>That was a tough week – Level 5 work every day from Tuesday to Sunday. This is not recommended.
Friday was meant to be a rest day – I was riding the Minet Ladies CC Charity Ride at Hillingdon and planning to soft pedal my way round in a group. But when it started I went off too fast and kept going for most of the 30 odd miles. Nitwit.
Saturday was the Willesden CC club Track Championships at Welwyn. This was great fun – the track bike feels a lot more comfortable with a longer stem on it. The racing was dominated by road man Tom London and track star Jayne Paine, but I crept to a third place despite being dropped by everyone else at will.
Sunday morning I was down to ride a private trial at the Hillingdon CC Old Crocks’ ’10’ at Great Missenden. I almost went straight back to bed when I saw the rain, but decided to go along, if only to support the other riders. As it happened, the rain stopped and we had one of the best days on that course (HCC180) that I’ve ridden. I clocked a modest 25:03 – still a course best – for third fastest of the 29 starters.
Race stats: Time: 25:03 (23.95mph). First 5 miles: 12:36, second 5 miles: 12:25. Top speed: 33.6mph. Slowest mile (7): 2:58 (20.22mph), fastest mile (4): 2:00 (30.00mph). Average HR: 151bpm, maximum HR: 165bpm. 3rd of 29 finishers. Ave. cadence: 74rpm. Winner: Peter Smith 22:35
My heart rate was very low – probably as a result of a hard week’s work. What was slightly worrying was that it dropped away completely (to 145bpm) when I was working the hardest. I need to monitor that that doesn’t happen again.
Lance Woodman 