Trans Portugal, DAY3, GUARDA - UNHAIS DA SERRA

3rd STAGE / 12 MAY
GUARDA > UNHAIS DA SERRA
108 Kms
Climbing - 3069 m

Weather - max 32c warm and windy
Stage Place - 4th
Overall Place - I think I moved up to 4th

Not a lot to say about today.  Once again a long lonely ride.

We started at 9am again and the first hill was about 5km from the start.  Jose lead us there all the way.  The climb starts with a 100 metre maybe 22% tester before easing off.  Jose powered ahead and I stayed fairly even with Luis until closer to the top.  Turned around and no one behind me so it was time to push on.

Lovely 4km technical down which consists of big rough roman slabs.  Passed Edgar down here somewhere and found out later he'd had a wee off.  Fortunately nothing damaged on bike or body.

On the first big climb of the day I caught Danny and he was climbing well.  Been telling Danny for a while he can climb but just has to believe it.  Passed them and they came back to me not log after on a big flat.  I wasn't going to stop for water at 35km but did anyway.  Bit of a disaster.  Open the camel bak but manged to let more water out than in.  Trundled off up the road with Danny in pursuit.  Thought they would come back to me so didn't push on too much but didn't see them again.

I came across Peter not long after this.  Tube in hand and his comment was bloody Schwalbe tyres.  I found out later he'd had six punctures to go with the two from yesterday.  I suspect his bike will have two new tyres tomorrow.  A bit unfair to only blame the tyres when the rider has a lot to do with it bit six is a lot!!!  I took over 30 mins out of him and passed him in GC.

On the 2nd big climb of the day I was already in 7th place.  Well that didn't last long...I was 4th by the top.  Even had time for a smile.

Stopped at the bottem of the climb for more water and probably took far to much.  Hate carrying to much extra crap.    That was it really.  On the third climb I was 7mins behind Luis at the bottem and arrived 8mins behind him at the finish.  Tomorrow will be another good day !!!

Trans Portugal, DAY2, FREIXO - GUARDA

2nd STAGE / 11 MAY
FREIXO > GUARDA
110 Kms
Climbing - 2134 m


Weather - 29c and sunny
Stage Place - 3rd
Overall Place - I think still 5th

Wow, what a day.

Started at 10am today with the other 17 riders in my bunch.  We rounded the corner from the start line straight to a small testing hill that's maybe 18% and there was only 4 of us left.  Not long after this Jose ( the leader) was gone with Luis in hot pursuit.  I let an Aussie do the chasing and we caught Luis before the next climb.

Luis pedalled away again in the climb but I stuck with Aaron the Aussie who was setting an ok pace.  We caught Luis at the top after he had turned the wrong way and it was down to the most technical part of the day.  Luis rode away from me on the tarmac road before we even got there.

Took the descent nice and easy and passed a load of riders.  That would include the leader Jose who was walking...that felt good !  Passed a walking Edgar and caught Danny on the short climb on the other side.  Which is more of a walk really except I was running...

We regrouped a bit and Jose steam rolled past.  We jumped onto the back of him and chased down Luis and just before the climb we were back together.

A climb in a valley which they call the oven was about 5km long.  It's typically a lot hotter than the surroundings but this year it wasn't so bad.  Aaron was climbing in front of me so I let him get on.   We rode together from here till the castle ruins.  This basically marks the top of the hardcore climbing.  I'd said I'd wait since he appeared to be strong on the flats and  I thought we could make some good time.

Splash and dash with a quick lube of the bike and me yelling at Aaron to get a move on.  He said he was ready so I left only not to see him.  I pushed on and he came back to me 5 km later.  We hit this simple track which was a bit rough and he was gone.

So I pushed on.  Basically lots of single riders, a few jumped on my tail but unless they are prepared to pace and draft me they are just baggage.  Got rid of most of them within 2-3km of meeting them today.

At about 85km a rider in the distance was spotted.  Turned out to be Luis going quite slowly.  He had crashed at 70km and was not in the best shape.  Blood dripping from his nose and just said he was not feeling the best.  I pushed on but Luis is too good for me to get rid of like the rest.  We came across the 3rd place GC just before the technical climb.  I went straight past and gave it some.  Pretty much lost him straight away.  We knew at this point there was only two riders in front.  It was a going to be a good day.

I managed to cross the line 3rd with Luis in tow.  Turns out the Belgain (3rd on GC) had 2 punctures.  I don't trust Some tyres and below picture will show why...all had the same brand fitted.

The bike was good but has a new headset on it overnight.  The old was shot to pieces.  All that in just 18months of owning the bike.

Seems like my training program and hard work over the last few months is starting to pay off.  Dinner and sleep calls and we are into the Portugese mountains tomorrow.

Trans Portugal, DAY1, BRAGANÇA - FREIXO

1st STAGE / 10 MAY
BRAGANÇA > FREIXO
142 Kms
Climbing - 2468 m

Weather - 32c, hot and dusty
Stage Place - 5th
Overall Place - 5th

Well we started at 9am as the last bunch once again.  I stayed close to the front and I'm sure by the first wee bump in the road some were off the back.  At 5km the first only real significant hill of the day arrived.

Well Jose Silva was off to never be seen again.  Close to the top of the climb a 2nd Portugese rider came past also never to be seen again.  I stuck my head down and kept going solo.  Hoping to pick up a fast bunch in front.

This didn't happen.  I caught Danny and Edgar at about 35km in and though they would do.  I looked back post a climb and they were gone...they were the last two left from the bunch in front so it was going to be a long solo day.  In fact I think I rode solo from km5 till the finish at km 144

Did a splash and dash for water at about 55km and the guts were starting to not feel very well.  You have to get food and drink into you for the energy but when your guts don't want it, it becomes very tough very quickly.  My legs were cramping a wee bit and I just had to take the gels and water anyway.

I eased up from about 75 km when I'd taken another gel.  The legs felt good but the guts not.  I passed a few more riders here and there and guessed that there was 3-4 riders still in front.  At 100km I had to take an emergency toilet stop in the bushes.  Not great fun but I did feel a lot better after this.

Trundled my way to the finish and had no riders come past me and I didn't catch any more either.  Fairly happy with the 5th knowing i'd backed off and that the guts were having an off day.  Haven't seen the time gaps or anything yet but a good first day.  No mechanicals, no crashes and not a bad result.  Long way to go yet and some of the riders will have destroyed themselves on the first day. 

Danny was only three mins behind me in 6th and Edgar in 9th about 25 mins back...

I managed to smile at the end of the stage

Trans Portugal, DAY0, BRAGANÇA

Well where to start...

Left the rain and cold in Switzerland on Wednesday to Lisbon.  Caught up with quite a few of the guys from previous years over a meal that night and relived old tales.

The bus ride up to Braganca on Thursday and we were actually on time.  Yes thats me giving a V for victory...(with a new haircut)

Friday has been a fairly chilled day and we've done the usual briefings and had GPS lessons.  Put the bike together and no major dramas.  Feeling fairly relaxed and taken the bike out for a bit of a blast.  Great to see all the staff and be part of a big family.

Weather looks hot dry and dusty.  Expecting 30 degrees and sunshine.

The competion?  Well who knows...lots of tanned skinny looking people and big legs is always a bad sign for me.  But hey the Fast Portuguese guys have been talking about me and Danny and we've talking about them so I guess that's good.

I'll ride my own race and not be intimidated.  If I feel good I'll stick it out and if not well, I won't disgrace  myself.

Tomorrow from 9am we will know.

2014 Planning and Prep

What have I done different this year so far?

Maybe the question should be what have I done the same?

Well I've still ridden my bike a lot.  Just very differently. 

I started my training a bit earlier this year. I've certainly been helped by less snow and ice in the Swiss winter.  I started getting some decent time on the bike back in December.  But even looking all the way back to June each and every month I've done more hours than last year...

I got to January and I was already in much better shape than the previous year.  My weight was less and power more.  But when you ride a lot alone and do your own training and planning and always have some doubts if your are doing the right things.  I guess it's easier if you race a lot and ride with a lot of other people to gauge form and where you are going.  I knew I had good endurance in previous years but always felt in better form after racing.

I was getting a bit nervous about knowing where I was actually at and being able to compare with previous years.  I'd been looking for an English speaking trainer for some time and finally lucked upon Nigel at BPM.  http://www.bpmcoaching.co.uk/  First thing of course any Trainer wants to know is what your goals are and how committed your are.  Shortly after after this they want to test you, to know where you at, so they can plan where you are going.

After chatting to Nigel for some time and meeting him and working out everything we went down to the Swiss Olympic Centre in Sion and got tested. A bit of a big wake up call really.  My "FTP" was down approx 50 Watts from 2012 and Peak power down approx 30 Watts.  The good news was my VO2 max was a bit higher and I was approx 5 kgs lighter.  All in all it meant my FTP was basically the same from two years ago.

So since I rode much better in 2013 and I thought in 2014 I was already better than 2013 what was going on?  Simple answer is in the way that the tests were made.  In Holland in 2012 each min the power was upped by 15 watts.  In Switzerland every three minutes they upped the power by 30 Watts.  This gives enough time for the Lactate to build in your muscles.  Basically use the same Lab if possible and the same test protocol for consistent results.

So what changed post this.  Well a full on training plan from Nigel.  Customised to me with help a phone call or email away.  The plan involves a lot more structure around workouts.  Each workout has a purpose and a goal.  Not finishing a workout or missing a session is not a failure and it's important to listen to how the body reacts too.  We all get sick and it was interesting to see that my body could not do what was required when I was ill.  (Better to skip the session until recovered)

I brought a Wahoo KickR (review here) and use TrainerRoad (review here) and got on with the sessions.  The awesome thing about the KickR and TR is you program in the session and because TR controls the power for the KickR there is almost no escape.  (you can increase and decrease power by percentages but you can't just decide you've had enough to coast for a few minutes to recover).  Sessions were based around various things including spinning, power, and intervals of various powers and various lengths.  I still get to ride outside a lot but the trainer gives me a way to easily measure my performance in a lab and make sure we are targeting exactly what we want.  No course or wind and rain can interfere with the results.

The difference's so far?  Well each 4 weeks when we test my results are up 20-30 watts and my testing ground on a hill I'm carving 2-3 mins of it.  My heart rates are lower and the easy rides are way easier.  The harder rides are also much much harder.  First race is only a few weeks away and I'm sure all the pain and suffering on my KickR (and other bikes) is going to be worth it.

New Bikes in 2014

This year I was quite lucky.  Two new bikes joined the others.

Finally finished my Colnago.  I brought the frame in New Zealand some time in 1997 I would guess.  It stayed there as a frame till my sister finally brought it to me in about 2010.  The winter of 2013/2014 finally saw me build it up.

It's a 1995 Colnago Superisimo with an 11 Speed Athena Group set.  I got some wheels of ebay with Campagnolo hubs and had brought other new bits and pieces whilst in Holland.  All parts are Italian except for the pedals and bottle cages.  All parts were new or NOS stock except the wheels.

It's a joy to ride and the only thing missing are some decent light wheels with Tubular's.  One day...

 

I also finally took possession of an ALU Eddy Merckx.  This was going to be the donor bike for the group set for the Colnago.  However this bike was from about 2001 and in perfect condition.  I just couldn't take it apart,  A few paint chips and that was about it.  Replaced the chain, tyres, brake blocks, cassette, jockey wheels, handlebar tape, and the awful seat and it was good to go.  I added the mudguards a few weeks later and it's been a perfect winter bike.  Full Daytona 2001 10 speed group including seat post and hubs.  It's a bit heavy but most of that's in the wheels.  It does struggle with a 39x27 up a few steep hills but in winter I stay away from them anyway as it's just to icy.

2014 Race Season Plans

Well It's been a while in the planning,  It's also been a while getting the races actually booked and missing out on a few entries as well.  So here's the plan for the year....

Two, week long MTB stage races and only one Road event.  I missed on all the other road event entries this year or they clashed with a few must do MTB rides.  I guess this year it's an MTB season with the excecpetion of Mt Blanc.  But hey 3300Km and only 8000 climbing meters in one day should be easy...

Dates	Name of Event	Bike	Website
09-18 May	TransPortugal	MTB	http://www.tran-portugal.com
07-08 Jun	Elsa Bike Trophy	MTB	http://www.elsabiketrophy.ch/v2/index.php/de/
21-22 Jun	BerGiBike	MTB	http://www.bergibike.ch/site/
21-Jul	Tour Du Mt Blanc	Road	http://www.sportcommunication.info/TMB/#accueil
16-17 Aug	Eiger Bike Challenge	MTB	http://www.eigerbike.ch/info.php
22-Aug	Grand Raid	MTB	http://www.grand-raid.ch/
29-30 Aug	Nationalpark Bike Marathon	MTB	http://www.bike-marathon.com/
15-20 Sep	Swiss Epic	MTB	http://swissepic.ch/
27-28 Sep	Iron Bike	MTB	http://www.iron-bike.ch/home.html