The story is, I have been dogged by injuries for about 10 years now that I'm only just starting to deal and come to terms with. I used to cycle at a decent level in Ireland in road racing time trials and track. I want to try and get back o where I was and possibly better. I decided as it's such a good pastime and allot of peopl on this forum love cycling to post on bit. The pic in my avatar was taken in 2003 at my last real competive race. I'm hoping that posting here will help keep my motivation up through the hard times and help me manage my progress. Yes I could post this on a cycling forum, but why bother when this is something different to add on bit. It might even ingnite some enthusiasm to people who arent interested in sport, who knows! What to expect? goals training program & progress diet race reports & resuls pictures Any feeback would be great to read as I've always enjoyed sharing my projects with others.
I don't know much about biking or nutrition and training but I wish you all the best of luck with your recovery / training. As with anything, don't be discouraged and there enough more knowledgeable people here that will be able to give you some of their personal experiences and tips. Heres to a bright future with cycling!
Goals for this season To become injury free. To starting winning open races To beat my pb for 10 miles. 21.00 To peak for the National pursuit title in July/ August. TRAINING: PHASE 1 GOALS to have a good race fitness. Monday: recoery ride 10 miles/ 30 minutes Tuesday: Westdown wheelers club race Wednesday: Banbridge cc club race Thursday: Dromara cc club race Friday: Recoery ride Saturday: road race, or hard pursuit training. Sunday total rest, or track cycling. GYM WORK Monday. rehab & stretching Tuesday rehab and stretching Thursday rehab and stretchin Friday rehab and stretching DIET. (GOAL TO GET FROM 12 ST TO 11ST) I was 15st a few years ago This is really a quick fix solution so I can get to my desired weight quickly. Daytime: Natural honeycomb honey, filtered water, cornish sea salt, green tea, coffee. pretraining, bowl of alpen post training. meat, veg, fruit carbs (non gluten). controlled portions
Thanks very much for the encouragment. Absolutely, all advice will be considered and appreciated. I'm going to TRY not to give up. Just take it on day at a time. At least I'll know i've given it my best shot.
Absolute best of luck Gar. If you've been following in the main cycling thread here you'll know I'm building up my first real road bike this year, and I too hope to get into a race or two (assuming I cave in and add enough weight to make it UCI legal), but not having a vehicle will prove problematic. For my own personal training I alternate dependant upon time of year: Winter - 5 days a week, 12k round trip of (hard/hilly) commuting followed with 7 days a week of interval training on my indoor set-up (thirty to sixty minutes a session). Spring/fall - 5 days a week, 26k round trip of commuting (even hillier) or more if the weather is nice, plus a good 100k rip at least once a week, if not twice. Summer - 5 days a week, 60k round trip of commuting (still hillier), but I've been known to hit 100 before I get home, with a minimum 150k every weekend, but more typically 200. I don't limit myself too drastically with diet, just keep my carbs as low as I can (with most anything with gluten in right out), and just eek out enough calories to keep myself from crashing. Lots of fruit and veg though, with the occasional treat of a single doughnut here and there (I'm sorry, but it's yummy) and the allowance of pancakes on weekends to keep my spirits up. Very rarely do I indulge in meat, but it's typically fish or pork that I indulge in, otherwise I try to stick to eggs and beans for my protein. I've also almost entirely eliminated coffee out of my diet, going from every day a full pot, to only on weekends, if I should so feel like it, instead favouring sugarless, caffeine-free teas. This has worked amazingly well at getting the fat off me, and helping build muscle over the past four months I've been doing it, and should only benefit me further as my exercise ramps up with the weather. I'm told I train harder than any of the semi-pro and pro racers the shop I work at sponsors... Good to hear though that I'm not the only one pushing myself hard this year. Should be great fun! As the greatest Canadian philosopher to ever live once said Remember, I'm pulling for you. We're all in this together.
Thanks, Mavolio! You seem to have a pretty decent grasp of your cycling there! Yes, training hard and smart is the key I think. I've decided to keep training simple heavy and basic this year to keep myself from becoming bogged down as I have a tendency to over complicate and change my training routine! Nice nice by the way. Love the retro frame coupled with the 202's I have a bianchi 928 carbon, dura ace and a set of zipp 404's. I'll be selling the whole rig soon, just because I would like to invest the money else were. I will be adding some pics into the thread soon!
Right, things are going well! Weight. 11st 8lbs. Lost 1.5lbs yesturday on this new diet. (Hope it's all fat, I drank 2..5l of water yesturday!) Westdown wheelers club race tonight! 10 mile time trial. I aim to get below 27 minutes on my road bike. Thats a 23mph avg. I will post the results tongiht inc placing! link to cycling club below, has pic's and race reports. http://www.westdownwheelers.com/2011racettschedule.htm I also aim to keep the cadence high so I don't damage my muscles and build more scar tissue, which should help my aerobic capacity which feels weak from not being used. Power is something I have enough of naturaly.
Just throwing it in. Really like have you both have plans set up with routines / goals. Think it's a lot easier to reach something that you set as a pose to me joining the gym and saying "I wanna lose weight." Against, best of luck!
Thanks Mansueto. I've been using this method since I was about 16. I'm 29 now, and use goal setting etc for pretty much everything. Really feel satisfied this way! Better stop studying comptia and get myself and the bike ready. It was sunny allday and now overcast. Please clouds, stay closed!
10 mile time trial (rolling hilly) 1 P Wilkinson WDW 22.50 2 P Lilly Slane Cycles 23.16 3 M Alexander WDW 24.07 4 P McManus WDW 24.09 5 W Maxwell WDW 24.16 6 A Walker WDW 24.45 7 D McDonald TVR 24.45 8 A Baines TVR 25.15 9 D Cartmill WDW 25.32 10 J Kernaghan WDW 25.32 11 D Gordon Banbridge CC 25.37 12 S Daly Banbridge CC 25.41 13 I Walker WDW 26.11 14 G Rodgers Banbridge CC 26.26 Goal acheived. Got below 27minutes! 15 P McKinstry WDW 26.27 16 C Hodgen WDW 26.53 17 R Stewart Dromara CC 26.58 18 J Daly Banbridge CC 27.35 19 J Cromie WDW 28.18 20 R Moffett WDW 28.29 21 K McDonald Dromara CC 28.52 22 J McGuigan Dromara CC 29.06 23 S Bloomer WDW 29.18 24 P Hanna WDW 30.05 25 C McKee U/A 30.0 Ok so that 14 out of 25. Happy with the ride. Had no power to put down, however used small gears and did a better time than I thought I would. Very happy with progress. Have only ridden the bike 7 times this year! Tomorrow is a 12.5 mile circuit with Banbridge cc
out of interest are you part of a club? I recently fixed up my bike with the intent to cycling to uni and building my fitness but like you I've been dogged with injuries (mainly shin splints) the last 3 years. Even with proper trainers I still get it from time to time so thats ruled out most running and I swim like a demented cow thats fallen in a river leaving only cycling.
Hi Javaman I've been a member of Banbridge cc on and off since 1998. Good man on taking up the cycling. It can be very fustrating having injuries, I know this more than most to be honest. Hmm shin splints indicate too much pressure on the otside of your lower leg. Do you have dropped foor arches. Do your feet point outward when you stand? Cycling shoes sometimes make things worse, I don't use them now.
Yea they would, if you look at my shoes my right one ware out far quicker than my left one too ATM Im starting on my mountain bike tho my GF's dad was a keen cycler back in the day so was gonna maybe borrow one of his bike and use it as a chance to "bond" too lol. Until I build my fitness and get into it more I'm hoping to keep it fairly low cost. I read somewhere to avoid cotton clothes and to wear "breathable" clothes. On the topic of gear, where would you pick yours up from?
well I don't know much about cycling but I do do it and I do enjoy it and I bike to college everyday, would ideally like a hard tail mountain bike so I could biking in the forests around where I live, I would also really like to go to Derbyshire and bike around there with a friend. as for fitness I can at least show you this website and forum which is the best website and forum on the planet to losing fat and gaining muscle http://www.scoobysworkshop.com/ and I wish you luck on your journey to cycling greatness you once had
In the shop I work at we see hundreds of people every year come in and buy a bike or an indoor trainer for the purpose of "getting fit" without having a real goal in mind. Sadly we either never see these people again, or they bring their bike back just under a year after they bought it for their warranty tune, yet it doesn't look like a single mile has been put on the tyres. We like to feel as a bit of a full service shop, advising people on not just what bike they should buy, but what they should eat and how they should be riding for their goal, but a very large percentage of people either just don't listen, or feel they don't need a goal/plan. Another good example would be the big charity group rides that are put on every year. Most people in them tend to only ride for that one event, never any other time of the year. Yet these same people don't understand why they physically cannot handle the distance or the hills, crashing (metabolically) hard, and injuring themselves. Last year I did the local cancer ride as a riding-support role (120k per day over a weekend, several thousand riders) and I honestly had a hard time finding anybody who was a regular rider. It's that type of mentality and having to deal with those that fail in such a way on a daily basis that serves to reinforce my determination to stick with what I want to do on two wheels.
Maybe I can offer you some help, before things get too bad. I've had these problems for year, and eventualy I lost my sport and job n a bike shop. Every since then I've been battling and fighting to get back. One shoe wears quicker than the other. Check for leg length difference and arch height difference. Also to help with your splints. Try to star riding with your feet pointed a little more down. To help this you'll need to raise your saddle, height, a little ata a time not drasticaly about 2mm at a time until you feel you can ride comfortable. Don' raise it too much. Im saying this to warn you because it will end up tearing hamstrings. I know this from experience and muscles on the inner calf too. I wear a leather flat shoes when cycling with flat pedals I also try to put the power down through the ball of my foot. spors shoes. Hope this helps
Fair play to you, it's an encouragment to see someone with such determination on a bike! This is allot of the reason I started this thread! As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another! I would ask those people why they want to get fit. If the reason is vian I usualy see people like tha give up in about a month when they realise it's not that good a reason. Now riding to help cancer sufferers. thats a reason!
Ok, legs a little weary, not sore, cardiovascular system a little tired! Need to stretch a bit today. Weighed self this morning. 11st 5lbs. (3lbs lost) The weight is falling off. I konw this is straining my imune system a bit, not to mention my liver, but once I'm down to 11st I'll be introducing more food. Scar tissue is throbbing, but this is nothing I didnt expect!
Thanks bagman I appreciate the encouragment. I had a hard winter of challenges and couldnt train for 6 months. Very disheartening and off putting, bt used to it. I have ups and downs, which is wh my weight tends to fluctuate, but stll, I'm riding my bike, so feel v grateful for this! Thanks for the link, looks interesting.
Thank you so much for the help. Even after talking to 2 doctors neither of them offered any advice on prevention nor who to talk to to get the right advice. Gonna see if theres a good cycling shops in town. I know of one down in a very small retail block near me. The guys in there have been brilliant with my brothers wheel chair but the shop is small and focuses more on bikes than cycling gear. Its always good to get to know the locals a bit better. +rep for the help and good luck with the recovery! Amazing results so far
