Training round up
Not totalled up the miles for the past week yet but its got to be around a hundred. I’ve been doing shorter high intensity rides this week, working around a course of sports massages. Boy do the massages make a difference – well worth the pain!
This weekend I took the opportunity to combine a visit to my Grandparents with some hill climbing. The live not far from the Long Mynd, a hill the feature in the forthcoming Wild Edric sportive. I warmed up by riding up and down Cardingmill Valley before taking on the Long Mynd approach from Church Stretton.
I remembered the approach from walks in my childhood but had forgotten just how long it goes on for. In total I guess its a good 2 miles from flat to flat sections with the first 3/4 mile as steep as anything I’ve climbed before. A coulee of walkers heading down looked must have thought I was having a heart attack as I hauled myself up. The conditions didn’t help, having just rained my real wheel was spinning and I was forced to sit even though it felt too hard.
The summit makes it worth while as the views over the Marches is outstanding. The road running along the top was bumpy enough to not be able to site and the descent by the gliding club was a hair raising 25%.
On my ride I noted that the road surfaces in Shropshire are pretty rough, in particular the A489, plus the wind whips round in all directions. Still it just works to make me stronger and the legs feel like they’re ready for the mountains. Well that’s what I’m telling myself anyway!
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L'Etape du Tour 2009
- Mont Ventoux
- Start from Montélimar (Drôme) to the Mont Ventoux summit, 172 km and 4 climbs (côte de Citelle, col d'Ey, col de Fontaube, col de Notre-Dame des Abeilles).
The Bike
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Trek Madone 5.0 (2007) - I love this bike, some would say too much with the amount of time I spend maintaining it! But if I'm going to be going 50mph down a mountain I want to know its in good shape.
