Kent Velo Girls runs an excellent "stay at home" training camp each March, in 2011 we were wearing short sleeves and factor 30 suncream. In 2013 we were praying that the snow stayed away long enough to actually get out. After Saturday's debacle with torrential rain it was just a pleasure to be back in the saddle in dry clothes, and new Rapha ones at that :-)
Monday was a pleasant 40 miler which skirted the pilgrims way and came back past the deer in Knole Park. All in all a pretty ride, and would have been even better without getting a puncture at the bottom of Bayley's Hill (every time I get a new jacket it gets filthy changing a flat!). I spent the rest of the afternoon going through routes for the 4 countries in 3 days tours trying to find pretty cycling paths that would save the riders legs, only to dash home, change kit and dash out again for a swim session. Am I really the only person who finds swimming with a pull buoy slows them down?
Not having to be up just after 5am on Tuesday morning was rather splendid, waking up at 6:30 and having a lay in, drinking tea in bed and reading the metro online felt rather a luxurious way to start a training day.
Back in the saddle we set off down to the Ashdown Forest, it's always a hilly ride but I wasn't expecting to be climbing Kidd's Hill, AKA The Wall. It's been on my list for a while so I was rather pleased to finally get another tick the Top 100 Climbs in the Country book. 125m of ascent over about a mile, there's no twists or turns; what you see is what you get. And that looks like a solid wall. All the training seems to be paying off though as my first thought was "yup, I can get up that" which of course I duly did, as did everyone else in the group.
Wednesday saw us all driving over to Surrey for the infamous Box Hill time trial, plus another 30 miles of hills immediately before, including a little ditty through Leatherhead (no road closures/air ambulances this year). I had demons to conquer on the time trial, having been about a minute slower in 2012 than the year before. In fairness I swallowed a fly half way up last year and the year before ended up pushing myself so hard I had an asthma attack at the top (I also had to deal with suicidal squirrels).
As tempting as it was to roll out the carbon bike that would give me an unfair advantage on the 2011 time. It has to be like for like or it doesn't count. So Doris and I set off to conquer.
From a standing start my gears were clunking and I couldn't quite find where I wanted to sit. The section to the first bend is the worst of the climb and I saw Hatty up ahead, as a target to aim for (sorry Hatty) but she was climbing really well and it took until after the second bend for me to catch her. After that I just got my head down and tried not to watch the clock, with a final time of 9:27, 19 seconds faster than 2011 and a very happy Helen although I was quite shocked to be told "You beat me, bitch" from Bee! That entitled me to a well deserved lunch with Naomi and Katharine (and of course the future world cycling champion, baby Alexander).
Thursday morning swung round early, and we were off again. This time on a 60 mile ride, including a half way stop at Chapel Down Vineyard. The pace was nippy and for the first time in the week it crossed my mind that I couldn't sustain the pace for the whole 60 miles but I was dammed sure I wasn't going to admit it. Fortunately someone else broke the speed with a cry of easy, and everyone sighed with relief. We were extremely spoilt calling at the Vineyard, and Viv had staff outside in the freezing cold pouring us cups of tea, with a beautiful array of brownies, flapjacks and savoury crackers. There were a few groans as we set off for the second half up a steep hill but it was a great way of warming back up again quickly. The rest of the second half was mainly flat and we got our heads down to finish with an average speed of 14.5mph.
On Friday I mistimed the drive to Cyclopark in Gravesend, and as I drove up the downs at Wrotham it started to snow. I was sat in the freezing cold car for ages waiting for everyone else. Friday is race training. I won't lie, it's not my cup of tea, and it's too stop start for freezing conditions. That said we all learnt some new things which made it worth while.
The curry on Friday night with the girls (including the award for the most improved rider) was a great way to wrap up the week (even if Sarah did moan that my blog was a week behind schedule - Sorry!).
After the intensity of the week it was almost a shock to the system not to get on my bike on Saturday and my legs were still complaining when I went out running on Sunday. It was slow and painful, but my longest ever run, 1:30 to do 8.44 miles (plus a second run later in the day).
Monday was a pleasant 40 miler which skirted the pilgrims way and came back past the deer in Knole Park. All in all a pretty ride, and would have been even better without getting a puncture at the bottom of Bayley's Hill (every time I get a new jacket it gets filthy changing a flat!). I spent the rest of the afternoon going through routes for the 4 countries in 3 days tours trying to find pretty cycling paths that would save the riders legs, only to dash home, change kit and dash out again for a swim session. Am I really the only person who finds swimming with a pull buoy slows them down?
Not having to be up just after 5am on Tuesday morning was rather splendid, waking up at 6:30 and having a lay in, drinking tea in bed and reading the metro online felt rather a luxurious way to start a training day.
Back in the saddle we set off down to the Ashdown Forest, it's always a hilly ride but I wasn't expecting to be climbing Kidd's Hill, AKA The Wall. It's been on my list for a while so I was rather pleased to finally get another tick the Top 100 Climbs in the Country book. 125m of ascent over about a mile, there's no twists or turns; what you see is what you get. And that looks like a solid wall. All the training seems to be paying off though as my first thought was "yup, I can get up that" which of course I duly did, as did everyone else in the group.
Wednesday saw us all driving over to Surrey for the infamous Box Hill time trial, plus another 30 miles of hills immediately before, including a little ditty through Leatherhead (no road closures/air ambulances this year). I had demons to conquer on the time trial, having been about a minute slower in 2012 than the year before. In fairness I swallowed a fly half way up last year and the year before ended up pushing myself so hard I had an asthma attack at the top (I also had to deal with suicidal squirrels).
As tempting as it was to roll out the carbon bike that would give me an unfair advantage on the 2011 time. It has to be like for like or it doesn't count. So Doris and I set off to conquer.
From a standing start my gears were clunking and I couldn't quite find where I wanted to sit. The section to the first bend is the worst of the climb and I saw Hatty up ahead, as a target to aim for (sorry Hatty) but she was climbing really well and it took until after the second bend for me to catch her. After that I just got my head down and tried not to watch the clock, with a final time of 9:27, 19 seconds faster than 2011 and a very happy Helen although I was quite shocked to be told "You beat me, bitch" from Bee! That entitled me to a well deserved lunch with Naomi and Katharine (and of course the future world cycling champion, baby Alexander).
Thursday morning swung round early, and we were off again. This time on a 60 mile ride, including a half way stop at Chapel Down Vineyard. The pace was nippy and for the first time in the week it crossed my mind that I couldn't sustain the pace for the whole 60 miles but I was dammed sure I wasn't going to admit it. Fortunately someone else broke the speed with a cry of easy, and everyone sighed with relief. We were extremely spoilt calling at the Vineyard, and Viv had staff outside in the freezing cold pouring us cups of tea, with a beautiful array of brownies, flapjacks and savoury crackers. There were a few groans as we set off for the second half up a steep hill but it was a great way of warming back up again quickly. The rest of the second half was mainly flat and we got our heads down to finish with an average speed of 14.5mph.
On Friday I mistimed the drive to Cyclopark in Gravesend, and as I drove up the downs at Wrotham it started to snow. I was sat in the freezing cold car for ages waiting for everyone else. Friday is race training. I won't lie, it's not my cup of tea, and it's too stop start for freezing conditions. That said we all learnt some new things which made it worth while.
The curry on Friday night with the girls (including the award for the most improved rider) was a great way to wrap up the week (even if Sarah did moan that my blog was a week behind schedule - Sorry!).
After the intensity of the week it was almost a shock to the system not to get on my bike on Saturday and my legs were still complaining when I went out running on Sunday. It was slow and painful, but my longest ever run, 1:30 to do 8.44 miles (plus a second run later in the day).
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