Holy cow! I look so fat!!!

Should come down, show us how it’s done

😆 I didn’t have much luck at it first time round!

.Holy cow! I look so fat!!!

You’ll have to swap names with Mr blobby

This picture

http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-/Imperial-Winter-Series-2101201/i-RGRNzHm/A

is just before Nath’s attack!!! 😀

1 lap later 😀

http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-/Imperial-Winter-Series-2101201/i-D75FFnV/A

You look less fat at that angle though. And without skinny whippets next to you.

Thanks bro x 😀

I don’t normally ride along with one hand on the hoods and one on the drops either- I was mid change I think 😀

This ones a bit less body-shaming 😀

Lol did you buy that one?

I think it’s the proportions, I look fat on this one:
http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-/Imperial-Winter-Series-2101201/i-H5gP8Q3

On a side note I really recommend Torm jerseys, much better than rapha.

52/36 feels good, a lot harder climbing hills on it though with my 12-25, may actually have to use the inner ring now (not for Hillingdon) 😆

[video]https://youtu.be/U5A8fVb7E-Q[/video]

Vid is up 🙂 Never realised I sounded so posh!

Nath- I found myself hunting for gears once or twice with 50-11. True I was probably only doing 95rpm but that’s fast for me 😉

Yeah the 12-25 is very smooth between gears!

Haha that’s a good video, the camera (video in this case) brings the best out in us lol.

What did you think of the build I quickly put together? You use 170mm yeah?

Yes I do but not for any specific reason.
Looked good and would definitely be in budget- thanks for the links.

I will finish the winter series and have a think….. I kind of don’t need my CX bike as anything other than a winter trainer but 4 bikes is getting silly….

I don’t think there’s one picture of you actually in any sort of draft is there 😉

Hmm I did do some drafting…

I think in this pic I was contemplating going for it 😆
http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-/Imperial-Winter-Series-2101201/i-hm5qWrS/A

B’twins hold their value 😉

Yes but I need that for my Zwifting 😉

@crosshair, relax those shoulders and bend the elbows, must be costing yourself 50w of drag in every photo i’ve seen so far

Very fair point- hence why my Zwift avatar is much faster lol

Nath drafting like a pro:

http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-/Imperial-Winter-Series-2101201/i-hm5qWrS/A

😀

Nath drafting like a pro:

I don’t see him

<orders widescreen monitor>

In my defence I was working my way up the pack. It’s the easiest way haha. If anyone made a move I’d swing back in.

You can tell our mentor was AWOL 😀

Haha if there was pics of my TT off the front you’d all be impressed with how tucked in I was.

At least I now know one thing for certain; the guy who TT’d to victory is an absolute machine!! Or the people at the front weren’t massively up for wasting energy chasing that week, this week they were not letting me go (and I’ve got locker room confirmation – the guy talking to me by the lockers who then went into the changing rooms). So this rules out the TT for victory for me!

Sitting in until the last few laps it is then, I’m not doing it again I promise CH 😆

Maybe you need 1 or 2 to come with you ?

@Weeksy- there’s not many that can hang with Nath. That’s the problem. To get clear of the bunch you need a kick- Nath hit 1000w. That’s going to break most of the field.

He doesn’t need people to go with him- if he’s going to succeed in a break he needs to bridge to somebody else’s and let them think they’re in charge.

Trouble is, he’s been flashing his Watts all over the circuit now so nobody wants him to get anything for free 😀

Haha which is why I’m in a different jersey next week! The added difficulty is that you need to be a good position to do the bridging – otherwise you just pull the bunch along with you.

It’s all too technical so I’m going for the simple sprint finishes 😆

Looks like a beautiful day of racing. Well done to both of you. I was walking in Wales thinking of you all.

Nath you did everything right. Just a shame nobody work with you. CH has now discovered why intervals are the best training. It’s survival of the ones who recover fastest. Those burst of effort really hurt and the recovery is what wi get you to the finish in the pack.

Back next week.

Thanks TiRed – was weird without you, almost like stabilisers being removed for the first time haha.

Looking forward to next Saturday already 😆

Wales sounds fun, miss not having proper hills around here to hike…

Yes, odd with no YGA to focus on 😉
Fingers crossed I get a place for next week……

Just a shame nobody work with you.

Nath, I do like to see a break succeed so if I ever make it to one of these I’m happy to put in some work for you 🙂

@MrBlobby- Now that I’d like to see!!!! Give me some warning though 😀

I’ve entered rd1 of the Tuesday night series. Just trying to highlight my biggest weaknesses to target in the intervening 8 weeks 🙂

Cadence- a couple of weeks of regular speed skills sessions to try and add a few RPM. I’m averaging 82 but need to rely on cadence for increasing power rather than burning matches.
Position- all training other than full on intervals to be done in a better outline- I’m bad at ignoring it on the Turbo.
Top End- some really good quality intervals once or twice a week from 4 weeks out. Some Crit sprints for cornering and some 5/10 min ones for responding to breaks.
Volume- a general increase but with regular R+R weeks.
Stretching- I need to improve my flexibility both for position on the bike and for quicker recovery!
Weight- continue with my small calorie deficit to try and lose a bit more without running myself into the ground or compromising recovery.
Group practice- I need somebody who doesn’t live far away and is quite handy on a bike to give me some through and off training. Hmmmm- who can I think of?? 😉

Do all that and get my arse handed to me by the 3/4’s instead 😀

Group practice- I need somebody who doesn’t live far away and is quite handy on a bike to give me some through and off training. Hmmmm- who can I think of??

Well I’d be happy to help out with that but it is quite hard to plan exactly when I’ll be riding. We’ll have to try and sort something out.

Thanks @mrblobby but I’m being good now, I’ll respond to breaks but I’m looking at sprint finishes only 😆

Sounds good @CH. Good man for not throwing money at it! If there’s free weekends at Hillingdon it would be worth getting some time in there – get to know the course like the back of your hand and all that? Like I said to you, The week after IWS finishes I’m going to try and do an FTP around there if it’s still free (probably would use the smaller circuit for this so I can pedal the full way around?). The week after I’m not going near a bike other than for commuting.

I need to work on flexibility too – my lower back can’t take being in the full aero position for longer than 5-10 mins, need to do some core work. Also practice sprinting while knackered 😆

Are you going to put together a formal 8 week plan then CH?

P.s. Happy to bring some tools too if you’d like to try my bike for a few laps for comparison.

Fond of these too: Ribble R872

Group practice- I need somebody who doesn’t live far away and is quite handy on a bike to give me some through and off training. Hmmmm- who can I think of??

Disappointed CH oviously wasn’t thinking of me 🙁

They say that they are going to alternate the race direction so it would be cool to get some clockwise practice in. That’s going to be odd 🙂

Yes- I’ll probably fling something together or else I’ll struggle to keep properly motivated. You can start racing from the Build 1 phase so I may go right back to Base 1 or 2 in the meantime and do the speed skills workouts, single leg drills etc.
I’ll probably keep one or two short Zwift races in the mix each week so as not to lose all my top end (such as it is 😉 )
I may start doing Pilates as they run it at my sons school and it should help with my core strength for keeping those shoulders relaxed and my elbows bent 😉

Exciting stuff!!!!

@Weeksy- you’re never off of that bloody Zwift now 😀

@Nath- I would love to try your bike for a spin- thanks 🙂