3 more rides

Mon. Feb. 21st   Rivington 30.17 miles, 1h.51 mins, 16.2 average, max 40.15mph, Heart rate max/average 175/154bpm   Total 849.66

Tues. Feb. 22nd   Croft. 23.3 miles, 1h.21 mins, 17.1 average, max 25.30mph, Heart rate max/average 170/146bpm

Thurs. Feb 24th   Lymm 35.03 miles, 2h.01 mins, 17.2 average, max 27.96mph, Heart rate max/average 178/141bpm

Southport and back 66 miles

Well i didnt manage the 30 mile run yesterday as i felt i had pulled a hamstring and decided to rest it for a day. So today meant i had to double up on mileage to make up for it. I set off for Southport at 09.30 staying on the A577 through Atherton, Hindley, Ince and into Wigan then the A49 uphill for 3 miles into Standish. On this route there is about 13 miles of main road cycling before turning onto country roads for 20 miles into Southport. While whizzing down these country lanes feeling very fit and fast 'cos my average speed said 18.7mph i realised with a sinking feeling that the wind always blows towards Southport giving a great average then destroys me on the way home. I thought then it would be best to pace myself on my heart rate rather than average speed. So on the way there i was flying along on the flat at 23mph and my heart rate at 160 bpm with the wind behind me. On the return my speed dropped to 12 -15mph with the same 160bpm heart rate but with the wind against me. I was happy knowing that i was working hard rather than disapointed that i was travelling slowly. I got to Southport after an hour and 47 minutes and took a couple of pics of something i have never seen there in my life before. . . . . the tide was in, Southport actually has sea. I pressed the lap button on my Garmin 705 so i could record details of the out and back journeys separately and set off for home again.

On the way back after 46 miles i stopped at the Marina Cafe at Rufford for some energy in the form of a large strong coffee and some jam on toast for £3.05. A very popular cafe for cyclists on Station Road B5246. I stayed only 15 mins, just long enough to finish my treat then on my way again arriving home 20 miles and an hour and half later.

Total Stats 66.40 miles, 4h.03 mins, 16.3 average, max 32.49mph, Heart rate max/average 179/157bpm
Outward  33.03 miles, 1h 47 mins, 18.42 average, max 32.49mph, Heart rate max/average 179/158bpm
Return    33.37 miles, 2h 16 mins, 14.68 average, max 30.53mph, Heart rate max/average 179/157bpm

Training Tuesday 15th, Wednesday 16th

I made Tuesday my hilly/power training ride and went 34 miles around the hills of wigan and bolton. Staying on the large front ring up the hills giving a slow cadence (pedal revolution) to develop muscle and power. It was quite a windy day with some strong crosswinds almost blowing me into the bushes and against me on the return home brought my average speed right down. It was a tough ride making my quads and hamstrings start to ache only an hour later and on through the next day.

Stats. 34.11 miles, 2h 10 mins, 15.70 average, max 35.1mph, Heart rate max/average 175/146bpm

In my quest to complete at least 100 miles per week I realised i need to do another 190 miles before next Friday 25th. That would be the end of the month for me as i fly to Amsterdam with my Fiancee to celebrate our 2 year anniversary. So to leave me 100 miles for next week i still have to do 90 miles by this Friday, since i dont usually cycle at weekends. I figured 30 miles each on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday would give me the 90 i need.
      Anyway 31 miles done today around my usual training run at Croft. At a relatively easy pace since my legs were still sore from yesterdays hills. I was quite suprised that i kept my heart rate in zone 2 (averaging 135bpm) not racing and not out of breath at all and still managed 16.5 average. 6 weeks ago that pace would have been hard work. 1 down, lets see if i can repeat that on Thursday and Friday and maybe step it up a bit if my legs are ok.

Stats.  31.02 miles, 1h 52 mins, 16.5 average, max 27.7mph, Heart rate max/average 167/135bpm

Racing mini me around Croft again

I set my Garmin 705 to follow my 23.5 mile Croft route that i last completed 10 days ago at 18.03mph average. I warmed up for 10 mins by stretching and stair climbing at home before i left. I knew the places on the route that i had to work hard where i might be able to make up time, such as sprinting away from home instead of meandering out of the close, pushing hard up every gradient and getting up to speed quickly after a stop at lights. I worked hard and was still over half a mile in front of mini me with only 5 miles left to do. My legs started to feel heavy as i crossed the Greyhound roundabout towards home and i could see the lead i had was slowly diminshing. Getting to the final hill at Sale Lane with only a 250 yard lead i gave everything i had and powered up the hill at 22mph increasing my lead to 1200 yards. I just beat mini me by a small margin but i also noticed that my max and average heart rates have improved over last time too.

Stats 23.35 miles, 1:17:36 Time, 18.05 average, Max speed 30.80mph, Max/ave heart rate 176/160

Thursday 3rd and Monday 7th training

Thursday was a nice bright mild day although a little breezy. I needed to put some miles in because i knew i would be having the weekend off from cycling. I decided to head for Jodrell bank which i guessed to be about 30 miles away. I headed out towards Culcheth, Hollins Green, Warburton bridge and heading towards High Legh i caught another cyclist. Dave was an ex racer who's new years resoluton was to get fit again this year. He was heading to pickmere but stuck around and showed me the route all the way to Jodrell Bank. Nice fella, i was glad of the company and the chat. Dave  headed off from there towards home in Didsbury going through Wilmslow. So 35 miles back home on my own through some beautiful countryside but occasionally against the wind which had picked up quite a bit. A good ride of 67.8 miles fuelled by a strong coffee, a banana, an energy gel and some Go Electrolytes sports fuel in my bottle.

Stats 67.84 miles, 4hrs 19mins, Average 15.66, max 29.78, Max/average heart rate 174/149bpm

Monday 7th was very windy and too dangerous to head out on the bike so i tried some indoor turbo training. I managed only 30 minutes of intervals including 5 mins warm up and 5 mins cool down. I would push hard for 2 mins increasing my heart rate until for the final 45 seconds it reached zone 4 or 172bpm. Then i would ease off until my heart rate dropped to zone 2 or 133bpm which happened to take around 2 mins, then repeat. Only a short workout but i found my first indoor interval session quite hard.

45 miles around Rivington

Yesterday was a lovely mild, dry and sunny day. Too good to waste by not riding my bike. I headed out for the hills about 11am intending to give my legs a good workout.
For the first 25 miles i could work hard keeping my heart rate in the top end of zone 3 or 80% or 160bpm and my average speed was just over 18mph. Thats when i hit the hills of Belmont and although i was working just as hard my average speed by the end of the ride had dropped to 15.8mph. I had a good ride even passing a couple of other riders on the way home and paused to take some pictures too.

Ride stats 45.19 miles, 2h 51 mins, 15.84 average, max 39.1mph, Heart rate max/average 181/149bpm