Friday 26 February 2010

The Long Road Ahead


It's February - almost March and I am not in the proper swing of training. The weather's quite sunny today but not sure how long it'll last. It'll probably be throwing it down within the next couple of hours - not very motivating for riding a bicycle and getting in those all-important training miles.

The thing is, if I had time I would still go out. The problem is, I don't. Having a Saturday completely taken up with classes for my interpreting course and then the rest of the time fitting in homework doesn't leave much time for cycling stuff.

I've been commuting and going on the turbo trainer (even appreciating the time I spend on it!), but I know that getting up to optimal fitness this year will not be an easy task.

I did a training session at Hillingdon Cycle Circuit last week and really enjoyed it. I was able to get in some good quality training miles. Between the bike ride to get there and back as well as the training session itself, I managed to clock up more than 50 miles.

The only thing was my ride home with my club-mate Claire, was a real tribulation for me. I was hanging off the handlebars trying to keep up with her as she zoomed through South West London! It was a bit disconcerting when she told me that she's not that fit at the moment! Maybe she's just really strong or I am just so p1s$ poor. I hope it's the former!

Anyway, that session plus the turbo sessions I've done this week have begun the slow process of hammering my body into shape and teaching my body to ride quickly - I can't be doing slow base lines forever!

Looking at the calendar for the women's team series and the London Women's league makes for a scary prospect these days. The road between here and my first proper race, in mid April will be loooong. It will be riddled with stones, potholes and other obstacles in the shape of chaingangs on Wednesdays where I have to cling on for dear life, cyclosportives where I'm constantly asking myself - "are we there yet?", and getting caned at Milton Keynes, Thruxton or Crystal Palace. Yes, it will be a long road with pain from burning quads, and frustration from having to stay home to study on a glorious Saturday afternoon. But after all that, I am still ready to take on another season of road racing. As long as I'm happy and fully aware of what is and isn't realistic for me, I'm good with that!

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