Time flies, you cannot, their flight is imperceptible.
VI) I managed 10 miles in 1190 seconds in the Las Vegas Institute of Sport 10 (great name). That is 19'50 at 48.8km/h in the new money, which means that I broke the 20 minute barrier :-) And I came second in a field of ~170 riders, which I did not expect at all. Didn't get close to the winner (Rich Bradley, 19'34) but that's OK.
It was a reasonably fast day: warmish and windy, but the wind was behind you coming back, which is when you need it. Also because I started at 6:21pm, there was still a bit of traffic on the road. That is one reason why these events are so quick - probably worth 1-2 km/h compared to a traffic free event. That's not to say it was really busy, but even one car coming past you every 10 seconds makes a difference.
In power terms, I had a good ride: 340W average, which is +10W on my previous best 10 this year. I'm looking for another 15-20W, but I'm slowly getting there.
For comparison, Brad Wiggins (a few kg heavier than me) did a 10 on one of the fastest courses in the country at Levens. He clocked 18'00, just two seconds slower than his own comp record. And to do that, he needed 490W(!) according to his team manager Jonathan Vaughters. And a front wheel that was too deep according to CTT regulations, but that would have only given him a couple of seconds.
So I just need to boost my power by 40% and I'll be a contendah in the Tour de France ;-)
VII) I backed up last Tuesday to do the Dursley 25.1, round 10 of the hardrider series. I was 11sec quicker than last year (for 15W less power) but this time Ben got the better of me by just one second! That balances things out after I beat him by a second in the Somer Valley hardrider event. Pretty funny that we're that close - in power terms that's about 0.3W.
What that means is that I'm probably the leader in the hardrider series, having now done six races. I really need to do one more of the last three races and finish top three to secure it, because I only finished 7th in one of my six races. Strangely, despite missing several, I'm in a better position than last year because the wins have been shared around between Ben, Gavin Poupart, Chris Madge and Rob Lyne.
VIII) El Tour is interesting this year, despite the likelihood of an Astana 1-2 (it ain't over until it's over though). In fact, it's the battle between Lance and Contador that is creating the drama. I'm still tipping Contador but you should never discount Lance in the Tour, no matter how old he is.
If you want to know how good the pros are at descending, check out this video of Fabian Cancellara chasing back on after a puncture. 4:05-4:25 is incredible.
IX) Had a nice visitation from Ma for a few days, involving various fine dining options. Bath is OK if you know where to go. And pretty ordinary if you don't.
X) Rode across Salisbury Plain yesterday and didn't get blown up or run over by a tank. There was one bit that I thought was public road but it very likely wasn't. I won't be doing that again, although it did make a nice change.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
The news in brief
I) It's heating up around here. 29 degs by the end of the week, which almost qualifies as warm.
II) I managed the Dave Lloyd (240km + 30km to Wrexham station!) in a tad over 9 hours this year, including 5km going off course 'cos someone had turned a sign around... It only rained lightly for four hours this year. A biggish feature will make it into Cycling Plus.
III) The Dave Lloyd was on Sunday and I felt as though I'd been nailed to the bed on Monday (didn't ride). Tuesday was a bit better and on Wednesday I did the club 25 mile champs. I managed to get around in 55'36 to win - a bit slower than last time (55'13), similar power, but the wind was in the opposite direction, so the start was 5km of headwind instead of tailwind. Ben was second in 56'14 and Simon Snowden third in 58'52.
IV) I did the Bristol South 50 on a warm but calm Saturday evening. Started at 6:40pm and finished approx 1:44:05 later. Good - a new club record and better than my 1:45:19 on that course last year - but alas not good enough to do better than fourth. Only 291W average though, which was a little disappointing. I'd have needed a bit over 300 to win.
But I'm aiming to peak a little later this year - last year I was knocking out 335-340W/hour in July and August, but tailed off a little in Sept. This year I'd prefer to have a stronger September, so will do some proper training in July. We shall see! I have seemingly more than made up for the lack of power with aero improvements, which is promising.
V) Been busy.
II) I managed the Dave Lloyd (240km + 30km to Wrexham station!) in a tad over 9 hours this year, including 5km going off course 'cos someone had turned a sign around... It only rained lightly for four hours this year. A biggish feature will make it into Cycling Plus.
III) The Dave Lloyd was on Sunday and I felt as though I'd been nailed to the bed on Monday (didn't ride). Tuesday was a bit better and on Wednesday I did the club 25 mile champs. I managed to get around in 55'36 to win - a bit slower than last time (55'13), similar power, but the wind was in the opposite direction, so the start was 5km of headwind instead of tailwind. Ben was second in 56'14 and Simon Snowden third in 58'52.
IV) I did the Bristol South 50 on a warm but calm Saturday evening. Started at 6:40pm and finished approx 1:44:05 later. Good - a new club record and better than my 1:45:19 on that course last year - but alas not good enough to do better than fourth. Only 291W average though, which was a little disappointing. I'd have needed a bit over 300 to win.
But I'm aiming to peak a little later this year - last year I was knocking out 335-340W/hour in July and August, but tailed off a little in Sept. This year I'd prefer to have a stronger September, so will do some proper training in July. We shall see! I have seemingly more than made up for the lack of power with aero improvements, which is promising.
V) Been busy.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Go faster stripes
I like time trialling because it feeds my numerical obsession. But sometimes it can be confusing. Pinning down why you're fast on a particular day when you're not on another should be a matter of power and aerodynamics, but sometimes there are things that you can't explain easily.
I've done two 25 milers in the last week. Both were largely on dragstrip-type dual carriageway courses, both had a moderate amount of traffic and wind, similar air pressure, and I averaged exactly the same power for both (314W).
One was the nationals, where I did 54'49 for 43rd. The other was the Dursley 25 on Saturday evening, where I flew around to win in 50'49 - a new personal best and club record, and I think the second fastest time ever on the U46B (Richard Prebble has done 50'02 on it). Interestingly, my old PB of 52'02 was set on the same course last year in June with almost the same power output (315W).
The other interesting thing is that I put 1'30-1'50 into riders who beat me or finished close to me at the nationals. Had I done that in Norwich, I'd have been top 15. So there was a relative gain as well as an absolute one, but for no extra power. What gives?
Some of the absolute gain is explainable. The nationals course was about 0'30-1'00 slower because of the two sets of right hand turns and the roundabout that I had to slow for each lap 'cos of traffic. Plus it was a headwind/tailwind at the nationals and about 12 degrees, whereas it was a crosswind and 18 degrees in the Dursley event. Crosswinds are faster when you've got an aero frame and disk, 'cos of the sail effect. What's that worth? It'll have to be another 2'00, but I suspect I'm being generous.
I made a couple of equipment changes too: I pumped up the tyres to ~140psi instead of ~110 (only good if you've got good roads). I finally got to use my newly purchased Zipp 808 with a Planet X FMB tubular on it - definitely quicker than my usual Zipp 404 + clincher. The tyre/wheel combination makes a lovely singing sound as you ride along. Unfortunately it didn't drown out the song that was going through my head: Hit Me Baby One More Time, by the much misunderstood chanteuse Britney Spears. Don't ask me how that got there 'cos I don't know.
I also bought a Specialized aero bottle, which although it was tilted to one side probably provided a bit of a fairing compared to a normal bottle. I got some new Pearl Izumi shoe covers - a bit better than my rather tatty lycra ones. And I mounted my computer on the top tube, which was more aero but resulted in a bruised left knee 'cos I kept hitting it on the upstroke. Bit of a fail there.
Finally I was riding in new shoes and had abstained from alcohol for a whole week. Shocking I know. But neither seemed to affect my power output, which is a Good Thing.
So that's the other 1'00-1'30 in absolute and relative terms. Well, it'll have to be.
Pacing wise, from a power perspective I was about the same in the Dursley as I was at the nationals. Speed wise, I seemed to get faster in the Dursley despite dropping power, so I dunno what was going on there 'cos the traffic would have been getting lighter towards the end of my ride (I started at 6pm, finished at 6:50). But I do remember in the first 8km I was getting used to riding the 808 at speed (it's deeper so it wobbles more in a crosswind), so would have been putting out more power than necessary. On the second lap I'd figured out how to stop it moving around so much.
My splits were nice and even: 10miles/16.1km in 20'18, 12.5miles/20.1km in 25'25, 15miles/24.1km in 30'34, 25 miles/40.2km in 50'49. So the last 10 miles was about the same as the first 10, allowing for the standing start.
It was nice to win against a full field anyway, and points to some faster times later in the year. Also good to see Robin do his first race for Chippenham (54'06), as well as 13 year-old Luke Davies knock four minutes off his best to clock 1'05'14. He reckons he's raced six times in the last eight days, so it's obviously knocking him into shape.
Next up: the Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge next weekend (jeez I hope it doesn't rain again). It's now 240km and finishes at the top of a steep hill. Plus I'll have to ride to Wrexham station afterwards, so it could be a 270km day.
The weekend after that, I'm doing a 50 mile TT (a similar course to yesterday's 25), then the next week a 10, again on a similar course. The aim is to go under 20 minutes for that 10...
I've done two 25 milers in the last week. Both were largely on dragstrip-type dual carriageway courses, both had a moderate amount of traffic and wind, similar air pressure, and I averaged exactly the same power for both (314W).
One was the nationals, where I did 54'49 for 43rd. The other was the Dursley 25 on Saturday evening, where I flew around to win in 50'49 - a new personal best and club record, and I think the second fastest time ever on the U46B (Richard Prebble has done 50'02 on it). Interestingly, my old PB of 52'02 was set on the same course last year in June with almost the same power output (315W).
The other interesting thing is that I put 1'30-1'50 into riders who beat me or finished close to me at the nationals. Had I done that in Norwich, I'd have been top 15. So there was a relative gain as well as an absolute one, but for no extra power. What gives?
Some of the absolute gain is explainable. The nationals course was about 0'30-1'00 slower because of the two sets of right hand turns and the roundabout that I had to slow for each lap 'cos of traffic. Plus it was a headwind/tailwind at the nationals and about 12 degrees, whereas it was a crosswind and 18 degrees in the Dursley event. Crosswinds are faster when you've got an aero frame and disk, 'cos of the sail effect. What's that worth? It'll have to be another 2'00, but I suspect I'm being generous.
I made a couple of equipment changes too: I pumped up the tyres to ~140psi instead of ~110 (only good if you've got good roads). I finally got to use my newly purchased Zipp 808 with a Planet X FMB tubular on it - definitely quicker than my usual Zipp 404 + clincher. The tyre/wheel combination makes a lovely singing sound as you ride along. Unfortunately it didn't drown out the song that was going through my head: Hit Me Baby One More Time, by the much misunderstood chanteuse Britney Spears. Don't ask me how that got there 'cos I don't know.
I also bought a Specialized aero bottle, which although it was tilted to one side probably provided a bit of a fairing compared to a normal bottle. I got some new Pearl Izumi shoe covers - a bit better than my rather tatty lycra ones. And I mounted my computer on the top tube, which was more aero but resulted in a bruised left knee 'cos I kept hitting it on the upstroke. Bit of a fail there.
Finally I was riding in new shoes and had abstained from alcohol for a whole week. Shocking I know. But neither seemed to affect my power output, which is a Good Thing.
So that's the other 1'00-1'30 in absolute and relative terms. Well, it'll have to be.
Pacing wise, from a power perspective I was about the same in the Dursley as I was at the nationals. Speed wise, I seemed to get faster in the Dursley despite dropping power, so I dunno what was going on there 'cos the traffic would have been getting lighter towards the end of my ride (I started at 6pm, finished at 6:50). But I do remember in the first 8km I was getting used to riding the 808 at speed (it's deeper so it wobbles more in a crosswind), so would have been putting out more power than necessary. On the second lap I'd figured out how to stop it moving around so much.
My splits were nice and even: 10miles/16.1km in 20'18, 12.5miles/20.1km in 25'25, 15miles/24.1km in 30'34, 25 miles/40.2km in 50'49. So the last 10 miles was about the same as the first 10, allowing for the standing start.
It was nice to win against a full field anyway, and points to some faster times later in the year. Also good to see Robin do his first race for Chippenham (54'06), as well as 13 year-old Luke Davies knock four minutes off his best to clock 1'05'14. He reckons he's raced six times in the last eight days, so it's obviously knocking him into shape.
Next up: the Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge next weekend (jeez I hope it doesn't rain again). It's now 240km and finishes at the top of a steep hill. Plus I'll have to ride to Wrexham station afterwards, so it could be a 270km day.
The weekend after that, I'm doing a 50 mile TT (a similar course to yesterday's 25), then the next week a 10, again on a similar course. The aim is to go under 20 minutes for that 10...
Sunday, June 07, 2009
National 25: not there yet
Average. That's probably the best description of my ride in the national 25 today. Not great, not bad, in fact pretty much bang on form. But still slow.
I clocked 54'49 for 43rd on a windy day, but when you consider the winner's time was a scorching 48'23, it wasn't much to blog home about. I'm still lacking about 20W compared to peak fitness, which is annoying because I feel as though I've been getting there in the last few weeks. Obviously not yet.
But there were a positive things: it didn't actually rain while I was racing, which was a bloody miracle considering the dire forecast. It absolutely chucked it down not long after I finished, and I'm so glad I wasn't out there in it.
It was also good to race against the best riders in the country. They were pretty much all there, bar a few. And while I really would have liked a top 30, I realise that I need to be in really decent shape to get it. Maybe next year.
Hutch was amazing. He did the first half in 25'10. That's 48km/h average mostly into a stiff headwind! By contrast, my halfway split was 29'10. That means he was taking 20 seconds per mile out of me! At least it was only 10 sec/mile on the way back.
Put it this way, even in top form I would have been only a minute faster. Top 25, yes, but an enormous gulf behind Hutch. I'll have to live with that. I may tone down the beer drinking activities for a bit until I get fit.
A good experience nonetheless and Ben (54'37 - 37th), his dad and I had a fun weekend. Norfolk is flat.
BikeRadar Live last weekend was brilliant. A lot of work but it was so nice to see so many people (8500) come along and look like they were enjoying themselves. Bigger, better, more next year.
I clocked 54'49 for 43rd on a windy day, but when you consider the winner's time was a scorching 48'23, it wasn't much to blog home about. I'm still lacking about 20W compared to peak fitness, which is annoying because I feel as though I've been getting there in the last few weeks. Obviously not yet.
But there were a positive things: it didn't actually rain while I was racing, which was a bloody miracle considering the dire forecast. It absolutely chucked it down not long after I finished, and I'm so glad I wasn't out there in it.
It was also good to race against the best riders in the country. They were pretty much all there, bar a few. And while I really would have liked a top 30, I realise that I need to be in really decent shape to get it. Maybe next year.
Hutch was amazing. He did the first half in 25'10. That's 48km/h average mostly into a stiff headwind! By contrast, my halfway split was 29'10. That means he was taking 20 seconds per mile out of me! At least it was only 10 sec/mile on the way back.
Put it this way, even in top form I would have been only a minute faster. Top 25, yes, but an enormous gulf behind Hutch. I'll have to live with that. I may tone down the beer drinking activities for a bit until I get fit.
A good experience nonetheless and Ben (54'37 - 37th), his dad and I had a fun weekend. Norfolk is flat.
BikeRadar Live last weekend was brilliant. A lot of work but it was so nice to see so many people (8500) come along and look like they were enjoying themselves. Bigger, better, more next year.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
First 10 of the year
I didn't think it'd be nearly June before I rode my first 10 mile TT this year, but there you go.
On Saturday I did the Bristol South 10 on what local Mike Hallgarth calls the 'superfast' U7B course. He doth jest a little, although is faster now after the resurfacing of some of the worst bomb crater sections.
I did it because I didn't enter the national 10 in time 'cos I thought I'd still be injured. But no. I also needed the training. It's 45km each way so it's excellent for that purpose. And it was nice and sunny, over 20 degrees(!!) and not too windy.
Last August, when I was in pretty decent shape, I managed 21'30 on this course in similar conditions in a Dursley club event. Today I dun 20'50, which was easily good enough to win and was only six seconds off the course record. It hurt - I went out a bit too quick and paid for it on the way back - but it was worth it.
The slightly odd thing was, I averaged 15W lower than I did last August and yet was 40sec quicker. That's a massive difference. Unless my Powertap is playing up - and I don't think it is because I don't feel fully fit yet - I've made some serious aerodynamic gains from the new frame (which I'm reviewing) and position. I've noticed that I can ride a lot faster into headwinds, which is important. My climbing's still a bit rubbish, but I'm working on that.
That bodes well. Because once I get proper fit, that's another 20-30sec in a 10 and 1'30 in a 25.
I've had similar experiences in other opens: the WTTA 30 and Somer Valley 29, both averaged 310W but I was a lot faster than expected. I also averaged 310W in the club 25 last Wednesday, not going flat chat and still getting around in 55'13. That's not bad for a quiet course on dead roads (the course record is a bit under 55 minutes).
So if I can get back to cranking out 335-340W for an hour, and 350-360W for 20 minutes, I should expect some very quick times. I have already started training to that end and hopefully will get there by the end of June. Doors and fell beasts permitting, of course. Thinks: must watch out for Nazgul in Morrisons.
On Saturday I did the Bristol South 10 on what local Mike Hallgarth calls the 'superfast' U7B course. He doth jest a little, although is faster now after the resurfacing of some of the worst bomb crater sections.
I did it because I didn't enter the national 10 in time 'cos I thought I'd still be injured. But no. I also needed the training. It's 45km each way so it's excellent for that purpose. And it was nice and sunny, over 20 degrees(!!) and not too windy.
Last August, when I was in pretty decent shape, I managed 21'30 on this course in similar conditions in a Dursley club event. Today I dun 20'50, which was easily good enough to win and was only six seconds off the course record. It hurt - I went out a bit too quick and paid for it on the way back - but it was worth it.
The slightly odd thing was, I averaged 15W lower than I did last August and yet was 40sec quicker. That's a massive difference. Unless my Powertap is playing up - and I don't think it is because I don't feel fully fit yet - I've made some serious aerodynamic gains from the new frame (which I'm reviewing) and position. I've noticed that I can ride a lot faster into headwinds, which is important. My climbing's still a bit rubbish, but I'm working on that.
That bodes well. Because once I get proper fit, that's another 20-30sec in a 10 and 1'30 in a 25.
I've had similar experiences in other opens: the WTTA 30 and Somer Valley 29, both averaged 310W but I was a lot faster than expected. I also averaged 310W in the club 25 last Wednesday, not going flat chat and still getting around in 55'13. That's not bad for a quiet course on dead roads (the course record is a bit under 55 minutes).
So if I can get back to cranking out 335-340W for an hour, and 350-360W for 20 minutes, I should expect some very quick times. I have already started training to that end and hopefully will get there by the end of June. Doors and fell beasts permitting, of course. Thinks: must watch out for Nazgul in Morrisons.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Back to it
What a boring title.
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley. I had planned to take it easy for a few weeks after discovering how to stretch my calf, but I improved so quickly that I succumbed and raced in the Somer Valley 29 on Sunday.
Done alright too, as I won in 1:06:17, beating Ben by just 1 second (sorry mate). And together with Rob Gough, we won the team prize. Simon Snowden might be a bit annoyed at that because he wasn't that far behind Rob, but it's only the top three that count for team prizes. Given that there were four of us in the top eight, we could have won the team prize with any combination.
But the win wasn't the important thing. For me it felt good to finally be able to put equal force through both legs without deleterious effects. The stretching I've been doing over the past week has made a huge difference as I don't feel any pain any more. It's not 100 percent yet because I'm still getting a little bit of swelling around the Achilles, but being pain-free is a big plus.
I've entered the National 25 mile championship on June 7, which is being held near Thetford, not that far from where I was born. Now I've got to get back to March fitness, which hopefully shouldn't take too long. I am still at 310W for these longer events, which is OK because it means I haven't lost any power since the WTTA hilly a month ago despite having two weeks off the bike. By comparison, I was at 325W in the Chippenham hilly in March, and that was only 10 days after I'd torn my calf muscle! And I got to 335W last summer.
So it's back to basics: some weekend long rides, a few midweek club races and an open 10 in a week and a half. I was going to do the National 10 but didn't enter it in time, as I thought I wouldn't be fit enough. Not to worry, I prefer 25 miles anyway...
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley. I had planned to take it easy for a few weeks after discovering how to stretch my calf, but I improved so quickly that I succumbed and raced in the Somer Valley 29 on Sunday.
Done alright too, as I won in 1:06:17, beating Ben by just 1 second (sorry mate). And together with Rob Gough, we won the team prize. Simon Snowden might be a bit annoyed at that because he wasn't that far behind Rob, but it's only the top three that count for team prizes. Given that there were four of us in the top eight, we could have won the team prize with any combination.
But the win wasn't the important thing. For me it felt good to finally be able to put equal force through both legs without deleterious effects. The stretching I've been doing over the past week has made a huge difference as I don't feel any pain any more. It's not 100 percent yet because I'm still getting a little bit of swelling around the Achilles, but being pain-free is a big plus.
I've entered the National 25 mile championship on June 7, which is being held near Thetford, not that far from where I was born. Now I've got to get back to March fitness, which hopefully shouldn't take too long. I am still at 310W for these longer events, which is OK because it means I haven't lost any power since the WTTA hilly a month ago despite having two weeks off the bike. By comparison, I was at 325W in the Chippenham hilly in March, and that was only 10 days after I'd torn my calf muscle! And I got to 335W last summer.
So it's back to basics: some weekend long rides, a few midweek club races and an open 10 in a week and a half. I was going to do the National 10 but didn't enter it in time, as I thought I wouldn't be fit enough. Not to worry, I prefer 25 miles anyway...
Monday, May 04, 2009
Sliding doors
I was going to start with a quote from Wikipedia about causality and how it's funny who (and what) you bump into, and whether it matters. But it would necessitate too much explanation so I won't bother.
I'm just going to point to Schrödinger's cat instead. Conceived in 1935, I reckon there's a pretty bloody good chance that it's dead now. So we can ignore all that bollocks about quantum superposition of wavefunctions and just use common sense. Namely, if we wait long enough, things will sort themselves out. More or less. Sometimes they may need a little help.
For example, me calf injury. With the aid of the Internet, I've finally figured out what sort of stretches I should be doing to regain the full range of motion in my soleus.
The most common calf stretch is one where you put your hands against a wall, put one leg forward and keep the rear leg straight. This stretches the gastrocnemius, which is the biggest calf muscle. The smaller soleus is the one that sits between the gastrocnemius and the tendon. To stretch this, you need to bend your rear leg while keeping both heels flat on the ground.
So I've started doing that for 5x15 seconds, three times a day, and it appears to be helping. Plus massage, plus wearing a pressure band, plus acupuncture (not really convinced), plus light to moderate riding, minus nurofen. I should pay another visit to the physio too, although I wish he'd told me about the right stretches early on in the piece.
This weekend I've been able to ride virtually pain free with the help of the pressure bandage. I can also climb steep hills, as long as I do them relatively slowly and favour the good leg. I feel twinges when I'm climbing stairs but I can walk OK, again with the bandage.
I'll continue to take it easy this week. It's nice to be able to just ride without worrying about the next race, although the temptation to push it is strong.
Quick report on the Beacon RCC Little Mountain TT ('cos I need to write a blog on it for work): I rode my road bike and finished seventh in a time of 1:46:43, getting a prize for fastest roadman. Fantastic event, great course and I'll definitely be back.
Pics: Start, top of Ankerdine and presentation.
I'm just going to point to Schrödinger's cat instead. Conceived in 1935, I reckon there's a pretty bloody good chance that it's dead now. So we can ignore all that bollocks about quantum superposition of wavefunctions and just use common sense. Namely, if we wait long enough, things will sort themselves out. More or less. Sometimes they may need a little help.
For example, me calf injury. With the aid of the Internet, I've finally figured out what sort of stretches I should be doing to regain the full range of motion in my soleus.
The most common calf stretch is one where you put your hands against a wall, put one leg forward and keep the rear leg straight. This stretches the gastrocnemius, which is the biggest calf muscle. The smaller soleus is the one that sits between the gastrocnemius and the tendon. To stretch this, you need to bend your rear leg while keeping both heels flat on the ground.
So I've started doing that for 5x15 seconds, three times a day, and it appears to be helping. Plus massage, plus wearing a pressure band, plus acupuncture (not really convinced), plus light to moderate riding, minus nurofen. I should pay another visit to the physio too, although I wish he'd told me about the right stretches early on in the piece.
This weekend I've been able to ride virtually pain free with the help of the pressure bandage. I can also climb steep hills, as long as I do them relatively slowly and favour the good leg. I feel twinges when I'm climbing stairs but I can walk OK, again with the bandage.
I'll continue to take it easy this week. It's nice to be able to just ride without worrying about the next race, although the temptation to push it is strong.
Quick report on the Beacon RCC Little Mountain TT ('cos I need to write a blog on it for work): I rode my road bike and finished seventh in a time of 1:46:43, getting a prize for fastest roadman. Fantastic event, great course and I'll definitely be back.
Pics: Start, top of Ankerdine and presentation.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Progress report
I'm pleased to report that I'm on the mend after my door-related critical fail a couple of weeks ago. Head felt fine after a week and getting back on the bike helped.
12 days post-headbutt of roller door
But the more serious calf tear coupled with a swollen Achilles remains, although it's slowly mending. The week I spent on the couch basically did nothing for it, despite me doing all the icing/massaging/elevating I could be bothered doing. That ended up being quite a lot. As soon as I started walking again I could feel it and it got worse. Riding gently, even moderately hard was fine, but racing the Dursley Hilly was not.
I think it's because some movement is needed to get the blood flowing. But too much stretching or impact damages the muscle again. It's a fine line and I've definitely crossed it a few times in training and racing.
Back to the Dursley...
Last year I dun good and won it. And I think I would have had a decent chance of repeating that this year had I been fully fit, but it was not to be. The course was the full 45km with four big climbs (last year's was 36km and lost a climb). I'd recced it back in February in 1hr30 at a moderate pace, so figured a time of 1hr18 was doable at full speed.
Taking eight days off the bike knocked that idea on the head. From experience, I know when I take time off I tend to lose endurance before climbing speed so was a bit worried about whether I'd last the full 45km, especially with 35km to get up to Wootton-under-Edge. So I used some of the free energy drink that was on the cover of Tri Plus. I normally ride on water so I forgot that energy drinks usually need to be diluted well beyond the manufacturer's recommendations. I also didn't read the ingredients. I do not understand why they put aspartame in an energy drink...
The start was on a hill, but I rode it conservatively and didn't get too close to my usual TT heart rate. One down. Then a fast and occasionally tricky descent into Dursley (tick!) and past last year's start. Managed that in under 16 minutes with a bit of a headwind so given I did <1:03 last year, I figured 1:19-1:20 was possible today. If I could keep this speed up.
Crawley hill was next. It was six minutes of pain, a bit slower than last year but still OK. Then the descent of Frocester Hill (tick!) followed by a roundabout and a climb back up. I had Dave Kiddell two minutes behind me at the start, and he'd picked up some time when I clocked him on the return leg. But I'd put about 20 seconds into Chris Madge, who started six minutes in front of me. So I knew I was going OK but not flying.
Frocester Hill was manageable, 20 seconds slower than last year but I didn't feel that bad. Three down. At the top I was still on track for a sub 1:20, especially as there was a tailwind finish. Then the only part of the whole race I enjoyed, the nice undulating bit before the descent to the Sesley roundabout. I caught two riders on the descent but couldn't get past one so waited until we turned around back up the hill.
It was starting to hurt but I knew if I could make it to the top, I'd have the tailwind for the last 10km. Easy. As I climbed, I saw I'd put a good chunk of time into Dave Kiddell and was still 20 seconds ahead of Chris Madge. At the top I calculated I was about level with Rob Lyne - my 10 minute man who I'd seen when I was on the descent - who ended up finishing second by three seconds.
One more gulp of energy drink at the top and ... what's that? Oh dear. I feel queasy. No water for the last 10km. Maybe sneak one more sip in? Body says no.
I'd been looking forward to the tailwind but suddenly found out I was out of gas. Even the tiniest undulations that I'd stomped up last year reduced me to 53x23. Just hang on, not far to the finish.
One more sip at 5km to go. Bad idea. Very bad. Taste of chocolate muesli bar and Zipvit gel in my mouth. I tried to find a gear that I could roll without hurling. Nope. Just grind away, limit the damage. With about 1km to go I passed someone who I'd normally fly past, then completely blew and saw him roll past me again.
I could see the finish but I was more concerned with keeping my breakfast down. Luckily most of it had digested but not all. Blurgh. Stopped pedalling and dropped into the small chainring, absolutely crawling, eventually crossing the line at 25km/h instead of 45. Oh, one more retch for good luck. Thank goodness it was over. At least my ankle wasn't sore like it was at the end of the WTTA 29.
I'd done 1:22:06 and knew I'd lost any chance of winning but was surprised at how close the top placings were. Gavin Poupart won in 1:20:00 - an excellent result for him after puncturing last year. Then Rob Lyne in 1:20:03, followed by Chris Madge in 1:20:41. Derek Smetham, Rob Gough and finally Dave Kiddell had all finished ahead of me too. So not much more than two minutes between first and seventh. For a relatively long event too!
To compare, the gap between first and second in the WTTA 29 two weeks ago was 1'44, and that was done in a much quicker time. But the gap from second through ninth was also 1'44 so when you take me out of the equation it does make sense.
We did have the consolation of winning the team prize (me, Rob Gough and Ben Anstie) so that was something.
I was feeling rather poorly when I got back to the HQ but a cup of tea, a bit of cake and a Snickers picked me up and I felt good on the way home.
Funnily enough on Monday I was speaking to a colleague who'd put the same drink in his bottle as I'd used (hey it was free). It was just for his commute home but he said he nearly threw up at the top of a hill and was almost passed by an old lady.
I don't think I'll be using it again.
What next? I've entered a few races but I'm going to stop after this weekend's 64km Beacon RC Little Mountain TT. It should be a great event and I've been wanting to do it for over a year (made a promise to the organiser) but I'm going to have to scale back my ambitions and treat it a bit differently. To that end, I'm just going to take my road bike (there's a special roadman's category) in order to get a feel for the race and the course. Next year...
Then it's into full rehab mode. If I can continue riding lightly, that'll be fine. Then I will stay relatively sane.
I just wish I'd known what to do when I first tore it. Instead of resting, icing and elevating for the first 24 hours, I did 90km in the rain, a fair bit of walking, one-legged 'strengthening' exercises(!!!), carried a backpack and a bike bag back from Belgium and didn't see a physio until 10 days after I did it.
From what I've been reading, that wasn't the ideal way to treat a torn muscle.
I should take up stunt riding as it looks much safer. This video is brilliant. The bloke featured, Danny MacAskill, is going to be at BikeRadar Live at the end of May:
12 days post-headbutt of roller doorBut the more serious calf tear coupled with a swollen Achilles remains, although it's slowly mending. The week I spent on the couch basically did nothing for it, despite me doing all the icing/massaging/elevating I could be bothered doing. That ended up being quite a lot. As soon as I started walking again I could feel it and it got worse. Riding gently, even moderately hard was fine, but racing the Dursley Hilly was not.
I think it's because some movement is needed to get the blood flowing. But too much stretching or impact damages the muscle again. It's a fine line and I've definitely crossed it a few times in training and racing.
Back to the Dursley...
Last year I dun good and won it. And I think I would have had a decent chance of repeating that this year had I been fully fit, but it was not to be. The course was the full 45km with four big climbs (last year's was 36km and lost a climb). I'd recced it back in February in 1hr30 at a moderate pace, so figured a time of 1hr18 was doable at full speed.
Taking eight days off the bike knocked that idea on the head. From experience, I know when I take time off I tend to lose endurance before climbing speed so was a bit worried about whether I'd last the full 45km, especially with 35km to get up to Wootton-under-Edge. So I used some of the free energy drink that was on the cover of Tri Plus. I normally ride on water so I forgot that energy drinks usually need to be diluted well beyond the manufacturer's recommendations. I also didn't read the ingredients. I do not understand why they put aspartame in an energy drink...
The start was on a hill, but I rode it conservatively and didn't get too close to my usual TT heart rate. One down. Then a fast and occasionally tricky descent into Dursley (tick!) and past last year's start. Managed that in under 16 minutes with a bit of a headwind so given I did <1:03 last year, I figured 1:19-1:20 was possible today. If I could keep this speed up.
Crawley hill was next. It was six minutes of pain, a bit slower than last year but still OK. Then the descent of Frocester Hill (tick!) followed by a roundabout and a climb back up. I had Dave Kiddell two minutes behind me at the start, and he'd picked up some time when I clocked him on the return leg. But I'd put about 20 seconds into Chris Madge, who started six minutes in front of me. So I knew I was going OK but not flying.
Frocester Hill was manageable, 20 seconds slower than last year but I didn't feel that bad. Three down. At the top I was still on track for a sub 1:20, especially as there was a tailwind finish. Then the only part of the whole race I enjoyed, the nice undulating bit before the descent to the Sesley roundabout. I caught two riders on the descent but couldn't get past one so waited until we turned around back up the hill.
It was starting to hurt but I knew if I could make it to the top, I'd have the tailwind for the last 10km. Easy. As I climbed, I saw I'd put a good chunk of time into Dave Kiddell and was still 20 seconds ahead of Chris Madge. At the top I calculated I was about level with Rob Lyne - my 10 minute man who I'd seen when I was on the descent - who ended up finishing second by three seconds.
One more gulp of energy drink at the top and ... what's that? Oh dear. I feel queasy. No water for the last 10km. Maybe sneak one more sip in? Body says no.
I'd been looking forward to the tailwind but suddenly found out I was out of gas. Even the tiniest undulations that I'd stomped up last year reduced me to 53x23. Just hang on, not far to the finish.
One more sip at 5km to go. Bad idea. Very bad. Taste of chocolate muesli bar and Zipvit gel in my mouth. I tried to find a gear that I could roll without hurling. Nope. Just grind away, limit the damage. With about 1km to go I passed someone who I'd normally fly past, then completely blew and saw him roll past me again.
I could see the finish but I was more concerned with keeping my breakfast down. Luckily most of it had digested but not all. Blurgh. Stopped pedalling and dropped into the small chainring, absolutely crawling, eventually crossing the line at 25km/h instead of 45. Oh, one more retch for good luck. Thank goodness it was over. At least my ankle wasn't sore like it was at the end of the WTTA 29.
I'd done 1:22:06 and knew I'd lost any chance of winning but was surprised at how close the top placings were. Gavin Poupart won in 1:20:00 - an excellent result for him after puncturing last year. Then Rob Lyne in 1:20:03, followed by Chris Madge in 1:20:41. Derek Smetham, Rob Gough and finally Dave Kiddell had all finished ahead of me too. So not much more than two minutes between first and seventh. For a relatively long event too!
To compare, the gap between first and second in the WTTA 29 two weeks ago was 1'44, and that was done in a much quicker time. But the gap from second through ninth was also 1'44 so when you take me out of the equation it does make sense.
We did have the consolation of winning the team prize (me, Rob Gough and Ben Anstie) so that was something.
I was feeling rather poorly when I got back to the HQ but a cup of tea, a bit of cake and a Snickers picked me up and I felt good on the way home.
Funnily enough on Monday I was speaking to a colleague who'd put the same drink in his bottle as I'd used (hey it was free). It was just for his commute home but he said he nearly threw up at the top of a hill and was almost passed by an old lady.
I don't think I'll be using it again.
What next? I've entered a few races but I'm going to stop after this weekend's 64km Beacon RC Little Mountain TT. It should be a great event and I've been wanting to do it for over a year (made a promise to the organiser) but I'm going to have to scale back my ambitions and treat it a bit differently. To that end, I'm just going to take my road bike (there's a special roadman's category) in order to get a feel for the race and the course. Next year...
Then it's into full rehab mode. If I can continue riding lightly, that'll be fine. Then I will stay relatively sane.
I just wish I'd known what to do when I first tore it. Instead of resting, icing and elevating for the first 24 hours, I did 90km in the rain, a fair bit of walking, one-legged 'strengthening' exercises(!!!), carried a backpack and a bike bag back from Belgium and didn't see a physio until 10 days after I did it.
From what I've been reading, that wasn't the ideal way to treat a torn muscle.
I should take up stunt riding as it looks much safer. This video is brilliant. The bloke featured, Danny MacAskill, is going to be at BikeRadar Live at the end of May:
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Fail
As rest weeks go, I have to say I've had better ones. I'm currently nursing a nasty cut around my right eye, a result of riding into a closing roller door at work that I just didn't see. Could have been worse, could have been a lot better.
Recall the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Dr Jones just makes it under the vertical sliding door in the temple. He even manages to get his hat.
Unfortunately, my life does not follow Hollywood rules and I didn't make it under the door. Yes I had a hat on, but no it wasn't a helmet. Stupid, because it would have reduced the damage I sustained and I wear it every other time. Never again.
Briefly, it was a combination of ignoring the signs at the top of the ramp to dismount (cyclists hate walking, but it can be a dangerous ramp), expecting the roller door to be open (it usually is at that time of the morning, as long as the security guard was there, which he was), wearing dark glasses (although they probably saved me from more damage) and following another cyclist down the ramp (concentrating on the wrong moving object).
The other rider made it through and although I had five seconds, I simply didn't see the door closing until just before I slammed into it. I turned my head to the left and bam, down I went. Lots of blood and a sore head, but I didn't lose consciousness, could remember everything, didn't have eyesight problems - so thankfully no major symptoms of concussion.
As resident first-aider, John patched me up PDQ and his bandaging was so good that when the paramedics arrived shortly after, they didn't feel it necessary to change the dressing. Then it was off to hospital for stitches, with Justin Loretz keeping me company for want of something better to do. I got nine stitches, although I wasn't sure if they counted the two in the wound above my eyebrow - I suspect they did.
I was out of there by 12:30 and went back to work so people could keep an eye on me, spending the afternoon watching DVDs. Even managed to get out for a drink (non alcoholic) later on before spending the night at John's, just in case anything happened. Head injuries are serious!
Since then, it's been a rather boring and depressing period, mostly spent at home. I'll try to get the stitches out on Monday and start riding after that. The main positive is that my ankle feels a lot better, although it's hard to tell how good until I start riding and walking again.
Oddly enough, this year reminds me a bit of 2007, where I also had three crashes and got sick a couple of times - almost there already, and it's only April! Maybe it's the curse of the rainbow jersey...
Recall the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Dr Jones just makes it under the vertical sliding door in the temple. He even manages to get his hat.
Unfortunately, my life does not follow Hollywood rules and I didn't make it under the door. Yes I had a hat on, but no it wasn't a helmet. Stupid, because it would have reduced the damage I sustained and I wear it every other time. Never again.
Briefly, it was a combination of ignoring the signs at the top of the ramp to dismount (cyclists hate walking, but it can be a dangerous ramp), expecting the roller door to be open (it usually is at that time of the morning, as long as the security guard was there, which he was), wearing dark glasses (although they probably saved me from more damage) and following another cyclist down the ramp (concentrating on the wrong moving object).
The other rider made it through and although I had five seconds, I simply didn't see the door closing until just before I slammed into it. I turned my head to the left and bam, down I went. Lots of blood and a sore head, but I didn't lose consciousness, could remember everything, didn't have eyesight problems - so thankfully no major symptoms of concussion.
As resident first-aider, John patched me up PDQ and his bandaging was so good that when the paramedics arrived shortly after, they didn't feel it necessary to change the dressing. Then it was off to hospital for stitches, with Justin Loretz keeping me company for want of something better to do. I got nine stitches, although I wasn't sure if they counted the two in the wound above my eyebrow - I suspect they did.
I was out of there by 12:30 and went back to work so people could keep an eye on me, spending the afternoon watching DVDs. Even managed to get out for a drink (non alcoholic) later on before spending the night at John's, just in case anything happened. Head injuries are serious!
Since then, it's been a rather boring and depressing period, mostly spent at home. I'll try to get the stitches out on Monday and start riding after that. The main positive is that my ankle feels a lot better, although it's hard to tell how good until I start riding and walking again.
Oddly enough, this year reminds me a bit of 2007, where I also had three crashes and got sick a couple of times - almost there already, and it's only April! Maybe it's the curse of the rainbow jersey...
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Hard decision time
Rest. That means no riding at all, not much walking, lots of ice/elevation/anti-inflams and probably some beer.
Thus spake the physio, after looking at my MRI and consulting with a mate of his. Oh well, it has to be done or I'll go through the whole first part of the season with a torn muscle. I'm not enjoying it, despite being in reasonably decent form. Enjoyment is more important than winning races.
At the moment, if I train or race hard, then it takes a few days of nothing/light training to get back to where it was. This is not conducive to improvement, and I noticed another drop in power in today's WTTA hilly: 310 Watts/321 normalised.
So I was somewhat surprised that I won by 1'44.
Everyone was there, although some (including 2nd and =3rd place getters Chris Madge and Rob Lyne) had ridden in the Diamond HF 10 the evening before. But not Chris Birch (coming back from illness), nor Gavin Poupart (had a week off).
I was on a new bike though: a Specialized Transition. Maybe it is as fast as Specialized claim. I'll do a first impressions review on it on BikeRadar as part of a long term test.
My ride was slightly more measured than the Ba'ath hilly two weeks ago. The Mercy Seat plus Sinead O'Connor's rendition of House of the Rising Sun helped with the necessary focus. In a 47km TT, you have to keep a lid on things.
The course is relatively flat, even more so than the Chippenham hilly although it does use the same final 18km. There was a light easterly blowing, which would have slowed us down a bit because it was against us on the outward uphill leg.
Speaking of wind, there was one point, just under the M4 bridge before the turnaround at Wootton Bassett, where I thought I'd punctured. It felt like the rear tyre was going soft whereas in fact it was just me. I decided to ride up to the roundabout, stop and get a lift back with the marshal. I got there and it still felt squishy, but when I got out of the saddle and jumped on the back wheel a few times, it seemed OK. So I kept going. Back down the hill and yep, still squirming all over the place. But once under the bridge, it settled down.
It was just the wind blowing me around. This sort of thing really bakes your noodle in a TT.
But after that, I went flat out on the way back, so I don't think I lost much time. In the end it was 1:06:57 - not good enough for the course record (1:06:14) but clearly good enough to win.
I acquired some more trophies and cakes too. Very important.
Thus spake the physio, after looking at my MRI and consulting with a mate of his. Oh well, it has to be done or I'll go through the whole first part of the season with a torn muscle. I'm not enjoying it, despite being in reasonably decent form. Enjoyment is more important than winning races.
At the moment, if I train or race hard, then it takes a few days of nothing/light training to get back to where it was. This is not conducive to improvement, and I noticed another drop in power in today's WTTA hilly: 310 Watts/321 normalised.
So I was somewhat surprised that I won by 1'44.
Everyone was there, although some (including 2nd and =3rd place getters Chris Madge and Rob Lyne) had ridden in the Diamond HF 10 the evening before. But not Chris Birch (coming back from illness), nor Gavin Poupart (had a week off).
I was on a new bike though: a Specialized Transition. Maybe it is as fast as Specialized claim. I'll do a first impressions review on it on BikeRadar as part of a long term test.
My ride was slightly more measured than the Ba'ath hilly two weeks ago. The Mercy Seat plus Sinead O'Connor's rendition of House of the Rising Sun helped with the necessary focus. In a 47km TT, you have to keep a lid on things.
The course is relatively flat, even more so than the Chippenham hilly although it does use the same final 18km. There was a light easterly blowing, which would have slowed us down a bit because it was against us on the outward uphill leg.
Speaking of wind, there was one point, just under the M4 bridge before the turnaround at Wootton Bassett, where I thought I'd punctured. It felt like the rear tyre was going soft whereas in fact it was just me. I decided to ride up to the roundabout, stop and get a lift back with the marshal. I got there and it still felt squishy, but when I got out of the saddle and jumped on the back wheel a few times, it seemed OK. So I kept going. Back down the hill and yep, still squirming all over the place. But once under the bridge, it settled down.
It was just the wind blowing me around. This sort of thing really bakes your noodle in a TT.
But after that, I went flat out on the way back, so I don't think I lost much time. In the end it was 1:06:57 - not good enough for the course record (1:06:14) but clearly good enough to win.
I acquired some more trophies and cakes too. Very important.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Slowly
In some particular order, but perhaps not the most logical one:
The tendon/calf thingy is on the mend, although it's a few weeks off being 100%. MRI scan today said 'it's inflamed', which I could have determined without traipsing up to Cheltenham and paying a couple of hundred quid for the privilege. But I will get the full report in a few days, which should tell me more. It is definitely not as sore as it was a week ago, so that's a good thing.
I still managed to lose a little bit of fitness over the last two weeks, as I found out in the Ba'ath hilly on Sunday (it's 24 miles not 25.7). Chris Birch turned the tables and convincingly beat me by 41 seconds. My average power was 5-6W down on what it was at the Chippenham hilly, which doesn't sound much but it's ~25 seconds over an hour long event. Not enough to make the difference though. I would have needed to be at my 2008 summer level to win.
Nevertheless, I was pretty happy with my ride. My pacing wasn't bad, although it was hard to judge because I didn't really know how hard to go. I got over the hills OK but my heart rate was often in the mid-180s, which normally doesn't happen. I kept just enough in the tank for the final 6.5km drag (a 1% false flat) to the finish. It was a head/crosswind at that point and I somehow held 335W for the next 10 minutes. I hit 188 bpm and cramped in both thighs at the top. Perfect, really.
With 58'29 I snuck under the old course record, but by then Chris had already clocked 57'48. C'est la vie. In fact, five people went under the hour and it would have been six had Dave Kiddell not been held up by cows! Prior to Sunday, the course had been used just twice for this event, and only two people had beaten the hour on it. So the competition wasn't bad.
I also beat everyone who was beating me at this time last year and I got another 120 hardrider points 'cos Chris Birch isn't registered in the series. We won the team prize which meant I won two cakes, one of which I have not yet consumed.
Next race: WTTA hilly in a couple of weeks. I hope it doesn't snow like last year. I will avoid eating dodgy curries too. Saturday was better.
The tendon/calf thingy is on the mend, although it's a few weeks off being 100%. MRI scan today said 'it's inflamed', which I could have determined without traipsing up to Cheltenham and paying a couple of hundred quid for the privilege. But I will get the full report in a few days, which should tell me more. It is definitely not as sore as it was a week ago, so that's a good thing.
I still managed to lose a little bit of fitness over the last two weeks, as I found out in the Ba'ath hilly on Sunday (it's 24 miles not 25.7). Chris Birch turned the tables and convincingly beat me by 41 seconds. My average power was 5-6W down on what it was at the Chippenham hilly, which doesn't sound much but it's ~25 seconds over an hour long event. Not enough to make the difference though. I would have needed to be at my 2008 summer level to win.
Nevertheless, I was pretty happy with my ride. My pacing wasn't bad, although it was hard to judge because I didn't really know how hard to go. I got over the hills OK but my heart rate was often in the mid-180s, which normally doesn't happen. I kept just enough in the tank for the final 6.5km drag (a 1% false flat) to the finish. It was a head/crosswind at that point and I somehow held 335W for the next 10 minutes. I hit 188 bpm and cramped in both thighs at the top. Perfect, really.
With 58'29 I snuck under the old course record, but by then Chris had already clocked 57'48. C'est la vie. In fact, five people went under the hour and it would have been six had Dave Kiddell not been held up by cows! Prior to Sunday, the course had been used just twice for this event, and only two people had beaten the hour on it. So the competition wasn't bad.
I also beat everyone who was beating me at this time last year and I got another 120 hardrider points 'cos Chris Birch isn't registered in the series. We won the team prize which meant I won two cakes, one of which I have not yet consumed.
Next race: WTTA hilly in a couple of weeks. I hope it doesn't snow like last year. I will avoid eating dodgy curries too. Saturday was better.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Hello
An interesting week, one of mixed fortunes for myself and others (go Sam!). I suppose it is the Ides of March so I should expect it.
The injury for starters. The physio noticed a small improvement in my torn calf, although the tendon is still inflamed which means it gets painful on the bike. I've been riding easy for an hour and a half most days and I tend to find it's OK for about 30 minutes before it starts getting sore. Then during the course of the day it settles down and is often almost pain free by the time I get home. That's definitely better than it was but because I ride first thing in the morning, it doesn't have time to settle.
I'm due to get an MRI next week in order to fully assess the damage. That ain't going to be cheap but it's better to know, especially as it is the start of what could be another good season. I suspect I'll just have to keep riding easy/rest for the next three to four weeks until it heals, although I do have one race on the menu next Sunday.
The good thing from my point of view is that I can afford to take it steady as I doubt I'll lose much fitness. Winning last Sunday was very good for my confidence (pics here). 54'10 for 39km! I couldn't believe I averaged 43km/h and broke the bloody course record on such a windy day. For comparison, last year our winning 3-up team did 53'24 on an almost identical course on a calm but foggy day. Second placed VC St Raphael did 54'12...
There's no need to rush things, as I don't really want to be going well until the second half of April with a view to lifting that for the National 10 and 25 in late May/early June. I doubt I'll place highly in the National 10 but a top 20 in the National 25 would be cool.
Humpty Doo nearly total recall
Back to team time trials. I've been perusing a few triathlon mags that have been idly left around the office (our almost launched new mag, Triathlon Plus, is going to be tres good). On the cover of one I noticed a chap by the name of Craig Alexander, who has won the Hawaii Ironman triathlon twice. It's considered the top race in the sport so this guy is hot property in the triathlon world. His name rang a bell so I delved into my memory banks, with the help of google, and found out that he's roughly my age, lives in Sydney, and used to go to uni.
Ding! (another bell sound effect)
I then remembered that at the 1995 university games in Darwin, we had a couple of triathletes in our team time trial team, along with Brent McParland and me. One of them was Mr Alexander! He was pretty handy on the bike back then and fitted in well to our team on the basis of our sole training session together.
The TTT was a dead flat, out-and-back 50km jobbie at a place called Humpty Doo, somewhere south of Darwin. We were all pretty evenly matched and everyone pulled their weight, including the triathletes. I even skipped a turn or two on the way back. We ended up winning fairly convincingly in 1:04:something. Uni of WA had to settle for second, unless my memory is as bad as it very likely is.
So that's my Craig Alexander story. It's almost as good as passing Robbie McEwen's team in the TTT in Brisbane a few years previously.
Interestingly, he's still riding the same depth rims as he did in 1995. Gotta get a disk mate!
Weather
Drizzly last week but improving to dry and 10-15 degrees this week. That's excellent for the Ides of March so you'll hear no complaints from moi. If it continues through until next weekend, it will be a Good Thing. Not just 'cos it's the Bath Hilly either. Things are looking promising after the coffee wars episode, possibly.
More news, anon.
The injury for starters. The physio noticed a small improvement in my torn calf, although the tendon is still inflamed which means it gets painful on the bike. I've been riding easy for an hour and a half most days and I tend to find it's OK for about 30 minutes before it starts getting sore. Then during the course of the day it settles down and is often almost pain free by the time I get home. That's definitely better than it was but because I ride first thing in the morning, it doesn't have time to settle.
I'm due to get an MRI next week in order to fully assess the damage. That ain't going to be cheap but it's better to know, especially as it is the start of what could be another good season. I suspect I'll just have to keep riding easy/rest for the next three to four weeks until it heals, although I do have one race on the menu next Sunday.
The good thing from my point of view is that I can afford to take it steady as I doubt I'll lose much fitness. Winning last Sunday was very good for my confidence (pics here). 54'10 for 39km! I couldn't believe I averaged 43km/h and broke the bloody course record on such a windy day. For comparison, last year our winning 3-up team did 53'24 on an almost identical course on a calm but foggy day. Second placed VC St Raphael did 54'12...
There's no need to rush things, as I don't really want to be going well until the second half of April with a view to lifting that for the National 10 and 25 in late May/early June. I doubt I'll place highly in the National 10 but a top 20 in the National 25 would be cool.
Humpty Doo nearly total recall
Back to team time trials. I've been perusing a few triathlon mags that have been idly left around the office (our almost launched new mag, Triathlon Plus, is going to be tres good). On the cover of one I noticed a chap by the name of Craig Alexander, who has won the Hawaii Ironman triathlon twice. It's considered the top race in the sport so this guy is hot property in the triathlon world. His name rang a bell so I delved into my memory banks, with the help of google, and found out that he's roughly my age, lives in Sydney, and used to go to uni.
Ding! (another bell sound effect)
I then remembered that at the 1995 university games in Darwin, we had a couple of triathletes in our team time trial team, along with Brent McParland and me. One of them was Mr Alexander! He was pretty handy on the bike back then and fitted in well to our team on the basis of our sole training session together.
The TTT was a dead flat, out-and-back 50km jobbie at a place called Humpty Doo, somewhere south of Darwin. We were all pretty evenly matched and everyone pulled their weight, including the triathletes. I even skipped a turn or two on the way back. We ended up winning fairly convincingly in 1:04:something. Uni of WA had to settle for second, unless my memory is as bad as it very likely is.
So that's my Craig Alexander story. It's almost as good as passing Robbie McEwen's team in the TTT in Brisbane a few years previously.
Interestingly, he's still riding the same depth rims as he did in 1995. Gotta get a disk mate!
Weather
Drizzly last week but improving to dry and 10-15 degrees this week. That's excellent for the Ides of March so you'll hear no complaints from moi. If it continues through until next weekend, it will be a Good Thing. Not just 'cos it's the Bath Hilly either. Things are looking promising after the coffee wars episode, possibly.
More news, anon.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Birth, omloop and injury
Stop press: My sister has finally produced an offspring, a boy named Sam. Born on the same day as Pete, which should save on presents. Very exciting for us Joneses and Boyds! That makes me an uncle. Luckily she didn't have a girl or I would have been an aunt, a maiden one at that.
Het Omloop
Het Volk
© Jeff Jones
This year's Het Volk (now renamed to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, grr) visit was for a whole week. Longer than the usual weekend because I'm still trying to use up my 2008 holiday.
It afforded the chance to bring my bike over in order to do the Schelde ride again as well as revisit some of my old training routes and mates. It was the first time since 2006 and I now realise why I got such a shock when I first moved to the UK. For one, Belgium is flat. Really flat. Even the hilly rides are flat. Secondly, the road surfaces are better. It's so much easier to roll along at a decent clip when you're on smooth asphalt rather than coarse aggregate.
I did a one hour out and back effort at a bit over 80% of max on the first day. 37.5km for my pains, which ain't bad on the road bike, especially as it was only 4 degrees. My record a few years ago was closer to 40km, but that was when it was actually warm and I was probably a bit fitter.
I caught up with the Sunderland clan on the first day, visiting a dinosaur museum in Brussels. I still find dinosaurs amazing - they were around for hundreds of millions of years and never even blogged about it. Then they went and got themselves wiped out by some climactic event. Not that that could ever happen again.
This exhib in Brussels was apparently the largest in Europe. The most impressive was a display of the 30 Iguanodons that had been dug up in a Belgian coal mine. Eight of their skeletons had all been reconstructed in upright positions, as it was first thought they were mostly bipedal. But it's now considered more likely that they spent most of their lives on all fours. Their very well developed 'arms' are a clue.
A triceratops looking starved
© Jeff Jones
A tyrannosaurus looking starved and mean
© Jeff Jones
That's a big leg bone
© Jeff Jones
Checkin' out the Grand Place
© Jeff Jones
Van Gogh lives!
© Jeff Jones
The well known manneken pis
© Jeff Jones
The little known Jeanneke pis
© Jeff Jones
I also managed a couple of rides with Scott during the rest of the week. He's still fit for someone who doesn't ride that much. Alas, while following him up a hill I made the mistake of looking behind me for a bit too long. When I turned around, I'd overlapped his wheel, overbalanced and down I came on my right side. I was barely hurt and thought nothing of it until I got home and found walking was rather painful. Turns out I think I tore my lower calf muscle, which is a bit of a bugger. More of that later.
I saw several of the Schelde riders, notably De Witte, but also Henk, Lucien and Jules. Unfortunately there have been a couple of (non-cycling related) deaths among the group in the last few years, but at least three births to balance them. Such is the way of the world.
On the pie shop front, Reiny and Gwen are doing well, even in these times of the credit crunch(tm). They're still working hard but the business is steadily picking up. 'Twas nice to stay with them again and remain at moderately sober for the entire week, despite them having acquired a crate of Jupiler that almost literally fell off the back of a truck. Luckily I don't like Jupiler that much. Promising news: Cafe Igor has now been gutted and is being turned into a microbrewery. I tried some of the beer and it was good. This bodes well.
Future beer!
© Jeff Jones
We met up with Gregg and Holly Germer at Pane & Vino one evening. They are top value: Holly works at one of the Irish pubs while Gregg has moved from there to doing a factory job. He was a bike rider and did ride as a pro for at least one year before getting a job that paid a bit better. He's in the process of allocating a chunk of his and Holly's large house in Oudenaarde to bike riders as a base for the season, with a view to turning it into a proper business venture.
The Omloop itself was quite pleasant. I moseyed around the start in Sint Pietersplein, taking the odd pic before catching up with Aussies Andrew Torney and Karl Becker and their kids for 'n koffietje. They are well settled in Belgium although the call back home is still there. Apparently the winter in Belgium was a lot colder than what we had in the UK: it got down to -22 somewhere, and it was even -12 in Gent. So all the lakes and canals were frozen and many were skateable. Not great riding weather and not surprisingly, I heard there were a few crashes in the bunch.
Unlike previous years, the Omloop night out was not a big affair. We caught up with Reiny's ex-shop helper at a passable French restaurant in the Patershol, but didn't extend the evening beyond that. It ain't easy to recover when you're working flat out six days out of seven.
Cycling can be cras at times
© Jeff Jones
More volk
© Jeff Jones
Andrew Torney and son
© Jeff Jones
Return: injury confirmed
I got back to Bath on Sunday but it took me until Friday before I got to a physio to figure out what the problem with my ankle was. It also involved a walk up (and down) Lansdown Road, which probably wasn't ideal! The upshot was that I've probably torn my soleus (lower calf) but I need to get an ultrasound next week to make sure. I think the rehab will take several weeks and a few hundred quid - also not ideal. But it's got to be done. I also might be able to do something about my comparatively weak left side, which has given me problems in the past.
The good thing is that I can still keep riding. Even riding to work is better than walking, so I'll do that. I'm also allowed to race, provided I don't sprint hard or push too much if it's painful (painkillers are definitely out of the question too), because there is a small chance I could rupture the tendon. That would be bad.
So tomorrow I'll do the Chippenham hilly, but not with any particular ambition other than maybe to sneak in for the team prize. Pity because up until the crash I was going well. No point in buggering up the rest of the season though, so it'll be steady as she goes.
Tomorrow's results
Better than I thought. Much better. I won in 54'10 in a new course record on what could be described as a 'blustery' day. And yep, we won the team prize with Ben and Rob Gough.
My leg didn't give me too much gyp so I could push it as hard as I needed to. Actually it probably helped me not go out too hard. As a result, my pacing was spot on. I averaged 325W - about 10W lower than my best power over that distance last summer - and each leg was pretty consistent (hur hur). I started halfway down the field and did cop a little bit of rain in the last 10 minutes, but not nearly as bad as the guys who started behind me...
Now, two weeks off racing before the Bath hilly. Hopefully my injury will be right by then. I can't imagine it'll get worse as I've now got a physio and am doing the right things to fix it (Ice ice baby. Maybe I should just stand outside in the sleet).
Het Omloop
Het Volk© Jeff Jones
This year's Het Volk (now renamed to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, grr) visit was for a whole week. Longer than the usual weekend because I'm still trying to use up my 2008 holiday.
It afforded the chance to bring my bike over in order to do the Schelde ride again as well as revisit some of my old training routes and mates. It was the first time since 2006 and I now realise why I got such a shock when I first moved to the UK. For one, Belgium is flat. Really flat. Even the hilly rides are flat. Secondly, the road surfaces are better. It's so much easier to roll along at a decent clip when you're on smooth asphalt rather than coarse aggregate.
I did a one hour out and back effort at a bit over 80% of max on the first day. 37.5km for my pains, which ain't bad on the road bike, especially as it was only 4 degrees. My record a few years ago was closer to 40km, but that was when it was actually warm and I was probably a bit fitter.
I caught up with the Sunderland clan on the first day, visiting a dinosaur museum in Brussels. I still find dinosaurs amazing - they were around for hundreds of millions of years and never even blogged about it. Then they went and got themselves wiped out by some climactic event. Not that that could ever happen again.
This exhib in Brussels was apparently the largest in Europe. The most impressive was a display of the 30 Iguanodons that had been dug up in a Belgian coal mine. Eight of their skeletons had all been reconstructed in upright positions, as it was first thought they were mostly bipedal. But it's now considered more likely that they spent most of their lives on all fours. Their very well developed 'arms' are a clue.
A triceratops looking starved© Jeff Jones
A tyrannosaurus looking starved and mean© Jeff Jones
That's a big leg bone© Jeff Jones
Checkin' out the Grand Place© Jeff Jones
Van Gogh lives!© Jeff Jones
The well known manneken pis© Jeff Jones
The little known Jeanneke pis© Jeff Jones
I also managed a couple of rides with Scott during the rest of the week. He's still fit for someone who doesn't ride that much. Alas, while following him up a hill I made the mistake of looking behind me for a bit too long. When I turned around, I'd overlapped his wheel, overbalanced and down I came on my right side. I was barely hurt and thought nothing of it until I got home and found walking was rather painful. Turns out I think I tore my lower calf muscle, which is a bit of a bugger. More of that later.
I saw several of the Schelde riders, notably De Witte, but also Henk, Lucien and Jules. Unfortunately there have been a couple of (non-cycling related) deaths among the group in the last few years, but at least three births to balance them. Such is the way of the world.
On the pie shop front, Reiny and Gwen are doing well, even in these times of the credit crunch(tm). They're still working hard but the business is steadily picking up. 'Twas nice to stay with them again and remain at moderately sober for the entire week, despite them having acquired a crate of Jupiler that almost literally fell off the back of a truck. Luckily I don't like Jupiler that much. Promising news: Cafe Igor has now been gutted and is being turned into a microbrewery. I tried some of the beer and it was good. This bodes well.
Future beer!© Jeff Jones
We met up with Gregg and Holly Germer at Pane & Vino one evening. They are top value: Holly works at one of the Irish pubs while Gregg has moved from there to doing a factory job. He was a bike rider and did ride as a pro for at least one year before getting a job that paid a bit better. He's in the process of allocating a chunk of his and Holly's large house in Oudenaarde to bike riders as a base for the season, with a view to turning it into a proper business venture.
The Omloop itself was quite pleasant. I moseyed around the start in Sint Pietersplein, taking the odd pic before catching up with Aussies Andrew Torney and Karl Becker and their kids for 'n koffietje. They are well settled in Belgium although the call back home is still there. Apparently the winter in Belgium was a lot colder than what we had in the UK: it got down to -22 somewhere, and it was even -12 in Gent. So all the lakes and canals were frozen and many were skateable. Not great riding weather and not surprisingly, I heard there were a few crashes in the bunch.
Unlike previous years, the Omloop night out was not a big affair. We caught up with Reiny's ex-shop helper at a passable French restaurant in the Patershol, but didn't extend the evening beyond that. It ain't easy to recover when you're working flat out six days out of seven.
Cycling can be cras at times© Jeff Jones
More volk© Jeff Jones
Andrew Torney and son© Jeff Jones
Return: injury confirmed
I got back to Bath on Sunday but it took me until Friday before I got to a physio to figure out what the problem with my ankle was. It also involved a walk up (and down) Lansdown Road, which probably wasn't ideal! The upshot was that I've probably torn my soleus (lower calf) but I need to get an ultrasound next week to make sure. I think the rehab will take several weeks and a few hundred quid - also not ideal. But it's got to be done. I also might be able to do something about my comparatively weak left side, which has given me problems in the past.
The good thing is that I can still keep riding. Even riding to work is better than walking, so I'll do that. I'm also allowed to race, provided I don't sprint hard or push too much if it's painful (painkillers are definitely out of the question too), because there is a small chance I could rupture the tendon. That would be bad.
So tomorrow I'll do the Chippenham hilly, but not with any particular ambition other than maybe to sneak in for the team prize. Pity because up until the crash I was going well. No point in buggering up the rest of the season though, so it'll be steady as she goes.
Tomorrow's results
Better than I thought. Much better. I won in 54'10 in a new course record on what could be described as a 'blustery' day. And yep, we won the team prize with Ben and Rob Gough.
My leg didn't give me too much gyp so I could push it as hard as I needed to. Actually it probably helped me not go out too hard. As a result, my pacing was spot on. I averaged 325W - about 10W lower than my best power over that distance last summer - and each leg was pretty consistent (hur hur). I started halfway down the field and did cop a little bit of rain in the last 10 minutes, but not nearly as bad as the guys who started behind me...
Now, two weeks off racing before the Bath hilly. Hopefully my injury will be right by then. I can't imagine it'll get worse as I've now got a physio and am doing the right things to fix it (Ice ice baby. Maybe I should just stand outside in the sleet).
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Plus one
During the week, I had the good fortune to be led to a Bath establishment that I had not yet been to. The Chandos Deli, in George St. Best sandwiches I've had here (meaning the UK. It can be done), including actual tasty bread and fresh ingredients. And the coffee was decent too.
I'm going to add this place to our work posse's lunchtime coffee haunts list. Trust me, that's almost as hard as getting three Michelin stars.
In rough order of cappuccino and americano quality, the list is currently:
Same Same But Different
Chandos Deli
Tea Centre
Fine Cheese Co
Real Italian Ice Cream joint
Kindling Cafe (both of them)
Epicurean Deli
The Hub
Metropolitan
The top five are the best but for some reason we don't visit them as often as the bottom four.
Fire alarm madness
A sophisticated and expensive fire alarm system was installed in all of the flats recently. Unfortunately it doesn't work. Or rather, it doesn't know how to distinguish between, say, having a shower and a full blown fire. Or cooking (which has been known to produce smoke) and a full blown fire. Or even heating the kitchen and a full blown fire.
It seems to be the alarms in my place that are the worst, although the guy downstairs has had his go off too. Resetting involves dashing down to the ground floor, punching in the right sequence of numbers on the panel, getting annoyed and reassuring the neighbours that you were merely browning the onions.
It is not satisfactory.
The worst was when I came back from a five hour ride last weekend, fairly knackered and hungry. I had a quick shower, opened the bathroom door and the steam set off the alarm. Argh. I wasn't thinking straight and couldn't work out how to reset the thing, so half an hour and a phone call to the installer later, the noise was finally silenced. Neighbours were not amused. Nor was I.
The problem had been that the vents in the extractor fan in my bathroom were closed, so the steam built up. But still I wanted to know if I could turn the detectors off, even temporarily. The installer bloke said he could only switch them to a heat detector and didn't recommend it. I spoke to the landlord, who agreed it was a pain in the arse and we will do something about it.
But I may have a solution. Pete, one of our developers, told me that he just used to put plastic bags attached by rubber bands over the detectors. Of course it doesn't help if you have an actual fire, but after doing extensive user testing of this system, I conclude that it's rubbish and I'd probably burn to death if there was a real fire anyway.
Weather et al
The snow has all gone and the country is back on its three feet. In fact, we've had some rather pleasant weather of late. Today it was blue skies and 11 degrees. Joy!
'Twas a perfect day to clock up 140km, including a lap of the Chippenham hilly course (38.7km, couple of short climbs) and some time with the club chain gang. The Chippenham hilly on March 8 will be my first race and I'm looking forward to getting stuck in again. I was 3'30 quicker over the course than last week for the same heart rate, so that's a good sign. Even better was that I was five minutes quicker over it with a slightly higher average heart rate than I was at this time last year.
It kinda made up for being a bit slower on Tuesday and Thursday during the week. That was a result of doing a bit too much last weekend and not going easy enough on Wednesday. Gently does it on rest days. I think with another couple of weeks of training, I should be in pretty reasonable shape. Can't wait to race in my new Chippenham skinsuit with rainbow cuffs ;-)
150km tomorrow then off to Belgium on Monday to visit Reiny and Gwen, do a few Schelde rides (yep, I'm taking the bike) and catch up with some old friends.
Much more exciting is that at some stage during next week, the family will be increased by plus one and I'll become an uncle. Go Lucy!
I'm going to add this place to our work posse's lunchtime coffee haunts list. Trust me, that's almost as hard as getting three Michelin stars.
In rough order of cappuccino and americano quality, the list is currently:
Same Same But Different
Chandos Deli
Tea Centre
Fine Cheese Co
Real Italian Ice Cream joint
Kindling Cafe (both of them)
Epicurean Deli
The Hub
Metropolitan
The top five are the best but for some reason we don't visit them as often as the bottom four.
Fire alarm madness
A sophisticated and expensive fire alarm system was installed in all of the flats recently. Unfortunately it doesn't work. Or rather, it doesn't know how to distinguish between, say, having a shower and a full blown fire. Or cooking (which has been known to produce smoke) and a full blown fire. Or even heating the kitchen and a full blown fire.
It seems to be the alarms in my place that are the worst, although the guy downstairs has had his go off too. Resetting involves dashing down to the ground floor, punching in the right sequence of numbers on the panel, getting annoyed and reassuring the neighbours that you were merely browning the onions.
It is not satisfactory.
The worst was when I came back from a five hour ride last weekend, fairly knackered and hungry. I had a quick shower, opened the bathroom door and the steam set off the alarm. Argh. I wasn't thinking straight and couldn't work out how to reset the thing, so half an hour and a phone call to the installer later, the noise was finally silenced. Neighbours were not amused. Nor was I.
The problem had been that the vents in the extractor fan in my bathroom were closed, so the steam built up. But still I wanted to know if I could turn the detectors off, even temporarily. The installer bloke said he could only switch them to a heat detector and didn't recommend it. I spoke to the landlord, who agreed it was a pain in the arse and we will do something about it.
But I may have a solution. Pete, one of our developers, told me that he just used to put plastic bags attached by rubber bands over the detectors. Of course it doesn't help if you have an actual fire, but after doing extensive user testing of this system, I conclude that it's rubbish and I'd probably burn to death if there was a real fire anyway.
Weather et al
The snow has all gone and the country is back on its three feet. In fact, we've had some rather pleasant weather of late. Today it was blue skies and 11 degrees. Joy!
'Twas a perfect day to clock up 140km, including a lap of the Chippenham hilly course (38.7km, couple of short climbs) and some time with the club chain gang. The Chippenham hilly on March 8 will be my first race and I'm looking forward to getting stuck in again. I was 3'30 quicker over the course than last week for the same heart rate, so that's a good sign. Even better was that I was five minutes quicker over it with a slightly higher average heart rate than I was at this time last year.
It kinda made up for being a bit slower on Tuesday and Thursday during the week. That was a result of doing a bit too much last weekend and not going easy enough on Wednesday. Gently does it on rest days. I think with another couple of weeks of training, I should be in pretty reasonable shape. Can't wait to race in my new Chippenham skinsuit with rainbow cuffs ;-)
150km tomorrow then off to Belgium on Monday to visit Reiny and Gwen, do a few Schelde rides (yep, I'm taking the bike) and catch up with some old friends.
Much more exciting is that at some stage during next week, the family will be increased by plus one and I'll become an uncle. Go Lucy!
Friday, February 06, 2009
Footsteps in the snow
This week it's turned a bit wintry with snow an' that. Typically, the UK ran out of grit/salt on the first day so the entire country shut down. Not me though! I even managed to do a training session in the Quay House basement.
Note: there is nothing new here that isn't on Facebook already. Please move along.
It may look calm from the safety of Cleveland Bridge, but plunging into the icy waters of the Avon means certain DEATH. Fortunately I stopped myself from taking my regular early morning swim just in time.
© Jeff Jones
As the end of the world is obviously nigh, I've taken precautions and booked my spot to beat the rush. Quick!
© Jeff Jones
Pulteney Bridge and the weir. If you look (very) closely on top of Lansdown hill you can see that Bath is an avalanche waiting to happen. If we don't get buried alive by snow, we'll surely drown in the Avon.
© Jeff Jones
It's that cold you can almost skate on the Avon. Or likely just drown.
© Jeff Jones
This once used to be a beautiful park with no riff-raff. Now look at it. Ruined by the snow.
© Jeff Jones
My only escape route from the cold involves plunging into yonder Roman baths. But I doubt I will survive the drop.
© Jeff Jones
It's getting worse. I'm not going to make it now.
© Jeff Jones
Where's me shovel?
© Jeff Jones
The park up the road. You have to tiptoe in order to avoid an avalanche
© Jeff Jones
Downtown Bath. Quiet innit.
© Jeff Jones
Let me in, I want a swim!
© Jeff Jones
Lack of wide angle lens and a suitable place to stand led to this photo
© Jeff Jones
I just threw this in for effect
© Jeff Jones
Tree: "Where is everyone? If I fall, there will be no-one to hear me"
© Jeff Jones
Note: there is nothing new here that isn't on Facebook already. Please move along.
It may look calm from the safety of Cleveland Bridge, but plunging into the icy waters of the Avon means certain DEATH. Fortunately I stopped myself from taking my regular early morning swim just in time.© Jeff Jones
As the end of the world is obviously nigh, I've taken precautions and booked my spot to beat the rush. Quick!© Jeff Jones
Pulteney Bridge and the weir. If you look (very) closely on top of Lansdown hill you can see that Bath is an avalanche waiting to happen. If we don't get buried alive by snow, we'll surely drown in the Avon.© Jeff Jones
It's that cold you can almost skate on the Avon. Or likely just drown.© Jeff Jones
This once used to be a beautiful park with no riff-raff. Now look at it. Ruined by the snow.© Jeff Jones
My only escape route from the cold involves plunging into yonder Roman baths. But I doubt I will survive the drop.© Jeff Jones
It's getting worse. I'm not going to make it now.© Jeff Jones
Where's me shovel?© Jeff Jones
The park up the road. You have to tiptoe in order to avoid an avalanche© Jeff Jones
Downtown Bath. Quiet innit.© Jeff Jones
Let me in, I want a swim!© Jeff Jones
Lack of wide angle lens and a suitable place to stand led to this photo© Jeff Jones
I just threw this in for effect© Jeff Jones
Tree: "Where is everyone? If I fall, there will be no-one to hear me"© Jeff Jones
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