520in5

Jan/Feb

As well as training for the upcoming time trial and road racing racing season Rob and Matt are currently building up the base endurance needed for this event. Many miles are now on the clock and laps of the Island in all sorts of weather conditions!

**Thankyou so much to the people that have sponsored us so far! means alot! Not just to us but the guys and gals at Naomi House**

18 Feb 2011

Matt: went out for the best quality training ride on Saturday 12th, the sun was shining and just a slight breath of a breeze, perfect! Fingers crossed we have similar weather for the Lands’ End mission!

Today however there was a hassling wind that seemed to harrass Rob and I from what seemed like all directions. Mist was cold and got dark super quickly. Funny thing, the wind died down as soon as we finished…..Always the way! 🙂

20 Feb 2011

Matt: Put in some good solid miles with Rob, as expected at this pointof the year. Really hard to juggle endurance training for long distance rides with power/speed training for the impending time trials that begin on the 19th March. The gym is getting a lot of attention this year as is the turbo trainer, such foul weather still!! When it’s not blowing a gale it’s hammering down with rain.

26 Feb 2011

Matt: Been banging in the miles everyday this week, however today the last sentence of the above entry was a misjudgment. All of the 52 miles that I did today consisted of strong winds AND heavy thundery showers…Apparently the thunder and lightning was pretty bad around the time I was out but I have to admit I was completely oblivious as the roar of the wind blocked out pretty much all ambient noise.

Still trying to find an equilibrium between training for long distance/endurance and the looming time trials that are just around the corner. Not enough hours in the day, days in the week.

3 March 2011

Matt: Managed to get home before the sun set yesterday, so yep you guessed…Out on the road I went! Only got aout 45mins in, so when I got back I spent an hour on the turbo trainer to top up the legs. Good sign that the sun is hanging in the sky for a bit longer now as it means I can go via Freshwater back to Ryde after work soon!

Thankyou LOADS for the generous donations so far, and supportive comments!!! Will be ringing true on the later miles I’m sure. I believe there is a fine line between heroism and spontaneous madness, very fine in our case! 🙂

The other day I set up a WordPress Blog for a more detailed tracking tool for you to follow us on. The good thing about the WordPress page is that I can update it via the Blackberry, so updates while we’re riding out ‘there’ can be sent. A reasurring tool for my family!! haha It’s not currently fully made yet so watch this space on that.

6th March 2011

Matt: Well yesterday was Saturday which means a long ride. This I tend to build up each week. 60 week 1, 63, week 2 etc… This Sat I was on 65miles. I felt strong and focused despite Rob setting a relatively high pace leading onto the military road. The wind (ENE) was BITING! really harsh and maddening…seemed to be against us all the way around the Island. Today (as every Sunday) I had a shorter ride at a reasonable pace (heart rate not going very often into zone 4), 30miles. Tomorrow is gym day, and easy spinning. 🙂 Tt’s start on the 19th March………

7th March 2011

Very exciting news received today, Isle of Wight Radio have expressed interest in our ride/cause. We are meeting with the newsroom on Friday 11th March to give them information on what we are planning to do and plug our sponsors 🙂

As for training…I’ve given myself the day off! Bad aren’t I? Bring on lots of food and rest. Resting heart rate is still down around 48bpm, max is around 215bpm if you’re interested?!

9th March 2011

Work until the sun went down sooooo on the turbo trainer! Yesterday 60min interval training 2min ints, followed by 1min rest for 30 mins. The rest consisted of keeping my heart rate in zone 3.
Tonight, pretty much the same again to keep the legs turning. Cadence work etc… 90rpm-110rpm. Zones 3 and 4 for an hour.

12th March 2011

Matt: Ahhh what a difference the sun makes! 61miles bagged today, in the warmth of the sun…well for the most of it, then it got all gloomy again. The Military Road is such a good stretch to pump the pedals, especially with a tail wind to drive things along. Got 46mph on the clock today 😉 For the first 30miles I had the company of Rob Bolwell (15 year old island lad, and up and coming cyclo-cross talent) sporting his new bike, and very nice it is too.

Yesterday I got my new tt bike sorted by Jason Joshua at Tav Cycles Ryde, so its now all ready to roll. Sooooo tomorrow (weather permitting) I’ll get out on that for a few miles to get used to it. Not just adjusting to turning the 53t chainring but the entire handling of the beast! On the turbo trainer is feels awesome, but I can’t imagine 150psi tubular tyres on 50mm carbon rims feel too comfy on these humble Island roads…which brings me onto the Shorwell roundabout (rab)…..

Went over it today, and thank God that it’s FINALLY getting sorted in time for the VRCC festival course. Hitting that at any speed is terrible. Not one part of it is level. Hey ho, at least it’s getting sorted. Now for the rest of the Island! 🙂

13th March 2011

Well the roads were wet when I set out, I decided against the tt training on the “rocket” Took the Trek out instead on the Bleak Down circuit. Rode out there, 2 lap reccy of it then back again. Lots of hills involved so I should do OK, that’s my kinda thing! We’ll see!
Now time to chill for the rest of this Sunday 🙂

16th March 2011

Yesterday I unleashed my new time trial bike onto the roads. A short and sweet 30mins! Before it got dark. Today I managed to get back home a tad earlier from work so got to ride for a good hour. The Exocet (planet x) is such a quick machine, it roars along the roads. Such an experience. 🙂 just hope the weather is good on Saturday and Sunday for the first VRCC Time Trials 🙂

26th March

Been feeling “off” all week so have been taking it relatively easy, just the odd 20mile ride here and there. 25th Rob and I hooked up for a 45miler after work just to keep the miles up for the week! Last night saw a couple of mates bands at the High Park Tavern in Ryde, I didn’t drink and got back by 12 but woken up at 3am by some seriously smelly burgers being cooked by a debauched housemate. Made it to the Vectis RCC 10 colemans Time Trial and hit 25:46.

Rest day tomorrow and Monday, listening to my body and its whispering to me rest up 🙂

10th April

This week I crammed in the miles with an extension to my commuting route (Ryde to Newport) Back from Newport I go back to Ryde via Forest road, mottistone and the milli rd. Stretched it out to 50 miles! On the Tuesday I first did this route, on my ’83 Raleigh…20kg of steel! Wouldn’t of been so bad but the weather was dire!! Windy, damp and over the West Wight…Fog! Thick fog. Visability was about 10m in parts, high ground especially. The next two occasions I did it on my Trek (madone 5.5 ’11) a lot smoother! On the Fri Rob and I hit the roads, again about 55 miles done but the first 20mins was an eye opener. The highways crew had just/in the process of re-laying an entire stretch of road which Rob and I ploughed straight into. I literally got stuck in tar and thoroughly pebble dashed. Not good at all.

Sat was a nice rest day.

Today, Sunday, I did the Sun Inn 50. 50mile time trial. Horrendous start, hit gravel and smacked into the wall of the Sun Inn. Ooooops. 3mins behind I was just going to quit there and then, but instead I dug in and kept my head together. On the second lap I over took all the other guys and gals. Ended up 4mins behind the leader, but 4mins infront of the next man. Came 2nd. Pays to keep your cool. My shoulder is now swollen, and knee scraped up. And just discovered two huge bruises on my thighs. Parallel to eachother where the aero handlebars had dug in. Bike is 100% fine 🙂

I now have two weeks off to recover the shoulder and train, train, train!