With no race this weekend, I was inspired to get a few miles in, thinking about the upcoming 100 mile time trial. Sun – 75 miles including 50 mile race mon – rest Tues – 80 miles av. 21mph Wed – 20 miles av 16mph Thurs 70 miles av 20mph Fri – rest Sat – [...]

The loneliness of a long distance cyclist. The previous post on racing and training got me thinking about how much training is the optimal amount. You will get a wide variety of responses, depending on who you ask and what your goals are. Some professionals may spend up to 35 hours in a week training. [...]

The last time I did a 100 mile time trial was in 2005. I finished 4th in the National championships on a hilly course with a time of 3:55. I quite enjoyed the race, but, not enough to do another one. Since this year, I’ve been able to train well, I am going to enter [...]

A chain gang is a common term for a fast training ride with riders riding in close proximity – in either a single pace line or double pace line. Riders try to remain close to rider in front to maximise benefit of aerodynamic drag. Riders take it in turns to work on the front before [...]

Usually when the temperature dips below 0, I take it as a good excuse to have a rest. But, looking at this weeks long range forecast, this would have entailed a long layoff. Usually, it is January and February which are the coldest months so it’s bad news when it’s already this cold in December. [...]

It’s not the best time of the year to be cycling. It’s dark, wet and cold. In addition to the usual difficulties of cycling on British roads we have to cope with the additional challenges of the weather. These are some of the best ways to stay motivated in Winter Flexible Training It’s bad training [...]

After a gap of over 2 years, I finally managed a 100 mile cycle ride. It took 5 hrs 20 mins. It was fairly quick until the last 10 miles home into a headwind, which felt very sluggish. The first 40 miles I cycled towards Cirencester on fairly flat roads. Probably the highlight was taking [...]