Busy as a bee

Hey, long time no see, how are you?

It's been a long time since I updated my blog and not many posts in the last two years, mainly due to other events taking greater priority over my time.

So, what's been happening since then?  A mixture of highs and lows: I asked Cassie to marry me, found out that her mother had cancer, brought the wedding forward by a year and organised it in a matter of a few months, a horrid time at Alpe d'Huez for a Marmotte for which I was unable to ride thanks to some meddling ex-friends, pulling out of last year's Jalabert sportive in Mazamet due to a very dodgy and unsafe course, complications with Cassie's mother's treatment that required emergency surgery, having to "get legal" with Cassie's HR manager to prevent them from unlawfully dismissing her, clearing out two rooms to turn one into our home gym and the other for letting out to lodgers for extra income, looking for potential full-time office work to make ends meet, picking up a heap of extra classes (see sidebar for details) that mean I won't need to set foot back in an office after all, and Cassie's shoulder operation a few months ago and subsequent ongoing recovery.

I think that's all... doesn't sound like much when it's written down but it's all stuff that sidetracked me from doing much of anything else, I'm no good at multitasking!  Add to that a distinct lack of goals, so that my training fell by the wayside until recently along with my motivation.

So what's changed?  Well, our marriage is solid as a rock and nicely bedded down, the extra classes and lodger have given me back my financial safety net, Cassie's HR person was cornered into backing down so that her job is also safe, her recovery is coming along leaps and bounds, and her mother is one operation away from completing her recovery.  All this means that my head, for the first time in ages, is clear once again - crap has been sorted and filed, emails mostly answered, new rides mixed, events entered, a sense of purpose and harmony restored.

Much like cycling, you just have to keep going until it gets better; and then you keep going some more.  Don't let life get you down - it can drain you, as it did me, but it can only beat you if you quit.  As Johnny G used to say, "keep moving FORWARD!!"

Test of mobile blogging

Ever since I got my new iPhone back in November, I've used it for internet access even when at home as it's so portable around the house (I could see that Apple were right in predicting big things for their iPad).

It works for most things, except complicated work - including blogging. Then I got tipped off about the BlogPress app, from which I'm writing now. It won't make for perfectly laid out posts but it will mean I can post more regularly in between uploading new Spinning rides and mixes.

Anyway, test over - I hope it works!

I need your help!

OK, readers - time to put this social networking to good use. 

 

Both my girlfriend, Cassie Abbott, and I have had friends and relatives suffer with cancer - in Cassie's case, her mother who will soon undergo chemotherapy.  According to Lance Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation, 1 in 3 will have cancer at some point in their lives with almost everyone having some experience of it. 

 

Will you be the 1 in 3 ?  If not, who of your friends and relatives? Cancer Research UK has made huge leaps in increasing survival rates for cancer.

After only her first year of cycling, Cassie has decide to raise money by cycling the big one - La Marmotte.  I've done it twice and have seen grown men cry on the way; it is the hardest one-day amateur cycling event in Europe, maybe the world. She made the (crazy) leap to raise as much money as possible for a cause close to her heart.

Please donate whatever you feel you can afford - to borrow a catchphrase, Every Little Helps. Please help spread the word too - cancer's not fussy who it strikes, everyone may feel they can donate by visiting Cassie's Justgiving page.

Thank you so much for reading this plea, even if you choose not to donate.

Robert

The fast rolling road

This is a one-hour long mix that started off as something put together to help the time go by on the indoor trainer, where I like to keep a high cadence 90-110rpm if not training anything specific and just need to get the legs moving a bit. Since then, however, I've used in different ways and it's even useful for a time-trial effort. If you ride to the beat, it gradually picks up as you go along - if you don't want to increase intensity, you will have to change down gear at some point!

Profile

It's going to look a little something like this:

You can ride this in a number of ways:

1 - increase intensity as the ride progresses, similar to my last profile, the Energy Mountain; use the quickening rhythm of the music to guide you.

2 - a steady output all the way through (if riding to the beat, don't forget to change down)

3 - intensity rising to a crescendo, then descending back down.

4 - a bit of a warm-up, then flat out time-trial effort for 30-45mins before cooling down.

You can download the full hour-long mix here.  If you want a 45-minute version, start at  around the 15min mark to leave you a 6-min cool down.

Playlist

Aeternal - Paul Oakenfold
Deep Space - John Stanford
Awake to your senses - Tya
Heaven - Emer Kenny
Closer to madness - Jesse Cook
Supreme illusion (Nickodemus mix) - Intelligent Electron
Kiss Kiss - Holly Valance
La camisa negra - Juanes
Days go by - Dirty Vegas
New day - Allain Bougrain Dubourg & Arno Elias
Sun - Susnik Luna
Clubbed to death - Rob D
Shine - Aswad
Centre of the sun (Solarstone's chilled out mix) - Conjure One

Now ride the fast rolling road, without that annoying headwind!

Help us name our new arrivals!

Cassie and I have just this morning become proud parents... to a pair of kittens!

Any suggestions for names?  Paired names would be good, as they're sisters.

How God created the Big Bang

Maybe after spending a month in near-isolation in southern France has made me more susceptible to the lower forms of humour but this clip from Family Guy had me in stitches - the real story of how God created the Big Bang and, therefore, the universe.


Video not responding? Click here

So now you know, whether you believe in evolution or are from Kansas!

Energy Mountain

It's been a while, so here's another of my favourite rides, inspired by Lou Atkinson and Mel Chambers at Hemsby Fitness Fiesta last year.

This is a 35-minute climb that's designed to start comfortably but with gradually increasing intensity and energy, passing through different training zones or, as I coach them, "phases".  These phases are not meant to be sudden but gradual - I outline them at the beginning and it's up to each individual rider to determine when they're in that zone and to think about whether it's too early, e.g., to be going above threshold, and should they hold back or increase the intensity.

To those unfamiliar with training zones or without HRMs: Phase 1 is basically a warm-up on a climb, trying to wake up your muscles gradually; Phase 2 is using those muscles effectively at a good steady pace but with breathing starting to get a little faster; Phase 3 is a more determined effort, really using one's strength, i.e., riding at tempo pace; Phase 4 is just under lactate threshold, only doing so because we're near the summit, otherwise we'd stay in Phase 3 for longer; Phase 5 is when you see the summit, get a second wind, and say "what the hell, let's go for it!"

The exact timings for each Phase are up to you and your audience.  However, in my mixed version, I save Phase 5 for the final 3 minutes, using a speeded-up Saltwater as inspiration for digging deeper, reaching higher and going that one step further.

Profile

Phase 1 - finding your climbing legs (65-70% of MHR)
Phase 2 - getting into the climb (70-75%)
Phase 3 - pushing the pace up the climb (75-80%)
Phase 4 - looking to the top, in a rush to get there (80-85%, sub-threshold)
Phase 5 - racing to the top (85+%, above threshold)

You can download the 35-minute mix here. 

The warm-up and cool-down are yours to choose - the first 45 seconds are to be included as part of a warm-up, the climb then goes on until 35:37, i.e., 35 minutes of constant climbing.

One final point - I've not only mixed it but also done it so that it starts at 60rpm and ends at 75rpm; the change is so gradual, spread out over the entire 35 minutes, so you will not notice how it speeds up.  I've done this both for the benefit of those who ride to the beat and to give it a sense of how you would start up a climb at a steady speed, gradually getting more confident and picking up speed, finishing at race speed.

Playlist

Drifting away - Faithless
Look inside your head - Sander Van Doom
Sanctuary (The Traveller) - Origene
Ten seconds before sunrise - Tiesto
Dark and long (Dark train) - Underworld
More and more - white label vinyl, artist unknown
Coolio - again, a white label, any ideas?
Saltwater - Chicane feat Maire Brennan

Enjoy your climb to the summit of the Energy Mountain!