2011 Review

Here's my review of 2011, both personal and things in road cycling generally.  It's not meant to be exhaustive, just a few things that have stood out to me personally as a casual observor.  It's been quite a year on a lot of levels......

January

• Spanish rider Alberto Contador is cleared of doping charges by the Spanish cycling federation.  The 2010 Tour de France winner is still awaiting a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport as to whether his title will be stripped from him after Clenbuterol was discovered in his system at a routine drugs test.
• Britains Ben Swift takes third spot in the Santos Tour down Under.
• Former two times Hour record holder and World Champion Graeme Obree announces he's gay.  Article.
• My YTD Mileage - 380M/608KM

February

• Storck Scenero wins Cycling Plus "Bike of the Year" award.  Article.  (Storck has subsequently been aquired by fitness chain Decathlon - watch this space).
• My YTD Mileage - 685M/1,096KM

 March

• The 2011 World Track Championships take place in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.  Australia top the medal chart.  France's Gregory takes the Gold in the mens sprint, Britains Jason Kenny takes Silver, ahead of Sir Chris Hoy in third place.  Team GB re-state that everything is on track for London 2012.  
• Brtiains Laura Trott, Wendy Houvenaghel and Danielle King take Britains only gold medal in the Womens team pursuit.  Results here.
• Specialized launch their Venge bike, Mark Cavendish rode this in 2011.  Article.
• Bradley Wiggins takes third spot in Paris-Nice.  Things looking good for the Tour de France.
• My YTD Mileage - 993/1,589KM  

April 

• Take delivery of my new road bike - an Onix Azzuro.  Article.
• Paris-Roubaix (The Hell of the North) is won by Belgian Johan Vansummeren.
• Mark Cavendish wins the one day classic Grote Scheldeprijs.

 May

• Rode the Fred Whitton sportive.  My hardest ever day in the saddle.  Article.
• Pro Cyclist Wouter Weylandt dies after an accident at the Giro d'Italia.  RIP.  Article.
• Spanish rider Alberto Contador wins the Giro d'Italia overall, taking two stage wins along the way.  GC here.
• Geraint Thomas wins the Bayern-Rundfahrt.
• My YTD Mileage - 1,401M/2,241KM

 June

• Get my Dolan Ares back from Performance Race Art with a brand new paint job tributed to my blog featuring every GC winner of the Tour de France from its inception to 2010 on the headtube.  Article.
• Bradley Wiggins wins the Critérium du Dauphiné.  Go Bradley!
• My YTD Mileage - 1,663M/2,660KM 

 July

• Tour de France.  One of the best weekends I've ever enjoyed.  Article.  
• Cadel Evans takes the yellow jersey, Mark Cavendish takes the green jersey.  I thought Cadel a worthy winner and Cav is the man when it comes to points and stage wins.
• Britans GC hope - Bradley Wiggins - retires with a broken collarbone following a crash.
• Still no English rider in the top 10 of the GC!  GC here.
• My YTD Mileage - 2,240M/3,584KM  

 August

• Paralympic Gold Medallist Simon Richardson is knocked off his bike and critically injured in a road collision for the second time.  The driver is subsequently charged with dangerous driving.  Articles.
• 2011 Vuelta a Espana is won by Spains Juan Jose Cobo.  Britains Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky, take 2nd and 3rd place.  GC here.
• David Millar takes third spot in the Eneco Tour.
• My YTD Mileage - 2,595M/4,152KM   

 September

• Mark Cavendish wins the rainbow jersey at the 2011 UCI World Road Championships.  The pinnacle of a three year plan which saw the first rainbow jersey in over 50 years for a UK rider.  Bradley Wiggins comes second in the time trial.
• Britains Lucy Garner takes the rainbow jersey in the Womens Junior Road race at the World Championships.  Results here.
• My YTD Mileage - 3018M/4,829KM  

 October

• James Cracknell and Jerone Waters attempt to break the end to end tandem record. Article.
• Built my winter bike.  Article.
• Britains David Millar takes second place in the Tour of Beijing, with Chris Froome taking third place.
• ROSPA report that 111 cyclists have been killed on the road in 2011 so far.  2,660 seriously injured, 14,414 slightly injured.
• My YTD Mileage - 3,337M/5,339KM  

November

• Belgian Phillipe Gilbert tops the UCI world rankings.
• Rob Hayles retires from cycling.  A fantastic ambassador.  Article.
• My YTD Mileage - 3,539M/5,662KM   

December 

• Wiggle sells for £180M. Article.
• Graeme Obree launches his training manual. Article.
• Mark Cavendish wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year.  Well deserved.
• My YTD Mileage - 3,658M/5,852KM   

2011 has seen around 170 articles published on the blog and over 200K hits, thanks all for continuing to visit.  It pleases me a huge amount when people say that the blog has helped them in one way or another.  Blogging takes time, those that write blogs will tell you that, there's plenty of failed bloggers out there (I'm a previous first time round failed blogger), so I appreciate it when people pass comment, it makes the time investment worthwhile.

So, what have been your highlights?  Feel free to leave a comment.  Here's to a safe 2012.

November Ride Stats

Not a brilliant month for miles, but not too bad for climbing, relative to those miles. 

I've had two weekends without rides this month, down to holidays and other commitments, which has knocked back my monthly mileage.  However, the rides I've done have had more ascent in them relative to distance, so on the positive side, that will do the legs some good.

Now that I've got a gear ratio set-up on my winter bike which gives me a lower gear range, I don't find climbing as tough as I did previously, so I hope to do a few more challenging rides over the next few months.  Year to date I've climbed nearly 97K feet, which equates to riding up Everest over three times, be good to click over 100,000ft soon.

At the beginning of the year, I set a target of 4,000 road miles, at present I'm 461 miles short, so with Christmas coming and a very busy schedule ahead, I may fall a little short of that.  I'm going to push on as hard as I can and see what I can make up as the month elapses.

Month to Date
Mileage- 202 miles
Ride Time - 13hrs 44mins
Climbing - 7,431 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.7 mph
Avg. HR - (Not captured)
Avg. Cadence - (Not captured)
Calories (estimate) 11,476

YTD
Mileage- 3,539 miles
Ride Time - 241hrs 41mins
Climbing - 96,912 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.6 mph
Avg. HR - (Not captured)
Avg. Cadence - (Not captured)
Calories (estimate) 220,056

October Mileage

Just a little shy of my monthly target this month.  I target to try and achieve 350 miles per month on the bike as my base expecation to keep improving/maintaining fitness.  October saw a couple of Saturdays written off, so that has had an impact on my overall mileage.  Nevertheless, little bit more climbing this month, whilst the weather is still OK.


Month to Date
Mileage- 319 miles
Ride Time - 20hrs 45mins
Climbing - 8,815 ft
Avg. Speed - 15.4 mph
Avg. HR - (Not captured)
Avg. Cadence - 84
Calories (estimate) 22,832


YTD
Mileage- 3,337 miles
Ride Time - 228hrs 03 mins
Climbing - 89,482 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.6 mph
Avg. HR - 131
Avg. Cadence - 79
Calories (estimate) 208,581

September Ride Stats

September saw me tick over 3,000 miles for the year.  A much improved month with an average of 100 miles per week, plus a higher ascent, which resultantly pulled my average speed back.  My aim this year was to click over 4,000 miles, so with three months to go, I'm positive (subject to illness and weather) that I can achieve that.

My winter bike build should be ready at the end of this month, which will mean I've got a robust aluminium frameset, with full mudguards and wider tyres to ride through the winter wind and rain - happy days.

One thing that does interest me is the amount of climbing I've done this year.  Looking back to when I first started, anything with a slight incline I called a hill to be avoided at all costs.  The Fred Whitton sportive taught me what hills were! 

I'm not the fastest, I'm not particularly built for hill climbing with my frame, but I do get up them now.  This I put down to just having an increased level of fitness and more determination, where i would have previously walked, now I try harder!

I'm never going to be the fastest going up, on the straights, over long distances or in a time-trial.  I don't cycle for that.  I cycle to feel fit, to have time to think, to meet new people, enjoy some new scenery, take me away from the laptop screen and also because I love the technology, bike bling and wider elements of the sport. 

I haven't lost much weight this year, despite the calories burned, this post I wrote a year ago goes some way to explaining why.  I predict a slow, base-mile driven winter as I'm determined to get my weight down and come into Spring 2012 stronger.

Month to Date
Mileage- 423 miles

Ride Time - 31hrs 33mins
Climbing - 11,564 ft
Avg. Speed - 13.4 mph
Avg. HR - (Not captured)
Avg. Cadence - 84
Calories (estimate) 26,915


YTD
Mileage- 3,018 miles
Ride Time - 207hrs 14 mins
Climbing - 80,663 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.6 mph
Avg. HR - 131
Avg. Cadence - 79
Calories (estimate) 185,747

August Mileage

August Ride Stats

I was on the back foot right from the off in August, with our annual holiday consuming the first ten days of the month.  I mentioned in last months mileage update that I picked up a virus which I carried for my whole holiday. It absolutely knocked me for six, so the prospects for August weren't looking brilliant, with a need to keep my heart rate stable and not push too hard.

As it happens, I managed to turn it round in the back couple of weeks and meet my monthly mileage target of 350 miles, albeit a bit more slowly at base miles rate.  Start to September hasn't been too bad, I've managed to get in two rides totalling 112 miles (180km) this weekend and the legs felt fine, so hopefully I'm over the viral thing now and can get back to business as usual.

Month to Date
Mileage-  355 miles
Ride Time - 23hrs 25mins
Climbing - 8,495 ft
Avg. Speed - 15.2mph
Avg. HR - (Not captured)
Avg. Cadence - 82
Calories (estimate) 25,568

YTD
Mileage- 2,595 miles
Ride Time - 175hrs 40mins
Climbing - 74,350 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.8 mph
Avg. HR - 136
Avg. Cadence - 78
Calories (estimate) 158,832

July Ride Stats

July Ride Stats

July has been a total write off for me on the bike.  Two weekends away with my Brother's stag night and wedding, plus the Tour de France meant only two rides during the month.

I picked up a nasty virus in the closing days of July which I took away with me on my annual holiday - it lasted ten days, so having just returned, August is looking pretty shaky too - so I'll have some work to do if I'm to reach my 4,000 mile target by the end of the year.

One thing I've learned about recovering from a virus is to build back up steadily.   Doing some work on a static bike in the gym whilst away, it's obvious that my engine has taken a battering, so back to some base miles for me, nothing too strenuous, building it up again gradually.

Month to Date
Mileage- 180 miles
Ride Time - 10hrs 19mins
Climbing - 4,022 ft
Avg. Speed - 15.5mph
Avg. HR - (Not captured)
Avg. Cadence - 82
Calories (estimate)11,925

YTD
Mileage- 2,240 miles
Ride Time - 152hrs 15mins
Climbing - 65,855 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.7 mph
Avg. HR - 136
Avg. Cadence - 78
Calories (estimate) 135,264

June Ride Stats

June Ride Stats

Month to Date
Mileage- 397 miles
Ride Time - 25hrs 33mins
Climbing - 11,664 ft
Avg. Speed - 15.5mph
Avg. HR - (Not captured)
Avg. Cadence - 79
Calories (estimate) 28,108

YTD
Mileage- 2060 miles
Ride Time - 140hrs 56mins
Climbing - 61,833 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.6mph
Avg. HR - 136
Avg. Cadence - 77
Calories (estimate) 123,341

May Ride Stats

Mileage took a bit of a hit in May.  After the Fred Whitton Challenge, I found it difficult to find time for some longer rides, just modern life.  Got some catching up to do in June.  This month I've got the Deloitte Ride Across Britain stage mid month and I've opened the account with 90 miles this w/end, so June should show an improvement as the month unfolds. 

Month to Date

Mileage- 255 miles
Ride Time - 19hrs 10mins
Climbing - 16,323 ft
Avg. Speed - 13.3mph
Avg. HR - Not Recorded
Avg. Cadence - 87
Calories (estimate) 19,487
YTD
Mileage- 1663 miles
Ride Time - 115hrs 22mins
Climbing - 50,169 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.4mph
Avg. HR - 136
Avg. Cadence - 77
Calories (estimate) 95,233

April Ride Stats

Month to Date
Mileage- 408 miles
Ride Time - 24hrs 45mins
Climbing - 11,620 ft
Avg. Speed - 16.5mph
Avg. HR - 152
Avg. Cadence - 80
Calories (estimate) 26,616

YTD
Mileage- 1407 miles
Ride Time - 96hrs 12mins
Climbing - 33,846 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.6mph
Avg. HR - 136
Avg. Cadence - 75
Calories (estimate) 75,746

March Ride Stats

Mileage- 308 miles
Ride Time - 22hrs 43mins
Climbing - 9613 ft
Avg. Speed - 13.6mph
Avg. HR - 125
Avg. Cadence - 70
Calories (estimate) 18,595

February Ride Stats

Mileage- 305 miles
Ride Time - 21hrs 08mins
Climbing - 4444 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.4mph
Avg. HR - 133
Avg. Cadence - 69
Calories (estimate) 11,472

Missed my last ride of the month (Sunday) due to the weather. That's knocked me back a bit in terms of the monthly miles I'm targetting (350-400).

January Ride Stats

Mileage- 380 miles
Ride Time - 26hrs 45mins
Climbing - 8169 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.2mph
Avg. HR - 139
Avg. Cadence - 80
Calories (estimate) 19,063