Category: Rides and exercise

Double click on pictures at least twice to see the full screen  version. 

This turned out to be a classic club ride. Arranged the night before after the Time Trial I nearly missed it. I’d sauntered down to the Eureka after going back for  my saddlebag.
Got there early to get Frank’s Breakfast down me and spoke with few about my rides going backwards including Ray and Keith Boardman.

I’d backed off, not given 100% and was beating myself up over it.

It was short sleeves and bib short weather and I ended up chasing the bunch down to Woodbank. Things were going good we all got down to the lights at the A5117 got across them fine and then got held up by a set of lights at the sliproad. Here we met up with our irate motorist of the day, sounding his horn at us.
Over what I don’t know but considering the number of waves we got for waving cars and vans past when we saw it was clear it was the only incident. We had another around Wrexham when a car came up real close on JJ’s wheel because of oncoming traffic but that was it.

Didn’t get dropped this week going along the Dee or on the road through Saltney so things are looking up. In fact things are going OK until the back of Kinnerton where I start to fall off the back on some of the climbs. Barry is dishing out the pace but there is always a fresh guy on your wheel when you begin to falter. Paul stops and the group wait for first me to catch up but Paul never shows as we had made two turns out of his sight.

Supposedly we are going out to the Mountain Bike Centre but Northend rides are fluid. We are going up the Steps but before then we have to get back on the group, we get together at a set of traffic lights but  it is clear we have two sets of abilities on the ride and I’m clearly in the second set.

I’m off the back before we reach the Steps. This is granny ring stuff for me or at least the bottom ring on a compact. The granny always wins for me as I catch Dave Newbie on the final step, he’s on 39×25 and I’m on 30×27. 39×25 is still a big ring for this sort of steep climb. A 53/39 chain ring is designed for Racers not mere mortals like me who struggle when I come to something steep.

There are enough Northenders for at least 3 ability rides on a Wednesday may I suggest  Elite, Club and Social. I’d class myself a club/social. Like a Cafe stop but ain’t good enough to do a big loop without a stop. Now for me this is a two bottle ride, from experience I know if I don’t have two bottles of water or SIS I am going to be in trouble.

Going up the Steps sweat is pouring out of me, I ‘ve got my Discovery cap on and it is dripping off the peak. All over my £271 Garmin 705. The sweat evaporates to leave a salt  stain. I’m not King of the Mountains but the Lantern Rouge. Once over the top  Dave regains his pride and I can’t get into the granny ring for the next climb so we are in the same boat. No real time to recover and we are off again.

The next section fills me with doubt , Andy Walsh (club champion) says “See the house up there, that’s where we are going” and sure enough we do. The real test is the climb up from Minera. There are three of us at the back, Moi, Dave Newbie and Barry. The rest have flown. Andy goes around and I have to stop to put the chain on the granny ring. Dave said I need to get in my lowest gear as it just gets steeper later on around the first bend. don’t know why it wouldn’t go in to the granny ring now as it was alright going up the steps.
I catch up we Dave and basically we discuss the meaning of life and how we’ve got it back.

It is agreed we stop at the Prospect Cafe come what may. Now last year the Northend got knocked back at the Prospect but no problems this year (It is involved but the service is relaxed).
Wear a set of brake blocks out on the descent to Worlds End Ford, walkers on the wrong line but it is steep. Opt to take the steps across the ford as I nearly came off riding it last year. Barry has some great pictures.

Club photo opportunity at the ford and then we head off down hill towards Panorama.

Along the lane two escaped sheep are trying to outrun the group. Just when you thought it was going to the side it would dart back across your wheel. It gets sorted but they are a fair way from where they started.

I’ve been shelled of the back on this section as I can’t get into the granny ring on the climb near the abbey and saw the group climbing this section and from where I was it looked steep, when I actually came to it it wasn’t that bad. Found that magic gear and caught Dave Newbie up. Dave had managed to get another concussion puncture and we had agreed to stop at the Cafe whatever the others were doing.

Five of us opt to take the  cake stop at the “Prospect Cafe ” as Dave has two punctures. The rest  ride on. There is a bit of history with this place , last year the club got knocked back, a week later the Seamons  Audax was here in force including me having 3 scones.

We spend a good hour at the cafe before we refill with water and head back to the Eureka. Dave had his two punctures sorted by the time the tea and scones came.
          
The ride back to the Eureka is big ring stuff with only a stop for Dave to put more air in his tyre as it was rolling off the rim on the bends. There is no picture of Barry on the Dee cycleway as he zoomed off at 34 mph with the wind behind him, were we had an easy 20mph. Barry makes a few breaks during the ride my effort on the Saltney rail bridge is thwarted by a red traffic light.
Barry has another go up Woodbank with Andy Walsh taking off after him, don’t know who made it to the junction first but we were well down.

Soup at the Eureka looked good. I’d had the usual oat bar and Lucozade Sport. Rode back via the Missing link with Barry and Andy.
77 miles and a great day.
Link to GarminConnect Map to follow.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/73434

I’m glad to see Astana invited to the Giro at the last minute. I followed Steve Cummings in his Giro ride last year.
Can they pull something off with next to no time for preparatrion I don’t know but they have a lot of good riders. Contador must be chomping at the bit to prove himself following his TDF victory and not getting invited back.
The loyalties are now split between BarlowWorld and Astana.  I’ve got a wardrobe full of Disco kit and it is really good stuff.
As I’m only playing at this I do like to have the full kit rather than just a jersey and shorts.

I’ve just seen the rider entry  list, Barloworld and Steve Cummings behind Astana.

Just read the the Andy Hampsten story in Pro Cycling and he was the first and up to now last American to win a Giro stage. Must have felt like I felt  on the Audax last month but  with a few thousand metres on me. Tough guy, I’m a wimp in comparison.

Ongoing…..

Just watched Giro leader Alberto Contador go up the 12 Km Mountain Time Trial in 34×30, I always knew I needed lower gearing when going up a 1 in 4 climb !!!

 

Monday: Shopped till I dropped in Chester. You can’t get GTA IV for love nor money.
Had a look at the Specialised Time Trial bike in the Specialised shop it really is something else with the rear brake mounted below the bottom bracket. If I could get it on the Ride to work Scheme I’d have one.
Came home and did some secret time trialing. Looking at the TrainingCentre I’ve just realised I’ve lost all my maps including the Basemap.  Stopped at Drayton  Motors for a blow, then did the rest of the course.
Tuesday: Spinning class at West  Kirby, I’m taking it real easy on this one as I have the race of truth at 19.17. The truth hurts when you are going backwards like I am. 19 minutes 30 seconds. An improvement on last week but others are taking minutes out of their times. Even Dave Large who I took 59 seconds out of last week beat me by 10 seconds. Keith Boardman went past me so he was going well. At least three people mentioned to me that I need some Tri bars. I’m thinking there is something else more basic that I need to work on.
I don’t know if I’m putting too much in to the drag up to the Clegg as I’m down on the Chester High Road which is flat and know what I should be doing even without Tri bars and everything else. Not to worry Spain next week some good rides from Gandia on the cards.
Wednesday: Ride day. Not limited to what level of ride you need on a Wednesday. Take what  comes. Got halfway to the Eureka and had to turn back as I hadn’t put the saddle bag on after the time trial. Did 77 miles on a brilliant ride even if I was off the back a few times. It puts the disapointment of not doing as well I thought I was into perspective.

Ride write up with pictures later.

Spinning class at West Kirby, shower , home.
Got to sort out some pictures for the CTC magazine of the 75 Mile TT the other week.
Thursday: Spinning class at West Kirby followed by half an hour in the gym.
Picked up Cycling Weekly and some fruit and started editing yesterdays ride. Weather was that good I had to go out for a ride. Long sleeve jersey on today as I had caught the sun yesterday. Factor 50 on the legs. 17 miles incorporating Ness, Parkgate, Lower Heswall, Heswall, Pensby, the cash machine then home.
More editing of yesterdays ride, cook tea. Ride to club monthly meeting then ride home with the super duper Cateyes. Worth the ridiculous amount I’d paid for them at this time of night.
Friday: Work, nothing planned. Update site, sort out which map I’m going to need for next week.
Saturday:Work. Uploaded Map of Valencia into the Edge 705.
Sunday:Work. Missed a good days riding looking at the weather. Must start packing for Tuesday.

Monday: Can’t believe it’s nearly May. Back into the routine. Morning spinning class at West Kirby where I had a really good go.

Max was 181 which I haven’t seen for a while while the average was 159. Gym after the class to do some weights and 0.5 km run but started getting bored.
Evening spinning class but my max felt like the average in the morning.

Tuesday: Booked in for the morning spinning class and in the evening it is Northend club 7 mile TT. Got Barry 27 seconds behind me for the last one and Chicago 16 seconds in front of me.
Spinning class, steadyish. Back down to 84 Kg so it is working.
Changed to the carbon wheels for the time trial and checked the pressures in the tubs. Showers just before the off and the wind is not in anybodies favour.
Speaking to Alan at the start he reckoned I’d be on tri bars next. Andy reckons they make a big difference too.
First time in club kit too. The big ring problem reared it’s head on the line as when I backpedalled it shifted to the middle ring and I had to ease off to get it to shift. No excuses I was 30 seconds down on my first time. Dave Large was my minute man and it took a good 7 miles to catch him. I drew along side him in the final 200 metres or so but didn’t have it in me to cleanly pass him. I get pipped for the line but made a few mistakes on the ride. Not getting on the drops was one of them and daring to touch the brakes was another. Barry beats me by 20 seconds so has had a storming ride.
I’ve moved up to third in the club handicap competition but don’t ask me how it is worked out as I haven’t a clue. All I’m interested in is setting a good time.
Rugby club for a pint and a chat after the event then ride home. Max heart rate was 186 bpm so I was having a real good go.

Another one next Tuesday. Chicago has a pint ordering tale in the Thatch (Raby)that takes some beating. Rode back with Chicago ant parted at Thorton Hough.

Wednesday: Ride day. Rode out to the Eureka for breakfast. Three rides for the Northenders and I ended up going out with 7 others and ending up at the cafe/delicatessen at Holt. The route out was via the Dee cyclepath, Saltney footbridge, Higher Kinnerton. Cafe is well worth a stop if there aren’t too many of you.
Nice easy ride back to the Eureka with the wind behind us. The wind direction reversed during the course of the day and I was back into it on leaving the cafe for home.
At the Eureka I spoke to Keith Boardman ” Thats what I need ” pointing to an Orbea Orca time trial bike. Then he tells me about the Chris Boardman bike that’s in Pro Cycling this month. £2,800 with Zipp wheels. The frame alone is listed at £2,499.
If logic went out the window I’d have one, but as I’ve only two times on record I’m still playing at it. The other week I lost a minute to a guy with a £175 frame  so it is not about the bike.
Spinning class at West Kirby preceded with a short session in the gym.
Spinning class was half full due to lots cancelling. I couldn’t get a place at 3 o’clock.
Must have been the football. Margaret took the class and it was good, intervals and pyramiding on some of the routines followed by a good stretching routine to music.
15 minutes in the gym beforehand spent hopping on machines that wern’t being used as chairs. Shower, home. Tried to keep abreast of the football during the evening as I work with a mob that can talk for days about a match.
A good day.
Thursday: Work. Called in at Aldi to get some bibshorts. Picked up a pair of glasses with 3 lenses and case for £2.99. Trackmitts too. I’m a medium size now but the bibshorts are not for me as the elastic on the leg is too loose. Pity about the sizing as they have everything else going for them.  Voted, blogged and sat down to read the comic.
Friday:Work. Took the Aldi Bibshorts back for a refund, went to Tesco’s for ProCycling mag to no avail and that was the day done. Just got my start position for Tuesdays time trial, 3rd.
Saturday: Work. Sort out the shifting on the Trek on the turbo trainer from scratch this time. Discovered there has been an update to TrainingCentre so spent the evening installing that instead. Not without problems but sorted in the end.
Plotted the 7 Mile TT as a course in TrainingCentre and added CoursePoints at junctions and straights. There is not the same 100 point limit on CoursePoints and with a decent map in TrainingCentre you should be able to plot a Course and have the CoursePoints announce the turns.
Sunday: Work. Came home to sort the Toy out for Tuesday. A tweek here and there turned out to be a two hour to and fro between the granny and big ring. Sorted a few other niggles at the same time. The magnet clipping the cadence sensor was one of them. The rear mech fore aft ajustment was another, it may not be 100% but it’s a vast improvement.  I now know why I started off in the middle ring on Tuesday. Back pedalling half a turn in 52×25 throws you into 39×25 as the chain threads itself off the big ring. Hopefully sorted.
Not a bad week, should do more in the gym next week as the four days in work really mess things up.

Started off a bit of a mixed day, the rain meant a change of bike and shoes at the last minute. I wasn’t going to make a half eight start but as it turned out Ray had a 9 o’clock start planned.  I’m 3 Kg up on what I was last year and that didn’t help.
Having all that data is a double edged sword when it’s not in your favour.
No parking in the field this year due to the rain.

Don’t know who are in the first picture but the second is Carol Boardman leading the Northend out and I can make out Peter in the third who they managed to loose at some stage. Our group took shelter in a bus stop while Ray was sorting his Garmin out. Ray throttled me (in jest)in the Memorial Centre for making comments about his routes. Well I’m riding Rays Route on the 705 so we don’t come to blows on the ride.
There is a section around the tin church where we differed.

Well we have to wait long before we had our  first and only stop on the ride. Ray picked up a puncture on Lower Mountain Road.

First two pictures are of Roy and Joan who from what I can gather picked up a puncture  before the first control. It’s a steady pace and and as we started late we don’t see any riders for what seems a long time. I forgot to mention the chap with a crushed wheel we passed going back just before Ray had his puncture. It looked bad.

Things are fairly steady and we get to the point where Ray’s route has us turning off route to regain it further on. Whereas the sheet has us going down to Bronwlfa Ray has us climbing. It gets really steep grannyring stuff and I say ” Bloody hell Ray, where have you got us going” only for Martin to chirp back “That’s what I was thinking”. 744 to 980 ft the elevation change. Steep descent and we are back on track.

Only to be faced with another steep climb  well what goes up comes down and the first stop comes up in Church Street Penycae. The church that gives the street it’s name looks nice.

The sun comes out and it is a lot brighter with the roads starting to dry out. Checked into the control and as we are at the back of the ride there are no queues.
more later.

First picture is of the Iceni on the wall, what I didn’t realise was the village post office was here. Next shot is Ray and Joan who has passed us earlier and don’t look too pleased. We’ve been in the control 30 minutes so they have lost a bunch of time.

The next section of the ride is really nice. No waterproofs and  it all hangs together until just after Ruabon. Never been through Ruabon strange as it may seem and we wait for Chris. Ray is naughty and jumps a car giving way to oncoming traffic on a narrow bridge. 

Going out of Ruabon we see another group of riders coming back down the dual carriage way having missed the turn. It’s a fairly fast pace to the roundabout at Sontley where Ray tucks in the Aldi Jacket that was falling out of the back pocket. Once regrouped I lead off looking back after a while to see I was off the front. Easing up a  group of the Sunlight with JJ on the front pass with Chris and Martin on the back so I grab a wheel.

Further on I looked back and Chris and Martin were gone. Then there is a climb at speed that I should be doing more of. It splits the group up a bit and you get to see who is strong. Next thing I’m off the front as they regroup. The next section was really good and I clawed back a lot of time riding the muddy lanes at a fast pace. The 705 and Ray,s Route came into it’s own here as there was no need to stop at the junctions to look at the route sheet. I passed a few on the lanes including a group where one says make way for Lance.

I passed a couple riding at a decent pace only to be re passed when I stopped to put on the Aldi Hiviz Jacket when the rain came again. The next control came up and it was full with the Northend and Liverpool Mercury making up most of them.
Scones and cake were excellent and came from Costco.

I had planned to ride back with the Northend but Carol said we are only going slow why not grab a wheel on the back of Liverpool Mercury they are a fast bunch, “Give them hell” were her parting words. Out of the Control they had formed two groups and were not organised so I rode up to the front group who slowed up so I went through. With 25 miles to go they are bound to catch up.

Up ahead was another rider pressing on who I now know as Dennis. I caught and passed Dennis but then made a wrong turn just before the war memorial so had to retrace slightly. I must had slowed as Dennis joins me and asks if I’m on the ride. He’s got the same idea as me, just waiting for the inevitable and the Liverpool Mercury to pass us.

Surprisingly it doesn’t happen and we turn up at the finish to find only two bikes there. I get a finish time of 15:39 and seven minutes later Liverpool Mercury arrive.

Next in is JJ and the Sunlight. Some 40 minutes later Ray Janet Chris and Martin arrive.
Carol and the Northend turn up later having missed a turn and headed to Malpas.
Saw jon at the finish he was first back. Last year he rode out to the event and back home which was 140 miles. I’ve just had a look at last years ride and everybody was in shorts. Glad I braved the weather, made the right choice switching to the Iceni at the last moment. Chester and NorthWales CTC took the team trophy for the most riders on what would have been a long day for some.

There was some discussion at the end about the Dave Lloyd Mega challenge this being roughly half that distance and with only two climbs of note. It would be a long long hard day and I’m probably not up to it. But you never know.

Monday: Mot’d the Scenic but delayed due to telephone system being out of action.
Had planned to ride the Brimstage TT as a course but managed to loose it in the TrainingCentre. No backup either and GarminConnect is about as useful as a chocolate teapot. Tried to set a time before off out spinning but traffic is too much at this time of day. First time out in the shorts this year.
Spinning at West Kirby. Not a bad class with new music promised for tommorow.
Start to redo Sundays ride.
Tuesday: Picked up the bushes for the Polo and watched Brian struggle for 5 hours fitting them. He has it down as a job you only do once. 
Spinning at Europa Pools. Twas a hot class and although I wasn’t going for it I was sweating buckets. Half empty as everybody is watching the match.
Re doing Sundays ride in Marengo with Anquet as the OS map. 75 MILES IN 63 POINTS UP TO NOW. There a couple of places where I could use the extra waypoints as course markers now I have the complete basic route.
There is some nice property on this ride I had to google Vicarage road as it didn’t feature in Google maps but did in 192.com.
Just about got a route sorted. Will publish it once it is sorted.
Wednesday:  Work. I’ll publish the route once I can remember my Marengo login. Will take the Trek out for a spin as the front mech needs sorting. Adjusted the front mech so at least it will go onto the big ring. Then did the race of truth or at least up to the Seven Stars pity I didn’t have the Edge on. Aim to do it again before Tuesday.
Thursday:
Friday: Work. Weather looks a bit mixed for Sunday.
Saturday:  Work. Up early, sorted out a few things  and came across a few problems in Mapsource and TrainingCentre. After work sorted out the Toy for the ride. Tipped the house upside down looking for the multitool on to find it in the saddlebag on the Colnago. Pumped the tyres up and then struggled to get the Cateye light bracket off the bars. Toying with the idea of running the 305 and 705 in tandem. One running a Route and one running a Course. Running Rays Route tommorow.
Sunday: Early Season Tourist Trial from Pennyfford.

http://www.marengo-ltd.com/map2/index.php?route=3504

May have another play with the route as I’ve spare waypoints to play with.

 

Monday: Missed morning spinning class so it was time to sort the bikes out. The Colnago Carbitubo is going to get an airing seeing as the weather is nice.
Fitted a Garmin mount to it so I’m off out.
Did 40 miles around Wirral. Logged on 705
Spinning class and gym at West Kirby then home and watched The Science of Lance Armstrong.
 Cafe stop at Ness Gardens and another at West Kirby. Morrisons for an afternoon tea at £2.09, great value.  Got asked again if I was on the Egg run. Egg run is for bikers not cyclists. I’ve done the Egg run and it’s about a donation now as there aren’t enough kids there to eat all that chocolate.
Colnago was great, very relaxed riding position as it is a frame size too large for me.
The bars are higher than the seat  so it is  a significant change in position.
A Trek Madone it’s not but it’s nice to ride, it’s not stiff at the bottom bracket in fact I would call it flexy. It’s a retro carbon fibre bike and was great for this type of ride. No pressure, ride into the wind as it is going to be behind you on the final leg.
Tuesday: Work. But 7 mile Brimstage TT.  20 turned up and it’s literally right on the doorstep. ChicagoDave turned up on yet another different bike, Barry turned up on his new Trek Madone. When I say new it still had the cellophane on the bars as he only picked it up at 5 o’clock. Andy turned up because he read the blog.
I was starting 17 th and managed to pin number 18s number on upside down reading a large entry 81. He repaid me by taking a minute out me passing me by the first roundabout. He was on an Iceni the same as my winterbike but with tribars on it, so it’s not about the bike.
I ended up 10 seconds slower than Saturday’s trial run probably due to the lack of a tailwind.
The chart says I was 4 mph faster up to the Clegg but way slower along the Chester High Road. The Chester High Road is big ring territory and I’ve yet to perfect my technique at these. Most of it is remarkably consistent between the two runs but it’s so easy to loose time on time trialing. The climb by the Seven Stars is my bugbear, I’m down to about 15 mph. Thats the thing with operating at the limit, you’ve nothing more to give. At least I’ve got my first official time which is something. Pint in the Rugby club then home with Barry. 18 minutes and 51 seconds.
Wednesday:Work. Started to plan Early Season 75 on Mapsource and the routing part is great until you get to ” Proceed uphill again to junction by seat.” Time to get Tracklogs and Anquet out and Marengo too. MapSource just doesn’t have enough detail in it. 
Tursday:Work. It’s light until about 8:30 now so I may go out on the bike. Gym instead. Twas not to be, a spike on the grid took out just about all the services at work. Had to stay with Mike and Dave to sort it.
Friday:Work. Early dart for a spinning class at West Kirby. Barbara had dipped out so Margaret was taking the class. Now Margaret’s classes are very different to the other classes. Some of the routines are interval based which is different than the hill/sprint/hill routine of normal classes. That’s a crude analogy,but this class was more resistance based. The numbers say I didn’t work as hard but that is subjective. Margaret’s stretching routine should be a guideline to all instructors. They  are brilliant, not rushed and for a decent length. I noticed an immediate difference. The leg on the handlebar stretch was bloody hard using Margaret’s method. Times for these stretches  are double or triple what I normally do.
Saturday:
I really like rides with a cafe stop and always will. Can’t see the point of into riding into Wildest Wales and not stopping at a Cafe or shop. No wonder so many of these businesses fold passing trade just rides by.
Things change by the hour. No ride today.Not a bad  day,trouble comes  in three,s  and I’m only up to two.
Sunday: Jack day. Spinning class at West Kirby as I haven’t been able to get a ride in.
Have a knocking noise on the Polo when going over bumps after a few google searches and watching a video on a bush removal tool the bushes on the suspension arm are shot.

Monday: Work. Edit blog, update 705  entries and 20 pressups before I called it a day. Pretty poor day by my reckoning.
Tuesday: Much like Monday. Starting to think about doing the Brimstage 7 Mile TT after work as the nights are light enough,just. First Northend one is next Tuesday.
Wednednesday: Work. Off out to see Jan Akkerman at Pacific Road.R&R day. A good night out.
Thursday: Work followed by the NorthEnd monthly meeting. Signed up for the Time Trial series so it looks like I am commited to do it. I’m last away at the moment and don’t yet have a handicap. Bought the TT handbook to see what’s what.
Friday: Minimum is a spinning class, maybe a ride. Need to get another time for the 7mile TT too. Plenty on. As it turned out I didn’t get out for a ride, spent the morning taking 6mm off 2 fire doors (boy are they heavy) cleaned the Toy. Sorted out the carbon wheels for the Time Trial on Tuesday. Put  City Navigator V6 on the 705. Gym at West Kirby, weights and a 2km row in 8:20. Spinning class that I managed to get on.
Right from the start this was going to be a tough class.

The first 10 minutes were the row in the gym. Now I spent a solid 30 minutes in Zone 4 and a good nine minutes in Zone 5. Thought we had done the final sprint when I took it up to 181 bpm only for Barbara to put Crank That by SoulJa boy on. Had another go but I’d put everything in the other sprint. Felt good after it.
Still haven’t read Cycling Weekly yet.
Saturday: No planned or club rides in the morning. Brimstage 7 miler come what may.
Fitted the Carbon Wheels  to the Toy and removed the saddlebag for this one. I was mucking around with Mapsourse and had to revert to Marrengo to move the Finnish 40ft.

I’m going to have to pull my finger out on Tuesday to better this time. 18 minutes 42 seconds for my second attempt. About 1 minute 15 seconds up on last week. No doubt helped by the tailwind on the Chester High Road. Average 22.9 mph. With the average heartrate at 165 BPM this tells me I’m just about flat out. More later.
Sunday: Chester Zoo with Jack. A great day. Saw Rays CTC ride going down Backford Hill towards Church Lane.

Got back in time to watch Boonen win Paris-Roubaix and went to West Kirby for a Spinning class. Had a good go getting the Heartate up to 175 BPM.
Not a bad week would have liked some more riding but you can’t have it all ways.
Feel in good shape, regular spinning classes keep me in the picture.

705 is not as straight forward as I reckoned. It’s eating into time that I don’t have at the moment. Again if you want maps factor it in to the overall cost. If you don’t need a map buy an Edge 305. 

Post on Garmin Mapsource pending once I’ve sorted out the Edge 705.

Final post is about Carbon fibre wheels. These are tubs so if you get a puncture  you are in deep shit. Only used these once before in the TLI Roadrace series. These are not expensive wheels by any standard but even the likes of I could feel the difference. 
They spin up better than anything  else I ride on.
Just pratting around they felt good. 7-9 Bar are the tyre pressures. Whatever the time is on Tuesday it’ll still stand.

Monday: Work but found out I should have been riding the Poynton to Chirk Audax yesterday.
Spent the evening planning Sundays ride and here’s a snapshot of it.

Still using Marengo in preference to other route planners, mainly because it works every time and as I’m using version2 I can save and export routes for the rides.
So here is the link.  http://www.marengo-ltd.com/map2/index.php?route=3168
200 Kms in under 90 waypoints. The route sheet comes with extra directions for those without gps but its not going to be a problem as once programmed in you’ve an accuracy of 9ft.
Poynton/Chirk was a classic ride last year. The weather made it probably as tough as you want it be.
Tuesday: Work. No exercise, spinning or gym. Still catching upon lots of things and that eats up time in the evening.
Wednesday: Work again but  may fit in a spinning class or at least a gym session. The light nights mean a few Brimstage TT’s are not out of the question.
Had a session in the gym, managed to get a bike in the booked up spinning class and had another go in the gym, ran a kilometre @ 10 km/hr and then another 0.6 @ 11.1 km/hr to run the proverbial mile, shower and home.
Garmin 705,s starting to appear on Google searches might try to get one before the weekend, starts to get a bit complicated when you see them bundled with Garmin Maps.
Thursday: Not a ride day as yet but I am off, to be concluded.
Possibly as spinning class.
Painted the bathroom, ordered an Edge 705 for tommorow.
Also won a Discovery Channel shirt on Ebay, one of George Hincapies team issue shirts.
Spin and a 20 minute gym session was first class. Had a session on the side stepper while waiting to go on the other machines. Uploaded the data to Garmin.
Barbara’s music is off Floorfillers 08 with chestpresses done to Now Your Gone and the final sprint to Crank That by SoulJa Boy, good track for Time Trialing, crank in some resistance and bury yourself. Had the pulse max out at 180 BPM coming out of the saddle at the end.
Friday: Had thought about a Steve Cummings training ride but it may not come to pass as there is a lot on.
Managed a 20 mile loop to the  Eureka for breakfast and then home.
The Hincapie team issue shirt was there and I’m torn between wearing it or framing it.
It’s got a radio pocket sewn in the back pocket.
The Garmin Edge 705  arrived around 2 oclock and I’m off out to buy a memory card for the maps. You only get a quickstart refererence with it with the manual on CD-Rom so the learning curve remains just as steep for a first timer. It just got steeper as I can’t find Routes in it !!!!!.
What does it take for me to miss a spinning class, a Garmin Edge 705 I guess. Guess I need a day off, the muscles around the knee are hurting so last nights session was high intensity
Saturday: Try out the 705 and take it easy before Sunday.
Fitted it on the Trek and it looks a lot bigger on the stem. Also replaced the battery in the cadence sensor and synchronised it with the 705.
It turned out nice in the afternoon I’d played around with the 705 and decided to try out the 705 on the 7.1 Mile Brimstage Time Trial.
Altered Marengo with the new start point and found GPSBabel doesn’t like the 705 so tranfered the route in to Mapsource and exported it from there. The Garmin Edge 705 sees it as a Ride and not a Route. You still Navigate it as per the Edge 305.

Forgot to put the HRM strap on and it was quite windy in parts but at least I have a time. Through Thornton Hough I got baulked by a horse, there was no avoiding it as a bus and a string of cars were on the opposite side of the road. Cost me maybe 10 to 15 seconds. Saw Cannondale Kev going out to the Eureka as I was heading to Drayton Motors. Being on map mode meant I couldn’t see what speed I was doing and it didn’t seem that fast in places. Anyway I make at 20 minutes give or take a second for the 7miles. I know I can do better than this.

 Looking at the chart the horse took longer than the ten to fifteen seconds I thought it had. 28 mph on the top road was Ok but I’m having problems shifting into the big ring. The Machined chainrings just don’t want to let go of the chain
Sunday: Already weather warnings for the ride. Hopefully the weather will be OK  Trek Madone if it’s not wet. First 200 km ride of the year. Ray is 1 up on me thanks to my no show last week. Early season 75 entry came through the post today.

Monday: Work, first day of the new shift pattern. On call to boot. No exercise other than walking between zones for a couple of miles.
Tuesday: Work. A 7 pm finish time means a gym session would mean not getting fed till around 9 pm. Give it a miss tonight.Booked a ticket for the World Championships at the Velodrome.
Wednesday: Ride day come what may. Looks like rain, but a bit of rain never hurt anyone. Got to the Eureka for 9:30 and I was the second in there, I was begining to think this was going to be a bad day. As it happens things turned out quite well. Richard was calling the shots and it proved to be a decent 67 mile ride. First off it was down Woodbank and across the A5117. Once in Upton it was down to the cyclepath and an easy trip through Chester. After a pleasant route to the Fruit Farm Cafe at the bottom of the Yeld it was a disapointment to find it closed. SummerTrees was not our original destination. It can be a bit expensive if your are on a budget.
Sandwich, Tea and a scone for £5.50. proved decent value.
The Tour of the Berwyns Audax finishes here and it is a quality destination.
Thursday:  It doesn’t get much better than this, watched us win 3 Gold medals at the track and set a new world record to boot. All for £10. more later, maybe some of the couple of hundred pictures I took. Major dissapointment with the camera, it just doesn’t want to work properly indoors. That or the fact that the riders are doing 60 km/hr.

Friday: Bad weather means no ride and a switch to DIY. Start redecorating the bathroom. No spinning as I want to watch the track World Championships.
Saturday: No ride today. Watched the track World Championships while trying to redecorate the bathroom. Starting to get a bit drawn out. Put a spoke in the Iceni and tried to true the wheel. Cleaned the cassette with Gunk and realised just how much I’m wearing things out during the winter.
Another great day at the track, now up to nine Golds. Got the route through for next weekends Audax the first 200 km of the year.
Sunday: Feed the ducks day and watch the track World Championships.
Managed to get a spinning class at West Kirby. Needed to do something as I haven’t done a thing since Wednesday. Felt good with heartrate spending 21 minutes in zone 4 but only 19 seconds in zone 5.
A fitting end to a great week, saw GB win three golds and a set a world record at the worlds and I was there.