up during September to 356 miles (570k/m).  The miles I did also had more climbing in them.

On the graph below, the pink line indicates the intensity of the rides that I've done.  I've added the red dotted line to indicate a moving average of the ride ascent ratio, so as you can see I've been progressively putting more climbs in during the last three months.

As we move into the winter (I dusted my winter bike off yesterday), I'll be re-focusing on base miles and maintaining my aerobic engine, so the ascent ratio should start to drop off again.

With the time available I have to ride my bike, I'm happy with where the mileage is and the profile of the miles that I cover.  My purpose for riding is to stay fit, improve wherever possible and enjoy the scenery along the way, those boxes are definitely being ticked.

YTD Mileage (Blue) vs. Intensity (Pink)

Month to Date
Mileage- 356 miles
Ride Time - 23hrs 35mins
Climbing - 11,609 ft
Avg. Speed - 15.0 mph
Avg. HR - 141bpm
Avg. Cadence - 81rpm
Calories (estimate)16,386
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 32.6

YTD
Mileage- 2,943 miles
Ride Time -196hrs 51mins
Climbing - 77,144 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.7 mph
Avg. HR - 139bpm
Avg. Cadence - 82rpm
Calories (estimate) 112,596
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -   26.3

August Ride Stats

August is holiday month, so the bulk of my miles have been in the back half.  Of the 188 miles I've covered, 141 of them were in the last eight days!

One thing to note is the ride ascent ratio is the highest of the year, meaning that the miles I've covered have had lots of climbing within them, primarily due to the Brad Wiggins Sportive (write up here).  If you look at the chart below, you can see the pink line indicates the ride intensity of the miles I do, so August definitely was the highest (and hardest).



This month I also had the privilege to spend a short time with two young people riding from John O' Groats to Lands End.  Scott (15) and his brother Olly (13) were riding the 900 mile route in memory of their great Uncle who died of cancer, I joined them plus their dad and two other ride companions as they passed near Warrington - inspiring stuff!  More about them and their journey here.

Returning home from a fifty mile ride today, I definitely felt like the last eight days had helped ride me back into some sort of basic form to re-build on.  I've got a couple of good rides in September including my club Audax (details here) and a stage of the Deloitte Ride Across Britain from Haydock to Carlisle, so all being well things are back on track and I'll get some more climbing in the legs.


Month to Date
Mileage- 188 miles
Ride Time - 13hrs 35mins
Climbing - 9,133 ft
Avg. Speed - 13.9 mph
Avg. HR - 146bpm
Avg. Cadence - 77rpm
Calories (estimate) 8,200
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 48.6

YTD
Mileage- 2,586 miles
Ride Time -173hrs 15mins
Climbing - 65,534 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.7 mph
Avg. HR - 139bpm
Avg. Cadence - 82rpm
Calories (estimate) 96,210
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -   25.3

July Ride Stats

Month to Date
Mileage- 189 miles
Ride Time - 11hrs 32mins
Climbing - 4,279 ft
Avg. Moving Speed - 16.4 mph
Avg. HR - 143bpm
Avg. Cadence - 83rpm
Calories (estimate) 8,757
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 22.6

YTD
Mileage- 2,398 miles
Ride Time -159hrs 40mins
Climbing - 56,401 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.7 mph
Avg. HR - 138bpm
Avg. Cadence - 83rpm
Calories (estimate) 88,010
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -   23.5

June Ride Stats

With less emphasis on distance and more emphasis on gym sessions, plus time in saddle near to maximum aerobic effort (75%), mileage is slightly down on what I thought my expectation might be for June (500M).

It's led me to re-evaluate my whole years objectives, focusing less on quantity (miles) and more about building strength, losing weight and getting fitter.  So, for 2012, it's not going to be about the miles anymore but completing the training plan I've got from Total Cycling Performance.

This month includes the London to Paris run of 300 or so miles, with a little more climbing in than the last couple of months.  Average ride speed is also up, however I've had a few Garmin glitches where I've had to manually update data, so I'm not sure how reliable it is for this month. 

Ride ascent ratio is up, highlighting that the climbing within the London to Paris route.

Month to Date
Mileage- 445 miles
Ride Time - 31hrs 07mins
Climbing - 14,585 ft
Avg. Moving Speed - 16.6 mph
Avg. HR - 137bpm
Avg. Cadence - 89rpm
Calories (estimate) 12,492
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -  32.8

YTD
Mileage- 2,209 miles
Ride Time -148hrs 08mins
Climbing - 52,122 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.6 mph
Avg. HR - 138bpm
Avg. Cadence - 83rpm
Calories (estimate) 79,253
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -   23.7

May Ride Stats

I've picked up the pace and the ascent this month.  I'm religiously following my training plan from Total Cycling Performance, which means I'm only in the saddle for around six hours per week but spending additional time in the gym.


The month was kicked off with the Circle of Hope bike ride which was a century with a few lumps in and the rest of the month has been mostly focusing on base mile rides at the weekend and HIIT intervals during the week, with a couple of gym sessions thrown in for good measure.

We've established that my optimum heart rate is around 148bpm for the six hour weekend rides, so it's on with the heart rate monitor and onto as flat a route as possible.  It does make for an interesting ride as you tend to go fast on the flats and super slow on the drags to keep everything under control.

Something positive is definitely happening.  I'm increasing my average speed at a slightly lower heart rate.  This was evidenced on a ride that I did on Tuesday this week, when I returned from a 40M run with 1.6K of ascent with an average of 16mph.  Going up the long drags in Scotland, the pedals were just turning and I definitely felt a difference in my core, primarily where I am focusing my gym sessions.

If you compare the month data to the YTD data, it also points to that outcome.  My ride ascent ratio, is higher, but so is my averge speed - bazinga! London to Paris is only a few weeks away now, so all being well, everything is going to plan.

Month to Date
Mileage- 370 miles
Ride Time - 24hrs 10mins
Climbing - 11,750 ft
Avg. Speed - 15.3 mph
Avg. HR - 135bpm
Avg. Cadence - 86rpm
Calories (estimate) 17,314
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -  32

YTD
Mileage- 1,763miles
Ride Time -117hrs 00mins
Climbing - 37,537 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.7 mph
Avg. HR - 138bpm
Avg. Cadence - 82rpm
Calories (estimate) 66,761
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -   21.4

April Ride Stats

I felt sure I'd click over 400 miles with ease this month.  It was this weekend which saw that off.  After a busy week, I felt tired getting up yesterday morning and thought I'd do a longer ride on Sunday, no point griding miles out when tired, better to rest.


As it ended up, we were out late last night, ended up home around 3am so by the time I'd woken up this morning and looked out the window, all I could see was driving rain and wind - conditions were terrible - too bad to cycle in and it was goodbye to my planned five hour ride.

So, today ended up on the Wattbike dong a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) session.  Good training isn't all about quantity, it's about quality too.  Reviewing my ride ascent ratio (ascent divided by distance), you can see that I've done a fair few miles on the wattbike this month.  Of the 326 miles I've done this month, 126 of them were indoors, hence the ratio being lower than other months. 

One thing that hasn't been going so well is the diet.  I'd promised myself to try and shed some weight prior to London to Paris, however I haven't really changed much.  I've been travelling a lot which means sit down dinnners, food on the move and being perfectly honest having the desert when I could so easily not have it.  This week I'm off to see Total Cycling Performance for a review of a few things, including my eating habits, so time to make some fundamental changes by cutting out the rubbish from my diet, will update further. 


Month to Date
Mileage- 326 miles
Ride Time - 21hrs 17mins
Climbing - 3,835 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.2 mph
Avg. HR - ---bpm
Avg. Cadence - 79rpm
Calories (estimate) 8,719
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -  12

YTD
Mileage- 1,393miles
Ride Time -92hrs 50mins
Climbing - 25,786 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.5 mph
Avg. HR - 140bpm
Avg. Cadence - 82rpm
Calories (estimate) 49,447
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -   18.7

March Ride Stats

My best month ever in the saddle in terms of miles covered - a new personal best of 551 miles/886km.


Stepping up the amount of time spent in the saddle was a key objective for me for during March, I particularly wanted to make sure I clicked over 1,000 miles for the first three months of the year and make up for the poor January start of 204 miles.

Things that have helped push things up have been recovery sessions on the wattbike aswell as a ride to work and back of sixty miles this week.  I've also got up an hour earlier on a Saturday and Sunday to get an extra hour in the saddle - basically,  increased commitment.


Looking back, prior to getting back in the saddle in August 2009, I hadn't ridden more than 100 miles on a bike in the last twenty five years, I hope this inspires others to get started, have a go and demonstrate that it can be done in between the other pressures that life brings.


Month to Date
Mileage- 511 miles
Ride Time - 35hrs 56mins
Climbing - 9,681 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.6 mph
Avg. HR - 140bpm
Avg. Cadence - 82rpm
Calories (estimate) 20,081
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -  17.9

YTD
Mileage- 1,066 miles
Ride Time -71hrs 32mins
Climbing - 21,951 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.6 mph
Avg. HR - 136bpm
Avg. Cadence - 82rpm
Calories (estimate) 40,728
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -   20.8

February Ride Stats

Better month in the saddle during February, tipping over 300 miles for the month and 500 miles for Jan/Feb.  It's behind where I wanted to be, I'd of liked to have been nearer 700miles at this point, however it is what it is.


I've agreed to do London to Paris in June  as a guest of Skoda (3 day ride) and therefore need to step my training up and get some decent quality miles in the legs and some harder rides.  I've been doing a lot of base mile riding during Jan/Feb to help build an aerobic base.


Interestingly, my average speed was faster during February with more climbing as part of the route profile whilst staying within Heart Rate Zone 2, so that would indicate that the base miles are working.  if you want to learn more about base miles, read this.

Month to Date
Mileage- 311 miles
Ride Time - 21hrs 16mins
Climbing - 7,921 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.7 mph
Avg. HR - 139bpm
Avg. Cadence - 83rpm
Calories (estimate) 13,724
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -  25.5

YTD
Mileage- 515 miles
Ride Time -35hrs 36mins
Climbing - 12,270 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.5 mph
Avg. HR - 133bpm
Avg. Cadence - 81rpm
Calories (estimate) 20,647 - 
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 23.8

January Ride Stats

January started pretty well for me with a 70 mile weekend to kick the new year off - happy days.  It was downhill from there, for a number of reasons my work schedule went through the roof and my evenings became occupied.  I had social commitments on one of the weekends (CTT dinner - see link) and family commitments on the other (priority).

I didn't make it back into the saddle until the 28th of January, where I managed a 55miler to get the legs turning again.  In between, I did four HIIT sessions on the Wattbike (20M per session) when I could grab a spare hour. 

All in all, managed to (kind of) rescue the month, coming in at 204 miles (326KM) for the total.  You can see by my heart rate average (HRZ2 for me) and my speed that is was base mile time (cadence could of been a bit higher), if you want to learn more about base miles, read this.

Month to Date
Mileage- 204 miles
Ride Time - 14hrs 28mins
Climbing - 4,350 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.2 mph
Avg. HR - 122bpm
Avg. Cadence - 79rpm
Calories (estimate) 6,923
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -  21.3

Welcome to 2012

Reset your mileage clocks everyone, we're starting again.  It's day one of a new year when you can set some new objectives for this year around your bike. Happy New Year!

For lots of people, the key objectives are based upon achieving a certain mileage, me included.  This year however, I'm having a good think about those miles.  Just riding brings it's advantages of course, it keeps your heart fit, helps with the weight and gets you out in the fresh air.

If you want to achieve something more specific, like a power increase, getting better at hill climbing, building a specific aerobic base, completing your first time trial or riding your first century, then it will do you a whole lot of good if you think about what your absolute objective is then plan the type of miles you intend to do around that.  That is, train for what you want to achieve.

To be a better hill climber for example, you'd do well to lose some weight and get your power to weight ratio lower, so a good place to start would be some low heart rate zone rides to burn fat, then to build on your aerobic base and your strength.

I'm not a cycling coach, so please consult one if you have specific goals, my underlying point is that you would do well to get some advice and tailor your training plan accordingly.  Having a quick think about what I'd like to do on the bike this year.

1. I am keen to surpass 4,000 miles, with more emphasis on hillier miles (according to my Garmin log, my ascent was 149K in 2011.  End of year exit at 165K+ would be good - plus 10%).
2. I am keen for my power to weight ratio to be 10% higher than current (so I either need to lose weight or increase power, or both).  Current PWR is 3.35, target 3.70.
3. I'd like to go under 27 minutes for a 10M time trial by the end of the season (I've never done one, so this is a bit of a stab in the dark in terms of a time).

What are your plans?  Feel free to leave a comment and share with the other readers.