Given all the usual pressure on time, I had planned a few laps of the local roads near work with a colleague, Simon. He is training for a number of events this year, the next one being a run-bike-run near Newbury. His main thing is running but he is no slouch on a bike; having recently bought a Specialized Allez he has used it to good effect in various triathlons and an iron man. I wasn’t sure what to expect pitting my mountain bike against his road bike, I knew it would be uncomfortable but this turned out to be an understatement!
The weather was perfect, slightly cool but in no way cold and the sun was shining. After a winter of freezing temperatures it was a liberation to ride without a jacket. Having said that, I kept the winter gloves and snood under my lid.
The loop was about 3.7 miles in length and the plan was to do 4 loops with a leader and a follower. At the end of a lap, I would push my split button on my watch and the leader would become the follower for the next lap. The terrain was flattish but it did have a climb split into 3 individual climbs, in other words a nasty hilly interval. There was a light wind against us on the outward leg, then the climbs, then a fast downhill that flattened out after half a mile or so. Upon reflection, it was a nice mix that got the heart rate going a touch.
Our gearings are different; uphill was fine for me with plenty of gears to chose from but down hill I simply ran out of gears. At one point I almost lifted off the pedals were turning so fast. With this in mind, my plan was to hang on to Simon’s wheel on the flat bits, take the hill in my stride and then kick just before the top of the hill to ensure a good start down it. That way I should have been able to keep pace.
The first lap was OK, Simon led and we made it round in 12:45, not too much damage in the legs or lung department. The second lap was quicker at 12:33 but, by the end of it, I was starting to hurt. Simon kicked for the third lap and opened up a 30 metre gap on the outward leg into the wind. It was as much as I could do to hold that gap. As he approached the turn to the hill, I tried to up my effort and at least catch him on the slope. I did, but I have a feeling he eased off slightly as he apologised for dropping me at the traffic lights! I was gagging at this point, legs burning and nausea encroaching on my consciousness. Just before the top I tried to kick a little and pulled level, maintaining this until the start of the next lap where it was my turn to lead. Job done in 12:45, pretty consistent. After a slight delay of 20 seconds or so at the traffic light, lap 4 began.
The final lap was hateful, I knew I had to simply push through the pain in my legs despite the wind hampering things. Drop a gear on my bike and you risk the guy behind ramming you. There was nothing for it but to mash the pedals until the turn for the hill. As we rounded the corner I stood out of the pedals to relieve my legs a little before the hill started. This is the point where the pain really began, if I was going to put in a best effort I had to get up the hill and over the top in good time. The last section was taken out of the saddle; my legs were on fire and I was desperately trying to drag air in and get that little kick over the top. As the downhill began there was still work to do, gravity helped only so far and then the terrain started to flatten.
The last 3/4 of a mile saw a small amount of energy come from somewhere as I dodged the speed humps and on-coming cars. I put on a good pace with Simon tucked in behind me to finish strongly. The final lap came in at 12:35, again consistent and nice to do a similar time to lap 2. We stopped for a while before returning to work, my legs were shaking and my lower back was reminding me of my age, rolling out of bed tomorrow would be interesting.
I know Simon could have gone quicker so I was always trying to squeeze every last bit of speed out of my bike to justify his invite to train with him. We both agreed that doing this run regularly would see some improvements so it’s same time, same place next week. The only issue for me is it knackers my flexi time but you can’t have it all! Gentle recovery ride in tomorrow I think!
I have posted the results from my watch on FB for those remotely interested!
www.polarpersonaltrainer.com/shared/exercise.ftl?shareTag=144166cca00889a362092be101f7c7d3#.UTZZ_74Xd6k.facebook
