Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Single Speed Up Blowingstone Hill



Last Sunday went for club run on single speed. Went pretty well, ending up doing just over 110km. Included a climb up Blowingstone Hill.
This seems to have a bit of history > Blowing Stone
It is also b. steep! But managed it and was rewarded by long downhill swoop to Lamborne.

Training Diary 27th Feb

Boring but thought would use blog for training diary. So here goes.

Last night did first criss-cross 240W<>285W alternating every 2 mins for 40 minutes total. Really good drill with HR slowing oscillating up to just above LT.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Thursday 8th June Larbe>Argeles Gazost More cols and meeting the English

Distance 83
Time 4:48
Climb 2112
Cols Marie-Blanque, Aubisque
Weather Hot


Decide to do Aubisque as nearby and need to stay on in Pyrenees for longer than planned
The unplanned trip home means I will be staying for longer in the Pyrenees than I orginally planned so as to make the flight. So I decide to change my route a bit and take in the Aubisque, a famous HC climb but not one on the 2006 route.



The Marie-Blanque is also on the menu for today. This was a climb that Tim Moore did and he recounted how difficult it was, apparently it being one even the pros find hard. This despite the fact that its a lesser Cat 1 climb, what makes it tricky are the last 4k at 10%+.



At breakfast it looks as if I was the only overnight guest at the hotel.



Turns out only guest at hotel.


Earlyish start to Marie-Blanque. Read ahead so know the last 4 k are difficult.


Prove to be the case, especially as roads not v good. But overtake others which is always good for the morale


Get to top and blown away by scenery. Just expecting up and over but in fact beautiful plateau. Almost too beautiful as I nearly get run over by driver who is looking everywhere but the road ahead.

Surviving this I move onto Aubisque which has dreaded 3 chevron on it somewhere on it. Actually it turns out to be easier than the previous 2 climbs as road surface good and finding a rythm is straightforward. Only problem was taking wrong turn in a town and heading up and around car park (which was very steep, much steeper than the 3 chevron bit of road which was a bit of an anticlimax as Marie Blanque was a lot worse)

The Aubisque was the busiest mountain yet in terms of other cyclists. Happily I was overtaking rather than being overtaken, though one guy did pass me. By coincidence he turned out to be another Brit and when I reached the top I saw him along with a number of others. Speaking to them it turned out they were on an organised trip. (Later I realised they were doing the Raid Pyreneen). I got some tips from the guide about the descent, main one being "when you get into the tunnel remember to turn right at the end".

The cafe at the summit served some of the biggest sandwiches I had ever seen. These took a while to eat and I passed the time talking to another chap, from Ireland, who extolled the virtues of his home country for cyclists. I made a mental note to go over there some time.

I set off again, a bit too quickly as I had been there so long I had forgotten I had to settle up and the waitress had to call me back.

The descent was very fast and would have been faster had I not been held up by a car. I was surprised how poor parts of the road were. Eventually I came to the tunnel and was grateful for the warning received as just after it ended there was a sharp turn right (straight on would have been straight down..)

My chain was continuing to cause problems and when got to Argeles Gazost, my stopover for the night, I headed to the local bike shop. I got a new one fitted (KMC), which the owner told me would be quite expensive (40euros or so). However it did the business and proved to be a very good investment, seeing me through to the end of the trip and lasting several thousands of miles afterwards.

I stayed at a very nice, if bit expensive hotel. They were used to having cyclists, indeed the lady owner was very willing to tell me that Lance Armstrong had stayed there while training. (Apparently he wanted to ride the Tourmalet, but this was closed due to snow. So in high dudgeon he rode up and down the Hautacam twice..). Noting my computer she also mentioned that the first thing Armstrong did on returning from rides was load data up into a computer. Part of the secret of his success no doubt.

I had some time to kill so went for a walk around the town in the evening sunshine. Nice park with small casino. Then had an excellent meal before turning in for bed. Today had been a bit of an entree, tomorrow brought the main course in the form of the highest mountain in Pyrenees: Tourmalet.

Its been a while.....

Its been a while since the last post so very quickly what has happened since:
  • Xmas
  • New Year
  • Never ending jury service with an insight into another world
  • First century (km and miles) rides of 2007
  • Base training periods 1 and 2 over and done and into period 3