THE GOOD BUCK

I’ve been back to pushbike riding for 5 weeks, after 4 1/2 years off. (That bugs me. I knew the Windows code to do a half symbol, I don’t think there is one for Linux. Grrrrr.) Anyway, 5 weeks of tootling to work, and an hour on the turbo most days of the week. And I’ve revived an old pipe dream, and decided I’m doing it! A Lands End to John O’Groats (LEJOG) pushbike ride! I’ve been put off by the amount of agony I’m in at the end of 112 miles on a triathlon, but I’ve found out there are specific touring bikes that are “comfortable” *sceptical face*. I’m looking at one. It’s a Dawes Galaxy. It was the go-to for bike tourers for decades. They’ve discontinued the range, but there are quite a few going second hand, and for buttons. I just missed out on one in Liverpool for £130. On top of a gazzillion spokes to make the wheels bulletproof, 3 chain rings at the front to get you up any hill, really relaxed geometry and steel frame to make it all day comfortable, mudguards and rack, I also think it looks great. I love the British racing green colour and the classic styling. Once I’ve got the bike I’ll do some big miles, leading up to a 3 day, 100+ miles a day, test. If I can do all that, May ’26 I’m going to batter the LEJOG. I was going to do B&Bs, but now I’m thinking self supported camping, to make it more of an adventure. This means lots of fun research/ obsessive rabbit-holing on light, robust, bikepacking tents, solar chargers, etc, etc. FUN! I’ve shared the idea about, nobody in the family wants to come with me. So that’s the plan for next year, then maybe a full Iron distance tri, as it would be a shame to waste a thousand miles of bike training. Today was a good day. I swam 2000m (my half is 1.2 miles, 1934m) in 50 minutes, and I felt OK, doing it. I think I’m making progress. Then an hour on TrainerRoad (that’s the way I jumped, better for the training) followed immediately by a 6 mile run. Then I took my tri bike off the trainer and rode it to the bike shop for a consult. The guy said my stem is too long, I’m stretching out, and said the arse agony is down to the saddle. He said to just fit a regular road bike saddle. He didn’t charge me for the advice, and gave me a free stem! I bought a cheapo (£30) road saddle. I tried it when I got back (only for a minute or so) but as soon as I sat on it I felt the pressure on my sit bones, not my poorly sore nethers. I’m really hoping that that fixes it. A damn shame I had to go through agony in the past, if so. Especially as I’ve been […]

I’m in the groove of expecting to be riding my pushbike now. To work, to the shops, etc. After my initial excitement with the Sufferfest I’ve got a bit sad with it. I still love the Sufferfest workouts, which they’ve kept, but the vast majority of the site is Wahoo Systm training videos. It’s tedious. Some boring footage talking to cycling teams and of them on the races. The other day I took my glasses off so I wouldn’t have to keep reading the subtitles. I was thinking of switching to TrainerRoad when my trial runs out, but that is the ultimate in boring, just a graph of the power you should be maintaining and your ride date. Hmmm. The only thing in TRs favour is it is hardcore about improving you. I just went to see if they do free trials (they don’t) and ended up reading a Systm vs TR review. There doesn’t seem to be much in it. Systm is better because of the diversity of training available (yoga, mental training, tri, strength, etc) but TR is better dedicated bike training. If you’ve got the self motivation to do the work, through the boredom. Anyway, despite not being Sufferfest, the Systm workouts have been working me. I thought at first it was still too easy, like MyWhoosh, but then they threw in one where I was hanging on, wondering if I was going to quit, by 7 minutes of a 50+ minute ride. If some of them really challenge me, I can believe the plan will work. Another less than ideal thing is that split nosed saddle I got. I was trying to toughen up to it, but I had an easy 90 minute ride the other day, and by 50 minutes I was standing up to relieve the discomfort. I’ve fitted a cheap, Chinese knock-off snub nosed saddle I had in the shed and ordered the Fizik Mistica saddle it was ripping off. It’s second hand so not ridiculously expensive. I’ll see if that works any better. It’s the saddle I did the full Iron distance tri on. That was misery, but with practice, a good pad, and lube, maybe a half won’t be so bad. My tri suit arrived today. I took it for a spin on the trainer. Here’s a still from a video I shot to observe my position on the bike. I think that’s reasonable. my arse is in line with back of the upright, my leg is at the bottom of the stroke and still has some bend, my elbows are in the cups, my ears are not far from being over my elbows, and my back is fairly flat (not hunched). Looking at it, I could possibly drop the tri bars flat and lower them to the head stock. That would flatten me out more, but would make it a more extreme position. Despite my best hopes for the newfangled and ultra comfortable pad, it still felt like a thin […]

I’ve not been on the motorbike all week. I’ve cycled to the gym, to the shops, and to work. I’ve got to build my bike fitness. I wasn’t sure about the MyWhoosh ramp test. I tested as a very weak 153 FTP, a few days later I got it to 165, still poor but better, obviously. I was suspicious of the accuracy of the test, and the degree of difficulty of the training plan they set me. It just seemed too easy. Even easy days should have the odd burst of hard. Long story short, I signed up for The Sufferfest again. I got the free trial so I’m not paying for it yet, but the first ride out I was back in my happy place. Hard bits to make you work, motivational text, and fun to get you through the tough bits. I will be signing up for the paid subscription. I did a few easy rides as they prepared me for their fitness test. I had a swim this morning, gave it a few hours to rest and recover, then took the test. It’s killer. 56 minutes, warm up, max power sprints, max sustainable power for 5 minutes, recover, max sustainable power for 20 minutes, recover, all in effort at ridiculous watts for 1 minute. It smashes you. After that test they’ve upped my FTP to 182. Armed with my new FTP I’ve signed up for an improver plan with Sufferfest. The other good thing about the bike is (apart from the tests) I can stay on the aero bars for the whole hour. I’ve been applying the ethos “comfortable is fast” to everything (If you are comfortable in your position you can stay in it, if it’s too painful you’ll break aero by wriggling around). The bike seems pretty comfy, the saddle is supposed to be the best bet, once I get toughened up to it, and I’ve put insoles from my trainers into my cycling shoes. On several races crushing the nerve in my foot on to a hard surface repeatedly has made my foot go dead, then become absolute misery. It was hurting so much I was happy to get out on the run, despite being exhausted. Insoles will lose me some power over the course of the race, but if my foot isn’t in agony, I’ll be more able to keep on pushing. The thing I’ve been obsessing over this week is a tri suit. I have two requirements: sleeves (more aero, save sunburn) and the best, most comfortable seat pad. I don’t want this again. I read review after review, a couple of times the brand name Zoot came up as the comfiest tri suit on the test. By a lot. So I looked at them. One seemed perfect. Big pockets, front opens right up for on the run, excellent pad. It’s 6mm thick at the front, where you be perched on the aero bars, and 3mm at the back. Enough for the […]

I ordered the exact same gear cassette as is on the new bike to fit to the trainer, but the next day I got impatient and fitted the one off the bike to it. Yup. No more grinding. What a dumbarse! Years I was cursing that trainer, and it was just the wrong size gears for the chain. I did a ride one day, then a ramp test the next to set my fitness. There were about 10 increases in wattage resistance, and the trainer tracked them all. That’s saved me £400, I don’t need a new trainer. Also on the cheap, that free cycling app I started using a while back, MyWhoosh, has really upped it’s game. It’s got the boring blocks of effort (bottom of screen) from Trainer Road, the social aspect (other real people to race against, go on group rides with) and the pretty graphics of Zwift, the text encouragement/ distraction of Sufferfest, it connects to my trainer and equipment, has training plans, and it’s free. Amazing. I’ve started a fitness building plan. I’ve only done the first day but it might be too easy. I might jump to the next level if it doesn’t get tougher. I’ve fitted my new saddle to the bike. It’s supposed to be a period of adjustment to the weird design and new sitting position. I don’t find it too bad so far. I’m quite happy with the riding position of the bike. I’m still adjusting the seat height/ fore and aft, but straight away the bike plonks you into a pretty reasonable aero position. A bike fitter would probably swoon at that picture, and it’s not extreme aero, (and I’m too fat) but that’s a fairly straight back, the straight line from my hips to my shoulders has roughly half my body on either side of it, and I did an hour’s training today and barely moved off the tri bars, so it’s sustainable. I’m not getting all of my runs in as per the marathon plan, but I figure small (4 or 5 miles) straight after the swim is punishing them enough to keep me run fit. Also I’m trying not to overdo it as I still have the sore knee. Because I don’t want to do a long run after a swim I swapped my days. Long run today (Sunday) then I can swim, go the dentists, and ride tomorrow. The long run was supposed to be 17 miles, the knee thing said not to go too fast on it, so I decided to do a few hills instead. That was TOUGH! But I had enough in me to make it home without any worry of quitting. Then I did an hour on the bike trainer. It was hard to motivate myself to start again, but the session was surprisingly easy, especially for a fitness building plan. As I say, if I can stay on the aero bars for virtually the whole session, after that beasting on […]

I’ve jumped straight back into my latest obsession. For once I’m not avoiding the swim. I suck at it, but I have a plan. I’m trying to swim at least 3 times a week, that will build up strength, and every session I’m working on my faults. I’ve an ongoing battle with the breathing. I need to keep my head in the water and my mouth has to barely clear it. That is tough. But it’s something I’m committed to mastering. I’m having better luck sorting out my stroke. There is a simple drill to stop you windmilling. Basically keep the front hand stretched out until the other hand slaps it in passing. As soon as I stop thinking about it I go back to windmilling and one stroke just disappears in a powerless flop. But I’ve managed to do a few lengths where I stick to it. I’m hoping it will become muscle memory. The other thing I’m working on is rotating on to both sides, so I have a high elbow, clear of the water. And forcing my chest down to make my legs stay up. I’ll work through my faults as best as I’m able, building some strength in the process, then I’ll book a one to one session with a swim coach. In the last week I’ve done three swims. I found out on the second swim, my watch, by some voodoo, can record laps even in an indoor pool. Cool. Way better than manually clicking the ring-like device I was using last time, I always missed clicks. Swimming is my big challenge on triathlon. I’m weak and slow. I always think if I’ve beat the cut off for the swim section I’m on to finish the race. That’s why, this time, I’m determined to crack swimming. For a half tri it’s a 1.1 mile swim with a 1 hour 10 cut off. I did 53 minutes swimming on my second go and covered 1.05 miles. It’s in the bag! The next discipline is the bike leg. For a half its 56 miles. In the past I had a Canyon all singing, all dancing tri bike that cost thousands. And I was crap. So it made the bike an embarrassment. All the gear, no idea. This time I wanted a cheap bike that was good enough. I stumbled across Quintana Roo brand. They specialise in tri bikes. I’ve gone the way of fitting tri bars to a road bike in the past, but he geometry is always compromised then. I saw a few on eBay for around £400+, which is a good price compared to thousands, but they were all too big. Then I saw one for £200, in a S/M size, and the seller was 5′ 6″! Perfect! I set a bid sniper and got it for the asking price. The only downside is it was collection only in the ghetto of Kensington, London village. I thought going late on a Sunday I would have […]