So You Entered Your First Sportive Part 2 - Building Power & Strength

This post is intended as a follow up to my last post which contained the Pixies thoughts on lessons learnt over the the last 12 months or so in respect of training for that first sportive, long charity ride or maybe the first attempt at riding a century (whether that is 100 kilometers or 100 miles). You probably don't need to read that post for this one to make sense, however in case you haven't read it, it can be found here HERE 

In my last post I said that I believed that the introduction of strength training into my training programme had made a significant difference on my ability to ride longer distances, climb hills without having to walk or take a rest at the top and it has probably increased my average speed over a given distance. (Actually the introduction of a formalised and documented training plan, did this as well) So convinced am I of the positive contribution strength training makes to sportive performance, it is now an ongoing fixture in my weekly training programme, that rarely gets missed.

I think i should also probably point out that I am no expert, indeed I still consider myself to be a "newbie" in the world of sportives. What follows is really just me reflecting on what works for me in the hope that it might encourage other "newbies" to think about how they are going to prepare themselves for their first sportive or properly long ride?  

What I am not talking about is the type of weight training that is practiced by body builders, their goal is strength and bulky muscle. Our goal is strength and no unnecessary bulky muscle.


Not convinced about whether strength training is worth it or beneficial?

Strength training seems to work for Chris Hoy 

OK, so Chris Hoy is a track cyclist and needs thighs like tree trunks for sprinting, but in any sportive, the same muscles that are used for sprinting will be used for climbing those pesky hills.

"Road cyclists need to be light and avoid the bulk that weight training produces!" I hear you say. This article about Bradley Wiggins' winter training regime seems to indicate that he can see some benefit from strength training Bradley Wiggins's TDF preperation article - Cycling Weekly       

Doesn't look like the gym work added any unwanted muscle bulk to Wiggo

Completing the type of distances we are talking about, over the types of terrain typically encountered on an average UK sportive requires strength. Strength is principally required (in my own experience) to avoid a situation where those steep hills that organisers always include don't completely drain the rider of the ability to finish the route. When the hill gets steep, the muscles in the leg and core of the body are making a significant contribution to our ability to get up and over the hill - If the leg muscles aren't strong enough to turn the pedals, forward motion is lost and guess what? Its time for the "oh my god, I can't get unclipped from my pedal" and kissing the tarmac moment - Yep, been there, done that, got the T shirt.

Sportive organisers have a habit of including these on their routes

I guess I should stop labouring this point and simply say that I have come to the conclusion that performing select upper body exercises gives me greater power in sprints and on short, steep climbs where pulling on the handlebars increases the force applied to the pedals. I'm sure I use less energy (for a given speed and gradient) on climbs now than previously and that can only be contributing to an increased ability to go further and faster than before.

Strength training will help you get up hills like this one

 

I have also found that doing training exercises that work my lower body strength in addition to performing upper body, abdominal and lower-back training exercises has resulted in better comfort on the bicycle, which again must be contributing to less wasted energy and increased potential for going further and faster. 

After some experimentation with different exercises I have found that the best strength and resistance exercises for me are the following:

1. leg press and squats, multi-muscle group exercises which focus on the quads and hip flexors,
2. calf press or raises,
3. back extension to develop lower back strength,
4. stiff-legged deadlifts or leg curls to strengthen the hamstrings and gluteus maximus,
5. abdominal curls, and
6. seated or bent rows to develop the middle and upper back and the posterior surface of the shoulders.

In addition to the above exercises I also have a number of core conditioning  exercises that I complete, however I'll save talking about those for another blog post.

Extreme core conditioning exercise

 
My own research (Thanks Google) and conversations with Simon at Total Cycling Performance and the trainers at my local gym have confirmed the need for developing a strength training programme that works all of the muscle groups that work with and against each other e.g. Hamstring exercises are important because over-development of the quadriceps, typical in most serious cyclists, must be balanced with development of the hamstrings to avoid hamstring tears. Also, hamstrings are used in the bottom part of the pedal stroke where a slightly backward force is applied. Squats offer many benefits. I have found them to be very effective at strengthening the large quadriceps muscle in the inside/front of the thigh. Performing leg press and squats will also strengthen the hip flexors potentially preventing hip pain after battling up those long and/or steep hills.

Always useful to be able to identify specific muscles

If you have never used weights for strength training before, I would recommend that you consult a cycling coach or physical trainer to help you devise a weight training program that addresses your own development areas. They will also teach you the proper way to do of all exercises included in that program. 

If you suffer from any form of joint pain, like me, always start off with a light weight after any break from your strength training programme as this will help to avoid instigating back, hip or knee pain. (Yep, I've got that T shirt as well) 

Now that we are starting to get into the Sportive season I am starting to reduce weights I am lifting and placing greater focus on the workouts I am performing on the bike and Wattbike. My reason for doing this is to reduce the risk of injury in the weight room which could force me to skip sportives and lose valuable training time as I get ready for the Dragon Ride, l'etape and Newcastle to London. 

If you do decide to include some strength training in your sportive preparations, be guided by a professional trainer about volume of exercise until you are comfortable with making that decision yourself. 

So you've entered your first sportive and you want to do everything possible to maximise the chances of having an enjoyable and successful day? 

I'm pretty confident that if you visit the gym at least once or twice a week during the build up to the event, you will notice a significant increase in your power on the bike. Try it you might like it! 

Oh, and before I forget to mention it. It's perfectly normal to feel a little nervous about going into the strength training section of the gym, thinking everyone will be looking at you and asking what steroids and supplements you are taking. The reality is likely to be that you will be left to your own devices and nobody will be that bothered about the fact that you are there - Most of the people that you will encounter will be focused on their own training programme and will be friendly if you want them to be.

As always thanks for taking the time to visit this blog and read the ramblings of the Pixie as he documents his own journey to l'etape and Newcastle to London. I hope you have found some of this post interesting, and maybe even useful? 

Pop back again some time and find out whether I am on track to get up that big French Mountain and whether it looks like I will be able to ride from Newcastle to London in under 24 hours in August.    

Dha weles diwettha

VP  




 

So you entered your first sportive or long charity ride?

Spring is just around the corner, we've had a few sunny days, the temperature is warming up and quite naturally it now feels OK to start planning and dreaming about, what we want to achieve this season.

For some it will be completing more sportives than last year, it might be achieving better times over a certain distance or on events that have been completed previously or it might be entering and finishing one of the major sportive events such as l'etape. 

 
This year I suspect their will also be a significant number of people who will be planning to enter their first sportive or long charity ride. Interest in participating in these events is already high at the moment, with events selling out within days/weeks of entry opening. Events such as Ride London 100 will be introducing a significant number of people to the delights of riding a 100 miles on a bike for the first time, some of whom may not have ridden a bike for many, many years.

So how do you prepare for your first sportive or other long distance ride of perhaps 100 kilometers or 100 miles duration? 

There are many training plans and guides written by far cleverer and experienced individuals than me, that can easily be found on the internet which provide varying levels of detail as to how an individual could train for one of these events, so I'm not going to reinvent the wheel by detailing my own training plan or by putting another generic plan out there in Google land. What I can is perhaps share some of the things I have learnt in my very short sportive career in the hope that other sportive newbies can avoid some of the mistakes I made or simply prepare a little more effectively for their first event.

Credit for some of the things that I have learnt and more effective practices I have subsequently adopted must go to Simon Vincent at Total Cycling Performance who set me off on the path to training enlightenment with the 16 week training plan that he designed for me in 2012.      

Chances are that for a new sportive rider their first event is likely to involve  riding a century, whether this is a 100 kilometers or a 100 miles, in one day. Riding 100 miles in a day may sound extreme, however what I now know is that almost any leisure cyclist is capable of completing either of these distances if they prepare for the event in a structured manner.

Preparation for that first century can probably be broken down into the following categories;

• Bike and equipment
• Training
• Nutrition
• Attitude

Over the coming weeks I will share in more detail some of the Pixies experiences and thoughts on each of these subjects, however lets have a little introductory look at each one.

Equipment
Making the right choices with equipment will increase your comfort on the bike and being comfortable will mean that you are not wasting energy trying to make yourself comfortable and you will not be distracted from the task in hand.

A badly fitting bike was one of the biggest contributors to the pain and suffering I endured in my first weeks of trying to embark on rides of more than 20 miles. If you experience pain in the knees, hips or back and you aren’t sure what a correctly fitting bike should feel like get a proper bike fit from a professional - Google "bike fit" and the name of your county or nearest major town/city and you will find the names of some people to contact or ask for recommendations from other cyclists. If your bike is new and the shop you bought it from adjusted the seat, sat you on it and asked you how it feels, chances are it isn't going to be set up properly - just because it feels right to you, doesn't mean it is actually set up right for efficient and pain free riding over long distances.  

 
Training
Many of the training plans and guides that can be found on the internet will say that the majority of training for a first century ride should focus on endurance training or "base miles". Building up base miles is something that I include in my own training, however as a new sportive rider I found that I didn't have the basic or core strength in my muscles to be able to cover distances in excess of 35-40 miles without being physically to tired to regularly increase the distance covered. Additionally my average speed remained stuck at around 10-12mph. The other problem I found with trying to simply ride further each week was that I didn't have the time available for 3 or 4 long rides per week. If I had relied on the "building up mileage" method of training for my first event I think it would have taken me so long to get to a point where I was capable of completing a 100 kilometers that I would have given up trying long before I actually completed a sportive.

  

The answer for me came with the integration of interval training and strength training into my regular training plan (and not forgetting that to have a "regular training plan" I needed to have a properly thought out and documented plan of what I was going to do and when I was going to do it - Obvious but easily overlooked) Why include strength training? Riding a bike at a reasonable pace over any significant distance requires muscular strength in the lower body and the core of the body and in my case I didn't have the required level of strength due to many years of inactivity. Developing muscular strength by visiting the gym has undoubtedly helped me develop more power on the bike, which means that i can go faster for longer and find climbing hills much easier. 

    

How long should you allow to prepare for that first sportive or long charity ride? The general consensus seems to be that you need to train in a structured way for at least 12 weeks before the ride, personally if the time is available I would look at a 16 week training window, this should provide you with ample time to prepare for that first century. 

Some things that are worth considering when training for that first sportive include; 

• Aim to increase mileage on your long ride by around 10% each week
• Aim to hit at least 70% of the target distance of your chosen event no later than two weeks before the event
• Be aware of any minimum speed requirement for your chosen event and train with a view to achieving that average speed during training
• Think about cadence (pedal revolutions per minute), what cadence suits your style and physique best? 70-90 revolutions per minute seems to suit most newcomers to sportives
• Plan to reduce your training mileage in the week before the event and consider limiting riding to one or two short easy rides

How much time should you devote to training each week? How long is a piece of string? With the right training plan it is entirely possible to train for that first century devoting as little as 8-10 hours per week to training. Currently I would say that I average around 10-12 hours of  focused training per week.  

What does my training plan currently look like? At a very high level it contains the following;

• Four sessions of specific core strength exercises e.g. press ups, planks etc 
• Two sessions per week in the gym concentrating on building my upper body, abdominal, lower back and leg strength
• Two sessions per week which focus on completing speed and power interval training either on the bike or on the Wattbike
• One or two sessions on the bike or Wattbike of 1-2 hours duration which concentrate on maintaining a specific % of maximum heart rate 
• Two rides at the weekend, one of around 2-3 hours duration at a relaxed pace and another which is of longer duration and focuses on completing a set distance whilst maintaining a specific % of maximum heart rate (it is this ride that I currently use to gradually increase my mileage each week)
• One recovery day per week with no exercise or an easy spin on the wattbike   

The content of each persons training plan should be specific to them and based on a proper assessment of their current abilities and physical performance and I would say that enlisting the help of a professional cycling specific trainer has lifted my performance on the bike far beyond where I thought I would be at this point in time. I guess if the thought of engaging a coach seems like a step to far or maybe funds won't allow it, a training plan based on the structure I follow will probably provide better results than simply going out for a ride 2-3 times a week hoping that each week fitness will improve.

One last thought on training, it is important to understand the distinction between a training ride and a leisure ride and don't let a training ride inadvertently become a leisure ride. A training ride has a purpose and objectives that need to be achieved e.g. cover 75 miles in 4 hours and 30 minutes with one rest stop of 5 minutes. A leisure ride is simply a ride with no fixed objective or target, a ride undertaken simply for the pleasure of riding and with no real focus on fitness improvement. Allowing training rides to become leisure rides is a sure fire way to make any training plan ineffective and probably why the building up base miles method of training does not work for most newcomers to the sport.  

Nutrition
As the day of the first sportive approaches, what you put in our body becomes of critical importance for a successful sportive. In the days prior to the sportive you should start hydrating. Drink plenty of water and consider cutting back on caffeine and alcohol. 

In the days leading up to the sportive you should consider adding additional carbohydrates to your diet to ensure that your reserves of energy are completely topped up. There is a limit to how much carbohydrate the body will store as an energy reserve before it simply turns it into fat, but we'll save the details of that topic for another blog post. 

On the day of the sportive, eat a light breakfast of low GI high-carbohydrate foods and drink lots of water. If your sportive means that you need to travel to the event by car for a few hours before the event, consider taking your breakfast with you to eat when you arrive at the event HQ (When I find myself in this situation I always take an instant porridge and a flask of hot water, which I eat 2 hours before the scheduled start time and I also take a banana, honey and peanut butter sandwich which I eat about 30-40 minutes before the start time).   

On the ride keep sipping your drink and try to avoid becoming thirsty. Water or a sports drink are the options here.Water is easy to obtain and top up during the event at feed stations if you run out, sports drinks can provide a source of electrolytes and easily absorbed carbohydrates and can be used to replace energy/carbohydrate whilst riding.

Don't under estimate the importance of consuming some solid foods, eat easily digestible, high carbohydrate food including energy bars, bagels, fruit or sweets. Personally I have found that jelly babies and flap jacks work well for me and they are now my food of choice for rides over 50 miles. 

Whilst it is important to eat while you are riding, try not to over indulge as it is possible to have to much of a good thing and ruin that first sportive by having an upset stomach, being sick or simply being bloated and lethargic. Use your training rides to fine tune your feeding strategy and once you know what works for you, avoid disrupting your routine on the event.  

One last thought on nutrition, try to avoid consuming food and drink that you haven't tried during training, to avoid an upset stomach or cramping.  

Attitude
Attitude is everything. There will be days when you are training and it seems like nothing is going right, its a fact that this will happen, accept it and move on. There will also be days when everything clicks into place and progress will come easily (these days are the payback for the tough days) understand when these days are occurring and delight in your new found cycling prowess.

Preparing yourself to arrive at the start of that first sportive in the best possible condition is actually not very complicated but it will probably require some planning and will require some will power to stick to your training plan.

 A first sportive of either 100 kilometers or 100 miles is well within the grasp of most relative newcomers to cycling if they are prepared to commit to a structured training plan and invest some time in increasing their cycling specific fitness.Time invested in training prior to the event will mean that on the day you will be able to sit back and enjoy the experience of your first sportive (and you will probably be able to have an inward laugh at those people that didn't train very well as you pass them on the first significant hill of the day)

What is that "they" say "fail to plan - plan to fail"

Crikey, this has turned into a long blog post! I hope some of the above is of use or interest to somebody and if you are entering your first sportive this year, enjoy your day, don't worry everybody will be really friendly and hopefully you will make some new friends while you out on the ride.

As always thanks for taking the time to visit my blog and read the ramblings of the Pixie. Hopefully you will be able to find the time to visit the blog again some time in the future.

Dha weles diwettha
 

VP            

L'Etape du Tour 2013 - The route ridden and documented

Well the ASO have announced details of the route for the 2013 edition of the L'Etape du Tour and it will be held on Sunday 7th July using the same route as the professional cyclists will use on stage 20 of next years Tour de France, although us amateurs will actually be riding a few more miles than the Pro's. So what will the route be like for an Amateur to ride? 

A little further on in this post you will find a link to a recently written blog post by a friend of mine, Phil Sinclair, detailing his impressions of the route when he rode it earlier this week. It's an interesting read and contains some valuable information and insights for anyone taking part in, or contemplating, next years l'etape. (Just in case you don't want to read the Pixies own rambling thoughts on the subject, you can go straight to Phil's account of his day riding the route here!) 

The organisers describe the route as follows "the Etape du Tour will allow cyclists to use roads in the penultimate stage of the 100th edition of the Grande Boucle. Annecy - Annecy Semnoz: 130km of a breaking and selective route in the Alps before a summit finish Semnoz, on the balcony of Mont Blanc."

  
The start looks like it will be in the heart of Annecy and will then take the following route;
Albertville (D1508) – St-Jorioz – La Chapelle St Maurice – Bellecombe en Bauges – Le Chatelard – Aillon le Vieux – Thoiry – St Jean d’Arvey – La Féclaz – Trévignin – St Offenge Dessus – Pont de l’Abîme – Gruffy – Quintal – Montée du Semnoz

As can be seen from the above profile there are a number of significant lumpy bits that will need to be climbed and the official list is as follows;

Côte de Puget (5,4 km at 5.8%)
Col de Leschaux (3,6 km at 6.2%)
Côte de Aillons-le-Vieux (6 km at 4%)
Col des Prés (3,5 km at 6.5%)
Col du Mont-Revard (16 km at 5.4%)
Montée finale du Semnoz (11 km at 8.3%)

What is the route like to ride? 
In the weeks since the route details were announced I have seen numerous conversations on Twitter and Internet forums talking about how difficult (or not) next years route is going to be. Many of the people taking part in these discussions are seasoned l'etape'ers and have plenty of experience to draw on when putting forward their views, however have they actually ridden the route or are they looking at maps and profiles in order to draw their conclusions?

As I mentioned earlier in this post, Phil Sinclair, who has previously been a guest blogger on my blog, actually rode the route earlier this week and his own blog contains an account of that ride together with photos he took on the day. Phil is a seasoned l'etap'er with many years experience of competing in the event and as such I would say that his thoughts on the route are probably going to provide a valuable early insight into what we can expect on the day of the event.

Phils own account of his day riding the 2013 L'Etape route can be found here 

If you are interested in reading Phils previous blog post on taking part in Sportives and L'Etape it can be found here Phil Sinclair on Sportives and L'Etape 

Many thanks to Phil for providing this useful early preview of what the route is actually like to ride and hopefully if you are reading this and Phils blog post as somebody who will be riding in the 2013 L'etape du Tour, the information provided will in some way inform your training and preparations.

The official ASO L'Etape du Tour web site can be found here

Another UK based site "L'Etape du Tour" for L'Etape competitors which provides a wealth of information and support can be found here (www.etape.org.uk)

As always thanks for taking the time to vist the Pixies blog and hopefully you will be able to pop back some time in the future to see how my own training and preparations for next years L'etape du Tour are coming along.

Dha weles diwettha

VP

Southdowns Challenge - A Sportive virgins perspective

Sunday 16th September 2012, was the day on which the Pixie achieved another milestone on the journey to completing l'etape (A quick overview of what l'etape is can be found here) It was the day on which the Pixie competed in his first competitive cycling event, the "Southdowns Challenge"



The Southdowns Challenge is a type of event known as a cyclo sportive and the following is an extract from Phil Sinclair's guest blog post which was published on here last month provides a description of what a sportive is ;

"The issue of sportives, for some is sensitive. Especially in the UK where older riders do not see them as races. More as touring rides, (randonées) as they are unlicensed and not normally on closed roads. There also exists Audax rides for which the challenge is long or ultra-long distances. Recently there has been a huge upsurge in the popularity of sportives.

Sportives are very definitely races, with a timed start and a timed finish. With winners in different categories and non financial prizes. Depending on the country, and laws you may need a licence (or day licence bought at registration), a medical certificate and third party and personal insurance. Normally sportives offer up to three routes of different lengths and difficulties."

 

The rest of Phils guest blog post on Sportives, l'etape and generally preparing for an endurance cycling event can be found here

 

The Southdowns Challenge offered two different courses of 50 miles and 80 miles and as this was to be the Pixies first competitive cycling event I felt that it would be prudent to choose the lesser distance as my chosen race distance.

 

Prior to arriving at the start of the event I had exchanged e mails with the organisers who reassured me that, "yes the route would be well sign posted, no, I would not need a sat nav to get around the course, and it would actually be difficult to get lost" this was obviously the answer I was looking for and it certainly played a major part in me not withdrawing my entry for the event (at this point I had run out of reasons to not compete and accepted my fate of probably being the only Sportive "newbie" competing in the event)

 

Now that I had run out of excuses, I got down to the serious matter of preparing for the event. I'd read any number of internet articles on competing in Sportives. I've got more than a couple of books on the subject, which were consulted and re-consulted, checklists were written, the bike was checked and checked again. My kit bag was packed, unpacked, packed and packed again while I tried to decide what kit I would need? In the end I think I just took everything cycling related I own (better safe than sorry)

 

On the day of the event I got my route planning for the journey down to the start hopelessly wrong and arrived at the start a full hour before the organisers got there, of course this gave me more time to check everything again, decide what which of my now considerable cycling wardrobe I was going to wear and check the bike again.......

 

"Signing on" for the event was outrageously simple, no complicated forms to fill in, just turn up, confirm my previously allocated race number together with my name and before I knew it I had my very first competitive cycling race number in my hands.

 

 

 

With race number fixed to my handlebars, I lined up with at the start with all of the other competitors and awaited my turn to set off, was I nervous? Oh yes! At one point my resting heart rate was 101 beats per minute which is about double what it normally is.

 

 

 

When my turn to set off came, I started with a group of around twenty other riders, who thankfully all looked like old hands who I figured I could follow for the first mile or so until they "dropped" me and then I would ride at my own pace for the rest of the ride and hope that I didn't finish with to slow a time.

 

About three or four miles in, I found that to my surprise I had passed a couple of other riders and was catching up with another group of riders who had either started in the group before mine or had been at the front of my group at the start. When I caught up with this group, one of the riders very kindly asked me if I wanted to join them for a while and ride part or all of the course with them? As a "sportive newbie" this was an offer I wasn't going to turn down, I mean it would be really difficult to get lost with this bunch who clearly knew the ropes.

 

Over the next couple of miles I was introduced to the rest of the group (Doug Lucktaylor, Steve Dickson, Miles Van der Lugt and Craig Pidcock) and what a great bunch of lads I'd found to ride with, friendly and willing to teach the newbie some of the expected form when riding in a group.

 

As somebody who had spent the entire summer riding on my own, I was really surprised at how much less energy is used when riding in a group of riders who all take in turns to ride on the front of the group and also how much concentration is required when the rider in front of you is only six inches in front of your front wheel.

The rest of day was a real learning experience and I learnt so much about riding in a group that I would never have picked up had I gone around on my own, so Doug, Steve, Miles, and Craig thank you for letting me ride with you, answering all of my questions and for being so willing to let a stranger ride with you.

 

Steve competing in a previous Southdown Challenge

 

The course itself was a really good blend of challenging hills, long inclines, fast descents and long flat sections which meant that all of the different riding styles and techniques that I had been practising since June were called into use. I was particularly grateful to the coaching I had received from Simon at Total Cycling Performance in respect of riding within specific heart rate zones and not riding beyond my lactic threshold on hills as without this coaching I'm sure I would have run out of steam on the longer, more challenging hills. I was quite pleased with my progress in respect of being able to get up big hills without running out of steam when I realised that I was actually passing other riders on hills and was able to have conversations with them as well! #chuffedwithmyprogress 

 

 

One of my memories of this event will be Steve proclaiming that "this is the last big hill on the course" as we were climbing Ditcham school climb. The profile image of the entire route taken from my Strava record of the day shows that this was clearly not the case. Somebody once said to me "never trust the locals" that might have been true in respect of Steve's somewhat hopeful statement!

 

The rest of the ride went really quickly and illustrated to me just how much harder it is to ride on your own than it is when you have the company of other cyclists to distract you from focusing on how long you have been in the saddle and how far you have got left to ride. One of the things I learnt about myself on this ride, was that I think I quite like going up hills, and the steeper they are, the better I like it - weird, I know. It might be something to do with overcoming the challenge or knowing I am pushing myself to the limit or something like that. Alternatively, it might be that I am starting to become a cyclist and accepting that to go down a hill you have to go up a hill.    

 

Something that Doug and I were discussing towards the end of the ride was the fact that Tandems punch a really big hole in the air, as they move and if you are following one it really does shield you from any headwind that might be present. So the Pixies advice is this, if you are on a Sportive and find yourself behind a tandem, take the opportunity to rest for a few moments before pulling out into the brick wall of wind that you will run into as you try to pass it. 

 

So how did I do on my first Sportive? Well with the help of the Doug, Steve, Miles and Craig I manged to get around the 50 mile course in a time of 3 hours and 17 minutes which meant I achieved a "silver" standard award.

Was I pleased with this result? Oh yes, just a bit!

 

 

 

I'd gone into this event not knowing what to expect, hopeful that I wouldn't embarrass myself by not finishing or finishing with a really slow time. I had been completely unsure of how a newbie would be received by the seasoned sportive veterans and had been unsure of whether riding in a group would be something I would enjoy? 

 

The organisation on the day meant that I didn't have have anything worry about in respect of the logistics of competing in the event and I would definitely recommend the Southdowns Challenge as a first event for a Sportive newbie or seasoned competitor alike. The other competitors couldn't have been more welcoming or friendly and if you are reading this and thinking about entering your first Sportive, don't worry about whether you will find somebody to talk to or ride with, you will and everybody will be really friendly. What about riding in a group? Well the Pixie, loves it and is now taking every opportunity to ride with other people. If you haven't tried riding in a group, try it, you'll probably love it and won't look back.

I could have written a lot more about this event as it really was a milestone for me in my preparation for next years big European adventure, however I suspect you will have read enough about this event by now, so I'll resist the temptation to write more :)

Once again thanks to the great people I met and rode with on the day (lets do it again sometime) and thanks to the organisers for putting on a very slick and enjoyable event.

I will be riding this event again next year and I will be riding with the intention of achieving a gold standard, so if you fancy joining me, feel free to get in touch.

As always, thanks for taking the time to read the Pixies ramblings and I hope you can find the time to visit my blog again in the future.

Dha weles diwettha

VP 
                 

 

                   

Galibier (Video of what VP needs to train for)

Wet and windy day today so I have elected to take a rest day and spend some time surfing YouTube for videos of l'etape and the climbs that could be included in the 2013 l'etape.

There are quite a lot of video's on YouTube and over the coming days I will be creating a dedicated page on the blog to showcase some of my favourites. In the meantime I thought I would share a couple that portray the what is involved in completing the l'etape du tour.

The first is a Rapha promotional video which mixes old Tour de France footage and scenes from the famous Galibier climb that has featured on previous editions of l'etape. This one is relatively short and has some stunning footage of both the famous names that have competed in the Tour de France and one of the most famous mountain climbs that could be included in a future l'etape.  

The second video is a video from the official l'etape du tour web site and is a video featuring some of the highlights of last years "act 1" of l'etape. This is a longer video but it is worth watching all the way through as it really captures what l'etape is all about and gives an idea of the challenge that faces VP.

 As always, thanks for taking the time to visit VP's blog and I hope you can find the time to come back again and share in Velo Pixies journey to l'etape 2013.

All the best for now

VP  

        

January - May 2012 (the story so far) 

Well hello and thanks to anyone taking the time to read this, the first post on my blog which will attempt to vaguely document the next fourteen months of pain and preparation getting ready for l'Etape 2013.

I guess the first post on this blog should introduce you to Velo Pixie and some of the background behind his decision to ride a bicycle up a french mountain whilst taking part in the French based cycle race l'Etape du Tour (if you want to cut to the chase and find out more about the race rather than persevering with the following blog post I have put a short description of the event here http://velopixie.blogspot.co.uk/p/letape-what-is-it.html )

January 2012 to May 2012

Following the 2011 Christmas and New Year celebrations I decided it was time to reduce my weight and maybe try and improve my fitness levels (which had gradually declined over the ten years or so since I had last participated in any form of regular sport) In early January 2012 my weight was 17 stone (238 pounds) and to be honest a moderately long flight of stairs was enough to make my 49 year old lungs start to struggle.

During January and early February I started to use our indoor water rower on a daily basis (starting at 20 minute sessions and building to 30 minute sessions) and sometimes managing to fit two sessions a day in.

I could feel my fitness improving and the weight did start to move but it was a bit variable in terms of the amount lost (or not each week) At the same time I resolved to try and improve my diet by cutting out as much fat as possible and other things that didn't instinctively feel healthy.

This regime continued until 14th February when I decided maybe it would be useful to understand what my heart rate was and try and monitor improvements in my fitness through some numbers rather than how out of breath I felt at the end of each rowing session. Some internet research was done and a Polar FT60 combined watch and heart rate monitor was purchased.

The introduction of heart rate monitoring into the "Get Pixie fit" programme highlighted a couple of things,  firstly, whilst my fitness was improving it was still woefully poor and secondly the beta blockers I was taking at the time to manage persistent migraine headaches were artificially suppressing my heart rate. So as my GP confirmed, it didn't matter how hard I worked, I was never going to get anywhere near my theoretical maximum heart rate and therefore any associated weight loss benefits would be also to some extent be compromised.

Time for another introduction to the "Get Pixie fit" programme. On 22nd February I discovered an app for my iphone that has honestly transformed how and what I eat, the app in question is www.myfitnesspal.com  My Fitness Pal allows me to monitor the nutritional and calorific values of the food I eat, as well as providing a target number of calories to be consumed each day taking into account, my weight loss target and the amount of exercise I undertake each day (if you are trying to lose weight, check it out) On the day i started using My Fitness Pal I weighed 225 pounds, so a not to shabby loss of 13 pounds had been achieved in around six weeks.

Fast forward to April 2012 and my fitness levels had been improving steadily, I had come off of my beta blockers (after seeking the advice of my GP) and my weight had also been steadily dropping. The amount of exercise I undertook had also been increasing to the point where I was averaging around seven hours a week of a mixture of rowing, walking and jogging. I was starting to feel pretty good and at this point and had lost 40 pounds (almost 3 stone) since the beginning of the year.

It was around this time that I thought it might be fun to get a bicycle and add some cycling into the weekly mix of fitness activities, at the same time I started to wonder whether there was some sort of endurance cycling event that i could participate in (didn't want to run the London marathon, I actually don't really like running, despite running four or five times a week now) and through a bit of internet research found out about the madness that is the l'Etape du Tour, 100-120 miles cycling up a French mountain in a day, whilst also staying within the organisers prescribed minimum speed requirement. Sounded just like the sort of thing I was looking for, but I decided not to tell anyone while I pondered whether I actually wanted to do it. In the meantime my new bicycle was ordered and I started to read anything I could find relating to l'Etape and competitive endurance cycling. 

l'Etape Start

We flew out to America to see Hanna's mum and step dad Bob in the middle of April and during this holiday I found myself in the hotels gym each morning with Bob doing a round 20 miles in an hour on the exercise bike. Maybe completing l'Etape would be possible? Then one evening it happened, after a few gin and tonics I found myself explaining what l'Etape was to Hanna's mum and Bob and also declaring that I would be doing the 2013 event. There, it was out in the open, I'd said I was going to do l'Etape, so I was committed to it.

A typical l'etape climb 

Early May and my Specialized Secteur Elite arrives at Melksham Cycle Centre (along with numerous e bay purchases of cycling kit and cycling training books) I actually still can't believe how excited I was when I went to pick up my new steed (remember I am fifty this year and shouldn't really get that excited about a bicycle)



At the time that the bike arrived the combination of eating healthily, running and rowing had seen me lose 50 pounds in weight since the beginning of the year, I weighed 13.5 stone and I was feeling better physically than I had for as long as I could remember.    

And so in my fiftieth year on this planet, the journey to l'Etape, and whatever cycling adventures follow it, had begun. 

To be continued......