When I started writing this in March, I thought a weekly update of how my training is going would be a good thing to aspire to. Obviously, that hasn't happened, so what I'm now aiming at is 10 weekly updates till we get on the plane to Italy. By the way, that's Iron Bike on the left. Might be better know as Iron Walk.
A quick summary of the between then and now would give a coach (if I had one) reason to tell me that more work is required. Lots of excuses, but looking back on my performance so far this year, I think I'm probably in a better state than I was way back in 2006, worrying about the TransAlp.
2 weeks ago I raced at the Gorrick 100, http://www.gorrick.com and finished a decent enough 30th out of 90 ish starters. Everyone said it was a much harder course than last year, but I wasn't sure; I bonked so badly on lap 4 last year that it seemed easier!
Last weekend I made the most of the good weather by punishing myself on Saturday with some hill intervals between Lambourn and Wantage. I made good use on my Powertap as it provides an excellent indication of your effort on each repeat. Sunday was an early start, with 90 km on The Ridgeway. It was the first time I had ridden my Scott Genius in over a year, so I was checking out whether it still worked, as it will be being carried up all those Italian passes. Piece or advice: ride your chosen bike plenty of times before you commit to lugging it on a multi day race. My rear must have changed shape over the last year as the saddle was very uncomfortable, so I'll be ordering something else soon.
If I haven't plugged Trailjunkies for this, then let me just say that this was bought from them and Craig built me a lovely lightweight wheel with the hub that's now a permanent fixture on my road bike. I would recommend anyone that's serious about training, looks into power based riding. Trailjunkies have a wheel which they can hire to customers, so go and ask Neal about it. If you want some help on understanding it then give me a shout.
Anyway, this week's training has been interupted quite badly by work and today by the weather, so the weekend will be another punisher.
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