I new this really, but you always falsely hope that the results will be a nice surprise: I'm not very fit.
Over the last week I have tried to get on the turbo in the garage and get the legs moving again. Not a pretty sight! Let's face it, I wasn't a great bike rider before, but having not touched the bike since April I'm starting from the bottom again. I tried to ride a basic ramp test to get a baseline FTP figure, but struggled to going.
3 x 10 mintes @ 220 watts seems to be a realistic level at the moment. Not great, but it is a start.
I've also got a new toy, the first of many ;o) a Zephyr bluetooth heart rate monitor. Links up to the HTC phone and logs heart rate, gps, etc. I've been uploading the results here : sports track live
only 227 days to go !
Friday, 26 November 2010
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Logistics
I'm sure than in any project like this there are stages that one passes through: the initial excitement, the realisation of the task in hand, the knuckling down, the frustration, the boredom and then the final exhilaration.
After no more than a week I'm starting to worry about what I have signed up for.
I'm starting to plan the logistics of getting to the start and back home again from the end ( they are 100km apart on opposite sides of a big mountain ! ). Where to stay, how to get there. Probably with Joanna, Josh and Fin too.
The realities of the ride are the last thing on my mind at the moment.
Some realisations :
Leicestershire to the Alps is a long way.
Nobody flies to the Alps in summer.
Google maps is sooo useful.
My French is crap.
I really should be working and not reading hotel reviews and other peoples blogs.
T.
After no more than a week I'm starting to worry about what I have signed up for.
I'm starting to plan the logistics of getting to the start and back home again from the end ( they are 100km apart on opposite sides of a big mountain ! ). Where to stay, how to get there. Probably with Joanna, Josh and Fin too.
The realities of the ride are the last thing on my mind at the moment.
Some realisations :
Leicestershire to the Alps is a long way.
Nobody flies to the Alps in summer.
Google maps is sooo useful.
My French is crap.
I really should be working and not reading hotel reviews and other peoples blogs.
T.
Friday, 19 November 2010
I'm in !
After a brief discussion with Jo I decided on the Etape du Tour.
This year it is in 2 parts for the first time. I'm doing the 1st part : Col du Galibier and Alpe d'Huez.
Also for the 1st time, you can enter online, from 14th November 2011.
So, when I arrived at work on that ordinary Friday morning, I took a deep breath, and signed up.
The first 3000 entries are sold at 75euro, and the next 3000 are 95 euro, and a further 3000 are sold via tour operators. I squeezed in with only 126 places remaining of that first 6000.
oh god what have I done...?!?
This year it is in 2 parts for the first time. I'm doing the 1st part : Col du Galibier and Alpe d'Huez.
Also for the 1st time, you can enter online, from 14th November 2011.
So, when I arrived at work on that ordinary Friday morning, I took a deep breath, and signed up.
The first 3000 entries are sold at 75euro, and the next 3000 are 95 euro, and a further 3000 are sold via tour operators. I squeezed in with only 126 places remaining of that first 6000.
oh god what have I done...?!?
Monday, 1 November 2010
...and so it begins.
After a pretty miserable couple of years, I decided that I need to get moving again. Need to find some sort of task / challenge / adventure. the big question is "what ?"
Much as I love to share these things, and enjoy including everybody in the hope they they can share and enjoy the things I do, I think there is a need to do this for myself and by myself. A need for a bit of self assessment, self motivation and self improvement.
With all that has gone on, a charity event would seem to be called for. A way of doing my bit to help and support those I love, or have lost. A noble aim I hope.
The list of hypothetical possibilities was long. From driving, to climbing, to cycling, to canoeing, to running. The discussions in the office with Roger and Bob were frequent and distracting, but the new ideas raised a level of excitement in me that I haven't felt for a while.
In the end, the sport was narrowed down to cycling, and after a brief flurry of daft ideas, I decided on the Tour de France "etape du tour".
...how hard could it be ?
Much as I love to share these things, and enjoy including everybody in the hope they they can share and enjoy the things I do, I think there is a need to do this for myself and by myself. A need for a bit of self assessment, self motivation and self improvement.
With all that has gone on, a charity event would seem to be called for. A way of doing my bit to help and support those I love, or have lost. A noble aim I hope.
The list of hypothetical possibilities was long. From driving, to climbing, to cycling, to canoeing, to running. The discussions in the office with Roger and Bob were frequent and distracting, but the new ideas raised a level of excitement in me that I haven't felt for a while.
In the end, the sport was narrowed down to cycling, and after a brief flurry of daft ideas, I decided on the Tour de France "etape du tour".
...how hard could it be ?
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