Week 2 - Mud filled shoes and clogged up cleats
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Race with a bike
My final cyclocross race of the season brought a productive week to a conclusion.
Chillington Hall in Staffordshire was a new venue for the West Midlands Cyclocross League and the muddy slog up the exposed fields after skirting the little pond on the estate proved to be a significant drain on energy resources. With the course getting ever deeper in mud on this section the last two laps proved to be quicker on two feet than two wheels. I’m never keen to abandon the saddle in exchange for ankle deep mud filling my shoes and clogging up cleats but it was certainly the quickest option available. Cyclocross as we say is a race with a bike not a bike race!
With my new motto, “Plan the week, ride the plan”, and thoughts of Rob Burrow and fellow MND sufferers at the front of my thoughts, motivation was in total supply for the week’s training sessions. All my ride sessions during the working week were generated for me by the coaching app #Spoked. Despite typically grim early January weather and a couple of soakings, I genuinely enjoyed the extended, structured sessions in place of my regular 18km commute in “ride however the mood takes me” mode.
Sunday’s cyclocross race necessitated not having a particularly long or intense ride on Saturday to benefit both fatigue and marital harmony, only joking; none of this challenge would be possible without support from Shirl, who I’m sure puts up with my cycling obsession rather than embraces it. Still, I can’t blame her for not getting why riding in mud, fending off abusive drivers, giving up a lie-in, enjoying painfully steep climbs and spending ridiculous amounts of money on carbon fibre components and Lycra appeals to me.
Unfortunately, my cyclocross exertions at the end of the week blew my planned training intensity effort points (EP) out of the water, but with no more “an hour in hell” races to disrupt my training plan, I should be in Spoked’s good books from week three onwards!
Going down
Jumping on the scales at the end of the week also delivered positive feedback with a return to Huel meals at work, vending machine abstinence coupled with a solid week of training resulting in 1.5kg less of me to haul through the mud or defy gravity on the slopes.
Finding my Zen
We have a winner from #Veloforte. Having now tried all the energy bars from the mixed trial box, the daftly named Zenzero wins hands down, even amongst the stiff combination of the other bars. The zingy lemon and ginger, moist texture and crunchy pistachios make this an all-time favourite jersey pocket energy booster for me.
Accommodation for my 7-in-7 rides in Northern Ireland was relatively easy to find, and a bed for each night is now booked for the challenge week. I finally wimped out on camping the cost to buy the necessary decent quality gear meant a saving of only £100 against the low-budget accommodation found on booking.com, so I plumped for a warm, soft bed and hot steamy shower each night instead of a lumpy camp bed and hot flannel wash. Perhaps not in the spirit of a tough challenge, but I’m sure my sponsors will forgive me.
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