Playlist
Tame Impala - Elephant
Azealia Banks (feat. Lazy Jay) - 212
Nas - The Don
Netsky - Love Has Gone
Emile Sandé - My Kind of Love (Gemini Remix)
Rudimental (feat. John Newman) - Feel The Love
Jessie Ware - Running (Disclosure Remix)
Hot Chip - Night and Day (Dusky Remix)
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs -Tapes & Money
Florence & The Machine - Spectrum (Say My Name) (Calvin Harris Remix)
M83 - Midnight City (Eric Prydz Private Remix)
Major Lazer (feat. Amber Coffman) - Get Free
Woodkid
Guy Called Gerald
Warm up for at least 10 min, progressively increasing workload into Zone 2 for the duration.
After your warm-up, do 2-4 sets as follows: (2 sets for 60 min session)
4 min at your hardest effort; then easy Zone 1 for 1 min. Note average power during
the 4 min effort, as you will build workload from this.
Then do 3 min @ watts higher than your 4 min effort; then easy Zone 1 for 1 min.
Then do 2 min @ watts higher than your 3 min effort; then easy Zone 1 for 5 min.
Total time per set inc rest time - 17 minutes.
Repeat set 1 – 3 more times.
Cool down at least 10 min, progressively decreasing workload to low end Zone 1.
Its tricky and requires a bit of practise. That is where I find the motivation. Focus on sustaining the workload. Not going out too hard, that your effort drops near the end.
You can change gears, sit and stand, work in the flats and work the hills.
I've been putting in a bit more turbo time recently. I'd prefer to go to the park but the constant rain and Army Fitness groups keep putting me off.
For the turbo to truly be bearable you need a good set up and I have found something that just about works for me.
1. No loud music from a hi fi. If my neighbour was next door making a noise like a plane was taking off that was intertwined with thumping dance music I think I'd be very upset.
2. Got an interval app on the iPhone. Then i can hear it ding and buzz and what not whenever. And you can listen to music at the same time.
3. Got pro summer shorts. Lighter the material the better as there is no wind to cool you down, key is that it has a back radio pocket, so you can slot your iPhone into it and listen to music and hear the dings of the interval without the cable whipping around your knees and face.
I like the Rapha Pro Team shorts, ViCiOUS Velo team shorts or Craft Cape Epic bibs. They meets requirement perfectly.
4. Buy some Skull Candy over the head ear phones from TK Maxx in Clapham.
I don't know about sound but they block out the turbo noise, they make music sound better and fit nicely around my ears and head rather than
Apple's earphones. They feel like someone trying to put their fist in my ear.
5. Download BBC iplayer. Listen to radio shows rather than over play ones music and get bored of it. Latest tunes and they are free. That has kept me entertained pretty well so far, I have a tendency to make a playlist and play it 100 times within a week then decide I hate all the songs on the list.
For the turbo to truly be bearable you need a good set up and I have found something that just about works for me.
1. No loud music from a hi fi. If my neighbour was next door making a noise like a plane was taking off that was intertwined with thumping dance music I think I'd be very upset.
2. Got an interval app on the iPhone. Then i can hear it ding and buzz and what not whenever. And you can listen to music at the same time.
3. Got pro summer shorts. Lighter the material the better as there is no wind to cool you down, key is that it has a back radio pocket, so you can slot your iPhone into it and listen to music and hear the dings of the interval without the cable whipping around your knees and face.
I like the Rapha Pro Team shorts, ViCiOUS Velo team shorts or Craft Cape Epic bibs. They meets requirement perfectly.
4. Buy some Skull Candy over the head ear phones from TK Maxx in Clapham.
I don't know about sound but they block out the turbo noise, they make music sound better and fit nicely around my ears and head rather than
Apple's earphones. They feel like someone trying to put their fist in my ear.
5. Download BBC iplayer. Listen to radio shows rather than over play ones music and get bored of it. Latest tunes and they are free. That has kept me entertained pretty well so far, I have a tendency to make a playlist and play it 100 times within a week then decide I hate all the songs on the list.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/9v-Dw863TCY
This is the course for Thursdays GVA Koppenberg Cross.
Perhaps an idea that wasn't such a good one as its one of the hilliest courses I've ever seen. And I prefer power climbs not drags.
That said its 2 hours from Calais and closer to go to than a few races in the UK.
So while the Team ViCiOUS crew are prepared to help me out, I'm going to go out there and try my hardest.
I feel like I've gone back in time by four years, 2008, Bradford National Champs
I was so nervous, I wasn't gridded as I had no recognised points, I was so worried that as Helen Wyman came past to lap me I'd get on her way and she'd get cross (luckily that didn't happen).
I've set myself some goals.
Top 30
Don't get lapped
Don't give up on the climbs
Stick to schedule through the day, eating, warm up, etc
I've fitted a compact chain set so that my new lowest inner ring will be 34t and ive put on a new 12-27 cassette
Dugast Rhinos on both bikes.
This is the course for Thursdays GVA Koppenberg Cross.
Perhaps an idea that wasn't such a good one as its one of the hilliest courses I've ever seen. And I prefer power climbs not drags.
That said its 2 hours from Calais and closer to go to than a few races in the UK.
So while the Team ViCiOUS crew are prepared to help me out, I'm going to go out there and try my hardest.
I feel like I've gone back in time by four years, 2008, Bradford National Champs
I was so nervous, I wasn't gridded as I had no recognised points, I was so worried that as Helen Wyman came past to lap me I'd get on her way and she'd get cross (luckily that didn't happen).
I've set myself some goals.
Top 30
Don't get lapped
Don't give up on the climbs
Stick to schedule through the day, eating, warm up, etc
I've fitted a compact chain set so that my new lowest inner ring will be 34t and ive put on a new 12-27 cassette
Dugast Rhinos on both bikes.
I've not got many superstitions, well I have none I have mostly routines that I like to stick with. One is to wear my pink framed Oakleys for CX because they have a clear lens and then I don't have to mess about with sunglasses instead of getting ready to race.
Another is to keep my gloves in a special place in my bag so I can always find them.
My gloves are a pair of Specialized MTB gloves and these ones are lucky. They aren't my lucky pair of gloves they are lucky to still be existence. Four seasons have past and those little £20 things won't give up. Their staunch refusal to be put in the bin is admirable.
I like them because they fit me right, aren't to hot, aren't to cold. The padding is just right and they dry up nice and quickly when they get doused in mud.
As the years have past a not much remains constant, tyre fads come and go, shoes start to stink but these thin bits of mesh with 'reinforced Micromatrix synthetic leather palms' have fought to keep my hands from rubbing against the bars in every cross races I've ridden since year dot.
Then suddenly at the first race of this season, some, nothing-mid-weeker the tip of my finger burst through a small hole in the material. I felt the cold metal of my shifter on my finger tips and it shook me to my core.
My gloves appeared to have finally given up, and without warning, splitting under the pressure of all those gear changes. A slight twinge of sentimentality hit me but then I realised my routine would be compromised.
Some alone time with a needle and thread gave me hope that I could eeek out their existence for one final blow out season. The season when they actually get to taste Belgian soil.
My fingers are crossed.
There is a little known unsporting trick that riders of the X68 bus use, it's called Bus Stop Guarding.
Typically people who do it, have not been waiting the longest.
Bus Stop guarding is the art of turning up to the bus stop and hanging around the actual stopping sign to ensure they are first on, in disregard for others who have been waiting longer on the bench or the wall.
If you played football as a kid, it is like 'goal hanging'. Unsporting and frowned upon.
It matters only for the X68, as the bus is an express and doesn't stop until Waterloo. If you are the first on you get your pick of the best seat, in some cases, the only seat. Guaranteeing comfort for the next 40mins, rather than having to apply a bare knuckle grip on any bits of bus you can find as it swings around cyclists on the Kennington Rd.
Most other usual sporting x68-bus-ers who get on, like the lady with the silver pearl earrings stay back (Yolande). And get on in the order they arrive, same with a lady I call 'Betsy' who is a professional older lady, and the small man who sits on the wall near the bus stop in the order he arrived, eg before or after Betsy.
Then there's WET HEAD. Very thin lady who always turns up with her long brown hair wet, in winter she wears this stupid hat with a bear thing on the front, with her wet hair sloshing underneath. She is queen of the guarding the bus stop. She'll stroll up at 2mins before the bus is due to arrive and practically hug the sign. In blatant knowledge that Betsy, small Indian Chap, Yolande and the girl with gold hoops have been waiting there for ten minutes.
The most cleverest trick with bus stop guarding is if bus comes along that you don't want. One momentarily steps away, allowing school kids to flag it down if they need it, then two steps back and they are right up close.
It's annoying because I've seen other people think that the 'guards' want the bus and delay flagging it down. the guards then step away and the bus doesn't stop.
Equally they can stand right in the way of other people trying to get on their bus. Or queue behind them thinking they are getting on.
Only once have I successfully foiled Wet Heads plan, it happened by chance. A bus came along, it wasn't the right one, she stepped to the side. I saw on the horizon the x68 and shuffled along the pavement towards the back of the waiting bus. Wet Head was too busy guarding and when she realised she had to leave her perch as the bus had pulled up behind, she was last on.
Betsy made eye contact with me that day, it was basically a high five.
Note my example today of blonde with brown jacket (a new character at the Beulah Spa, stop). 4 buses came and went before our actual X68 arrived on time. I watched her guard, then step away, then step back, she's got her technique down, because she steps back even before the bus has pulled away, but not so the driver thinks she's trying to get on.
And Yes, when the 07.44 - X68 bus did arrive, she did get on first and yep got a good spot by the window.
Typically people who do it, have not been waiting the longest.
Bus Stop guarding is the art of turning up to the bus stop and hanging around the actual stopping sign to ensure they are first on, in disregard for others who have been waiting longer on the bench or the wall.
If you played football as a kid, it is like 'goal hanging'. Unsporting and frowned upon.
It matters only for the X68, as the bus is an express and doesn't stop until Waterloo. If you are the first on you get your pick of the best seat, in some cases, the only seat. Guaranteeing comfort for the next 40mins, rather than having to apply a bare knuckle grip on any bits of bus you can find as it swings around cyclists on the Kennington Rd.
Most other usual sporting x68-bus-ers who get on, like the lady with the silver pearl earrings stay back (Yolande). And get on in the order they arrive, same with a lady I call 'Betsy' who is a professional older lady, and the small man who sits on the wall near the bus stop in the order he arrived, eg before or after Betsy.
Then there's WET HEAD. Very thin lady who always turns up with her long brown hair wet, in winter she wears this stupid hat with a bear thing on the front, with her wet hair sloshing underneath. She is queen of the guarding the bus stop. She'll stroll up at 2mins before the bus is due to arrive and practically hug the sign. In blatant knowledge that Betsy, small Indian Chap, Yolande and the girl with gold hoops have been waiting there for ten minutes.
The most cleverest trick with bus stop guarding is if bus comes along that you don't want. One momentarily steps away, allowing school kids to flag it down if they need it, then two steps back and they are right up close.
It's annoying because I've seen other people think that the 'guards' want the bus and delay flagging it down. the guards then step away and the bus doesn't stop.
Equally they can stand right in the way of other people trying to get on their bus. Or queue behind them thinking they are getting on.
Only once have I successfully foiled Wet Heads plan, it happened by chance. A bus came along, it wasn't the right one, she stepped to the side. I saw on the horizon the x68 and shuffled along the pavement towards the back of the waiting bus. Wet Head was too busy guarding and when she realised she had to leave her perch as the bus had pulled up behind, she was last on.
Betsy made eye contact with me that day, it was basically a high five.
Note my example today of blonde with brown jacket (a new character at the Beulah Spa, stop). 4 buses came and went before our actual X68 arrived on time. I watched her guard, then step away, then step back, she's got her technique down, because she steps back even before the bus has pulled away, but not so the driver thinks she's trying to get on.
And Yes, when the 07.44 - X68 bus did arrive, she did get on first and yep got a good spot by the window.
"I’ve enjoyed the Tour de France but, so far, I think the highlights DVD
won’t be a blockbuster because Wiggins and his team have controlled the
race. For me a good race sees the yellow jersey flutter from shoulder to
shoulder like a butterfly on a summer breeze. But this year Cancellara
netted the yellow butterfly in the prologue. A week later Wiggins and
Sky team have caught it and look to set to mount it in a glass case for
display in a London museum."
"We’ll have to see what the Pyrenees bring. There’s a risk the race for yellow falls flat. Blondin described a stage of the 1972 Tour where the “Aubisque and Tourmalet had become boulevards” and we could see Wiggins taking his Froome-dog for a stroll."
From The INRNG
I certainly agree. Total dominance lead us to finally dislike Armstrong and cheer for the underdog.
"We’ll have to see what the Pyrenees bring. There’s a risk the race for yellow falls flat. Blondin described a stage of the 1972 Tour where the “Aubisque and Tourmalet had become boulevards” and we could see Wiggins taking his Froome-dog for a stroll."
From The INRNG
I certainly agree. Total dominance lead us to finally dislike Armstrong and cheer for the underdog.
Leather note book
Cooler bag
Mavic cap
Mavic service car
Chocolate biscuits
Route 'booklet' (268 pages)
Lanyard
Special edition newspaper
Sick bag for day in the team car
Wallet
I downloaded the Tour de France app, its quite good although you have to pay 69p for it. It has photos and live updates and if you are going to France to watch a stage it will tell you when the riders and caravan are due to come through certain sections.
I noticed at the bottom there was an Official Game - it cost £1.99 to buy the app.
You load a game, choose a team (1 of the present Pro Tour teams in this years Tour) and it selects 5 riders for you to manage.
I chose Liquidgas and entered my name Peirrer Pan Aux Oeuf.
Then you play the stage - it takes 2-3 minutes to play a stage through and you select your riders to attack, team sprint, sprint, stop pedalling. Other riders will attack and you can decide to go with them or hang back. Chasing everything will decrease your riders energy, if you don't use them strategical, you'll be out of luck and off the back by the middle of Le Tour.
The game presents you with various challenges for each stage e.g.
'create a breakaway group', 'finish in the top 30 for a stage' 'win a stage with the fighter'.
It is good to begin with, sometimes my fingers wouldn't select the right buttons and didn't realise the final sprint was coming up and missed it on the opening stages.
After several stages your riders become tired and their energy bars drop. So they can't keep up so well on the climbs as their manager you'll need to strategically increase their energy using recovery points you've earnt over the stages by completing the challenges.
After a while it all gets rather boring and not very true to life. On one of the mountain stages Mark Cavendish attacked and on another day Vinokorov went after about 25k on a long flat stage.
on my first trial play, I end up winning the Yellow and the Green jerseys. Nibali taking the Mallot Jaune by over 25 minutes from my team leader Ivan Basso who was a further 5 minutes ahead of the next GC rider.
Its fun, you don't need any 3G or Wifi connection to play. But it also isn't very hard or realistic.
I think it is suitable for kids rather than seasoned followers of Le Tour.
Condor & IG Markets Nocturne Bike Race 2012 from Crispin Deverill / Taiko 太鼓 on Vimeo.
Note my new role: Camera Assistant. That's right, move over Scorsese
I once bet on the 2006 World Cup and won £90 from a £2 or maybe £1.50 bet. It was quite a slim chance of getting it right. I bet 0-0 by full time with Zidane to score in extra time for France.
Betting is tiresome and pointless, you'll always loose in the end, with Bradley Wiggins odd on favourite for yellow it would be no use betting on him to win, it as you'd get pennies back the odds are so strong in his favour and betting against him wouldn't be fair or supportive.
So I'm going to take Ben's Mums daily predictions and bet £1 and guess the winner of the stage.
Sky Bet are currently offering a free £10 when you open your account and put £10 into it.
That's £20 to bet with and there are 23 Tour stages.
I'll take it as each stages comes.
1-2 hours ahead of the race starting each day.
Stage 2 - Vise - Tournai, flat stage
Ben's Mum said Cav to win
I wasn't so sure as he only has Bernie Eisel as a leadout and I thought the bigger wider sprinters with full leadout trains would fair better.
Cav odds were even - stake £1, get £1 back.
So, after everything I said I bet against Ben's mum and went with Andrei Greipel who had odds of 5/1 (still a big favourite)
£1 stake gets me a £6 return, £5 profit
Updated result:
Greipel pipped to the line by Cavendish. Ben's Mum picked the winner, I picked 2nd.
£1 to Sky. Damn.
Betting is tiresome and pointless, you'll always loose in the end, with Bradley Wiggins odd on favourite for yellow it would be no use betting on him to win, it as you'd get pennies back the odds are so strong in his favour and betting against him wouldn't be fair or supportive.
So I'm going to take Ben's Mums daily predictions and bet £1 and guess the winner of the stage.
Sky Bet are currently offering a free £10 when you open your account and put £10 into it.
That's £20 to bet with and there are 23 Tour stages.
I'll take it as each stages comes.
1-2 hours ahead of the race starting each day.
Stage 2 - Vise - Tournai, flat stage
Ben's Mum said Cav to win
I wasn't so sure as he only has Bernie Eisel as a leadout and I thought the bigger wider sprinters with full leadout trains would fair better.
Cav odds were even - stake £1, get £1 back.
So, after everything I said I bet against Ben's mum and went with Andrei Greipel who had odds of 5/1 (still a big favourite)
£1 stake gets me a £6 return, £5 profit
Updated result:
Greipel pipped to the line by Cavendish. Ben's Mum picked the winner, I picked 2nd.
£1 to Sky. Damn.
