Sunday 22 March 2009

Super fat burning machine

Did my 2 x 48 mile route again yesterday. I probably could have done the extra 4 miles this time to make it to 100, but my GPS batteries ran out so I'd not really know for sure anyway. That's my excuse.

I didn't feel super-hungry afterwards either - I read something last week that said that if your fat burning was more efficient then you wouldn't deplete your glycogen stores and wouldn't crave food as much after exercise. I'm not sure if this is true, but I'll willing to claim it - I am now a super fat-burning machine.

Not a super-fat burning machine. That's a different thing entirely. That's an obese pyromaniac.

Saturday 14 March 2009

Post camp analysis

I've been back from the Torq training camp for a couple of days now, so I thought I'd better jot some stuff down before I forgot it.

  1. Great bunch of people. A really good mix, so it was easy to ride and chat, or sit and chat with someone.
  2. Superb weather. After last year I had packed thermal base layers, waterproofs, winter boots, merino socks. I just didn't need them. A couple of mornings were chilly enough to need the gillet, arm and leg warmers, but soon it was down to minimum lycra.
  3. I'm either fitter than last year or everyone else is slower. I was back of the pack last time, upper-mid-table obscurity this time.
  4. It's hard to consume 17,308 kcals of Torq products in a week.
  5. "German Night" consists of grilled meat, sausages, cabbage and 80s heavy metal.
  6. I still can't get up that short steep technical climb, but I'm much faster up the long rocky one. I reckon I could do it in middle ring next time.
  7. Funniest event of the week - little dog savaging Anth's shoe, then tearing around the garden pursued by the slightly bigger dog.
  8. Matt still doesn't know the way back from Ojen, off-road.
  9. I'm allergic to those caterpillars.

So, in summary, a great week. If only I could stay out there... or at least be paid to be a full-time athlete.

Saturday 7 March 2009

Friday 6 March 2009

Training camp day 1


4 hours done, coffee time. And we might try and sneak a beer in.

Wednesday 4 March 2009

That's a lot of calories

I'm off to Spain tomorrow with Darren for the Torq training camp. This will involve riding 6-7 hours a day, slowly, with other people who are much fitter than I am. Hopefully, it'll be warm and sunny but given that the past two times I've been there rain has featured heavily (and attempted hypothermia the second time) I'm not too expectant.

Everything is now packed - it's generally a three day operation for me to get everything ready for a bike trip. This year all the energy products have been sent out beforehand rather than being flown in by Matt and the Torq crew.

I therefore have:

24 energy bars, 222 kcals each = 5228 kcals
20 energy gels, 180 kcals each = 3600 kcals
1 kg of recovery drink = 3500 kcals
1.5kg of energy drink = 5475 kcals

Making a grand total of 17803 kcals. That's just over 7 days worth of normal food intake. Now, I'm only going for 7 days, plus there will be all the normal food thrown in too. Brilliant! And beer. And wine. But I must remember to lay off the cheese, for cheese is evil according to Matt.

Darren also has the same amount. If the plane crashes in a "Lost" style manner, we'll be fine for a couple of weeks. Somewhat buzzy from all the sugar, but fine.

Tuesday 3 March 2009

The Dark

There it looms, black in all its blackness, slightly damp and glistening in the cold hard electric light.

It waits for me, waits, waits for me to separate its elements, to wrap it in bubbles of air and tubes of foam.

It waits for the cable ties, the torx key, the spanner, the tape.

It waits for the plastic caps, the plastic braces, the plastic spacers.

The cordura cases, the padded bags, the lock, the tag.

I really really must start packing my bike.