John Keyes

This morning’s weather, wet and wild, helped me make up my mind on whether to go out for an early spin.

Weather rarely bothers me, in fact I get a kick out of venturing out in dirty weather. However, this morning I wasn’t in the mood for dealing with it all.

My patience paid off and by the afternoon I was greeted by blue skies and bright sunshine.

I had a two hour session ahead, a fifteen minute warm-up, one hour thirty of moderate effort, and a warm-down. It would have been easier if I made sure to stick my pump up my jersey. One return to base later I was back on track.

Apart from a fairly strong crosswind it was a decent spin. I did my warm down with the two childer, doing laps in the front yard for about twenty minutes.

Two rest days ahead.

Oh, I almost forgot, TOTD (Tool Of The Day) goes to the genius who almost clipped me when overtaking into oncoming traffic near the Ballyragget/Comer roundabout. Bonus Toolage as he was carrying a road bike on a rack.

It turns out that yesterday’s rest day was definitely needed. I was pooped for most of the day. I didn’t have a good nights sleep either so that would have contributed to the general lethargy.

I spent fifty minutes on the turbo tonight and didn’t enjoy it one little bit. Legs were heavy, sweat was dripping off my elbows, but now it’s done I feel great (as expected).

The video I was using tonight was The Long Scream, which uses footage from the World TT Championship from Copenhagen. Check out the preview below:

The Long Scream

I thought it a bit much to be told to match the cadence of Wiggins when pushing hard! Ah sure, I made an attempt at it anyway.

Another rest day tomorrow then out for a while on the road on Sunday to complete week 1.

I’m a couple of days into the first week of the training plan, and there’s not much to report. The introduction has been gentle enough, twenty minutes high intensity yesterday and forty minutes of moderate-to-high today.

I’ve only recently added a cadence sensor to the bike. It’s been an interesting addition, as it’s something I haven’t measured before.

The high cadence intervals have proven challenging. I’d guess my average cadence is approximately 85rpm, so the 110+rpm intervals are a nice jolt out of my comfort zone.

Change of pace tomorrow, as I’ve a rest day.

After a few years of cycling by the seat of my pants, I’ve decided to attack a set training plan.

I’m going with The Sufferfest’s Novice Road Plan. It’s a 10 week plan that will require four to six and a half hours training a week.

What’s my goal? Ideally I’d love to have a power meter to be able to measure output before and after the plan. As I don’t, it will purely be a measure of how strong I feel on the bike.

I do have a longer term goal.

There’s a fairly flat 13km time trial course I’ve tested myself on, and my best average speed on it is 35.2km/h. I had pushed myself a bit too hard to achieve that speed, and the result was a double calf tear, which kept me off two wheels for three months.

I want to complete the course with a 40km/h average, and to remain healthy in the process.

I have no idea if I can achieve that, but I’m going to try to achieve it this year.

Here we go …

What a wonderful frosty morning it was for a spin on the bike. The sun had been shining for a few hours and the roads were practically ice free. The air was crisp, and my legs were showing signs of life.

As I came around a bend I encountered someone walking a horse. The sun was in my eyes so I couldn’t make out any of their features but the reply to my “Good morning” came in the form of a beautiful smile.

I’m accustomed to dour verbal or facial responses when greeting strangers on the road. I was not expecting this real and wonderful smile. As if infected, I smiled the rest of the way home.