Training changes, what a difference a year makes!

12 months ago my average training ride was about 20km, with the odd 25-40km ride on a weekend which just about wiped me out! And all of the rides tended to be on nice days when there no wind or rain!!! Since I finished London to Brussels last year I got my head into a space where longer distances in all weathers, I.e. 100km+ in my terms, became more of a possibility on a regular basis. 

This year I have signed up to do another endurance ride for Alzheimer's, namely the first stage of the tdf from Leeds to Harrogate. Before you get excited, i have not turned pro, the ride is a few weeks after the main event and unfortunately not on closed roads, but at least they are familiar roads and in my home county of Yorkshire :) The ride we are doing is 120miles, 193km, over the actual route including all 3 of the main climbs, so I have consciously increased my training to get ready. Not only was I training all winter in all weathers, with the exception of a couple of Weeks in December over Xmas, I have been on the road throughout 2012, and this year I've been on the road every week from 1st jan onwards. What a bitch of a ride that day was!!

Now though my training has ramped up a notch. I am off the bike right now for a couple of weeks recovering from an operation, but in jan and feb I was regularly doing a couple of very hard hours on the turbo during the week on the dark evenings when most other folk were in the house keeping warm and getting fat (!!!!) followed by anywhere from 70km to 100km on a weekend, again with very few other cyclists out on the road to nod at. I fully intend to carry on this level of training when I get back on the bike in a couple of weeks time, and my mantra now is 'get fit not fat', and I am finding that I live my cycling life according to this as well as the infamous rule #5 and rule #9 (velominati.com in case you don't know what I'm on about!!)

I'm working up to making my staple training ride 100km each time, longer by the summer, and building in as many hills as I can muster. Otley chevin and ilkley moor especially, but as we get closer to July I'll be going over to buttertubs and the other stage 1 climbs. There is a nice 156 km ride from my house to kettlewell and back that I have my eyes on for a nice summer day, bring it on :) 

I guess the reason for writing all of this is reflection, and also to show that with a lot of focus and training it is possible to make huge leaps in the space of a year. I don't confess to be the fastest climber, ask my mate the 'bike geek' and he will tell you that I can get up a 20% climb with the best of them, but I may not be at the front of the bunch. But for someone who was knackered after a 7km ride 18 months ago, to be honest I ain't fussed. I have my own style that works for me, seated mostly but with some out of the saddle for short sprinting climbs. I do want to work on getting faster up hills, but it's not my priority. Increasing the distances, getting a faster overall average speed, and being ready for July is where my head is at right now. And so far, so good!