By that I mean goals for the year. Cycling, running, and, most importantly, shooting should all come along nicely this year, now that I'm settled a little bit in Germany. With that in mind, it's time to work out what I want to hit at some point in the year.
Piecing it all together in one giant calendar is actually kinda fun. I was originally thinking of splitting it all apart, having one calendar each for shooting, cycling and running, but I think this is better. Also, it should help me to not schedule things on top of each other.
After a pitiful year of shooting, it's time to make this priority one again. Unfortunately, there aren't a huge number of goals in late summer/early autumn time that I can aim for. The European smallbore championships are on at a really nice time, but they require qualification. I need a 587 in prone, or 1135 in 3p to make it there. Now, both of these are eminently doable, given good quality training. at 1033 in my last 3x40 match 2.5 years ago, I think this is where I could make up some good ground. Standing alone has the potential to raise about 15 points a string, if I get a decent set up. So that's 1100, with the balance to be made up with prone and kneeling. Doable, but not easy. The prone, OTOH, could either be reasonably handy, or incredibly difficult.
I've done some playing around with a pretend prone position at home, trying different right arm positions, and I think I've found something decent. It should allow good shoulder pressure as well as tucking the rifle in close to me. This will all be greatly facilitated by having the air rifle at home for training. Imitating my prone set up on that will allow training to be done at any time at home, which will be totally cool :)
For running, I'm going to attempt a marathon. I said I'd do it last year, and I just failed. I have two options later in the year, which is what I want. There's the Munich Marathon, on the 9th of October, and the Dublin City Marathon, on the 31st of October. There's nothing much in the way of shooting or cycling around these times, so that works out rather well. I'll probably enter one or the other pretty soon, so I have the time set in stone and I can update my calendar around that.
In the case of cycling, I have Operation M to worry about. This is a one- or two-week tour, planning to take in at least one epic climb. At the moment I'm leaning towards a one week tour, starting in central France in July. From there, head south and then loop into Switzerland, taking in the Col d'Isaren along the way. This is a 33 km monster of a climb, which will require much training. To the Alps!
I have a lot of plans for the summer, so I'm going to be looking for some things to round off the year towards the end. I've already said that I would like to do some time trialling, so I may have a look at that once the tour is over; change the road bike set up to a more aerodynamic position, with tri bars. Or I may be bold and look at building something up from scratch, depending on how serious I want to go with it. Ideally, I'd want to look at racing for that kind of investment.
Those are the rough plans for 2011. I'll be updating as I go, with only a few things that are set in stone. As I said, shooting is taking priority from now on, which means time and money. It may come to pass that nothing really comes of this year, but it should give me an excellent base for the following year in any case :)
Showing posts with label cycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cycling. Show all posts
Monday, January 3, 2011
Monday, December 27, 2010
Things what I has learned this year
Since the year is drawing to a close, I thought I'd do a quick wrap up of things that I learned or found useful over the course of the past year. Many things have changed, but it's all starting to settle back down now. So, for cycling, running and shooting, here we go.
#1 Shooting ability doesn't really seem to decline over time. OTOH, it also doesn't improve, so time not training is still time lost, but it's not counter productive as such.
#2 Running fitness comes and goes rather quickly. However, it is possible to shorten the come-back time through keeping a high training level when I do train. Keeping up cycling at the same time also keeps my base fitness high, so returning to running isn't so bad.
#3 Stretching is the most amazing thing in the world to do regularly. It keeps away injury, and, well, mostly that. This then allows for a high training load.
#4 I need to eat a lot of food when I do regular training. With around 200 km a week, I more or less couldn't get enough food into me to maintain weight. Diet will need to be addressed next year.
#5 I have a pretty measly power output. However, my low weight means I can climb reasonably well. I'd like to focus more on this. Also, my small size may be of some benefit in time trialling, though my power is quite low for that. This is also something I'd like to do a bit more of.
#6 Touring is a lot of fun. I've only done a short bit, but long distance is what I like. The easiest way to do that is with some luggage strapped on!
#7 Shooting is still my favourite sport. Even after a year of not really shooting, I still loved getting back into it. Making plans for next year has been a lot of fun recently.
#8 Proper kit and a good bike set up are incredibly important for long days in the saddle. Anything else leads to pain, which could end up costing a lot more money and time to sort out.
#9 Planning and goals are rather important. I had nothing to focus on for the year, due to work plans being all over the place, so I wasn't particularly driven to do anything. That's already changed for next year. Planning week by week and month by month should yield good results, especially as I've never done this properly before.
#10 Some things are more important than sport. It's a hard one to take, but sometimes it just doesn't quite work out. Really, it has to be pretty low on the priority list. Which leads us back to the planning. A session without a goal is wasted, as far as training is concerned. Making the most of what time you know you have is incredibly important.
So that's about it. Ten things I've learned this year. There may have been some more specific stuff, but I'm sure it's not that important :P It's been a rather relaxed year for me, certainly in terms of shooting. Next year, I hope will be rather different, now that I've found my feet somewhat. Hopefully this post will have some less basic lessons when I write it again in a year!
#1 Shooting ability doesn't really seem to decline over time. OTOH, it also doesn't improve, so time not training is still time lost, but it's not counter productive as such.
#2 Running fitness comes and goes rather quickly. However, it is possible to shorten the come-back time through keeping a high training level when I do train. Keeping up cycling at the same time also keeps my base fitness high, so returning to running isn't so bad.
#3 Stretching is the most amazing thing in the world to do regularly. It keeps away injury, and, well, mostly that. This then allows for a high training load.
#4 I need to eat a lot of food when I do regular training. With around 200 km a week, I more or less couldn't get enough food into me to maintain weight. Diet will need to be addressed next year.
#5 I have a pretty measly power output. However, my low weight means I can climb reasonably well. I'd like to focus more on this. Also, my small size may be of some benefit in time trialling, though my power is quite low for that. This is also something I'd like to do a bit more of.
#6 Touring is a lot of fun. I've only done a short bit, but long distance is what I like. The easiest way to do that is with some luggage strapped on!
#7 Shooting is still my favourite sport. Even after a year of not really shooting, I still loved getting back into it. Making plans for next year has been a lot of fun recently.
#8 Proper kit and a good bike set up are incredibly important for long days in the saddle. Anything else leads to pain, which could end up costing a lot more money and time to sort out.
#9 Planning and goals are rather important. I had nothing to focus on for the year, due to work plans being all over the place, so I wasn't particularly driven to do anything. That's already changed for next year. Planning week by week and month by month should yield good results, especially as I've never done this properly before.
#10 Some things are more important than sport. It's a hard one to take, but sometimes it just doesn't quite work out. Really, it has to be pretty low on the priority list. Which leads us back to the planning. A session without a goal is wasted, as far as training is concerned. Making the most of what time you know you have is incredibly important.
So that's about it. Ten things I've learned this year. There may have been some more specific stuff, but I'm sure it's not that important :P It's been a rather relaxed year for me, certainly in terms of shooting. Next year, I hope will be rather different, now that I've found my feet somewhat. Hopefully this post will have some less basic lessons when I write it again in a year!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Salzburg trip
I've been meaning to write this since I got back, but haven't really been bothered :D I've been working rather late these past few weeks so it's been home, food, vegitate, food, sleep. A little training, no writing, nothing :( OK, so there was a trip back to Ireland thrown in there, that was kinda fun :D
This trip was something that I'd been meaning to do all Summer, but just never got around to for several reasons, the main one being lack of a touring bag. It only arrived at the start of September and I've actually been somewhat booked out on my weekends since then. I was originally going to make it a three day trip; down Friday, cycle around the mountains Saturday and head back on the Sunday. With that in mind and most of my time off for the year taken, I decided to leave it til next year.
Of course, I got bored. I have terrible problems sticking to plans, as I'm sure you're all aware, so I said fcuk it on the Wednesday, booked the hostel on the Thursday, plotted the route on the Friday and spent the weekend cycling :)
I plotted two pretty easy routes. I was kinda half thinking of some proper climbs, but they all involved a trip length of 180 or so km, so that was out. I didn't fancy 11 hours or so on the bike on either day! Looking back, I'm damn glad I went with what I did 'cos it was tough enough as it was! A few of the hills on the way back were over 10% in sections, and when one is a few kilos heavier than normal, with a few more hanging off the back, this becomes something of an issue.
I'm feeling too lazy to post up photos here, but they're already on my facebook page here (public access). Some are rather nice, some are just my crap sense of humor :D This post was originally intended to be a lot longer, but it's been ages since I started it and I can't remember most of it...
Anyway, figures from the weekend, to distract from my lazyness;
Total Distance; 293 km
Time; 13 hrs, 10 mins
Average HR; 163 bpm
Max HR; 201 bpm
Average Speed; 22.3 km/hr
Max Speed; 64.7 km/hr (new record)
Average Cadence; 84 rpm
Height Gained; 2687 m *this is as measured by the Garmin, it may or may not be that accurate...
So, I've gotten my touring off to a good start. This is the base from which I will plan Operation M, starting next year. I will detail more of this in time to come :)
Later!
This trip was something that I'd been meaning to do all Summer, but just never got around to for several reasons, the main one being lack of a touring bag. It only arrived at the start of September and I've actually been somewhat booked out on my weekends since then. I was originally going to make it a three day trip; down Friday, cycle around the mountains Saturday and head back on the Sunday. With that in mind and most of my time off for the year taken, I decided to leave it til next year.
Of course, I got bored. I have terrible problems sticking to plans, as I'm sure you're all aware, so I said fcuk it on the Wednesday, booked the hostel on the Thursday, plotted the route on the Friday and spent the weekend cycling :)
I plotted two pretty easy routes. I was kinda half thinking of some proper climbs, but they all involved a trip length of 180 or so km, so that was out. I didn't fancy 11 hours or so on the bike on either day! Looking back, I'm damn glad I went with what I did 'cos it was tough enough as it was! A few of the hills on the way back were over 10% in sections, and when one is a few kilos heavier than normal, with a few more hanging off the back, this becomes something of an issue.
I'm feeling too lazy to post up photos here, but they're already on my facebook page here (public access). Some are rather nice, some are just my crap sense of humor :D This post was originally intended to be a lot longer, but it's been ages since I started it and I can't remember most of it...
Anyway, figures from the weekend, to distract from my lazyness;
Total Distance; 293 km
Time; 13 hrs, 10 mins
Average HR; 163 bpm
Max HR; 201 bpm
Average Speed; 22.3 km/hr
Max Speed; 64.7 km/hr (new record)
Average Cadence; 84 rpm
Height Gained; 2687 m *this is as measured by the Garmin, it may or may not be that accurate...
So, I've gotten my touring off to a good start. This is the base from which I will plan Operation M, starting next year. I will detail more of this in time to come :)
Later!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Lights, camera...
*Note - this has been sitting unfinished for a while. Hence the out of dateness :(
I've just tipped up over the 3000 km mark today :) A slight detour (i.e. missing a turn) sent me on a 65 km jaunt across Munich.
Getting slightly lost in a forest on the outskirts gave me a pretty good chance to test my new front light, a Fenix TK11. Verdict; a pretty good light, certainly excellent for the money. It's plenty bright for the cycle paths and for road use. As a rough estimate, it gives off a bit more than a dimmed car headlight. For extended riding, something a bit more powerful would probably be nice, but I can't see myself doing the Race Around Ireland just yet :D
Including two batteries, the charger and two mounts, the full set up was about as cheap as I could get for a decent power light. It'll serve well, and maybe get upgraded to something brighter in a few years. Though that's big money there, well over €250, so a serious investment if I really need it... I've also added two smaller USB chargeable lights to the arsenal. I'm gonna put up some pics of the lights and what they can do once my camera decides to start working again. It's pretty impressive overall :D But I think the rear needs a good powerful one, there's a distinct lack of glow from there...
I've just tipped up over the 3000 km mark today :) A slight detour (i.e. missing a turn) sent me on a 65 km jaunt across Munich.
Getting slightly lost in a forest on the outskirts gave me a pretty good chance to test my new front light, a Fenix TK11. Verdict; a pretty good light, certainly excellent for the money. It's plenty bright for the cycle paths and for road use. As a rough estimate, it gives off a bit more than a dimmed car headlight. For extended riding, something a bit more powerful would probably be nice, but I can't see myself doing the Race Around Ireland just yet :D
Including two batteries, the charger and two mounts, the full set up was about as cheap as I could get for a decent power light. It'll serve well, and maybe get upgraded to something brighter in a few years. Though that's big money there, well over €250, so a serious investment if I really need it... I've also added two smaller USB chargeable lights to the arsenal. I'm gonna put up some pics of the lights and what they can do once my camera decides to start working again. It's pretty impressive overall :D But I think the rear needs a good powerful one, there's a distinct lack of glow from there...
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Some musing..
..for a change. Typically I've dealt with results here and maybe some vague planning, but never much in the way of thinking about it. However, that's about to change.
I am currently in the situation that I actually know where I'm going to be for the next three years. While this sounds somewhat restricting, for me it is in fact rather liberating. t means that I can plan for longer term things, such as touring, training, holidays, etc. So, the question that I'm currently pondering is what to do with limited time resources to maximise what I can see on my bikes. I'll hopefully deal with shooting in a separate post, so those of you not interesting in cycling can look away now :D
Given my location in the middle of Europe, there are many options available to me. In general, the choices that appeal to me are:
touring; multi-day and long distance. Probably reasonably light, and should allow me to see a lot of different things;
Racing; this would be a lot of fun. However, it requires being a member of a club and learning a lot of etiquette, techniques and generally speaking in German, which isn't the best at the moment...
Audax; similar to touring, but long continuous distances, probably again with some light kit, but without having to think of a tent, sleeping bag etc.
Right now, the most appealing is the audax. Touring requires a large time investment for the same distance, though would be a lot easier to do. Audax, while challenging in terms of being on the bike for 22 hours in a given day, would be much more rewarding in terms of distance covered and where I could go. There are some places that are quite close, such as Salzberg (130 km), which are easy to get to. There are also some slightly further away places, such as Prague (350 km) and then there are some quite far away places such as Berlin (630 km). This is something that I think I would quite enjoy as it would allow me to leave after work on a Thursday or something and arrive at a city sometime on the Friday to enjoy it that night and the Saturday and then take a leisurely train home on the Sunday.
Right now, Salzberg should be pretty easy to do. I think nothing of heading out on a Sunday morning for a 120 km spin at a decent pace, with climbing involved, so if my only concern was getting there, I'd have no issues. When I introduce time constraints, and the possibility of cycling back the next day, it becomes a different story, but should still be quite doable.
The last issue which arises is what kind of training to do over the Winter. Each of the above situations will require slightly different approaches, apparently, so I'll have to start deciding now on what to do. Unfortunately, I know nothing. This shall have to be rectified. I also need to learn how to stick to a plan, so we'll see how that goes. This is all dependent on work not leaving me home after dark and half asleep, of course. Hrm.
I am currently in the situation that I actually know where I'm going to be for the next three years. While this sounds somewhat restricting, for me it is in fact rather liberating. t means that I can plan for longer term things, such as touring, training, holidays, etc. So, the question that I'm currently pondering is what to do with limited time resources to maximise what I can see on my bikes. I'll hopefully deal with shooting in a separate post, so those of you not interesting in cycling can look away now :D
Given my location in the middle of Europe, there are many options available to me. In general, the choices that appeal to me are:
touring; multi-day and long distance. Probably reasonably light, and should allow me to see a lot of different things;
Racing; this would be a lot of fun. However, it requires being a member of a club and learning a lot of etiquette, techniques and generally speaking in German, which isn't the best at the moment...
Audax; similar to touring, but long continuous distances, probably again with some light kit, but without having to think of a tent, sleeping bag etc.
Right now, the most appealing is the audax. Touring requires a large time investment for the same distance, though would be a lot easier to do. Audax, while challenging in terms of being on the bike for 22 hours in a given day, would be much more rewarding in terms of distance covered and where I could go. There are some places that are quite close, such as Salzberg (130 km), which are easy to get to. There are also some slightly further away places, such as Prague (350 km) and then there are some quite far away places such as Berlin (630 km). This is something that I think I would quite enjoy as it would allow me to leave after work on a Thursday or something and arrive at a city sometime on the Friday to enjoy it that night and the Saturday and then take a leisurely train home on the Sunday.
Right now, Salzberg should be pretty easy to do. I think nothing of heading out on a Sunday morning for a 120 km spin at a decent pace, with climbing involved, so if my only concern was getting there, I'd have no issues. When I introduce time constraints, and the possibility of cycling back the next day, it becomes a different story, but should still be quite doable.
The last issue which arises is what kind of training to do over the Winter. Each of the above situations will require slightly different approaches, apparently, so I'll have to start deciding now on what to do. Unfortunately, I know nothing. This shall have to be rectified. I also need to learn how to stick to a plan, so we'll see how that goes. This is all dependent on work not leaving me home after dark and half asleep, of course. Hrm.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Long Sunday spin
I'm just back from my first spin out with a group. Well, I say group, but there were three of us. Still, first time going for a spin with people!
The plan was to meet up in town and then head down south towards Bad Tolz and loop back up for a spin, from town, of about 100 km or so. I'd have another 30 added onto that for my return trip to Garching, so it was going to be a long day :D
We started off properly at about 10.15 or so, and made the way south. Glorious weather all the way, for a Sunday in October! Lots of sunshine, not so much wind, not too warm :) It's mostly a really nice flat road surface, dedicated to running and cycling for a good distance, and then giving way to some very...interesting climbs :D The worst was a 12% drag upwards, right after a 12% descent. That involved some very rapid gear changing :D
After going a little off course with a 'diversion' around road works, which required going basically off road through a forest, we started to pick up the pace a little bit on the way back up. I left the lads off in Munich and started to make my way slowly back to Garching, where, upon drinking a half liter of cola and eating a snickers and a twix, it occurred to me that I haven't really done much in the way of distance cycling in quite some time. I'm quite glad that I didn't decide to do any long trips over the last while; I'd have seriously suffered on them! Still though, I made it back in one piece. I just need to work on getting the distance into the legs, which I should hopefully get round to over the winter.
That's about it on the cycling front, I've been trying to get back into things after my holiday, but it's a bit slow going. I'm slightly worried about the running, as it's been two weeks since I've gone out now. We shall have to see :P
The plan was to meet up in town and then head down south towards Bad Tolz and loop back up for a spin, from town, of about 100 km or so. I'd have another 30 added onto that for my return trip to Garching, so it was going to be a long day :D
We started off properly at about 10.15 or so, and made the way south. Glorious weather all the way, for a Sunday in October! Lots of sunshine, not so much wind, not too warm :) It's mostly a really nice flat road surface, dedicated to running and cycling for a good distance, and then giving way to some very...interesting climbs :D The worst was a 12% drag upwards, right after a 12% descent. That involved some very rapid gear changing :D
After going a little off course with a 'diversion' around road works, which required going basically off road through a forest, we started to pick up the pace a little bit on the way back up. I left the lads off in Munich and started to make my way slowly back to Garching, where, upon drinking a half liter of cola and eating a snickers and a twix, it occurred to me that I haven't really done much in the way of distance cycling in quite some time. I'm quite glad that I didn't decide to do any long trips over the last while; I'd have seriously suffered on them! Still though, I made it back in one piece. I just need to work on getting the distance into the legs, which I should hopefully get round to over the winter.
That's about it on the cycling front, I've been trying to get back into things after my holiday, but it's a bit slow going. I'm slightly worried about the running, as it's been two weeks since I've gone out now. We shall have to see :P
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Checking in
Things have been going quite well over the past few weeks :) Yes, I have stopped my cycling to and from the city, but that has opened up much more of an opportunity to actually do some more structured stuff, such as my weekly TT attempts, which are currently going quite well. I'm possibly holding back a bit too much on these, but I'll leave it for another while to start pushing harder earlier.
One huge knock on effect that I've noticed since my commute is that I'm much more able to recover form a given level of exertion, both when I've finished, and also during a session. This is most noticeable in running. Formerly, I struggled through 7 km and was quite out of breath after it, no matter how slowly I tried to take it. Now, however, I can actually slow down a little bit and my heart rate will correspondingly slow, which I find a fantastic aid to my efforts :D
As such, I'm much more motivated to get out and do some running at the moment. I've been going at least twice a week, which is good going for me, and I've even had to invest in a second pair of shorts! I also completed my longest run yet at the weekend; a paltry 11.5 km, but that's well over the 8.5 that it previously was, set the week before... I reckon at this stage that I would be able for my half marathon goal (to finish, at least) by the end of September, and I might actually have a good time in one, were I to actually run one, by the end of October. Which fits in nicely with The Plan.
I feel like I've cheated on this, however. I mean, I didn't run for months this year, and now I'm actually able to run distances, albeit quite slowly. I'm running 10 km at a lower pace than a lot of people run marathons, which is somewhat disheartening. However, this is where that training thing comes in, so hopefully that'll pick up again.
I mentioned last time (I think) that I've found a new rifle club that looks excellent. If I didn't, well, I have now! I went out to them last night, as it was meant to be their first night back after the Summer break, but they appeared to be still closed :( So, either the calendar was wrong, or they left early and went to the pub. Based on my previous experiences of rifle clubs, either are totally possible. So, back out when I'm back from Ireland and we'll get cracking. Too late for Cardiff, unfortunately, but there's always the British Nationals next Spring, as well as some longer term goals for smallbore.
Also, as you may have guessed from above/heard I'm back around Ireland next week, so if I haven't already been talking to you about it, pint at the weekend? It is a competition weekend with a 3x20 and a prone match, but what the hell :P Later!
One huge knock on effect that I've noticed since my commute is that I'm much more able to recover form a given level of exertion, both when I've finished, and also during a session. This is most noticeable in running. Formerly, I struggled through 7 km and was quite out of breath after it, no matter how slowly I tried to take it. Now, however, I can actually slow down a little bit and my heart rate will correspondingly slow, which I find a fantastic aid to my efforts :D
As such, I'm much more motivated to get out and do some running at the moment. I've been going at least twice a week, which is good going for me, and I've even had to invest in a second pair of shorts! I also completed my longest run yet at the weekend; a paltry 11.5 km, but that's well over the 8.5 that it previously was, set the week before... I reckon at this stage that I would be able for my half marathon goal (to finish, at least) by the end of September, and I might actually have a good time in one, were I to actually run one, by the end of October. Which fits in nicely with The Plan.
I feel like I've cheated on this, however. I mean, I didn't run for months this year, and now I'm actually able to run distances, albeit quite slowly. I'm running 10 km at a lower pace than a lot of people run marathons, which is somewhat disheartening. However, this is where that training thing comes in, so hopefully that'll pick up again.
I mentioned last time (I think) that I've found a new rifle club that looks excellent. If I didn't, well, I have now! I went out to them last night, as it was meant to be their first night back after the Summer break, but they appeared to be still closed :( So, either the calendar was wrong, or they left early and went to the pub. Based on my previous experiences of rifle clubs, either are totally possible. So, back out when I'm back from Ireland and we'll get cracking. Too late for Cardiff, unfortunately, but there's always the British Nationals next Spring, as well as some longer term goals for smallbore.
Also, as you may have guessed from above/heard I'm back around Ireland next week, so if I haven't already been talking to you about it, pint at the weekend? It is a competition weekend with a 3x20 and a prone match, but what the hell :P Later!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Quick update
The last while has been pretty solid for me. I've not been doing any long distance stuff, but that's not terribly important at the moment. I've gotten a lot of work done on shorter, higher intensity things from my commute :) There's a really nice run of flat road out from the city that's normally pretty empty of cyclists, so I can really give it a bit of a go. I've started building up my speed to top out around the 38-40 mark just before I hit my final set of lights just outside Garching. I've also managed to time this right on a few occasions to roll through these, which was very nice. Normally not, though, it's just a bit too much effort.
Unfortunately, my nice long commute is finished as of today :( So no more enforced 38 km per day any more. It was fun, if a lot frustrating at times! This has, however, opened up more doors for training :)
A knock on effect of my prolonged efforts on the fixie seems to be that my running and heart rate recovery has improved greatly over the last while. Which is odd, seeing as how I only went for a run last weekend and then another one this weekend. I have no idea how long it's been other than that. A few months, I think... Anyway, not to dwell on the past, those runs went quite well, I have to say. I've managed to run the full circuit, looping around to the forest and then back in the long way. It's only 8 km or so, but the longest I've ever actually run, I would think, certainly for a continuous time. I've mapped out a 10 km course as well which I'm going to give a go at this weekend, as well as another mid week session. Now, I know, TWO whole running sessions in a week is a lot, but I'll try to go easy :P
Finally, although my commute has fallen (by a staggering 33 km/day) a new opportunity rises from the ashes; I now have the time to think about rifle training again. My German has also improved to the point that if people speak slowly and clearly that I can understand most of what they're saying, which is good! I've contacted a club not that far from here that have excellent facilities for air and smallbore (3p included). They're home to some national and world champion shooters, so I'm going to take my chances with them for the time being. Most of Germany seems to be on holidays at the moment, but they're back in September. So, I'll either get in a session before I head back to Ireland for a week, or start fresh after that :)
We're finally ready to roll. Fortunately, this will all not be wasted by my heading back to Ireland. I suspect that most of you reading this already know that I'm here full time from now on. Basically, the foundations that I've laid should stand me in good stead. Where are those EOIs again....
Unfortunately, my nice long commute is finished as of today :( So no more enforced 38 km per day any more. It was fun, if a lot frustrating at times! This has, however, opened up more doors for training :)
A knock on effect of my prolonged efforts on the fixie seems to be that my running and heart rate recovery has improved greatly over the last while. Which is odd, seeing as how I only went for a run last weekend and then another one this weekend. I have no idea how long it's been other than that. A few months, I think... Anyway, not to dwell on the past, those runs went quite well, I have to say. I've managed to run the full circuit, looping around to the forest and then back in the long way. It's only 8 km or so, but the longest I've ever actually run, I would think, certainly for a continuous time. I've mapped out a 10 km course as well which I'm going to give a go at this weekend, as well as another mid week session. Now, I know, TWO whole running sessions in a week is a lot, but I'll try to go easy :P
Finally, although my commute has fallen (by a staggering 33 km/day) a new opportunity rises from the ashes; I now have the time to think about rifle training again. My German has also improved to the point that if people speak slowly and clearly that I can understand most of what they're saying, which is good! I've contacted a club not that far from here that have excellent facilities for air and smallbore (3p included). They're home to some national and world champion shooters, so I'm going to take my chances with them for the time being. Most of Germany seems to be on holidays at the moment, but they're back in September. So, I'll either get in a session before I head back to Ireland for a week, or start fresh after that :)
We're finally ready to roll. Fortunately, this will all not be wasted by my heading back to Ireland. I suspect that most of you reading this already know that I'm here full time from now on. Basically, the foundations that I've laid should stand me in good stead. Where are those EOIs again....
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Cycling update
I know I should have running in there, but I haven't had the time or motivation for any over the last while. My cycling week has increased a fair bit, not leaving me with much energy for high intensity stuff over the weekend.
As I was saying a while back, I'm doing a German course in Munich at the moment, which I'm cycling in and out to, giving me a daily total of around 35 km on the fixie, 4 days a week for roughly 150 or so there. The average speed is quite low, on account of having to travel through the city itself and being hampered by other cyclists/traffic lights. On the way back out though, I've been starting to push a bit harder. I know that once I clear the city, going at around 33 km/hr or so should get me back to Garching without having to stop at any lights. I've not quite gotten the full ~8km run, but hopefully soon :)
On a related note, it's getting dark in the evenings. Very dark. My front torch just isn't cutting it, so I'm gonna need to start looking at something a bit beefier. Given the nature of my commute and that it takes in open road, something to see with, rather than just be seen, will be required, which will probably mean spending money :( If I move into Munich at any point though, this will be money well spent and used!
I also got out for a niceish spin on Sunday. 75 km, with a nice bit of speed built up at the end. Mostly kept the last 15 km or so in the mid to high 30s, which is pretty good going (for me), especially after a substantial, eh, warm up :P I think this regular fixie thing is starting to pay off, especially in terms of my pedalling technique and working well at higher cadences.
I've been reading a bit on ultra-light touring and coming up with some ideas for using as a light touring bag. My in-sy should be (finally) on the way, so that'll serve well as a starting bag. Packing light and keeping the weight down will be top of my list. It shouldn't be too hard given that I won't be carrying a tent or medical supplies for my shorter trips to Austria and the like. I am planning ahead to next Summer, though, and thinking of some fast touring through different parts of Europe and possibly some camping, if I can work something out that will allow me to use the road bike. It's not certain, but given my light weight, anything up to 15 kg of extra bulk should be well tolerable, if I can attach it correctly. We shall see. That's a nice bit into the future :)
As I was saying a while back, I'm doing a German course in Munich at the moment, which I'm cycling in and out to, giving me a daily total of around 35 km on the fixie, 4 days a week for roughly 150 or so there. The average speed is quite low, on account of having to travel through the city itself and being hampered by other cyclists/traffic lights. On the way back out though, I've been starting to push a bit harder. I know that once I clear the city, going at around 33 km/hr or so should get me back to Garching without having to stop at any lights. I've not quite gotten the full ~8km run, but hopefully soon :)
On a related note, it's getting dark in the evenings. Very dark. My front torch just isn't cutting it, so I'm gonna need to start looking at something a bit beefier. Given the nature of my commute and that it takes in open road, something to see with, rather than just be seen, will be required, which will probably mean spending money :( If I move into Munich at any point though, this will be money well spent and used!
I also got out for a niceish spin on Sunday. 75 km, with a nice bit of speed built up at the end. Mostly kept the last 15 km or so in the mid to high 30s, which is pretty good going (for me), especially after a substantial, eh, warm up :P I think this regular fixie thing is starting to pay off, especially in terms of my pedalling technique and working well at higher cadences.
I've been reading a bit on ultra-light touring and coming up with some ideas for using as a light touring bag. My in-sy should be (finally) on the way, so that'll serve well as a starting bag. Packing light and keeping the weight down will be top of my list. It shouldn't be too hard given that I won't be carrying a tent or medical supplies for my shorter trips to Austria and the like. I am planning ahead to next Summer, though, and thinking of some fast touring through different parts of Europe and possibly some camping, if I can work something out that will allow me to use the road bike. It's not certain, but given my light weight, anything up to 15 kg of extra bulk should be well tolerable, if I can attach it correctly. We shall see. That's a nice bit into the future :)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Update
So it's been another long while since a post. To be honest, not much out of the ordinary has happened, no epic climbs or long distances.
What has happened is my German course has started. What this means (aside from the fact that I might actually learn some more of the language) is that I have a 17 km each way commute four days a week, which I'm doing on the fixie. It's been getting pretty much all of the kilometers I've been cycling lately since I was hit at the start of the month. Not cos the new bike is broken or anything, more just circumstances. I trust that Munich is a low crime city, but maybe not low enough to leave a full carbon fiber bike outside for a few hours...
So, I basically have a commuting week of around 160 km, which is nice. I've only actually hit that once, for a few reasons, but it should bounce up again from next week. Max distance in the last month was 225 in a week, the week we had out betriebausflug in work, which meant a few of us did 65 km (with me on the fixie) around some lakes and the river Isar. It was a fabulous day to be out on the bike, with some nice small climbs in (which I somehow managed on the fixie, much to everybody's incredulity).
On a somewhat different note, this weekend sees the target shooting world cup come to Munich :) I've got a weekend ticket to watch the matches and any finals that are on, which should be good. Not to mention that the GB and Irish teams have arranged to meet up :) Should be a good weekend!
What has happened is my German course has started. What this means (aside from the fact that I might actually learn some more of the language) is that I have a 17 km each way commute four days a week, which I'm doing on the fixie. It's been getting pretty much all of the kilometers I've been cycling lately since I was hit at the start of the month. Not cos the new bike is broken or anything, more just circumstances. I trust that Munich is a low crime city, but maybe not low enough to leave a full carbon fiber bike outside for a few hours...
So, I basically have a commuting week of around 160 km, which is nice. I've only actually hit that once, for a few reasons, but it should bounce up again from next week. Max distance in the last month was 225 in a week, the week we had out betriebausflug in work, which meant a few of us did 65 km (with me on the fixie) around some lakes and the river Isar. It was a fabulous day to be out on the bike, with some nice small climbs in (which I somehow managed on the fixie, much to everybody's incredulity).
On a somewhat different note, this weekend sees the target shooting world cup come to Munich :) I've got a weekend ticket to watch the matches and any finals that are on, which should be good. Not to mention that the GB and Irish teams have arranged to meet up :) Should be a good weekend!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Long day.
Warning; Incredibly long post with no pics!
I had a nice day out planned; lovely flat 110 km to fully recover from last weekend. However, it was not to be. About one kilometer from the flat, I came up behind a car, which then stopped in the middle of the road. Thinking this odd, I moved up around it (on the inside). Suddenly, a nice strong engine rev told me I was going down. I went down. Now, normally, this would be totally my fault, having moved around. However, there were no indicators flashing, before or afterwards (yes, I checked, instincts and all that), and the fact that I was almost clear of the car means I was well visible, had he checked.
The conversation afterwards was somewhat interesting;
Driver; You were going too fast.
Me; No, I wasn't. (10 km/hr)
I didn't see your indicators.
Driver; ...
*motions to wife to check side of car*
Me; is it ok? (somewhat incredulously)
Driver; It is ok. *stares at me*
*Gets back into car and drives off*
It was really weird. I mean, he just kept looking at me. I dunno if he was expecting an apology or what, but he certainly wasn't getting it. I was a hell of a lot more concerned about any damage to me and the bike. Very odd experience.
As it turns out, most things were ok. I have a few scrapes, a bit of road rash, but nothing huge. The bike was a little worse off; wheel a few mm out of true, rear derailleur took a bit of a knock, getting me worried about needing a new one. An hour's work learning how to true a wheel and that problem was solved, and some time reindexing the RD had that sorted. It's possibly a little out of alignment, but it shifts fine for the moment. I'll get a tool to adjust it properly at some point.
So, what have we learned;
Don't assume a motorist won't turn, despite lack of indicators.
Don't pass up the inside when they're stopped, they're liable to do anything. Also, it leaves you somewhat exposed and also leaves a lot of the blame, or at least potential for it, on you.
The first one is something that I've never encountered before. To me, if you don't have the indicators on, you're not turning, and that's what I would assume applies across the board. So, after seeing the situation of a motorist stopped in the middle of the road, with no oncoming traffic, no signals, I did what seemed most natural and moved up on the side with the most space. Unfortunately, this was the side he was turning. Could easily have been the other side, just got unlucky today.
On the second, I probably should have stopped behind him. That said, one doesn't have to think too hard for reasons that somebody would arbitrarily stop in the middle of the road. I don't know enough about the ROTR in Ireland, never mind Germany, to know if I would have been held at fault in this situation. Yes, I moved around from the back, but it's not like I was invisible. He had no indicators on and almost certainly didn't bother to check for anybody coming from behind.
The main thing that P***ed me off about the whole thing was the accusation that it was my fault for going too fast. Which is utter crap. GPS data shows that I was, at most, doing about 12 km/hr on that street, a lot less when I was behind him. I was well alongside the car before he started to turn; there was nothing I could have done at any speed.
Anyway, excitement aside, it turned out to be a not too bad day all in all. I did around 40 km on the fixie, heading into Munich to find where my German course is on for the next two months and taking a nice scenic route back out along the river and through the English Gardens. Also, I now know how to true wheels, which is one of the few things that I didn't know how to do. I think the only thing that I haven't done/been shown how to do is replacing a headset, but there's a specific tool for that, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. Maintaining one's own bike is a lot of fun!
Finally, adding up my total distances so far this year, I've recorded just over 1600 km so far. Which isn't exactly impressive, but should ramp up pretty fast over the next few months. I should have about 6000 done by the end of the year, all going well. I'm already over the euro/km limit for my bikes, so the next goal is adding in all the other crap that comes with them and reducing the costs then :) Next year will see my price/km travelled come down nicely.
So yeah, that's about it. Hopefully the commute to Munich will go well for the week. And that I'll be able to handle the 34 odd km four days a week, on top of normal work and a long weekend spin!
I had a nice day out planned; lovely flat 110 km to fully recover from last weekend. However, it was not to be. About one kilometer from the flat, I came up behind a car, which then stopped in the middle of the road. Thinking this odd, I moved up around it (on the inside). Suddenly, a nice strong engine rev told me I was going down. I went down. Now, normally, this would be totally my fault, having moved around. However, there were no indicators flashing, before or afterwards (yes, I checked, instincts and all that), and the fact that I was almost clear of the car means I was well visible, had he checked.
The conversation afterwards was somewhat interesting;
Driver; You were going too fast.
Me; No, I wasn't. (10 km/hr)
I didn't see your indicators.
Driver; ...
*motions to wife to check side of car*
Me; is it ok? (somewhat incredulously)
Driver; It is ok. *stares at me*
*Gets back into car and drives off*
It was really weird. I mean, he just kept looking at me. I dunno if he was expecting an apology or what, but he certainly wasn't getting it. I was a hell of a lot more concerned about any damage to me and the bike. Very odd experience.
As it turns out, most things were ok. I have a few scrapes, a bit of road rash, but nothing huge. The bike was a little worse off; wheel a few mm out of true, rear derailleur took a bit of a knock, getting me worried about needing a new one. An hour's work learning how to true a wheel and that problem was solved, and some time reindexing the RD had that sorted. It's possibly a little out of alignment, but it shifts fine for the moment. I'll get a tool to adjust it properly at some point.
So, what have we learned;
Don't assume a motorist won't turn, despite lack of indicators.
Don't pass up the inside when they're stopped, they're liable to do anything. Also, it leaves you somewhat exposed and also leaves a lot of the blame, or at least potential for it, on you.
The first one is something that I've never encountered before. To me, if you don't have the indicators on, you're not turning, and that's what I would assume applies across the board. So, after seeing the situation of a motorist stopped in the middle of the road, with no oncoming traffic, no signals, I did what seemed most natural and moved up on the side with the most space. Unfortunately, this was the side he was turning. Could easily have been the other side, just got unlucky today.
On the second, I probably should have stopped behind him. That said, one doesn't have to think too hard for reasons that somebody would arbitrarily stop in the middle of the road. I don't know enough about the ROTR in Ireland, never mind Germany, to know if I would have been held at fault in this situation. Yes, I moved around from the back, but it's not like I was invisible. He had no indicators on and almost certainly didn't bother to check for anybody coming from behind.
The main thing that P***ed me off about the whole thing was the accusation that it was my fault for going too fast. Which is utter crap. GPS data shows that I was, at most, doing about 12 km/hr on that street, a lot less when I was behind him. I was well alongside the car before he started to turn; there was nothing I could have done at any speed.
Anyway, excitement aside, it turned out to be a not too bad day all in all. I did around 40 km on the fixie, heading into Munich to find where my German course is on for the next two months and taking a nice scenic route back out along the river and through the English Gardens. Also, I now know how to true wheels, which is one of the few things that I didn't know how to do. I think the only thing that I haven't done/been shown how to do is replacing a headset, but there's a specific tool for that, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. Maintaining one's own bike is a lot of fun!
Finally, adding up my total distances so far this year, I've recorded just over 1600 km so far. Which isn't exactly impressive, but should ramp up pretty fast over the next few months. I should have about 6000 done by the end of the year, all going well. I'm already over the euro/km limit for my bikes, so the next goal is adding in all the other crap that comes with them and reducing the costs then :) Next year will see my price/km travelled come down nicely.
So yeah, that's about it. Hopefully the commute to Munich will go well for the week. And that I'll be able to handle the 34 odd km four days a week, on top of normal work and a long weekend spin!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Test TT
I decided that I'd do a test time trial today, just for the laugh. I have a good set of aero bars that I've only used once, in the rain, so I decided to give them a whirl.
Set out with the intention of keeping the heart rate at about 160 bpm, or thereabouts, high enough to get a decent effort out of the ride, but low enough to get me through and not collapse after. This end of things more or less went to plan, lots of bouncing between 160 and 180, which is to be expected for the heat of the day, and the fact that I'm not used to constant power outputs.
What I was surprised at was my ability to hold speed. I mean, the aero-bars make a huge difference! My position isn't great cos my shoulders started to hurt after about 30 mins. Not a bad hurting, but the kind you get from leaning on a desk poorly for a while. Overall, I completed the first 16 km in 28 mins 40 or so, which seems to be an alright time. I was held up at a traffic light for a min or so, which kinda ruined things, but other than that it was pretty nice sailing. No downhills to help me out, either.
So, now I have a base time. Maybe weekly comparisons to track progress for this kind of distance would be good. A 1 hr effort is possibly a bit much for the moment, though it really would show a lot. And I could have a good idea of how I perform at threshold power. This calculator puts me at around 190 Watts for the effort, though it does assume a good aero position, which I most likely don't have... Unfortunately, that's one metric I'm a while away from justifying, so guestimates will have to suffice. Once I get a bit more consistent with the perceived efforts, I can start looking at a 40 km TT :) Then come the deep section wheels, pointy hat... :P
Set out with the intention of keeping the heart rate at about 160 bpm, or thereabouts, high enough to get a decent effort out of the ride, but low enough to get me through and not collapse after. This end of things more or less went to plan, lots of bouncing between 160 and 180, which is to be expected for the heat of the day, and the fact that I'm not used to constant power outputs.
What I was surprised at was my ability to hold speed. I mean, the aero-bars make a huge difference! My position isn't great cos my shoulders started to hurt after about 30 mins. Not a bad hurting, but the kind you get from leaning on a desk poorly for a while. Overall, I completed the first 16 km in 28 mins 40 or so, which seems to be an alright time. I was held up at a traffic light for a min or so, which kinda ruined things, but other than that it was pretty nice sailing. No downhills to help me out, either.
So, now I have a base time. Maybe weekly comparisons to track progress for this kind of distance would be good. A 1 hr effort is possibly a bit much for the moment, though it really would show a lot. And I could have a good idea of how I perform at threshold power. This calculator puts me at around 190 Watts for the effort, though it does assume a good aero position, which I most likely don't have... Unfortunately, that's one metric I'm a while away from justifying, so guestimates will have to suffice. Once I get a bit more consistent with the perceived efforts, I can start looking at a 40 km TT :) Then come the deep section wheels, pointy hat... :P
Sunday, June 27, 2010
New distance pb :)
140 km today! In two parts; one, looping around some of the mountains and back for 125 km (plus a bit at the start to get onto my plotted course), and then 15 to get home from Munich itself. Town was, eh, busy, shall we say.
So, got out the door around 10ish, aiming to do this route. Took a train south for about 1.5 hours, trying to get as close as possible to the mountains. Rolling out, everything was going well, nice pace, hammering away well. Not noticing any inclines I was on til I couldn't turn the pedals any more and had to drop down to the small ring :D
The first 45 km passed well. The countryside around Munich is gorgeous, very quiet, lots of rolling terrain. Cows with cowbells. Very few cars for the most part, which is also nice. There was nothing particularly challenging about the cycle, mostly just a long steady drag up. Apart from a few sharper sections.
The last climb I did was pretty short, but also fairly steep. I've always wanted to do a hairpinned climb, they just look so cool and there's so much up crammed into a really short space. I was so wrong. It's so tough, rounding corners and seeing another three rows of up... Nah, who am I kidding. It was fantastic. The sense of satisfaction when you see that crest, knowing there's a 5% down gradient on the other side. Feeling the burn in your legs as they want to cramp up and leave, telling them to shut up. Must get to some longer climbs, once the legs forgive me for today.
The descents were fantastic, hairpins galore. Drivers were normally pretty courteous on these, allowing me to use the full lane to get around. If I had been stuck to the side of the road, things would have been a lot more difficult.
All was going well for the first 90 km. I covered these, which was most of the climbing, in under 3.5 hours. Then, I met the man with the hammer. He has a big hammer, and is not afraid to use it. Repeatedly. The legs let me know they had enough and were calling it day. Still 35 more km to go until the train station to get home... Oh well, more shut up legs, stick it into the small ring, and crawl. Took me almost two hours to cover that last 35 km. I dunno how many times I stopped. Twice to stretch out cramps, once to get some anti-bonk juice, also known as cola-orange mix and some jelly babies. The sugar really pulled me through the last few km.
Once I got to the train station, I hopped on a train back to Munich. Slept for a while, then off in the city center. Maybe not the best idea for the day that was in it :D The place was packed, so I decided to cycle the 15 km back home. The atmosphere in town was amazing, Germany really celebrates when they win! Crowds for miles. Weaving through them on the bike was fun :D
Miraculously, the rest on the train seemed to do the trick, the 15 km home passed without incident. Also, I have discovered the greatest recovery food; steak sandwich, chips and milk. Nom. Now, to find the best place to break this record...
So, got out the door around 10ish, aiming to do this route. Took a train south for about 1.5 hours, trying to get as close as possible to the mountains. Rolling out, everything was going well, nice pace, hammering away well. Not noticing any inclines I was on til I couldn't turn the pedals any more and had to drop down to the small ring :D
The first 45 km passed well. The countryside around Munich is gorgeous, very quiet, lots of rolling terrain. Cows with cowbells. Very few cars for the most part, which is also nice. There was nothing particularly challenging about the cycle, mostly just a long steady drag up. Apart from a few sharper sections.
The last climb I did was pretty short, but also fairly steep. I've always wanted to do a hairpinned climb, they just look so cool and there's so much up crammed into a really short space. I was so wrong. It's so tough, rounding corners and seeing another three rows of up... Nah, who am I kidding. It was fantastic. The sense of satisfaction when you see that crest, knowing there's a 5% down gradient on the other side. Feeling the burn in your legs as they want to cramp up and leave, telling them to shut up. Must get to some longer climbs, once the legs forgive me for today.
The descents were fantastic, hairpins galore. Drivers were normally pretty courteous on these, allowing me to use the full lane to get around. If I had been stuck to the side of the road, things would have been a lot more difficult.
All was going well for the first 90 km. I covered these, which was most of the climbing, in under 3.5 hours. Then, I met the man with the hammer. He has a big hammer, and is not afraid to use it. Repeatedly. The legs let me know they had enough and were calling it day. Still 35 more km to go until the train station to get home... Oh well, more shut up legs, stick it into the small ring, and crawl. Took me almost two hours to cover that last 35 km. I dunno how many times I stopped. Twice to stretch out cramps, once to get some anti-bonk juice, also known as cola-orange mix and some jelly babies. The sugar really pulled me through the last few km.
Once I got to the train station, I hopped on a train back to Munich. Slept for a while, then off in the city center. Maybe not the best idea for the day that was in it :D The place was packed, so I decided to cycle the 15 km back home. The atmosphere in town was amazing, Germany really celebrates when they win! Crowds for miles. Weaving through them on the bike was fun :D
Miraculously, the rest on the train seemed to do the trick, the 15 km home passed without incident. Also, I have discovered the greatest recovery food; steak sandwich, chips and milk. Nom. Now, to find the best place to break this record...
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
I take it back
I take it all back. The Planet-X is fabulous. Accelerating, rolling, stopping, all fantastic. What also strikes me is that the frame fits quite well. The seat tube is a little on the short side (there's a LOT of seatpost showing) but the top tube is spot on, which is what counts.
I've started to get used to gears again. There have been a few times that I feel the chain skip off the cassette when I'm spinning too slowly in too low a gear, but I should get the swing of it soon enough. Being able to control how much effort you expend is very cool. I will confess to abusing the freewheel a little bit, but I'll stop that from now on since there's no reason for it, other than novelty factor.
I've taken it for two proper spins at this point. One yesterday to just give it a normal go and see what happened, and a recovery spin today. Both spins were really nice. It rolls so smoothly, despite nastyish cycle paths and roads in spots. Acceleration is nice, thanks to having gears. The brakes, though weight-weenie brakes actually have a pretty good stopping power. Certainly much better than the Tektro brake/lever combination on my fixie.
It rocks. Totally. End of :D
Now that I have that finally sorted, it's time to get back into shooting again. It's been too long, and I'm starting to miss it now. For some reason, I've never doubted my ability to come back. Probably cos I've had about 3 of them so far, certainly in air rifle :P I had 3 months (minimum!) off last year for my exams, so 6 shouldn't be too much hastle. The skills are all still there, they'll just be a little rusty. Certainly my general and core fitness, stability, strength and flexibility have all increased due to cycling and running. May need some balance work, though, those particular skills haven't been used in some time... Will inform when I make contact :)
I've started to get used to gears again. There have been a few times that I feel the chain skip off the cassette when I'm spinning too slowly in too low a gear, but I should get the swing of it soon enough. Being able to control how much effort you expend is very cool. I will confess to abusing the freewheel a little bit, but I'll stop that from now on since there's no reason for it, other than novelty factor.
I've taken it for two proper spins at this point. One yesterday to just give it a normal go and see what happened, and a recovery spin today. Both spins were really nice. It rolls so smoothly, despite nastyish cycle paths and roads in spots. Acceleration is nice, thanks to having gears. The brakes, though weight-weenie brakes actually have a pretty good stopping power. Certainly much better than the Tektro brake/lever combination on my fixie.
It rocks. Totally. End of :D
Now that I have that finally sorted, it's time to get back into shooting again. It's been too long, and I'm starting to miss it now. For some reason, I've never doubted my ability to come back. Probably cos I've had about 3 of them so far, certainly in air rifle :P I had 3 months (minimum!) off last year for my exams, so 6 shouldn't be too much hastle. The skills are all still there, they'll just be a little rusty. Certainly my general and core fitness, stability, strength and flexibility have all increased due to cycling and running. May need some balance work, though, those particular skills haven't been used in some time... Will inform when I make contact :)
Sunday, June 20, 2010
And so, it ends...
Nothing serious, like, I'm just talking about the lengthy saga of actually getting a road bike!
I decided to get one about a year ago, but, due to financial constraints and there never being any bikes in my size in any shop in Dublin, I held off. Finally, I placed my order about two months ago or so. However, when it arrived last week, there was a small issue;
However, this was easily solved by the addition of this to the equation.
Finally, we have a wheel sitting nicely in its dropout and a new mech hanger to attach :)
Giving us something that looks like this.
And a little more aero-barred up.
I have little intention of using the aero-bars that much for the next while, I just wanted to try them out. I got them for longer distance stuff so I'd have some more hand positions and something to collapse onto when I get particularly tired :D They'l also come in useful if I do any time trials or triathlons, both of which I intend to do at some point. Cos, you know, I can't get enough punishment from doing 3p...
On the road it's... strange. Very strange, in fact. I've gotten very used to my fixed gear with 175 mm cranks. Now, I have about 15 usable gears, and 172.5 mm cranks. And yes, those 2.5 mm actually make a lot of difference. It just feels like I'm not putting out the same torque with each turn, which is correct. And changing gears doesn't quite compensate either. It'll certainly take some getting used to. Forgetting the initial shock of having a freewheel and not actually having to compensate for this when starting off, it's a damn nice bike. It rolls really well, and I can really tell the weight difference between that and the fixie (it's about 2.5 kg lighter, with pedals, cages and computer). The first time I took it out, I didn't feel like I was going that fast, but with the same feeling the second time, I was doing my usual 30+ kmph speed, into a horrible headwind, in driving rain.
On that second time I did one of my usual 20 km loops slightly slower than the fixie, but the fixie ride was done pushing for a time, in good conditions. Given the same incentive, I reckon I should be well able to blow it out of the water. I'm looking into finding a nice 16 km stretch of road that I can use for some prolonged higher intensity stuff (16 km being 10 miles, which is a standard time trial distance).
More pics of both bikes and of the room they now have (well, for a week) can be found here.
Didn't get out for a long spin on it this week, due to being knackered and fed up of getting soaked, but should get out a fair bit during this week. There's a large conference on that most people form work are gone to, so it'll be a nice quiet week for a change!
I decided to get one about a year ago, but, due to financial constraints and there never being any bikes in my size in any shop in Dublin, I held off. Finally, I placed my order about two months ago or so. However, when it arrived last week, there was a small issue;
I have little intention of using the aero-bars that much for the next while, I just wanted to try them out. I got them for longer distance stuff so I'd have some more hand positions and something to collapse onto when I get particularly tired :D They'l also come in useful if I do any time trials or triathlons, both of which I intend to do at some point. Cos, you know, I can't get enough punishment from doing 3p...
On the road it's... strange. Very strange, in fact. I've gotten very used to my fixed gear with 175 mm cranks. Now, I have about 15 usable gears, and 172.5 mm cranks. And yes, those 2.5 mm actually make a lot of difference. It just feels like I'm not putting out the same torque with each turn, which is correct. And changing gears doesn't quite compensate either. It'll certainly take some getting used to. Forgetting the initial shock of having a freewheel and not actually having to compensate for this when starting off, it's a damn nice bike. It rolls really well, and I can really tell the weight difference between that and the fixie (it's about 2.5 kg lighter, with pedals, cages and computer). The first time I took it out, I didn't feel like I was going that fast, but with the same feeling the second time, I was doing my usual 30+ kmph speed, into a horrible headwind, in driving rain.
On that second time I did one of my usual 20 km loops slightly slower than the fixie, but the fixie ride was done pushing for a time, in good conditions. Given the same incentive, I reckon I should be well able to blow it out of the water. I'm looking into finding a nice 16 km stretch of road that I can use for some prolonged higher intensity stuff (16 km being 10 miles, which is a standard time trial distance).
More pics of both bikes and of the room they now have (well, for a week) can be found here.
Didn't get out for a long spin on it this week, due to being knackered and fed up of getting soaked, but should get out a fair bit during this week. There's a large conference on that most people form work are gone to, so it'll be a nice quiet week for a change!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Weekly summary
So, summary for the past week;
Starting last Monday (yes, ignore the time between my last post and then. I don't think much happened anyway), it's been a busy week with many things. Work has been a bit mental as of late, with long enough days going on, along with some weekend work which is slowing down some of the training hours but it's for the best in the long run :D I've been a bit relaxed as regards the running lately, but getting out for one or two sessions and I'm going fine in those, so I'm not going to push it too much.
For the cycling, I've covered around 200 km in the last 7 days. Starting on Monday, 90 km into Munich, back out, then looping around to Dachau and hammering it home. OK, so I use hammering a bit loosely. I hammered for a while and then crawled the last 5 km home :D Easy enough spin on Wednesday for 20 km towards Munich and then back along a forest path. This bit was so much fun. It was about 10 km along it, right beside the river, which was very cool. My shoes, shorts, and bike got ruined cos of all the crap everywhere, but still! I was only doing about 30 km/hr on it, but it felt so fast, probably due to the rapidly changing surroundings. It's helped to make my mind up on doing some MTBing or cyclocross later on in the year. Probably the former so I can use it for snowy/icy commutes from Munich to Garching next Winter/Spring.
Friday evening I had planned an easy enough cycle on a new road, but once I got onto it, I found that I was holding above 30 km/hr with no hastle and getting up to 35 with just a little bit of effort. So that turned into a 23 km TT, more or less. There were a few spots to stop, roundabouts and towns. It was a lot of fun, though, and something I'm planning on doing more regularly. Average speed of 29 km/hr, which is my highest average speed for a spin. It would be a lot higher if it weren't for the stopping (requiring slowing down first and accelerating after). My legs were in bits after it, keeping above 30 on the last few kms required getting out of the saddle, hammering it and then letting the speed slow down again.
Which brings me to today. I had planned on upping my 90 km spin to above 100 this weekend, but it ended up not happening. I went into work to get a bit of a start on the two weeks ahead. I have a presentation to make on my work of the past five months on the 11th June, so that's taking priority for the moment. I did get out this evening, though, with a rough plan for something between 40 and 70 km. I ended up doing just the 40, my legs were on the edge of giving out after 15! Once I got home, I figured I probably could have done to full distance, but it's probably best that I give myself some recovery time. There's a four day weekend this weekend so one of those days will be dedicated to a long spin. Hopefully I might get my new bike by then as well, which would be very nice :)
I've ordered my bag for my planned light tours later on in the year. It's an in-sy rucksack which has a saddle attachment bar, so that should work well with the road bike. Since it's got a 16 L capacity, I reckon I'd be alright without a handlebar bag (I'm only planning on 3-4 days of a trip each time) so aerobars are starting to tickle my fancy instead. They should take at least a bit of the sting out of a 220 km trip. So they're now on the list. Yes, there is a list. Yes, it is long. Shhh....
However, I feel alright about spending a little more these days since my mate just bought a new shiny Anschutz selected barrel, with stock, sights and, I think, a Gemini buttplate. I'm so allowed to slap on 53 quid worth of aerobars onto the bike! And a GPS with European maps. And possibly buy new shoes and pedals as my current ones are feeling a bit tight after long spins.... Again, shh....
Anyway, that's about it. More during the week, if I'm awake enough to post!
Starting last Monday (yes, ignore the time between my last post and then. I don't think much happened anyway), it's been a busy week with many things. Work has been a bit mental as of late, with long enough days going on, along with some weekend work which is slowing down some of the training hours but it's for the best in the long run :D I've been a bit relaxed as regards the running lately, but getting out for one or two sessions and I'm going fine in those, so I'm not going to push it too much.
For the cycling, I've covered around 200 km in the last 7 days. Starting on Monday, 90 km into Munich, back out, then looping around to Dachau and hammering it home. OK, so I use hammering a bit loosely. I hammered for a while and then crawled the last 5 km home :D Easy enough spin on Wednesday for 20 km towards Munich and then back along a forest path. This bit was so much fun. It was about 10 km along it, right beside the river, which was very cool. My shoes, shorts, and bike got ruined cos of all the crap everywhere, but still! I was only doing about 30 km/hr on it, but it felt so fast, probably due to the rapidly changing surroundings. It's helped to make my mind up on doing some MTBing or cyclocross later on in the year. Probably the former so I can use it for snowy/icy commutes from Munich to Garching next Winter/Spring.
Friday evening I had planned an easy enough cycle on a new road, but once I got onto it, I found that I was holding above 30 km/hr with no hastle and getting up to 35 with just a little bit of effort. So that turned into a 23 km TT, more or less. There were a few spots to stop, roundabouts and towns. It was a lot of fun, though, and something I'm planning on doing more regularly. Average speed of 29 km/hr, which is my highest average speed for a spin. It would be a lot higher if it weren't for the stopping (requiring slowing down first and accelerating after). My legs were in bits after it, keeping above 30 on the last few kms required getting out of the saddle, hammering it and then letting the speed slow down again.
Which brings me to today. I had planned on upping my 90 km spin to above 100 this weekend, but it ended up not happening. I went into work to get a bit of a start on the two weeks ahead. I have a presentation to make on my work of the past five months on the 11th June, so that's taking priority for the moment. I did get out this evening, though, with a rough plan for something between 40 and 70 km. I ended up doing just the 40, my legs were on the edge of giving out after 15! Once I got home, I figured I probably could have done to full distance, but it's probably best that I give myself some recovery time. There's a four day weekend this weekend so one of those days will be dedicated to a long spin. Hopefully I might get my new bike by then as well, which would be very nice :)
I've ordered my bag for my planned light tours later on in the year. It's an in-sy rucksack which has a saddle attachment bar, so that should work well with the road bike. Since it's got a 16 L capacity, I reckon I'd be alright without a handlebar bag (I'm only planning on 3-4 days of a trip each time) so aerobars are starting to tickle my fancy instead. They should take at least a bit of the sting out of a 220 km trip. So they're now on the list. Yes, there is a list. Yes, it is long. Shhh....
However, I feel alright about spending a little more these days since my mate just bought a new shiny Anschutz selected barrel, with stock, sights and, I think, a Gemini buttplate. I'm so allowed to slap on 53 quid worth of aerobars onto the bike! And a GPS with European maps. And possibly buy new shoes and pedals as my current ones are feeling a bit tight after long spins.... Again, shh....
Anyway, that's about it. More during the week, if I'm awake enough to post!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Update - at last!!
Yeah... So I've been kinda bad with this, as well as the actual training lately... Lots has happened, I swearz! It's just that work, cycling too much on an empty stomach one evening, parents coming over, work, sickness, going home, and sickness again have all conspired against me.
I'm (sorta) still getting the distances in. Two 50 km cycles lately, both inside a week of each other, followed by a few shorter ones between 20 and 40 km to keep me going. Running occasionally sees a reprise. What's odd is that it's not getting any harder, despite leaving it ages in between runs. If I can actually sort out some discipline, then I might actually start to get better again!
Unfortunately, due to the above mentioned reasons, the shooting has suffered greatly. When I only have one evening a week to play with, and it's a Friday, the day everything in the universe happens on (unless the planet has been bulldozed the previous morning), it's gonna be inevitable that I miss some days. Like, three in a row. But anyway, I'm gonna try to get into the Old Munich range, which is pretty close and has kick ass facilities. Go with a fresh start, etc.
Finally, I was bold. I ordered my road bike last week. It should hopefully arrive next week some time. Which will be amazing. I was unfortunately constrained in my colour choices, but I'll bling it up over time :) Once I get that, heading south to some hills will most certainly be in order! Also, mudguards are amazing. I never knew how annoying muddy pants from a short commute could be until this year.
Really finally, I've enrolled in a German speaking course in Munich this Summer, which I'll be cycling in and out to in the evenings This will add about 15 km or so onto my daily commute, so I'll be looking at about 35 km a day, four days a week for the eight weeks of the course, which will push my weekly kilometerage up nicely. Add in a long weekend spin and I'm looking at over 200 km a week, which isn't half bad at all.
I'm (sorta) still getting the distances in. Two 50 km cycles lately, both inside a week of each other, followed by a few shorter ones between 20 and 40 km to keep me going. Running occasionally sees a reprise. What's odd is that it's not getting any harder, despite leaving it ages in between runs. If I can actually sort out some discipline, then I might actually start to get better again!
Unfortunately, due to the above mentioned reasons, the shooting has suffered greatly. When I only have one evening a week to play with, and it's a Friday, the day everything in the universe happens on (unless the planet has been bulldozed the previous morning), it's gonna be inevitable that I miss some days. Like, three in a row. But anyway, I'm gonna try to get into the Old Munich range, which is pretty close and has kick ass facilities. Go with a fresh start, etc.
Finally, I was bold. I ordered my road bike last week. It should hopefully arrive next week some time. Which will be amazing. I was unfortunately constrained in my colour choices, but I'll bling it up over time :) Once I get that, heading south to some hills will most certainly be in order! Also, mudguards are amazing. I never knew how annoying muddy pants from a short commute could be until this year.
Really finally, I've enrolled in a German speaking course in Munich this Summer, which I'll be cycling in and out to in the evenings This will add about 15 km or so onto my daily commute, so I'll be looking at about 35 km a day, four days a week for the eight weeks of the course, which will push my weekly kilometerage up nicely. Add in a long weekend spin and I'm looking at over 200 km a week, which isn't half bad at all.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Weekly summary (last week)
I've let this slide a little bit for the last week cos I haven't quite had the time to update, what with working a bit later and, you know, actually training a bit :D
So, for the week ending last Sunday. This was a pretty good week, actually, lots of training done, and a nice increase in kilometerage also. Overall for the cycling was 93 km in 4 hours, which is getting back to what I was used to back in the day. I know that makes me sound about 4 times my age, but whatever. There was some running done as well, but I can't remember how much. We'll go with two sessions of 5km...
Something that has been added to the weekly summaries; the target shooting is back :) I went down to the club on the Friday evening to see what the story was and how things worked. I wasn't so much given an introduction, as asked if I had shot before, to which I answered yes. The response to this was to hand me a rifle, some pellets and a target strip... An hour, and some horrendous shooting later, I finished up and was asked to come back the following Friday :)
A quick bit on the actual shooting; I don't think it's gotten much worse, but there were a few confounding factors. Firstly, no kit. I didn't bring any of mine cos I didn't think I'd be shooting. Also, there were no raiser blocks on the rifle (an old FWB 600, which, oddly enough, had a safety catch) and the cheekpiece was bottomed out, and pushed over to the right (i.e. away from me). Anybody who has seen my old rifle set up in DURC will know how much of an issue these things are for me, what with my freakishly long neck and high cheekbones :D These things can, of course, all be changed, but I didn't want to spend the first half hour poking at the rifle with a screwdriver.
However, it wasn't all bad. The hold wasn't the worst, despite not getting my cheek actually onto the cheekpiece, and there was some reasonable grouping. Next week when I go back to air rifle I'll make some changes which will hopefully help a bit. I may go jacketless again, just until I settle back into it and get comfortable with the new rifle. Adding the rest of the kit at that point should solidify things nicely :)
I'll hopefully have more up again soon. This week had some decent cycling and running, as well as some prone shooting. At 50m. Oh yes :)
So, for the week ending last Sunday. This was a pretty good week, actually, lots of training done, and a nice increase in kilometerage also. Overall for the cycling was 93 km in 4 hours, which is getting back to what I was used to back in the day. I know that makes me sound about 4 times my age, but whatever. There was some running done as well, but I can't remember how much. We'll go with two sessions of 5km...
Something that has been added to the weekly summaries; the target shooting is back :) I went down to the club on the Friday evening to see what the story was and how things worked. I wasn't so much given an introduction, as asked if I had shot before, to which I answered yes. The response to this was to hand me a rifle, some pellets and a target strip... An hour, and some horrendous shooting later, I finished up and was asked to come back the following Friday :)
A quick bit on the actual shooting; I don't think it's gotten much worse, but there were a few confounding factors. Firstly, no kit. I didn't bring any of mine cos I didn't think I'd be shooting. Also, there were no raiser blocks on the rifle (an old FWB 600, which, oddly enough, had a safety catch) and the cheekpiece was bottomed out, and pushed over to the right (i.e. away from me). Anybody who has seen my old rifle set up in DURC will know how much of an issue these things are for me, what with my freakishly long neck and high cheekbones :D These things can, of course, all be changed, but I didn't want to spend the first half hour poking at the rifle with a screwdriver.
However, it wasn't all bad. The hold wasn't the worst, despite not getting my cheek actually onto the cheekpiece, and there was some reasonable grouping. Next week when I go back to air rifle I'll make some changes which will hopefully help a bit. I may go jacketless again, just until I settle back into it and get comfortable with the new rifle. Adding the rest of the kit at that point should solidify things nicely :)
I'll hopefully have more up again soon. This week had some decent cycling and running, as well as some prone shooting. At 50m. Oh yes :)
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Weekly summary
This week was better. I'm starting to head in the right direction, at least. I got out for something every day I was here, apart from Friday.
So, may as well crack into the numbers;
Distances;
Saddle; 45 km
Commute; 19 km
Run; 12 km
Times;
Saddle; 1 hr, 45 mins
Commute; 1 hr
Run; 1 hr 5 mins
Monday; Ireland
Tuesday; Travelling
Wednesday; Commute
Run, 5 km, 20 mins
Thursday; Commute
Saddle, 20 km, 45 mins
Friday; Commute
Saturday; Run, 7km, 45 mins.
Sunday; Saddle, 25 km, 1 hr
OK, so, the story with the running on Saturday... I was going well enough, keeping my normal slow crap pace, when my right knee cramped up. I'm not sure if it was a tendon or ligament, but something cramped and wouldn't straighten out for love nor stretching. I probably spent a good 15 mins of that run trying to stretch it out and eventually got bored and just ran home slowly on it.
I was unsure of whether or not it would turn out to be bad news, but said I'd give the bike a go today. Fortunately, the movement seems to have loosened it up, which is good. I went north again, towards my favourite 12% sprint uphill. Decided to cut my losses once I got to the top (one go this time, I'm happy :) ) and turned around for home.
On the way down, I topped out at 48.6 km/hr, which, by my rough calculations and crude assumption of a wheel diameter of 700mm, gives a max cadence of around 140 rpm. Which I find kinda impressive. Now, I was gripping the handlebars to pull myself back down, cos I have terrible technique so I bounce up and down, but still! I think I can do about 100 comfortably (35 km/hr), which isn't too bad. That'd be my normal tipping along pace, which bodes well for further training.
I was wondering during the week why my weight has been so reluctant to drop that much (currently at 62, which is a bit over my target (59/60). However, a quick thought to what I was doing last Summer helps; each week I was doing at least 150 km, including 100 km of commuting. The numbers are starting to come back up, but it won't be till I get my bike with gears that I extend the distances. I'm quite conscious of overtraining on the fixie; knee damage is not where I want to be.
Finally, a piece of news; I got in contact with a rifle club in the town over from here, and I'm heading out there this Friday to have a look at the facilities and see if they like me.. Whoever gets assigned to showing me around will have the misfortune of experiencing my oh-so-wonderful German. Which will be interesting :P I'm looking forward to it. I've been out of it for far too long at this point. Comebacks always have worked well for me, though...
So, may as well crack into the numbers;
Distances;
Saddle; 45 km
Commute; 19 km
Run; 12 km
Times;
Saddle; 1 hr, 45 mins
Commute; 1 hr
Run; 1 hr 5 mins
Monday; Ireland
Tuesday; Travelling
Wednesday; Commute
Run, 5 km, 20 mins
Thursday; Commute
Saddle, 20 km, 45 mins
Friday; Commute
Saturday; Run, 7km, 45 mins.
Sunday; Saddle, 25 km, 1 hr
OK, so, the story with the running on Saturday... I was going well enough, keeping my normal slow crap pace, when my right knee cramped up. I'm not sure if it was a tendon or ligament, but something cramped and wouldn't straighten out for love nor stretching. I probably spent a good 15 mins of that run trying to stretch it out and eventually got bored and just ran home slowly on it.
I was unsure of whether or not it would turn out to be bad news, but said I'd give the bike a go today. Fortunately, the movement seems to have loosened it up, which is good. I went north again, towards my favourite 12% sprint uphill. Decided to cut my losses once I got to the top (one go this time, I'm happy :) ) and turned around for home.
On the way down, I topped out at 48.6 km/hr, which, by my rough calculations and crude assumption of a wheel diameter of 700mm, gives a max cadence of around 140 rpm. Which I find kinda impressive. Now, I was gripping the handlebars to pull myself back down, cos I have terrible technique so I bounce up and down, but still! I think I can do about 100 comfortably (35 km/hr), which isn't too bad. That'd be my normal tipping along pace, which bodes well for further training.
I was wondering during the week why my weight has been so reluctant to drop that much (currently at 62, which is a bit over my target (59/60). However, a quick thought to what I was doing last Summer helps; each week I was doing at least 150 km, including 100 km of commuting. The numbers are starting to come back up, but it won't be till I get my bike with gears that I extend the distances. I'm quite conscious of overtraining on the fixie; knee damage is not where I want to be.
Finally, a piece of news; I got in contact with a rifle club in the town over from here, and I'm heading out there this Friday to have a look at the facilities and see if they like me.. Whoever gets assigned to showing me around will have the misfortune of experiencing my oh-so-wonderful German. Which will be interesting :P I'm looking forward to it. I've been out of it for far too long at this point. Comebacks always have worked well for me, though...
Friday, April 9, 2010
Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows
OK, I lied. Just sunshine. But it is pretty nice. Got out yesterday in just a short-sleeve jersey. I got my new merino arm-warmers as well, and decided to try them out; that was a stupid idea :D
Anyway, not to dwell, just said I'd post up that things are actually going well this week with sessions being completed, even in the shortness of the week. I had a bit of a hammerfest home last night while being drafted by another cyclist. Trying to pull away really kept me going :P Settling in behind him for the final stroll home was nice, though, and very welcome!
More from the week on Sunday, with some accurate numbers this time!
Anyway, not to dwell, just said I'd post up that things are actually going well this week with sessions being completed, even in the shortness of the week. I had a bit of a hammerfest home last night while being drafted by another cyclist. Trying to pull away really kept me going :P Settling in behind him for the final stroll home was nice, though, and very welcome!
More from the week on Sunday, with some accurate numbers this time!
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