2020 Statistics

2020 proved to be my biggest yet, with over 6,500 miles to the year and the equivalent of 10 ascents of everest… Total training hours was up to 372 which is about where it should be for a 57 year old athlete, it shouldn’t exceed 520 as that would indicate you aren’t taking enough rest.

25.1 mph average over 12.4 miles – Podium

Sometimes it’s good to see what you accomplish during training. When I first started cycling an average speed of over 15 mph was something to be proud of, now 20 mph is achievable over a whole circuit but sometimes you just feel able to put in a sustained effort. This segment is taken from a…

Cycling for Weight Loss

Cycling can burn calories at a rate of 400-750 calories an hour, depending on the weight of the rider, speed and type of cycling you’re doing, so can aid weight loss. If cycling is your main exercise for weight loss you have to ensure you are calorie deficit, that means that the total calories consumed…

Don’t forget to rest

As we are in lockdown in the UK I’ve had the time to do more training, currently doing 12+ hours per week and following a Team Alpecin training plan. However, I’ve been finding it increasingly difficult to hold power at the required levels. On Tuesday I couldn’t even hold FTP for 5 minutes…. I mentioned…

Time for an FTP test I think

We are currently in lockdown because of Covid 19 and I’ve lost all motivation for cycling as everything I was working towards has been cancelled, I need a way out of this hole. I don’t usually do ftp tests to measure where I am, I much prefer to use Training Peaks to measure the work…

New kit day

Only 4 days to my first ever Mallorca training camp and I needed a few new essentials. It looks as if I’m a bit of a Castelli fan….

Should I get a power meter?

The short answer is yes, if you want to get the most out of your cycling. But please read about my experience and how I’ve come to this conclusion, I’m not an expert and I still have loads to learn. My first two years cycling were spent training as hard as I could and measuring…

We seem to have added another sportive…

It started as it often does, with an email from my cycling buddy “what do you think about this?” Now we have places in the official 2019 UCI World Championship Sportive. Riding the same roads as the professionals is going to be a great experience but we have our first 24hr ride the weekend before…

Not feeling it…

It’s not always possible to be at your best, today was one of them. For several days I’ve had a cough and today I was struggling to breathe on the climbs. So it became a steady ride and a coffee stop. We tried a new cafe in Uppingham, Scandimania Coffee House, they were very welcoming…