Tuesday 28 February 2012

Discovered Strava

Did the Chester Road Club Hilly 14 Open event on 25th Feb - ended up being 24 seconds faster than the week before. I tried out some new clip on tri-bars but it was a bit windy and I only used them for five minutes at the most.

I joined Strava and uploaded the ride below:


Still felt OK after the race on 25th Feb so did a longish ride (53 miles) into North Wales, up the "Steps" to Coedpoeth, then through Wrexham and back to Chester and then did a quick loop out to Frodsham and back. Needed to get some miles in for the Mad March Hare Sportive which I've entered on 4th March

Sunday 19 February 2012

Chester Road Club Hilly 14 TT (18 Feb 2012) + other rides

Used my new bike on the Chester Road Club hilly 14 mile Time Trial on Saturday 18th Feb. Managed to go around in 44 mins and 17 seconds, which I was reasonably pleased with, as it was only the second time I've ridden around the circuit (the first time being the week before when I took over 51 mins on my old bike) and also I seemed to be the only rider who entered (out of 22) who wasn't using tri-bars. I will be riding the same course on 25th Feb (the Open event organised by CRC) so will try to beat this time (and I may see if I can get some tri-bars sorted out mid-week). PS - my max heart rate is around 172 or so, so my average of 161 was around 94% of my max, so was trying reasonably hard. Also think I need to push higher gears next week.


On 19th Feb also went around my usual training route to Llay and back, on my new bike. For the same amount of calories, my average speed is around 2 mph more than on my other bike. Averaged around 17.5 mph, which considering the wind and cold weather, was pretty good for this time of year.


On Valentine's Day, I rode out (on my old bike) to Coedpoeth and back via Wrexham, going up the "steps" from Cefn Y Bedd to Coedpoeth. Once at the top it is around 30+ mph all the way down into Wrexham.




Friday 17 February 2012

New Bike !!!

Picked up my new bike today - a Dolan Ares SL with SRAM Force groupset and Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL wheels and Ultremo tyres - it looks the business. Picked it up from Dolan Bikes in Ormskirk, and did a quick 5 miles on it when I got home - it seems very fast. Will be using this in the Chester Road Club Hilly 14 tomorrow (Saturday 18th Feb).

Hopefully I will beat last week's time !


Sunday 12 February 2012

Preparing for Chester Road Club Hilly 14 mile time trial

Have entered the Chester Road Club Hilly 14 mile time trial on Saturday 18th Feb, and essentially the same event on 25th Feb (the latter one is an Open event). Having spent the last week in Houston, where everyone seems to eat three times as much as we do in the UK, and not having done much cycling in January due to the weather, I thought I'd better have a look around the course, which I did on Sunday 12th Feb around lunchtime - the weather was a bit cold and damp so I had to wear gloves, leggings and a scarf - so I hope it's a bit warmer next week.
 
I ambled out to the start opposite Broxton Picnic area (down Sandy Lane from Chester) so had an 11 or 12 mile warm up. I did a semi-serious time trial around the course and managed 51 mins 40 secs, so I need to put a more effort in next week to get down to 45 minutes (which is my target time).

Map of the course is below:


If anyone wants the gpx file its at: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/149068978

On the way back to Chester, went down the A41, and they had been cutting hedges, and managed to get a front wheel puncture which was a bit of a downer.

On the positive front, picking up my new bike tomorrow which should be good for getting my time down by a few minutes. Will post a picture of the new bike later in the week.