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.

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...

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.