A small update

Just on the training, mind.

The last three weeks since Rudy Project #1 have been interesting in terms of the ol' power development. I was quite happy with what I managed then, as I'd built on my power at the Chippenham hilly at the start of March. If I could hold that for the rest of this season, I'd not be doing badly.

But there has been no slacking off since then as Ric is determined that we can push through last year's plateau. We haven't changed things since Feb/March either: my absolute training load has gone up slightly with longer sessions but my relative load has started to level off. That means that 'a lot of training' now feels normal, which means I'm fresher for each session, which means I find it easier to increase power from week to week.

This is important in the threshold workouts (the oft used 2 x 20min) as these give a very good idea of what your current 1 hour power (FTP) is. From experience this year, if I can average X watts for a 2x20 session (not counting rest) then I can add a few watts on top of that on race day for an hour.

It also tracks well to tempo power in certain circumstances, but because that's not maximal it's harder to draw a comparison. And longer rides don't seem to change much, although I have added about 10W in the last couple of weeks to my long rides, which is nice. Compared to similar rides I was doing last year, I'm about 25W up. That's good and I am hoping to get near that across all power levels.

What's better is being able to recover from these rides very quickly. And being able to put in hard efforts during the ride without knackering me for the rest of the ride. It's a particular kind of fitness (most would say it's base but I think Alex and Ric of RST refer to it as depth) and it feels amazing as it gives you almost complete control over your body.

Case in point: I did 3hrs on Saturday at a hard endurance pace, down towards the Mendips. In the middle I went up the Burrington Combe climb the fastest I've ever done in training. I turned around at the top, rode down and did it again at exactly the same speed and power as the first time, modulating power according to the changing gradient but still maintaining control over the effort. I got to the top and rode home at pretty much the same power and heart rate as the first part of the ride. Result: fastest Mendips ride I've done on the road bike. Power numbers to match.

Previously if I did this my heart rate would stay high after the climbs, my legs would be shot and my power would drop 20-40W. It's very nice not to have that happen.

Drinking booze at Phil N's birthday for the rest of the day probably wasn't the best recovery option but today's long ride went surprisingly well.

Next up: two mountain time trials, one in Buxton on Friday and the Beacon RC Little Moutain TT on Sunday. Both 1hr30-1hr45 so I won't get an idea of my one hour power just yet.

I move well, don't I?

Thus spake Irma Prunesquallor to her brother Alfred in Titus Groan (or was it Gormenghast?).

This was before she organised a grand party with the stated intention of securing herself a man. Which she did do in the form of Professor Bellgrove.

I kept getting reminded of this quote at last night's dinner party organised by one of the girls at work. She has already got a man (French), who was tasked with cooking for the remaining eight of us. He did a fine job, which is lucky because it is his job.

That left the rest of us (women outnumbering men 3:1, I am spoken for, you do the maths) to make the most of the occasion, which we did until approximately 3am. The combination of strong characters, food and wine was a real assault on the senses, but a hell of a lot of fun. Top marks.

3 hours on the velocipede the today wasn't quite as much fun, but I got through it.

Rudy Project #1


© David Jones

The first round of the Rudy Project time trial series was last weekend in Essex. Twas a 25.5 mile (41km) course on rolling twisting mostly back roads. I stayed in a B&B run by a triathlete who'd broken her hip after crashing on black ice in January. She's a multiple age group winner at world level so is pretty keen to get back into it. But a few more weeks to go before she can ride again.

We had another guest in the form of Michelle King, who went on to win the women's race by 2'30. I was clearly in good company although the next day I didn't end up winning by 2'30. In fact I came third to Matt Bottrill by 3'10. It just goes to show. What, I'm not sure.

I actually had a very decent ride - in power terms it'd be in my top 4 since the start of 2009. Encouragingly, it was nicely up on the Chippenham hilly a few weeks ago, so the training is paying off. I also beat a few riders who I thought would beat me, so that was nice.

But my 56'52 looked positively slow compared to Bottrill's 53'42. He took nearly 6 minutes off the course record and that's a hell of a ride. Second went to Andrew Griffiths in 56'18. He's the U23 national champion so there was no shame in being beaten by him.

Bottrill has improved a lot over the last year, either in power or aero terms or both. I remember in round 4 of the Rudy Project last year I got within 1'30 of him on almost the same power over the same distance. So basically he's opened up another 30W on me, and that is an impossible gap to bridge. And he's not even peaked yet, according to his coach! It'll be interesting to see how he fares against Hutch, come nationals time.

So while I was perfectly happy with my ride, it will change how I focus on the rest of the season.

Here are some short vids of us in action, courtesy of Scott Povey's girlfriend. Scott unfortunately crashed during the race but at least he wasn't badly hurt and ended up finishing 10th in 59'01.


Me, "moving well"


Scott Povey, also moving well


Matt Bottrill, moving well and a hell of a lot faster than the rest of us