david Macfarlane

It's Getting Very Real

Tuesday 6th Jun It's June , my souvenir Tour de France magazine has arrived  and it's 18 days to the start ! Share

In search of Rhythm in Yorkshire

Wednesday 31st May

It’s May, It’s Monday, so it’s another bank holiday and an opportunity to fit in a ride. This bank holiday saw me take a trip up to Yorkshire to try out some hills. The event was a Velo 29 Ride Yorkshire starting in Thirsk and incorporating 2,421m of climbing along the 170km route. The climbs were a mix of relatively short steep killer climbs, long steady climbs, and some excellent downhill sections which were a blast, and there were a lot of them

To put the climbing into context Ben Nevis peak stands at 1345m, and along the 170km route of this ride we climbed nearly 2 Ben Nevis’s. The ride was well organised and proved to be a good training event for Le loop and a chance to get my rhythm right on the hills.

There are 2 basic techniques of attacking the hills – option one is to select the highest gear you can and grind it out with powerful pedal strokes, and option 2 is to spin your way up the hill. As I only have limited power available, I am very much a spinner, but you still need to get it right. Too low a gear and you look like a circus act and burn up all your energy and progress is slow. Too high a gear and you veer into grinding it out territory. In the middle is the technique you are seeking where the pedals are turning in one constant circular motion generating kinetic energy taking you up the climb without sapping all your energy.

There were a number of climbs where I managed to achieve this which is important as when on the tour many of the climbs are over 10km so you need to find a rhythm, but there were also the short sharp climbs  where it was simply a case of grinding it out !!

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Naked Riding

Thursday 25th May

Don’t worry this is not what the title might at first suggest and I’m not about to offend large numbers of the rural French population. The concept has transitioned from running and is about the liberation from phones, headphones, and tech whilst running / riding

For a lot of runners, the thought of doing a run and not having it recorded on Strava with all its analysis seems alien. Doing the run free of tech and for the mindfulness alone is often not why they set out. Runs are done to be recorded and not just to feel the wind in your ears. To run without measurement would mean having to self asses if you were faster or slower than last time.

For some headphones are as essential for a run as a pair of good trainers. Lots of time is spend downloading playlists designed to be paired to the mood, energy levels and even the weather for each run.  It provides motivation during the run that enables the runner to get through it

With cycling, I have always been wary of using headphones from a safety point of view and ride without them so this will not be an issue. The headphones will be left for hotel room use.

During le loop I will have my Garmin to record my ride but that is as far as the tech will go. There is a whole host of tech and analysis that will not be coming with me such as

An Electronic map of the route, measurement of cadence, power output, heartrate, VO2 max, Pulse Ox calories burned, and time to destination, amongst others.  

This will leave me free to enjoy the moment. I’m sure there will be stages where I’ll be questioning my sanity, but I am hoping there will be many more life affirming moments with great views and hot sun.   

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Bank Holiday Weekends

Wednesday 10th May

The current round of BHW provide a great opportunity for all to have a break from work and do sometime enjoyable. Now depending on your viewpoint “something enjoyable” can mean very different things. For me it’s an opportunity to ride – some long rides and back-to-back rides on consecutive days or so I hoped - My wife saw the BHW as the opportunity to get all those jobs in the garden that need doing done!

So, in the spirit of compromise last bank holiday out came the pressure washer, the garden shears, the lawn edger and scarifyer. Garden furniture refreshed and paving cleaned, and I still managed to get some riding in.

This left the coast clear for the coronation weekend for more riding. On Sunday I entered the RIDE RUTLAND sportive. This was an 167km ride described as undulating which is always a worrying term! This was a great event well run and with the bonus that the sun came out. On the Monday can fit on another 75km ride in the morning again just before the rain came

So, the bank holiday did end with me completing something enjoyable and am looking forward to planning the same for the last bank holiday before I depart Share

Peeling back the Layers

Wednesday 12th Apr

Winter riding ( which is any ride before the clocks change!) is a case of putting on all your layers as you head out into the cold. This usually consists of a thin base layer, a thermal base layer, a thick cycling jersey and a waterproof jacket. This accompanied with a neck warmer, winter gloves, and overshoes prepares you the best you can, but you still know that at the end of the ride you will be cold, your extremities will have lost any feeling and your ready for a hot drink.

Eventually come summer, this gives way to the ideal cycling conditions enabling you to ride in a top, shorts and fingerless gloves – Bliss. But between these 2 dates is the period that you peel back the layers and guess the conditions. On a good day setting off early can mean a temperature range between 5 degrees early morning and if your lucky 18, 19 degrees by the end, and rain is never far away.

This brings a whole different level of kit including waterproof Gilets, Insulated Gilets, removable arm warmers and leg warmers, cycling jerseys of varying thickness, and any number of packable rainproof and windproof jackets. This combined with your winter kit means you end up with enough kit to fill  a non -league football club kit room and finding stuff is an artform  

 Get it wrong and you will be colder than any winter ride or overheat more than any summer ride Share

The new Bike

Friday 31st Mar Share

THE NEW BIKE

Friday 31st Mar

 Having taken delivery of the new bike the test now would be after 10 years of riding my old bike would the new one deliver. The first important thing about a bike to cyclists is …. The colour - and how does it look!  I had no choice with the colour which is Matt black a popular colour with cyclists but one that personally I’m not keen on – so what about the ride

The bike is a BASSO, an Italian brand that still makes hand build carbon frames in Italy and 80% of a bike’s capabilities come from the frame. The other main difference from my old bike is electronic gear shifter, disc brakes, and 28mm thick tyres.

Having ridden the bike for a few outings now I can confirm it is an exceptional bike. The 28mm tyres give a great level of comfort and the electronic gears means I can change gear whilst going up hill without fear of the chain coming off.  I had drafted a load of superlatives about the bike and the ride but have instead decided to let Alcide Basso moto that is on every bike sum it up – Ride Perfected.

Whilst originally when the bike arrived I must admit I was not overly impressed with the colour, once I have ridden the bike it could be any colour under the sun as it’s an outstanding bike to ride Share

THE PYRAMID OF PERFORMANCE FACTORS

Wednesday 22nd Mar Share

BRITISH SUMMER TIME

Wednesday 22nd Mar

 This Sunday at 1.00am in the morning the clocks go back an hour and Sunday marks the start of British Summer time. Whilst I’m not expecting tropical heat or layers of sun cream to be needed next week for cyclists (and many others) the clock changing is a game change.

 It opens up so many more opportunities to get the bike out of the garage and onto the road. A post work ride of say an hour and half can be completed without having to prepare for a ride home in the dark. And after a week or two it’s easy to find that you have a stepped increase in the time spent riding, or in cycling training terms – Training load. And this is the top of the inverted pyramid of things to do to improve perform and fitness as detailed in the uploaded image  

The clocks changing will enable the transition from the Gym to the road although for fair weather cyclists like me I’m sure April showers will mean plenty of visits to the gym for a few months yet. 

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A CALL FROM THE BIKE SHOP

Thursday 9th Mar

It was a normal Tuesday morning and I was on a Teams call – my phone flashed up with a call – Bristow’s Cycles-  I made my excuses on Teams and took the call – there was the possibility of a suitable bike – the frame geometry had been checked and was a good match to my bike but he needed to check a couple of measurements so asked if I could call in and take my current  bike.

Checks done we found that on one measurement based on the published data had only 5mm of tolerance which is not enough for adjustment. The plan was to phone the distributer and assuming that they had the bike built take and actual measurement for checking –

 An agonising 24 hrs later the result of this was an actual tolerance of 15mm which is amble.  Deposit paid, and I have a bike on order with the biggest cog having 34 teeth, so I will now officially have no excuses for not making it up the hills! – I await delivery with anticipation  

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The Crazy Bike Market

Friday 24th Feb

After another visit to my bike shop, we have concluded the best solution for this ride is a new bike. But that is where the problem starts – my bike shop doesn’t have any bikes.  The bike industry is suffering supply issues in the same way as the car industry with long waits for new bikes.

 There is another local shop that will do a bike fit for you and select a frame and build a bespoke bike – after an initial consultation I realised that I would not be walking out with any change from £8k with this option so did not proceed. Next, I looked at Canyon an online brand who make some quality products at more reasonable price point or so I thought – whilst the entry price is £2,700 by the time I add the right spec to get me up the hills the bill is nearer £5k – and it’s not available until April 2023 at the earliest! – The one that is available is you’ve guessed it £8k. My local bike shop is going to continue the search for something suitable that won’t break the bank – here’s hoping 

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January Weight watcher

Friday 3rd Feb So here it is .. my last reading from the month long WW I have been doing with work. Not quite down to the 70kg target I set myself but nearly 5kg gone. Unfortunately for WW real life kicked in with a weekend trip to the Lakes and too much enjoyment of the good local food on offer! Share

TAMING THE HILLS

Wednesday 1st Feb

As I work on my fitness my thoughts have turned to my equipment. I have concluded I am going to need some mechanical assistance with the mountain stages of the tour. My bike is an Italian frame bike with Italian gears from Campagnolo which is an excellent bike and rides very well on the roads near me which are generally Flat.

 The issue is the biggest gear is a 25 teeth cog. The more teeth on a cog the easier it is to pedal. From my rides last year in the lake district and Yorkshire I have worked out that anything above about a 17%, 18% gradient and I won’t make it up.

The solutions are either get fitter (easier said than done) or get more cogs with more teeth – as a minimum a 32 teeth cog.  Having visited my bike shop it turns out this is also easier said than done. More cogs would mean a new derailer, which would mean new levers, which would mean changing the breaks etc, etc which all means £££££.

The other alternative is a shiny new bike which also means £££££ - perhaps the fitness option is where my focus should be – back to the Gym it is  

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2023 Training commences 173 days to go

Wednesday 11th Jan

Happy new year to you all. My new year has started with a realisation that 173 days may seem like a lot but I’m sure it will go in a flash.  I have decided to break down the remaining months as I prepare for the ride into what I hope will be bite size chucks

January will be basic fitness training , long runs  and weight loss – I have joined a weight watchers group with Wates for January which has a weigh in each Friday which should help with the motivation – this combined with Dry January makes an interesting start to the year !!

I suspect February will be more of the same with possibly some short rides if the weather is kind

By March I should be in the saddle and getting some regular rides in and increasing distances , with the plan that during  April and May I will get some hill riding training. This will leave the beginning of June to ease off ready for the 23^rd June Grand depart

Here is the picture of my first weight watchers post ( in kgs) which I will update at end of Jan 

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SMARTER TRAINING

Wednesday 14th Dec

After my introduction to incline setting on the treadmill, I reflected on the training that I do at the gym. It became clear that although I was regularly getting to the gym, I would gravitate to the equipment that I liked using, - Treadmill, rower, static bike, and avoided those that I didn’t- anything with weights attached! And there was no real plan other that changing from rowing one day to running machine the next etc

Having seen the green shoots of results in my running from my incline training I decided hep was needed and a proper plan. The gym included 3 wellbeing sessions where I can discuss goals and outcomes I want to achieve together with timescales. With Le loop being 3500km of cycling in June 2023 my goals and timescales were quite specific.

After discussing these with an instructor it was clear that I was missing out on strength training. So, the Instructor has given me a weekly plan that now includes 2 sessions of strength focussed training. Initially I will implement this plan for 2 weeks and have a review. It looks like for the next few weeks at least there will be no avoiding those weights Share

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED DOWN THE GYM

Monday 28th Nov

AS part of my preparation I have joined a local gym, and noticed they had a 40min Running Club. Intrigued by what this might involve I signed up. I turned up at the appointed time and appeared to be the only one there – turn out it’s not up and running yet and I should not have been able to book – The Instructor who was just finishing a class came over and said don’t worry, we’ll do half hour of hills on the running machine…

So far, my running training on the treadmill has been the Forrest Gump approach – Get on – start running and stop when I’ve had enough. It turns out there is an Incline setting which goes from 0 to 15. The instructor’s suggestion was 1min flat, 2 mins at level 5, level 10 and level 15 and repeat 3 times.

I set off at a steady pace and was comfortable for the 1^st   and 2^nd levels, level 10 became a challenge, and at level 15 I lost all power of speech to respond to the instructor’s comments. Somehow, I managed to complete the set.

The next day to acclimatise to these newfound Incline settings I did the same levels but this time at a walking pace. The instructor was confident after a few sessions my running would improve. The following Saturday I did my usual parkrun and managed to get my fastest time for this year. So, despite the pain there is some merit in changing my training style from the Forrest Gump approach Share

the 2023 Route is anounced

Friday 28th Oct Share

the 2023 Route is anounced

Friday 28th Oct the 2023 route was announced on Thursday this week and the Guardian comment was   Share

Great Yorkshire Sportive

Monday 3rd Oct My training commenced in earnest with my first long ride on 1st October 2022. This was a 170km ride ( 180km for me due to a wrong turn !) The day started well with early morning sunshine and calm conditions as we left York heading towards the coats at Scarborough. As we approached Scarborough area the wind really got up with the tail end of Hurricane Ian making an appearance with the result there were a number of riders that did not finish . After a difficult last 50km eventually made the finish back in York  Share