With just 10 weeks to go, before the big event, the real training begins this week. I have a custom plan, which if I follow it, means that I should be at the peak of my fitness around the June Weekend. It’s based on a reasonable level of fitness at the beginning, so I think that I’m ticking the right boxes. Time will tell.
I’ve put in a pretty hard Winter training schedule, doing everything from regular climbs, to hard efforts, long distances on the road and even tried Mountain Biking. The latter, I’m afraid was not my favourite as I had way too many falls, got hurt too many times and it’s just too bloody hard. I’ve said this before and I mean it. If you think you’re tough, fit and strong, maybe playing football, rugby or hurling, for example, try the Nire Valley Drop. Just the short course like I did, I dare you. You might get a very unpleasant surprise and realise that you’re not quite as tough as you thought. Anyway, I think my Mountain Bike future lies on the trails of Killarney National Park, or the Greenway in Dungarvan. (However, I must add that I’ll be back at the Nire Valley this year again, as I feel redemption is necessary. Proof positive, that cycling is an illness)
Anyway, with Winter training, all 6000km of it completed, the next stage is to build on that base, build up endurance and strength and get the body and even more so, the mind, in the correct frame before the event.
The Giro is a little different than any of my previous events. It’s longer, much higher and faster for example. I don’t know the roads, the terrain or the route, so it’s pretty much an unknown quantity. I’ve looked at YouTube videos of it, I’ve checked the route on Strava and I’ll put notes on my top tube, reminding me where the climbs are, how long they are, how steep they are and of course, the areas where I can relax and recover.
Once again, the plan is to go non-stop. I’ll “carb up” the day before, I’ll have a good breakfast that morning, but anything else, food wise, will be on the road with me, in my pocket. I’m aiming for 7 hours for completion, which is fairly ambitious. That means that I will need to average just over 25kph ,the entire route. In the last week, I’ve started doing just that in training spins. Getting my body used to a consistent effort, knowing when to back off a little bit, when to push a little bit, maintaining that elusive 25kph.
I have a few things that put me at a distinct disadvantage in an event like this. I’m getting older now, I have zero (and I mean this), sporting pedigree and I have zero natural ability. My lifestyle, as a musician, means lots of late nights, lugging around heavy equipment, lots of hours on your feet and a questionable diet of Taytos and Chocolate at 3am.
Anybody that grew up with me, will agree that of all the most useless people that stepped out onto The Mill Field in Ballymacarbery, to play hurling, I was top of the list. I hated it with a passion, I had no interest and most definitely, no courage. When the “skelps” were flying, I was nowhere to be seen. I could say the same for most field sports at the time, I just didn’t like it, it wasn’t for me and in truth, I couldn’t be “arsed”. That remains to this day, as the country goes crazy once The Championship begins, I don’t really care. It could be on outside in the garden and I wouldn’t be bothered.
I did however, learn to play the guitar and I could always sing a song or three, so my teenage years were in front of the mirror in my bedroom, playing along to the Irish Showbands and in later years, really wanting to be Bruce Springsteen. I made a go of it however and getting out over 100 nights per year, I must be doing something right.
So, why in the name of god, would anybody take on an endurance sport like cycling, with all those handicaps.I often think back and wonder if I had discovered the sport as a teenager, could it have been different, who knows. All I do know is that I’m over half a century on this planet and I’m performing in events that I wouldn’t even consider when I was 21, proof that there must be a small bit of madness there.
However, I do it to prove to myself that anything is possible. At school, work, life in general, the biggest obstacle you will face, is yourself. The mind is so strong, it’s so capable, but it’s also so weak. On a personal level, I’m fighting many battles with it, battles that are not for social media, but they are considerable. Battles that I cannot afford to lose, that I must fight and fight I will. Cycling keeps that mind busy and under some sort of control.
In the last week, we have had the “March of many weathers”. Last Monday, the sun shone, the winds abated and it was ideal cycling weather. However, for me, it was a rest day and I had to force myself to stay at home. This is one of the hardest parts of the sport, forcing yourself not to do it. The body needs time to recover, more time at my age. On Tuesday, the weather remained good and I got a good long training spin, over The Glen of Aherlow. I managed the elusive 25kph and was pleased enough. Wednesday, was a recovery spin, which turned into a tough effort, completing 50km at almost 28kph. Then, Winter returned over St Patricks Day and my bike stayed in the garage. On Sunday, I went out, planning to complete my weeks target of 200km. Immediately, I felt stiff, lethargic, uninterested, tired and run down. I felt dejected, as the first 20km felt like 200. It’s a horrible feeling, but your body is just telling you that it’s not able for the effort. I persevered though and once I made the turn in Kilbehenny, the tail wind picked me up and I got back in, 65km at 25kph. Sometimes, you have to push yourself, find that weak spot that adversity has and exploit it.
So, 10 weeks to go. Today, is another rest day although I might attempt a recovery ride this evening. There’s also the training target of 10000km for the year to think about too. That’s a regular 200km every week for a year.
It’s a bloody illness.
The Unknown Bike Rider 