The View From Here - a blog

04/01/2023 - A festive less restive

Happy New Year!

This Christmas I thought I’d try something new. As far as winter training goes, I usually save high volume for March and concentrate on higher intensity sessions until then, mainly sweet spot stuff. This year I’m ahead of schedule and retained a good (for me) level of fitness after my post-season break. Using the Rapha Festive 500 in place of my traditional spring training camp seemed to fit the bill. In the latter I ride 100km a day for five straight days and this sets the scene for kicking on for the higher intensity training that follows. The F500 (I’m calling it that) asks you to ride 500km over 8 days between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. So, as far as being ahead of schedule goes, I’d be three months ahead, with a good base to start 3 months of my build phase. I’d be race ready by the end of March. Here's how I got on, my F500 described in numbers...

Duck pond at Chapmore End, Herts

Days cycled: 8
My approach was to ride every day of the challenge and avoid longer days in the saddle. That means an average of a 65km ride, roughly 2.5 hrs, which wouldn’t impact too much on my family commitments and various other social events. As the first two days are Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I had less time to ride and I didn’t make the daily average, so there was a little catch up needed.

Turbo days: 2
The weather played ball most of the time, but there were two days that were out and out stinkers. I’m absolutely not up for 2.5-3 hrs of riding in the rain. I can handle an hour or so of higher intensity work, but a long, wet cruise doesn’t appeal to me in slightest. Virtual rides are very much admissible for the R500 and I have a FulGaz account. The world is your ointment with this kind of platform with huge number of films from all parts of the globe to pedal to. With the use of a smart trainer, these offer variable resistance according to the gradient of the oncoming terrain and something to look at and keep your mind occupied. And you can pump out some bangers to keep you motivated.

Days I’d wished I wasn’t doing the F500: 4
I struggled on and off in the last four days. Unusually for me, I seemed to bonk (the cycling equivalent of the wall) quite early on these days. On one occasion, it felt like I left the house having already bonked. I’m not a big boozer, but I was having one or two drinks a day throughout the challenge and I may have been subject to “boozer’s bonk.” Is that a thing? I think it was for me.

Days riding with a fixed-gear: 1
I started the challenge thinking I might ride some or all or it on a fixed-gear bike. How strong would that make me? Very, if I actually did it. My first ride - ridden with DaveJ – was on the Fixie Loop and naturally I rode my fixed-gear bike. Rode it a bit harder than I needed to, with too much time with my heart rate in Zone 3. Oops. I switched to a geared bike and as the fatigue built, I had no desire to go back to the fixed-gear bike. Maybe next year a fixed F500, but not this one.

Distance ridden: 515km
I made a plan of various rides to get me up to 500km. In the event, I had to change my plans for weather and shifting family commitments. On the penultimate day, which was a turbo day, I thought I’d left myself with about 80km to do on the last day. On Day 8 the forecast was abysmal, but it looked like there was a 2 hr window of dry from about 7am. I hit the road at 7.30am aiming to do about 55km and looking to make up the balance on the turbo later in the day. I was so surprised and relived to see a message pop up when I uploaded the 55km ride to say I’d completed the F500. In fact, I’d done an extra 15km. My maths skills are usually better, but a tired body goes hand in hand with a tired brain. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

Number of rides: 13
There were 8 days and I did 13 rides. More bad maths? Nope. On Day 5 I split my virtual ride (in virtual Cambridgeshire) in two 37km sections with a long “rest stop” in between. On Day 7, I planned to do a 55km virtual Mallorca ride, but I really struggled. I did 33km and blew up. My poor mind tried to work out how to grind out enough kilometres to leave me with a doable distance on the final day. The only way I could countenance this was to do shorter efforts. I rode two virtual laps of Central Park (9.5km each) and found a flattish (virtual again) time trial course (K46/10) in Worcestershire to clock another 16km.

Punctures: 1
This I count as a great victory since the roads were very wet throughout, which always increases the chance of a blow out. Mine came halfway through my longest ride (87km), again not the worst time. What is the worst time? I think in the very first few km or last few km of a ride is the biggest wind up. That always rains on my parade.

Café stops: 0
Nothing seemed to be open. It was perhaps my poor planning. At the least, a warm drink would have been handy on any of my rides.

Bars and gels consumed: a lot
I stocked up before the holiday season and got through most of my supplies. In the main, I was powered by Torq gels and Veloforte bars. I “stack” my fuel by starting with a gel and then bar, then gel every 30 mins or so.

Times proper food was consumed: Once
By the time I did my longest ride on Day 4, I was a little weary of sports nutrition. That morning I made myself a peanut butter and jam sandwich. I found a good spot to picnic at a table of a pub that was still closed in Coopersale, which is just beyond Theydon Bois in Essex. PBJ sandwiches always make me smile and they have the advantage of having a sticky filling, so they don't fall apart easily in you bag or pocket. With a shedload of festive leftovers, maybe I should have wrapped these up in burritos a few times. My method with burritos is to use baking paper and rubber bands to keep them together. Next time...

Things I’d do differently next time

• Drink less booze
  
• Be more flexible (8am start every day was unrealistic)
  
• Find at least one café that’s open