Ajax Cardiff Summer Club 10 Time Trial Series (7.4 mile TT) - attempt 2

A few weeks ago the Summer series of the time trials started.  Time trials are a cycling things where you cycle a certain distance as fast as you can.  Then you do that same distance again the next week, and the week after.

The first week they set me off first, and I did my 7.4 miles in 24:50.  It was hard.

The second week they set me off first again, but this time I had three female riders following me.  Every one sets off a minute apart, which means that if you get passed whichever rider passes is that many minutes ahead.  My competitive nature sprung up more than before and I didn't want to get passed.

I was flying on the way out, my speedo was reaching 26mph and I was gunning it down the hills.  On the turn around I was hit by a blast of wind, and realized why the outward was so easy - the wind was now pushing me back and I was struggling to keep above 17mph on the flats.

On the final hill the first rider overtook me - but it wasn't one of the three girls, it was Ben, who had started in 5th and was now 4 minutes ahead of me and making silly faces:

I really didn't want to be passed again so I pushed hard  and was positively gasping when I crossed the finish line:

I knocked a minute off my time and came in at 23:40, which was about 18mph for the whole route.  The Time Trials run all summer and are only £3 to enter, they happen on Friday nights which is awesome for keeping me out of the pub!

Unfortunately this week I havent got my motivation back and have not been out since that time trial, but next week I am back on track and will try and knock another minute off my time next Friday!

Ajax Sunday Ride - Up the Rhigos in the Sunshine!

On Sunday I went out with Ajax for another Sunday Social Ride.  The routes had been put out on Tuesday (they're always ranked 1-4, 1 being fastest and 4 being slowest) and group 4 was going to Chepstow and back - a flat ride I have done loads.  I was all excited for the flat ride but when I got to the start MTB Ben told me to go with the faster ride (group 3) which was going up a massive mountain.

I said no.

Then I joined the group

We made it up the Rhigos fine, I was the 2nd from slowest but mostly from fear of not knowing how long the mountain was going to be, by the top I was moving quick again.  Next time I will try harder and next time I will go faster!

At the top everyone was waiting for me and also enjoying the sun

I decided to practice posing like a poser!

So comfortable! so natural!

After the ascent was the decent - 3.5 miles down the other side of the mountain with and average speed of 29.4mph and a max speed of 37.5mph.  SWEET!

Then we stopped at a cafe to refuel, where I dined on the competitive snack of champions:

Dark chocolate kit kat and full fat coke - YUM!

Unfortunately I had a bit of a mechanical problem at the end of the ride - 12 miles outside of Cardiff my pedal fell off.  2 miles later it fell off for good.  Despite the best help of my group I had accidentally destroyed my crank, partially from the sheer power and strength of my legs and mostly from cross threading my pedal until it was destroyed

I tried to cycle 1 legged for a while (there was no pedal anymore for leftie!) but it was painful and uncomfortable and I got a lot of odd stares so eventually I waited for Brewer half to pick me up from a town about 6 miles outside of Cardiff.

Brewer half earned some major beer credit from me on that ride - a lift home from Tongwynlais (lol at welsh town names!) and this dinner when I got back!

Yes I ate the whole bowl, and then a bit more, and then some stir fry, and then some crackers and cheese.  55 mile cycles make Hungry Rachel hungry!

And in case you are interested... here is the Strava:

And the Strava of my 1 footed ride

Pile on the Miles - Running for April!

So far this week I have been a terrible exercise blogger, but an excellent exercise person!

I've been toying with the idea of doing monthly totals for bike and running, but havent yet done so because I don't Strava all my rides (like commuter miles) and I don't Strava treadmill miles (which are rare, but count).  I cycle to work daily which is 6 miles roundtrip, 30 miles a week, but it's nothing compared to actual training.

My total miles run in March was 17.

This was not good enough.  So this month, I'm going to see how many miles I can rack up.  This is part of step 1 for being a better runner: run more.

On Wednesday I woke up at 6:30am, and went for a very painful hour long run (painful because it was 6:30am, and painful because it's hard to run for an hour!)  I managed 5 miles

Today after work I went for another hour run, and this time managed 5.5 miles in that same time.

CURRENT RUNNING GOALS:

5k in 27 minutes

10k in under an hour

finish a half marathon in October

I'm realizing more and more that I can't do everything - I'm running now and doing a fair amount of gym time as well (twice this week and again tomorrow!) but I haven't been on the road bike in ages.  The weather has really knocked my interest in cycling - it's windy and cold and the idea of pedaling behind people in a line up busy roads sounds so awful that I havent even tried for weeks.

The last Ajax ride (long cycle) I did was February 24th - I guess that's only 6 weeks but it feels like ages.  Racing season has started and I'm already fearing my next attempt to gasp my way through a steady ride... because I haven't kept it up.

Strava doesn't lie - this winter has hit my endurance activity levels hard:

Now granted this graph aggregates cycling and running, and all my miles for April have been running, but still - i need to be aiming for September totals (241 miles), not January (62.7)

So here's hoping the weather gets good, the bike gets out, and the running gets easier! Wish me luck as I pile on the miles this month :-)

Cardiff Ajax Sunday Club Ride - Steady Group 24th February.

Today was Sunday, and as such it was time for a SUNDAY CLUB RIDE! The local cycling club - Ajax - puts on Club rides every Sunday for varying skill levels.  One of Ajax's own - Elinor Barker, just won Gold at the UCI Track World Championships.

Here is Elinor Barker with Ajax Kit

(Elinor Barker in Ajax Kit)

But today I did a ride that was not for Elinor Barker.  It was mostly flat and 60 miles and was the "steady group" which is the "slow group" but longer than the "steady steady" group which does 30 miles.  

I haven't bene on a long ride since before Christmas and was very nervous to start.  For Christmas my housemate got me a cycling stem bag for holding snacks:

 Like a true athlete I filled it with Jelly Babies

Hypothetically I can now eat jelly babies while cycling for added fuel.  I tried to eat while riding today but it's not very pleasant, and I like eating so much that eating unpleasantly feels defeatist to me.

I was feeling good until the "cake stop" which was after 35 miles at the Chepstow Garden Centre.  I had a snickers and about a litre of water and when we got back on the bikes 20 minute later I felt like my legs had hit a wall.  The last 25 miles were hard - there were good bits but I was often off the back and couldn't seem to get my desired middle-pack position back.  About 15 miles out I contemplated giving up, but the group was nice and the leaders were taking care of people me so I couldn't just sneak away quietly.  Also I was still 15 miles from home, so where would I go?

I did make it home at last, and in an attempt to not fall asleep immediately I ate a powerbar recovery bar

And then I had a grilled cheese sandwich with a fried egg.  And went to Marks and Spencers to do some fancy shopping with my £15 gift card from Living Social.  And then I came home, and sat in my room, and did nothing.

Cycling takes it out of me - I'm useless after a Sunday ride.  But being able to ride 60 miles is not to shabby, so let's hope the legs work tomorrow!

Strava from today:

A Sunday Ride

On Sunday I went out with Cardiff Ajax for a Sunday "social" ride.  At 9:30 the fast group shot off, with fast people who do the fast pose when not riding.

Ben is in the fast group.  He sits on his bike like a fast person, but he should have one foot clipped in. He's still fast though, so his foot can be unclipped, I guess:

When the fast group left they then called the middle group, followed shortly with the steady (read: slow) group.  Normally I go with the steady group, but they were only doing 30 miles this week, and I wanted a bit more of a challenge.  So off I went with the middle group. This is what we did:



Yes, that indeed is about 60 miles in 4 hours.  It was hard.  At the cake stop I ate a cheese pasty, which is like cheese and potato in a flakey butter pastry.  It's delicious.  In order to not suffer the terrible energy crash later I ate a snickers as soon as I got home, followed by a big plate of pasta.  And then I slept for about 2 hours, had a big glass of chocolate milk, and went out to Dinner to say goodbye to my housemate.  There I had a most delicious giant burger, and chunky wedges, and sticky toffee pudding.  It was the best I've done at not having a post-ride washout day, where I just feel tired and grumpy and exausted all day.  I know the rides will get easier, and I'm sure my consumption is not the beacon of recovery eating, but it's better than last week where I cried, fell asleep, woke up, and then felt sick to my stomach for a whole day.

Anyways today I was pretty sure there was a problem with my bike as it was moving really slowly on the way to work, but I think the problem is with my legs, so I had an evening off.  Tomorrow the Cardiff Triathlon group is doing water polo after the swim training so I'm looking forward to that!  Also looking forward to home made soup and fishcakes for lunch!

Also, with the addition of overshoes (Silly shoe covers that keep my feet warm while cycling) I now have everything I need to look like a real lycra-clad cyclist!  Check it out!

Andy took this photo.  I wonder if as a 6 foot and change boyfriend he always sees my head as being almost as large as my legs.  Perspective is strange!