Life In The Saddle

Good month July, more miles than any other month this year at 1104 and a high average speed of 19.2mph, helped by my racing and fast paced training rides this month. Race results have been good with a win and consistent top ten places. I've got a bit of a break for the first half of August because of work and a family holiday, hopefully more big miles and good race results in the later part of the month and into September though.

Good race last night, just glad I made the start line, as I've started work down at the sailing club now and it makes getting over to Portsmouth a bit tricky. The legs didn't feel great from the off, not sure why, but I was struggling. I've put in a fair few miles in the last week and I think that I overdid it a few days ago and was still feeling the effects. Anyway, I was having to work hard to pull a few attacks back throughout the race and the legs were feeling the strain. It amazes me how different each race over at the track is, this one seemed to be a 'to-and-fro' i.e. a break would go, the pack would wait a while to see how it was working, then a few individuals in the pack would decide that enough was enough and pull the break back. It seemed that Wightlink Race Team did a lot of work to pull back break after break throughout this race, which at least proves that we are all getting stronger! I say that the race was a 'to-and-fro', but I got it ...

As the final time trial of the Tour de France approaches, I thought I would let any new-comers to the sport know the reasoning and science behind the bits of cotton wool that riders stuff up their noses when they are warming up on the turbo trainers before a Time Trial. Or in the case of Chris Froome, forgetting to take them out before the prologue time trial of The Tour began. The small bits of cotton wool are soaked in inhalant decongestant, or as most of us know it by the brand name Olbas Oil. The natural remedy, used by most of us when we have bunged up noses and sinus trouble is used by the riders to ensure every last bit of catarrh and particulates is removed from their airways. So that every breath transports the maximum amount of oxygen to their lungs. I can't say that I have ever used it before a race, but when milliseconds make the difference in a time trial, then the riders try to make every possible tiny gain they can. Let's hope Froomey remembe...

Puddings are a treat, right? Well we all need a bit of a treat sometimes, and sometimes those treats can actually do us and our cycling good. The four puddings below are examples of these; they all have different merits and nutritional benefits. Crumble Full of low GI oats and with a good portion of fruit per serving, crumble ticks more than one box as a healthy dessert; ideal for replacing lost calories after a long ride, or topping up the carbo-loading pre-ride. Recipe ( Serves 6) : Fruit e.g. cooking apples (peeled, cored and cut into 2cm slices); cooking apples and blackberries; rhubarb (cut into 2cm chunks); gooseberries; plums (stoned and halved); pears (in 2cm slices); blackcurrants 100g jumbo oats 100g plain flour 100g butter, softened and cut into small chunks 100g Demerara sugar 1. Preheat oven to 200ºC. 2. If the fruit is fresh rather than frozen/from a jar or tin, bring to the boil in a centimetre of water and simmer for a couple of minutes, then drain. Sp...

After last week's horrific DQ I was back to try and take revenge at Pompey track on Wednesday evening, in what proved to be an interesting race. For the first ten minutes or so I rode in the pack, warming up and getting a feel for the track and who was riding. Once again there was a strong headwind on one side of the track, which promised to make a break difficult. At about ten minutes into the forty minute race I got in a break of about six riders and we began to work well together. I thought it could work and for about twenty minutes we stayed away from the bunch; but certain riders in the group weren't pulling their weight and as the workers in the group began to catch onto that fact they too tried to take shorter turns on the front and as a result the pace of the group slowed. The peloton kept chasing and the hopes of staying away were gradually lost as we were reeled back in. For a few minutes I sat back in the pack. Then Robbie, one of the lads from the Island, cam...