Let's cut to the chase. It's Sunday evening, as I write.
The first proper week of training is over and I haven't quite achieved the mileage that I wanted. But, I'm more than content. I cycled to work and back on Wednesday, and then went footy training on Thursday. Friday was a rest day (achey patellar tendon), and then I played a full 90 minutes of footy yesterday for the first team against Vics Vets. We had ten men after our skipper was sent off on 20 mins, so it was very tiring. The VV's are a very hard tackling team; brutal at times, and I was well kicked. I think they deserved the win, but it would have been a better game if we'd taken our (slim) chances and had a full compliment on the field.
Anyway, despite the bruised and swollen ankle, I decided to take the road bike out this afternoon, so went for a blast down the Milly Road and back. That's a 20-odd mile route. Out of my gate, down the hill and turn left and I'm on the famous Military Road . Then it was head down and pump hard to St Caths, up the big hill, and then into Niton, around the one-way system and then back. I'm going to use this route as a benchmark and see how fast I can do it as my training progresses. On the way out it was really hard into a strong headwind. The wind makes a huge difference when your on the bike, particularly if you're on your own. I know racers slipstream each other in the peloton, so that you can effectively get a tow from the guys at the front. I've had experience of this in the past. When I was a kid, my mate Ali Roe and myself used to do a fair bit of cycling as it was a convenient way to get to the pub, and enabled us to get well and truly pissed and not have to worry about being breathalysed on the way home. We also used to do a lot of miles cycling to various lakes and rivers in order to go fishing. We learnt how to tuck in behind the leaders back wheel , and take it in turn at the front every mile or so.
Anyway, back to today's ride and the strong headwind.I really struggled to get a comfortable cadence. I also felt slightly nauseous and generally not happy. Once I had turned I felt much better with the wind behind me, and there is always that psychological boost of knowing that you're on the way back.
The bike.. light, so responsive, but I had backache. I'm going to attribute that to yesterday's football. I also had a problem with the front derailleur. It is moving the chain too far as I change from the small to big cog, so the chain kept falling off...very annoying. I'm going to tweak it before I go to bed, because I'm planning to cycle to work tomorrow.
One other thing.. WOLVES: 1 WEST BROM 0. Are we going up? I'm not expecting anything. Remember, it's the hope that gets you.
No comments:
Post a Comment